So Yumay has gotten more and more into the adventure racing vortex too.... after doing minor support at some of my race (she claims she is not a very supportive person, that more because she d rather race :). So we needed to find an appropriate race, and found it in the 6 degree of navigation organized by the Cascade Orienteering Club at St. Edwards State park. Good venue, good trail system, and I got to practice my pathetic nav skills ahead of time since I was able to get my hands on a map before. That was the easy part.
When I met Yumay she was a gym junkie, and she has slowly transitioned into an outdoorsy person, well not slowly, rapidly. But what is more amazing is that she has the aptitude for everything she does. She is a good runner, kayaker and seems to learn mountain biking at relative ease. That is except for the hard stuff. See I am a smart person when it comes to obstacles. When in doubt, get off, walk around it, and go on. Not Yumay. Which is not to say that she is not smart, as she knows the consequences when it does not pan out. She just chooses to try. Then crash. Then scream in pain. Then try. Then crash.. yes, you get it, it goes on. Scarily that will make her a better mountain biker sooner than I like it, as we guys really like to be the tough and better ones.... oh well, I m gonna have to let this one go cuz no way in hell will I transition into that trying/crashing/retrying (in pain) person... cant have it all!
So funny enough since we were doing this race together we needed to get Yumay a whole bunch of stuff.. sure we could have rented/borrowed, but I knew already we were both hooked so we needed to go do one big roundabout shopping trip. Used bike (she got a GREAT deal), paddle, PFD, the whole schabang... she noted that she is putting in a lot of investment into our relationship (thinking $$ not emotional effort, sometimes I feel like the chick in this relationship!!) and this better work out! :) Well we will find out at the race wont we?
When I met Yumay she was a gym junkie, and she has slowly transitioned into an outdoorsy person, well not slowly, rapidly. But what is more amazing is that she has the aptitude for everything she does. She is a good runner, kayaker and seems to learn mountain biking at relative ease. That is except for the hard stuff. See I am a smart person when it comes to obstacles. When in doubt, get off, walk around it, and go on. Not Yumay. Which is not to say that she is not smart, as she knows the consequences when it does not pan out. She just chooses to try. Then crash. Then scream in pain. Then try. Then crash.. yes, you get it, it goes on. Scarily that will make her a better mountain biker sooner than I like it, as we guys really like to be the tough and better ones.... oh well, I m gonna have to let this one go cuz no way in hell will I transition into that trying/crashing/retrying (in pain) person... cant have it all!
So funny enough since we were doing this race together we needed to get Yumay a whole bunch of stuff.. sure we could have rented/borrowed, but I knew already we were both hooked so we needed to go do one big roundabout shopping trip. Used bike (she got a GREAT deal), paddle, PFD, the whole schabang... she noted that she is putting in a lot of investment into our relationship (thinking $$ not emotional effort, sometimes I feel like the chick in this relationship!!) and this better work out! :) Well we will find out at the race wont we?
Pre-race....
It worked just great. Not that we miraculously finished 1st. Nah, Eric Bone and Liz Stahl (he is the current U.S champion in orienteering, she runs faster than I can dream of) won by a landslide, but we did quite well. In a reprisal of the 24h Wenatchee race our rubber ducky boat spun like a 80's discoball, but we made it to shore eventually and probably 3rd last started passing teams again. My nav was OK given the circumstances (e.g. I suck), our trekking was good and we had a great time with no unhappy words exchanged, and finished 16th (out of 25 teams). Yumay was hooked, I had already been, but now was hooked on the idea to race more with her. It was more fun that with Jeff (sorry, no offense!), just way cooler doing this with my girlfriend, and I already knew I had a keeper but this one helped cementing it a bit. We raced as team Swiss Miss (since I am the swiss and she is the miss), and certainly going to keep that name for races to come!
