Training for SeaWheeze: Chris’ second entry

Returning once again as the official water supplier of Vancouver’s SeaWheeze Half Marathon, members of the Whistler Water team are training for this year’s big event.  Below is the second entry from Chris:

The day of the adventure race is here. Kristen is brimming with excitement. I exude an air of nonchalance – I have done this before. We have trained for it, no surprises. Our team of eight had dwindled down to four. This is for the best – this race is not for the faint of heart. However, what we came up against we could not have trained for.

Sixteen degrees and scattered thundershowers was the forecast. Apart from the forecasted potential rain, it was perfect running weather. Six kilometres into the 17.6 kilometres, potential became torrential as the wind picked up and the temperature dipped down to nine degrees.

The only way to stave off hypothermia was to run, to always be on the move. Thank God we were good at that. However, this became impossible as we approached half hour-long wait times at nearly every obstacle. We had no choice but to power through, huddled together for warmth.

There were so many reflective silver blankets being handed out it looked as though Whistler was going to be able to run on solar power when the sun did come back out.

“This feels like when we started running in February, only now I am just wearing a tank top,” Kristen said as she shivered waiting to progress over a wall.

“Yeah, but can you imagine pushing Blake in our jogging stroller in this?” I said with a laugh to keep up morale.

Once we finished an obstacle it was back to keeping our feet moving. Kristen noticed a lot of looks of disbelief as we trudged on by our fellow racers. She especially enjoyed when it was from the hulking gym rats twice her size.

This is what we trained for – to run. The obstacles were the fun part. It was clear we would be ready to tackle almost anything after this ordeal.

When all was said and done, I could not have been more proud of me team, especially my Auntie Karen, whose age will not be disclosed. After downing our well-deserved beers, donning our bright brand new headbands and finally coming back down to reality, Kristen was the first to pipe up: “Well, I am definitely doing that again next year.”