Before too much time passes, I need to get some thoughts down about the Patagonia Race. When I next tackle a big race like this, I will be able to refer to these notes and *hopefully* learn from prior experience!
This will be an ongoing stream-of-consciousness sort of thing, spread across many blog posts and weeks/months, but I'll group them all together (eventually) for ease of reference.
I need to start on some topic, so how about gear and organizing pre-race:
- -Since all the teams were packing and staging their gear in the same area (a Chilean military barracks), it was easy to compare teams and their approaches to packing and preparation. It was obvious which teams had done this sort of thing before, and which hadn't. We had not done this sort of thing before, nor had the Argentine team next to us. It showed: we had gear spread all over and our assigned space looked like a disaster area. I think each team, to a certain extent, had their own disaster areas while they sorted through gear and food . . . but for an experienced team the disaster area only lasted an hour or two while it lasted a couple days for us. Truthfully, the teams that had their gear organized the fastest were the most efficient on the race course too; we were one of the last teams to have our gear together, along with our Argentine friends, and it was indicative of our race.
- Granted, we were severely handicapped by Rob's gear arriving at 3 PM on Monday -- only hours before the gear deadline. We didn't know if we were going to actually race until Rob walked in with his gear and then all hell broke loose. Gear turn-in was at 7 PM, so it was a frantic couple hours. It's really a terrible way to prep for an event . . . the uncertainty and stress involved with trying to coerce a South American airline into delivering your luggage. I think I can pronounce my first concise lesson learned here: when flying to a race, especially internationally, plan to arrive early and allow several hours for each connection; you may not need all the connection time, but your gear certainly might and it's no good for you to arrive without your thousands of dollars of equipment!
- -In the future, to make the pre-race stuff easier, I suggest:
- Have your clothes sorted and organized into bags, labeled, and ready so that anybody can help you sort through it. It's not good enough for just you to know where your socks are packed, it needs to be dummy proof because when time is short everyone becomes a dummy!
- Don't bring too many clothes. Just because you have 6 merino base layers, you don't have to bring them. In a race with support crew, where it's easier to deal with lots of gear and you have the chance to change clothes often, more clothes is often better; I've done winter races that are true wars of attrition where the team with the most warm, dry clothes wins. That mentality doesn't work for a race without support crew, where you're stuck dealing with all your crap on your own. I ended up leaving several pairs of tops/bottoms/jackets in my luggage and never got it packed into the race gear -- just no space. Pick the best or most versatile pieces of gear you have and go with them. Leave the rest at home. You'll also save on excess baggage charges!
- Have your food organized into 24-hour bags before you fly (or 12-hour bags if the race is shorter). I made the mistake of bringing my food all in one big duffel and had to organize it into food bag ziplocks just hours before the race; this could've been done easily, and more thoughtfully, before I got on the airplane.
- Just an aside, my 1 day food bag would contain around 4,000 calories and typical contents might include:
- Bag of GORP (750 calories) and dried fruit (1,500 calories)
- 3 Probars (1,000 calories)
- Salted and/or spicy nuts (750 calories), the saltier the better (encourages water consumption, etc); wasabi nuts, for example, are great
- I'd always put in a Twix or two, maybe some Pringles or something as a treat but with negligible calories
- We also raced with a couple "just add boiling water" meals to prepare with our JetBoil stove. These took a little time to prepare but were really satisfying to eat. This was something we ate about once a day. Around 500-1000 calories a pop with these meals.
- I also included some peanut butter and tortillas in my food bags
- Peanut butter is chock full of calories with a whopping 2000 calories for a small tub!
- I credit peanut butter with getting me to CP 3 alive in this Patagonia race. We were hurting without food or water for hours at this juncture; I opened this long lost tub of peanut butter that was snuggled in the bottom of my pack. I opened it and scooped it out with my fingers while biking (or, trying to bike) this pot-holed dirt road. This was after I had blacked-out (from low blood sugar), and I was a serious mess. Without water, the peanut butter practically burned my mouth and throat but I could feel the energy returning to me in just minutes.
- Later in the race, I found tortillas with peanut butter, jelly, and chocolate covered espresso beans to be really really satisfying. In the future, I suggest mixing some up in advance (maybe leave the jelly in a separate zip lock so the tortilla doesn't get too soggy).
- -One additional thing on the topic of pre-race organizing: get prescription meds from your doctor. Get some broad spectrum antibiotics (Cipro?) and know how/when to use it. I went through two weeks of WFR training and they cover this topic, and how it's also a big responsibility. Keep a record of if and when you dispense the antibiotics so you can account for the pills to your doctor when you return. A couple days into the race I had an infection develop on two fingers, and didn't bring any strong antibiotics with me, so I was stuck with antibiotic ointments and some very painful fingers. Next time, I'll bring the heavy artillery just in case. I think the same could be said for pain med (Codeine?) so long as you are informed about the proper use and abuse. For the Patagonia race in particular, where it could be days before a rescue and for most emergencies you're on your own, having some pharmaceuticals and the know-how can be critical.
This topic can branch into all sorts of other areas, but I don't want to try to cover too much here. The main point I'm trying to make is that you should do as much pre-race organizing as possible in the comfort of your own home; it will make your life easier once you get to the race location.
More later . . .