Tuesday 20 October 2009

Expedition racing and bloody noses

I think that just about everyone who knows me also knows that my daughter Lisa is an expedition racer. And you might very well say “A what?”. Well, briefly, expedition racing is a multi day, many kilometres (can be up to 800km), multi discipline (running, paddling, mountain bilking etc), sometimes self sufficient (you carry all your gear and food) and can be either a team or solo event.

And you might very well also say “OMG she must be very fit” and what you don’t say is a little mad as well *grin*.

But now here’s the thing…. Fitness isn’t the thing that gets you through the race. Preparation, your feet and your mind are the things that get you to the finish line. So sometimes – most times - it is not the most obvious skill or attribute that’s needed. Sometimes you just have to get out there and "just do it".

And here’s a really important thing – you need to expect a little bloody nose: I lifted this wonderful quote from Lisa’s blog today. It is from an episode of Star Trek and was said by the character Q:

"If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you oughtta go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross; but it's not for the timid."

And then Lisa goes on to say: “Sometimes you have to risk that bloody nose for all the other rewards that life offers.”

No comments:

Post a Comment