Last month I had the opportunity to talk in front of an incredible audience made up of mostly women and a few brave awesome men. I put together a slide show along with a few short movies and talked at length about why Adventure Racing was the the best sport in the world, and why women, especially mothers absolutely rock at it.
Why?! Well I’m glad you asked.
First, any one can train for it as the training can be done creatively and can adapt to anyone’s lifestyle. For example, you can only workout at night? Running and biking at night with lights is great training! You have kids and they have to come along or your workouts have to be short? Towing kids is great training and short, high intensity training is also great for adventure racing.
A favorite one liner that comes up in our family at least a few times a day is “well, at least it’s good adventure race training.” Adventure Racing is all about going into the unknown and figuring it out as you go. So when situations arise in both life and in racing (as they day every day), rather than get frustrated, you can start thinking about it all as training!
As I said before, one population in particular that are amazing at this are MOTHERS. Throughout my lifetime, starting with my own mother I have always been super inspired and in awe at everything they tackle on a regular basis. From kid melt downs, to navigating relationships of all kinds, to doing their own self care, to working, to making a home for their families to much much more- mothers are super heroes. Ever since learning the piano (“every good boy deserves fudge” anyone!? ), I have loved acronyms. They help me remember things and take me back to my childhood. So I made up the below one to help me remember how bad ass we all are.
Multitaskers
Observant
Team players
Highly communicative
Empathetic
Resilient
Strong
On a regular day in our house I get up and do my morning meditation and stretches, pack the days food while making breakfast, entertaining boys and feeding myself. Through the day I manage the boys activities, train, work, play and do lessons with the boys, plan family adventures and training missions with my husband and even carve out some self care time. We are doers, thinkers, communicators and we care. And while we do sometimes get overwhelmed and make mistakes, we also admit to these feelings and ask for help when we need it. This and more IS what adventure racing is all about!
In adventure racing, teammates break down, we turn into toddlers, we get hangry and we make many mistakes. Adventure racing is not all about being strong 100 percent of the time both mentally and physically. There is ALOT going on and so many roles to play in AR, that is what makes it so interesting, fun and ready for anyone to join in. It is a sport where success is based on how well you communicate, how well you listen, how well you work together and how well you adapt to what is in front of you.
I could go on an on about how awesome adventure racing and us mothers are, but honestly I have to start getting the house up and ready to go skiing. So I will leave you with this: ever since becoming a mother my training, recovery and work balance have all gotten better. Bit by bit I have learned to cut out the crap that is not serving me anymore. People say it comes with age, but I also think it comes from caring for tiny humans. So if you are looking for a place to flex all of your super powers, let me know, I’d be happy to help you sign up for your first adventure race. And don’t say you have not been training. Life is training!
As a little bonus, I added a list of some of my favorite “mothering hard” gear pieces and life lines that have helped me stay sane along with codes for some of them. Let me know if you end up using any of the below!
Oura Ring: I tend to be an “over trainer” so getting this ring has been huge in helping me not do too much. It tracks my sleep and tells me my readiness every morning. It detected that I had the flu before I did. Basically it helps you become more intune with your body.
Skin Doctor: (Use BendRacing at checkout!) This stuff is magic. I use it every morning and night on my hands and feet. I use it on my boys raw noses after days of blowing them and I use it on every cut that any of us get. In races, it is always readily available and is an amazing preventative for blisters and chafing.
Mission Farms CBD: (Use code BendRacing20) For the everyday aches and pains that comes from training hard and mothering hard, their gel is amazing and super fast acting. In addition to this, I use their CBD gummys at night. It helps me fall asleep and get a great night of sleep.
Spring Energy: As a mother and an athlete, I have to keep my calorie intake high and healthy. Spring energy is made from ALL real food and it tastes really good. I often forget to eat before training, but thanks to Spring, I have been able to keep my training hard and fun because I am well fueled.
Lairds Superfood: I love their protein powder and creamer. In our house we use it every single day. It has amazing ingredients and I feel super good on it.
Garmin watch: I wear their Enduro, it is huge but I love it. I train by HR and this helps me so much.
Coach Magness – Ever since getting my husband as my coach, it has been huge! I love not guessing at my training. Instead I have someone who knows my lifestyle and knows exactly what I need.
Acupuncture! – Recovery has been a huge part of my life lately. For both my physical and emotional body, I go to Aqua Terra Health. Dr Brooke and Dr. Nikki have been absolutely amazing in helping with my recovery.
Bronwen Jewelry: I love having a bit of sparkle on my while going hard. I especially love jewelry that grounds me, keeps me calm and connects me to Spirit B. Her necklace “with Spirit” does that for me. I am so grateful for it!