Discussion: Nice Post-Race Note from Bossy Goat

Bob and I enjoyed this post-race message from Christine Kavish, aka Bossy Goat:

"Good Morning!

It's 9:15am the day after the race and I'm hoping the two of you are sleeping because you certainly deserve it, but amazingly I'm awake and functioning, somewhat. I'm feeling a bit hung-over…is that normal?

So I have a few Adventure Races under my belt now and I think I've graduated from rookie to novice but in the grand scheme of things when you're a novice you still know nothing. The only real difference between being a novice over a rookie is that you're just starting to realize exactly how little you know. I suppose "humble" would be an appropriate description.

I think I speak for the entire Mountain Goat Team when I say we had a great week-end and we're proud of our accomplishments.

Bob probably doesn't even remember saying this, but at some point last year I overheard him say that some of the best training for Adventure racing is to be a volunteer. Maybe he was just fishing for volunteers, but Dennis (Gear Goat) & I did volunteer at a race earlier in the summer and Bob was right…it was an awesome experience and we learned so much. Pentathalon des neiges was at that race and it was amazing to see first hand how the teams at the front make their way through these courses.

So speaking from the back of the pack here are some of my thoughts and things I'm particularly proud of after this years race:

I overheard one of the top teams say that they were lost & frustrated at one point on the course, so they just stopped and slept for a few hours to wait for daylight and yet they still finished about 10 hours ahead of us…I am continually in awe at how fast the athlete's ahead of me can move but I'm proud of the fact that although we may be slow, we just kept moving, even in the dark. We were off course a few times, got a little confused on occasion but I don't think we were ever truly lost.

I also overheard another team express some concern about that first trek and how they couldn't imagine doing it in the dark. I understand now why they all ran so fast in the beginning so they didn't get caught in the dark in that section…but it wasn't so bad, I think we handled it pretty well.

Another team mentioned that the swim across the Severn was scary enough during the day they couldn't imagine doing it in the dark…well we swam it I think it was around 4am…and it wasn't so bad…no boats and the water was pleasantly warm.

The biggest thing I learned volunteering at that other race (untamed new england) and what really made a difference in my race this year had nothing to do with skill or training or navigation it was all about attitude. For me it wasn't really a race, it was just another training day out in the woods with my team mates, no worries, no fears…just out in the wilderness having experiences and facing challenges and overcoming them. Just keep moving forward.

So what a great day (and night) travelling for 28hours pretty much none stop and covering around 100kms…how many people can say they did that this week-end?

Woohoo! Go Goats!!

Maybe next year these will be notes from the middle of the pack.

Thanks again for creating this challenge for us and best of luck to Bob and his team in the up-coming World Championships in France.

As well I'd like to say the same to the members of Pentathalon as they head to the Championships as well.

See you all next year and happy training!!

Christine
Better known as Bossy Goat."