I'm finding it increasingly amazing that adventure athletes – or even those that regularly take on extreme endurance events – find time to earn a crust. Work has been a problem in terms of training throughout – who can do when, hours of daylight etc – but this week was a nightmare due to one of the region's biggest exhibitions being held in Dubai and us, as journalists, having to cover it. 15-hour-days of constant deadlines and being on our feet took it out of us and, personally, meant there was very little training at all. But it goes further than that – all day at an exhibition affects diet and long days impact on sleep...not ideal with 10 days to go till the Adventure Challenge.
Anyway, we made up for it at the weekend with an epic 25km hike in Liwa (the Empty Quarter) on Friday. Note – that's 25kms as the crow flies from checkpoint to checkpoint – we probably walked a lot further.
(the team gets ready by my car which is, well, in the middle of nowhere)
Advice: Google Earth is awesome for printing off topographical maps, measuring distances and setting yourself checkpoints. Very useful tool. NEVER go into the desert without these!
(feeling WAY too confident, I opt to do a jig of desert happiness - I know I look ridiculous but this is what a desert adventurer wears and, frankly, a couple of hundred kms from civilisation, comfort and survival take priority over fashion)
(Lucy T makes her way through the vast expanses of the Empty Quarter)
The hike, frankly, was a killer. We all struggled, especially between noon and 2pm when temperatures shot up to the mid-30s and there was literally nowhere to hide. Crossing ranges of dunes is, without any doubt at all, the most exhausting, demoralising, evil, horrific type of activity anyone can do. The only real pro was that we finished alive.
Spotted in the desert: snake trails, a load of these hilarious little lizards that run around hyperactively on their back legs alone, and bones that looked suspiciously like human femurs.
(one of the only enjoyable things about dunes is getting to run down them - as ably demonstrated by Taylor)
The drive home took a few hours – Liwa's a long way from Dubai! - and, as we took my car, this meant I'd been driving or walking for 17 hours by the time we pulled into my drive at 9pmish.
Another problem with training for this type of event: you become a social pariah. It was my housemate's birthday and a lovely bunch of around 15 friends had come over for a BBQ. It was really, really nice – I had a couple of beers, a tasty giant prawn and some salad and decided to head upstairs for a much-needed shower before rejoining the party...I woke up at 10am the next day. Yep, I'd passed out with exhaustion. Social pariah!
However, the benefits came the next day. I felt groggy from a long day, but otherwise not too bad at all. Feet felt fine, no real aches...my attitude towards the desert hike portion of the challenge was even a lot more positive.
The team met up again at 3pm for kayaking and we went much further than we usually manage and all felt much stronger, I think. Finally, it felt like we were getting somewhere...result!
So...less than a week till the start of the Abu Dhabi Adventure Challenge 2009 and my feelings are extremely mixed. I'm actually less positive and more worried than I was a few weeks ago but, on the other hand, I think that was borne out of pure naivety; I now think I have a good idea of what's involved and what it will take to finish it.
It's going to be by far and away the hardest thing I've ever done – the toughest six days of my life – a mental and physical test of my body and my character.
Bring it on! Can't wait for my first weekwnd off and next night out..!
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