No it's not what you think.
Home-o-phobia is like
homophobia only in that the two terms sound the same. Jill has started accusing me of being home-o-phobic, meaning
I'm afraid of being at home, with all the excursions I've been making to Central Virginia these past few months. Lots of map time and extended training outings are my "secret" to building a great race course, and the only way to do it is to log many hours in the saddle, trekking shoes, or boats all over the race area. I also like to explore areas that
aren't part of the race course because you never know when a last minute change might crop up or what might fit into the race in a totally unexpected way. It's vital to really know an area before you an operate an event through it!
A race course that hasn't been well-tested sticks out like a sore thumb, and part of my testing process is going over an area multiple times and, hopefully, in different types of conditions.
I'll never forget this race from a few years ago (a long way from us here in Virginia) where the course was estimated by race staff to be "finished in 20 hours by the top teams." Well, top teams budgeted 21 hours of food, gear, and other items only to discover that the course was way way long and lead teams were barely over the 1/2 way mark after 20 hours of racing. Many DNFs ensued, some due to the extreme cold, but some because teams planned around estimates provided by the race organization. For the record, we were certainly not a "top" team at the event and still had a great time playing in the woods, and, regrettably, still DNFd . . . but I left the event being unimpressed with the poor attention to detail shown by the race organization. I think it disrepects the racers to throw an absurdly long course at them and claim, "Well, teams weren't as athletically fit or as strong on the nav as they should've been." That's crap, especially when some of the top teams in the nation are there, and I made up my mind at that point to not serve crap to racers. At least not that type of crap . . .
But I digress. The point is that the only way to ensure a quality course is to invest quality time on it. Getting out on the course is also a ton of fun, or else I wouldn't have come this far with things at
HRAdventure and I wouldn't be taking on new concepts in the development of
Untamed Adventure (in places beyond Virginia . . . but more on this another time).
The fact my wife thinks I'm a bit home-o-phobic tells me I need to devote a bit more time to balancing the "fun in the woods" with the "fun around the homestead." I know everybody wrestles with it, and finding a balance isn't easy, but having the support of your family is critical. That's why when family says your "home-o-phobia" is getting out of hand, it's time to dial things back a bit. I'm lucky we can joke about it at my house . . . having a gentle way for them to communicate
hey, have you been at home in the last week? is good all round.