After last weeks little pity party, I decided to dig a little deeper into what should be expected of me in my training around this time.  I searched some data that my team captain sent and found a training program aimed for those beginners who want to train for a marathon.  Now one great thing about this blog is that so many people have taken the time to put in their very welcomed two cents into how I should be approaching this race, so I haven’t been left wanting for advice.

One of my fellow racers in the Wicked AR series (based in Portland, Oregon) said that I should find the time to spend as much time on my feet as I can.  He told me that I should be looking into specific training for a marathon length race and so I did just that.  Kim Dunkin (team captain) had sent me a plethora of information when she told me I was going to race and I have to admit…I never looked at it.  I know, I know…I have been sitting here all this time wondering (read whining) where I should be in my training and all this time it has been gathering dust one megabyte at a time.  One good thing is that I still have time; it is a 16 week training program.  So far, so good.

Next I looked into some other info that my paddling goddess, Caroline Brosius, sent me eons ago and, you guessed it, it has been gathering dust too.  Sorry Caroline maybe that is why I haven’t been sending you progress reports.  I haven’t made any.  She told me that since I don’t have a boat to paddle during my work travels, that I should be finding the girlie weights (her words) by putting in some time with multiple reps and sets to get my little muscles better acclimated with my big muscles as a means of mimicking an efficient paddling stroke.  Pretty ingenious, huh?

Last but not least, I re-read some emails from the woman I asked to guide my training, Melissa Coombes.  She has a very similar hectic schedule as I do cause she is truly a triple threat; beautiful, intelligent, and can kick my butt.  If I get this right, she trains helicopter pilots for the military, or something crazy like that.  I thought my job was insane, but Mel flies helicopters.  Last I checked, a helicopter is defined as 10,000 moving parts trying to get away from each other at the same time.  I would have to say she has me beat (hence the triple threat).  She said that for her own training, she was going to focus on doing something productive every day.  She was going to condition her body to race for long periods of time, by spending long periods of time training.  To me, that just sounds like it makes sense.  I may not like it, but it makes sense.

Now I am sure you have noticed by now that I have three women guiding me into the abyss that is PQ.  I just want you to know that that comes as no accident.  See, I admire the women who choose to compete in adventure racing.  I have seen how they have struggled, fought, cried, laughed, and motivated their teams.  Honestly, they just seem to have more fun doing it.  They combine a sensibility and finesse to something that is brutal and painful.  I have seen more heart coming from the X chromosome more often than I can recall.

In the 90′s I wanted to be “Just like Mike”.  In 2009 for Primal Quest I want to be just like Melissa, Caroline, and Kim.  I am still going to wear the “skirt” but with a lot more facial hair.

Todd Phillips
quest4pq@gmail.com

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 at 10:30 am and is filed under Primal Quest, Todd Phillips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.