Hunting Island Adventure Race - Adventure

Warm down was not a problem. Ran back to my truck and got out of the wet clothes. Apologies to anyone I may have flashed but I did try to hide behind the passenger side door. Had a set of dry clothes in my transition bag. Best move I made all day.


It was very windy and this made for some rugged kayaking conditions, not dangerous, just hard. I was 6 minutes faster this year and this was with a harder kayak segment. My run felt great and I wish I had worn a watch but everything was soaked and I didn't want salt water on my watch. Had a new spray skirt on board but didn't use it and I regret that since it would have kept water out of the cockpit. This was just what I needed to prepare me for Parris Is in 3 weeks.
I rarely kayak, maybe twice a year but I find kayaking very much like cycling. It's about cadence and aerodynamics and power to weight ratio. Now I know it's also about hydrodynamics but for me it's mostly cadence and efficiently paddling. My little plastic recreation kayak puts me at a disadvantage but someday I'd like to race a carbon fiber or kevlar kayak. Kayaking is a sport where speed can be purchased, moreso than cycling. But like cycling a better engine still counts.
I credit my better times to weight loss, aerobic training, core workouts, and killer spin classes.
The 4.5 mile trail run was great. I was wet and got cold but before the end I had to remove my arm warmers. There was no giant mudhole this year but the deep sand and the pine cones were as nasty as ever. Had a few stations where we had to do pushups, jump hurdles, jumping jacks etc. I had one of the best runs I've had in a while. I actually passed a few people and I was not passed by anyone in my AG.