5 Lessons from our recent @Raid_Gaspesie

5 Lessons from our recent @Raid_Gaspesie

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Here are some tidbits of info and wisdom I thought about during our recent adventure at the Raid de Gaspesie. Full-disclosure, we had a lot of time to think out there as it took us more than 36 hours to conquer the 300km course.

Overall it was probably the toughest race I’ve ever done but an incredible experience with great teammates. The sights and sounds were amazing and the locals really made us feel welcome. And the local seafood and beer, very yummy!

Here it goes:

  • Distance isn’t always created equal: The 20 kilometres we did on Thursday during the Prologue were the longest and hardest of my life. After that, I wanted to just pack up and leave but my awesome teammates (and my mind) brought me to my senses.
  • All mental: Not much can help you when you’re in hour 10 of a 4-day race but some timely encourage and reminders you’re out there to have fun and enjoy the outdoors. I’m learning multi-day races are all about mental as you’re never fresh and roaring to go it seems
  • Hills are evil: This was the hilliest course I’ve ever seen. Ironically they don’t show athletes pushing mountain bikes up hills but that’s what I remember the most from the race.
  • Pain is temporary, memories are forever: During the race, I cursed a few times. And now I look back and the memories make me smile. Pretty sick, isn’t it?
  • Experience helps: After the race we chatted with the winning team and they took this very seriously. They had us beat by a few hours every day but they had a game plan, an incredible assistant and lots of experience. It also didn’t help it was all our first adventure race of any kind…

As I’ve stated before, variety is the spice of life and I think the one reason I wasn’t that sore after the ordeal, other than that ankle injury. There’s something to be said about cross-training…

Stay tuned for a full race report soon but see this link for more info on the race including results  and a pretty awesome video recap of the race.

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