da (singapore based) buonerbas' wild day out

So today we did our first race together. It was the NTU Adventure Trail Challenge and I somehow thought it would be a good idea. Hah. I had watched Kale do all these adventure races and they looked so cool and fun that I wanted to try one out.. and I figured it would be cool for us to do one together. So Kale spied this one online and it looked manageable (i.e. within my fitness (in)ability *ahem*) so I went out on a limb and gave him the ok to sign up for it.

It was pouring this morning as we drove over to the start point at Macritchie Reservoir. The race officials (a bunch of college students) assured us that the race would still go on. I didn't know whether to be happy or sad at this juncture! My mom and sis came by to cheer us on after grabbing some prata for breakfast.

The race kicked off at 9:30 and by then it was all sunny. It started off with a 5km(or so) run to Bukit Timah. As Kale will tell you, running is NOT one of my strong points. Actually anything athletic is probably not one of my strong points but I digress. So we ended up half jogging, half walking our way to the first checkpoint which was a 7 storey high watchtower. Or at least I think it was 7 storeys. My mind is blocking the traumatic parts out. Haha. A couple more km and we were at the bike pick-up point.

Kale was a sweetheart and actually pushed me along at some parts of the road.. I was just so pooped that I was going reeeallllyyy slowly up some of the uphill sections. I could see the girls in the other teams looking enviously at the assistance I was getting from my lovely husband.

We got to the actual mountain bike trail.. and this is where the fun begins. Today was the FIRST EVER time I've been on a real mtb trail. My lovely mountain bike has ever since only seen roads. Today was a big day for my bike. It got its virgin coat of mud and dirt. =)

I can see how mountain biking can be addictive. It was actually really fun. I'm sure that the fact that I had a decent bike definitely helped but I was actually going up and down slopes that I honestly never thought I would be able to. It sorta helped that Kale went first so all I had to do was follow his wheel. He even told me where the steep portions were so I could get off and push. He was a lifesaver.. he would go up the slopes, drop his bike off and then come back down and help push my bike up the steeper portions. He carried my bike when I couldn't, plied me with food when I was waning, waited for me to catch my breath and was ever so patient with my whining.

All in all, the mountain bike portion went a whole lot better than I expected for a first time. You tend to forget the dirt after the first couple of minutes, and except for a minor spill (which happened on a smooth, flat part, it figures!), I came out relatively unscathed, and feeling rather accomplished. I was telling Kale that I could really get to like it cos unlike road biking, it's a series of small individual triumphs when you either make it up or down a slope. Neat.

Anyhow, a bit more "assistance" from Kale later, we made it back to the bike drop-off and then proceeded for the longest walk of my life. It took us about 1.5 hours. I'm sure it wasn't really that far, but I was running on empty. Kale tried to get me to jog but after bouncing up and down for at most 50m at a time, I'd give up and get back to walking. Kale did well to keep me going cos there were a couple of times when I just wanted to give up. But I have to say he knows his wife well and bribed me with promises of chicken rice and buffet dinners if I finished. haha.

The walk was really quite cool and scenic (a first for me in Singapore). I told Kale that I've lived most of my life here but it took my American husband to bring me to Macritchie. Hah.

We FINALLY made it to the kayak checkpoint and did a short kayak course. I was actually looking forward to this checkpoint. I was sick of walking and figured kayaking would be easy. Hah, I was soooo wrong!! My left arm started aching and since we were making a bunch of right turns, I was seriously no help to Kale on the turns. We made it out without much incident (i.e. yours truly didn't spaz out and cause the kayak to capsize or anything..) and then proceeded for the last checkpoint - the Abseil! woo hoo!

Walked out to the nearby fire station where they had us rappell off the 4th or 5th storey (again, my mind has blocked that part out). It was actually more nerve-wrecking than I had thought. I got up there and suddenly I wasn't so gungho about it. But, the guys up there were nice and reassuring and I made it down, again, without much incident. Phew.

So anyhow, now I'm really hurting. My back hurts, my right hip is locked up and I'm limping. I'm so pathetic. Hah. Contemplating taking the morning off tomorrow so I don't have to limp into work!

Dave and Lisa, you should so come out here and do one of these things.. you'd totally kick everyone else's butts! I know Kale's still itching to do one with Dave..

Time for bed. Pooped and achy. Bed looks really good right now. I just wanted to thank my lovely husband for being such an awesome partner.. for being patient and for pulling more than his weight..and for not letting me give up when I thought I couldn't go on. Thanks for letting me have this experience..and for sacrificing a race that you could probably have done really well in just so your wife could get a chance to try it out. Thanks hon!