I have fallen off the wagon and wreaked my right ankle in the process.

So the story goes: left Moscow where I had my laptop stolen, got back to Portland, OR after being a day late for my flight,  and had to lay my motorbike down to avoid something worse.  I have always figured that bad things in life come in three’s and so I should be done for a while.

Had to wait two weeks for the kaleidescope of symptoms to pass in order for an x-ray to be useful.  A little prodding by my friends and my mother had me finally going to the doctor who was kind enough to give me a month off of the foot, saying that the x-rays show no break but I most likely had a very bad combination of ligament and tendon damage that is going to take some time.  I told him that I would give it two weeks and I had to get back to training.  He said he would then see me again in two weeks.  Funny doc, real funny.

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Primal Quest Montana Presented by SPOT will soon begin airing in 35 countries worldwide on the VOOM Network. In the meantime, you can take a sneak peek at all four of these amazing episodes by clicking here.

Primal Quest 2008 was filmed, edited, and produced by the most experienced adventure sports television production crew of all time, and the quality is revealed in these episodes. The PQ management team is still negotiating with several broadcast partners in the United States, and we will be making an announcement soon about US and international scheduling.

Additionally, this spring you’ll be able to take “The World’s Most Challenging Human Endurance Competition” home when the entire television series is released on DVD.

Enjoy the preview videos and prepare to return to Big Sky Country with the full episodes soon!

What do you get when you put four of the finest endurance athletes from St. Maartin, a tiny island in the Caribbean, on the same team; four racers from very diverse backgrounds, one American, one Argentinean, one British, and one Dutch? You get the St. Maartin Adventure Racing Team, or SMART for short – a tough, determined group of racers that have their sights set on Primal Quest Badlands presented by SPOT.

The team consists of Terry DeWitt (aka Dash), Juan Pablo Piscione (aka Giampo), Michael Bacon (aka Bacon), and Jan Willem Frederik (aka Frits).  Before joining forces, this foursome was already quite familiar with one another, as they have competed in marathons, Ironman triathlons, mountain biking races and other athletic events for years. But since they formed together as a team, they have dominated the inter-island, adventure racing scene on St. Maartin.

Looking for bigger challenges, and wanting to test themselves against the best teams in the world, SMART has begun preparing for the rigors of the Badlands.  Confident in their abilities with the core disciplines of adventure racing, they have been focusing on maintaining and improving their conditioning. Off-island clinics in orienteering and climbing have helped the team to hone those skills as well, while a schedule of shorter races will allow them to put everything into practice before heading to South Dakota in August.

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Check out the March/April issue of Bare Essentials to read two excellent features on Robyn Benincasa and  PQ09 Team MAAR.  A subscription to this on-line fitness magazine for women AND men is so worth it!  Here’s a message from our media partner, Inga…

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Erik Weihenmayer and Chad Jukes have completed one of the most challenging ice climbs in North America, the 360 foot tall Bridal Veil Falls in Colorado. The route is a tough climb for any experienced ice climber, but it presented even more challenges to these two athletes who had to overcome their own persona disabilities along the way. Weihenmayer climbs with no sight and Jukes is an amputee, having lost his right leg below the knee.

Craig Stein, who did an amazing job covering Primal Quest Montana last summer, has written an excellent article on the climb. Here is an excerpt from that story:

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You never know where Primal Quest, or any one of the amazing athletes who compete in the race, will turn up in the news. Take this story for instance over at the Osteoarthritis blog at About.com.  The article is an interview with Robyn Benincasa, from Team Merrell Zanfel, who underwent Birmingham Hip Resurfacing surgery in 2007, which has allowed her to continue her very active and competitive life.

In the interview, Robyn discusses her extensive accomplishments in the sport of adventure racing and explains AR to an audience that is unfamiliar with events such as Primal Quest. She also talks about her active pursuits and career as a fire fighter in San Diego, before discussing the injury that led to the surgery, and how she has bounced back since.

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