Finally, Pictures from WAR 2009!!

We finally reached the first CP at the top of a VERY steep hill! Notice the high soccer socks to deflect the brambles and poison ivy.


Kristen running and loving (this was at the beginning of the run)! The first run CP was the easiest to find.

Lost with 3 other teams in a field of nothingness. The CP we're looking for is straight up the hill in front of us. Frank is so tricky!

We finished in less than 9 hours and we are two very happy campers!!

Big smiles with Bethann and Frank! They were very proud of us:)

Grass Roots love!!!!!!!!!!!

Cleveland Rocked in Pittsburgh!!

Reasons why we rocked TURFF:

1. We had some previous knowledge of downtown Pittsburgh from last year

2. We used our strong biking skills and got all the points except for 2 bonus ones

3. Initially we were going to avoid kayaking, but with Franks’ encouragement and Kristen’s adventurous spirit, we hopped in a tandem kayak, got some points, and exited the kayak with smiles

4. Our great friend Lesley volunteered at the start/finish, bonded with Frank and Bethann, and cheered us on to victory

5. Kristen's sharp eye quickly picked up on clues that we almost passed and missing them would have added a lot of time to our bike leg

6. For the first time in an adventure race, we didn’t have that sickening, lost and disoriented feeling. It was replaced with confidence and the luxury to focus more on speed then navigation

7. We placed SECOND in the all female division and 21st overall out of 50 teams – how great is that!??!?!

We’re already looking forward to TURFF 2010!!! Hopefully pictures to be posted shortly!

We love pre-race week!!!

Our next race is this Saturday and for some reason we are fairly calm, which is odd. I certainly feel a sense of comfort with this race because 1. we did it last year, 2. we aren't going to be lost in the woods and 3. we HAVE to finish in under 3 hours. This race is going to be fun and fast! We've mutually agreed to skip the kayaking (for our friendship's sake), to get all the CP's on the bike, and then get some points on the run in whatever time is left.

Tonight we're biking 7 miles and running 5. It's hot today and it will be good training weather for this weekend. Our race fueling will consist of a few gummies and poss a gel. This race, we don't have to pack a backpack full of food and high soccer socks aren't required gear. Last year there was minimal fighting and it was all forgotten within minutes.. well I guess it wasn't all forgotten if I'm still typing about it a year later, but you get the idea!

I do have a feeling that Frank and Bethann may have something up their sleeves... the race never goes exactly how you imagine it to and usually during the pre-race meeting, Kristen and I will share at least one look of surprise/panic!

GO GREEN GOVERNOR BEASTS!!!

August Love!

I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks since the last post - sorry Followers! The GGB's have been busy, I guess. Kristen was on a great beach vacation recently and I ... well, I really don't have any excuses. Regardless, the next race is quickly approaching and that means blog time!!

This is a bonus race included in our adventure racing series. It's a rogaine style format, which means you have 3 hours to get as many check points as possible, and you don't have to get them in order. There will be a 6+ mile run, 15 mile bike and 2 mile kayak. You don't have to go the full distances for each leg, but the check points worth the most will usually be the ones farthest away. Last year we got almost all the bike points, we made an executive decision not to kayak (which turned out to be a GREAT decision), and we got only one CP on the run. This year I'm pretty sure our focus will be on just the run and bike again. We haven't set it in stone yet, but that's what the car ride there is for!

Other news: we are so excited to announce that our great friend Lesley will be joining us at this race! She is in town for a "throwback" reunion weekend and she wanted to experience real race day excitement and stress. She already emailed Frank, the race organizer, and said she would like to volunteer - yayy Lesley!! We don't know what she will be doing yet, but Frank said he is going to give her a particularly difficult task ;)

Training for this race has been a little more relaxed. Kristen rode her bike and ran on vacation and I have been attempting to run and I have done some great Kick Punch & Crunch classes, along with a yoga class. Next week we have two training days planned together: a bike and a run on each day.

We hope your August is going as great as ours!! WAR pictures to be posted soon.