In 54 hours I'll be at the Amee Farm in Pittsfield, VT along with about 60 other competitors getting our first set of instructions from Andy Weinberg. The race starts at 8PM EST and will go anywhere from 16-24 hours, but I'm preparing for 40 hours.
There are numerous tasks over a 40 mile obstacle course. The two mandatory items are a jump rope and an ax, an interesting combination.
My training regimen has been swimming, biking and mostly trail running. Not certain if there are any silver bullet training that one can do to actually be prepared for battling the elements of the Vermont winter. I'm not going to try and out think the organizers but take whatever they throw at me. My strategy is simple.. find out who the veterans are before the race and do my very best to hang with them and find out what they are taking with them when we leave the farm.
I think I can hang. Just need to stay within my HR and not make any stupid mistakes. Staying dry and warm is my primary concern along with sticking to a hydration and nutrition schedule. If that gets off track so will my core body temperature and then I'm on the proverbial "slippery slope" to Hypothermia.
I've sent out 4 different emails to current and former WDR participants and have not received one email in return. I reached out to get some basic questions answered, like do you need a Crew to support you on the course? What does the race provide, if anything? What can't you bring? Assume a back pack is required?
Kind of at a loss as to why I haven't gotten any responses. Usually people are eager to share their knowledge. Perhaps you're required to sign an NDA prior to the race forbidding participants from disclosing the race specifics to retain its allure. That's my guess as even in the blogs I don't see much of anything.
I depart Nashville on Friday at 6:15am and arrive Albany NY at 10:55am. After landing I need to hit a Home Depot to buy an ax and knife. Then off to the grocery store to grab some food. It's about a 2 hour drive to Pittsfield from Albany. I plan on getting there early enough to poll the other participants so I'm good to go at 8PM.
My goal is to simply finish the race and catch my flight back to Nashville on Sunday afternoon.
So why am I doing this race? It was a last minute semi-impulse decision. It's a question that I'm not certain that I have an answer for. What comes to mind is the challenge, both physical and mental. I suppose it's also the adventure of being up in the woods of Vermont completing boyish tasks. It may also be to understand just how much punishment I can take.
I have to be honest, I'm concerned about the race. Not because of its name.....but because of the temperatures and the thought of being in 40F water which will be warmer than the air. I'm not a fan of the cold, but I intend to get over that on Friday/Saturday.
The finishing rate of this event is 10-15%. Thats low. So that's a clear indicator that this is the real deal and I cannot take it lightly. The average participant is a pretty tough monkey so that says even more. I'm banking on my endurance training and understanding what is happening with my body. Nutrition and mental toughness are the key to finishing...not any different than Leadville.
I DNF'd in my first 2 attempts at a 100 mile trail run because of nutrition and not having the experience to understand what was happening to me so that I could adjust and mentally be tough enough to manage my way through it all. In Leadville last year my crew and pacers got me through the race. For this race I'm going to team up with a few participants so we'll look out for one another or at least that's the plan going in.
As they say.....time will tell, shit smells and water seeks its own level.
Anxious, very anxious.
