Gear-ing Up

Holy Moly…

In the past four days, I was a Radical Democrat in ancient Athens, trying to rebuild a legal system after the Peloponesian war; a judge presiding over the trial of Socrates; an Indian Village Leader in 1945, as the British were granting independence; and just briefly, an aid to Margaret Sanger, as she worked to spread the gospel of birth control in early 20th century Greenwich Village.

And in the midst of it all, I also spent a few hours celebrating with my family at my cousin’s wedding on the banks of the East River in Manhattan.

What a weekend!

Have I mentioned that this was the greatest academic conference ever?

We got back to Philly last night, and after momentarily panicking at the amount of stuff that needs to get done before we leave for CR in a week and a half (a week and a half!!), I sat down and made a list and discovered we’re actually in pretty good shape.

Adventure racing is one of the most gear-heavy sports around, and as I’m now learning, international racing brings with it its own share of complexities and complications.

But thanks to some very generous pro-deal sponsors, we’re all outfitted with Werner carbon kayaking paddles, Black Diamond trekking poles, Railriders clothing, Dinotte bike lights, and Kenda tires.

      

Testing out our new Railriders shirts and pants during recent adventures

A couple weeks ago, I also won a gift certificate to Running Warehouse from Coy over at First in Philly, and the timing was perfect (thanks, Coy!).

During long adventure races, you have to be prepared for the possibility of some serious feet-swelling on the later days, and I’d forgotten to get a pair of bigger running shoes.  With Coy’s gift certificate, I ordered the Saucony ProGrid Peregrines, size 8.5.  They came in the mail over the weekend, and I’ll be rocking them religiously over the next couple weeks in preparation for race day(s).

We’ve still got a few things to check off the list – some extra cushiony socks (I like the low ones, the boys prefer ankle coverers), the requisite safety vests to wear while we’re biking alongside crazy Costa Rican drivers, food/water purification/bug spray/sunblock, and hopefully a small lightweight waterproof camera that we can carry along to document the adventure – but all in all, we’re nearly there.

Craziness abounds…