Excellent sport science blog

I've just been introduced to a fantastic blog, The Science of Sport. If you're interested in the scientific elements of physiology, then you'll get a kick from the well written and researched posts by Jonathan Dugas and Ross Tucker.

They completed their Ph.D.'s in 2006 in the Exercise Science and Sports Medicine Research Unit at the University of Cape Town and their blog was born in April 2007. They write predominantly on running and cycling but also cover universal physiological elements.

You'll find their blog at: scienceofsport.blogspot.com

P.S. Darrell, thanks for sending me the link. Now my mission is to read everything they've written in the past year!

Mike Horn: my dream date

It's no secret that I'm Mike Horn's biggest fan; his adventures are huge and challenging and he is an exceptional navigator. I'm busy reading his new book "Conquering the Impossible: My 12,000-Mile Journey Around the Arctic Circle" (available online from http://www.loot.co.za/). It's about Mike's ARKTOS expedition (2002-2004), which I fervently followed through his regular email updates.

Although the writing style of the book takes a bit to get used to (not as flowing and fluid as Ranulph Fiennes), Mike's tale is captivating. This is a must-read collectable.

Following from ARKTOS, which he completed in October 2004, Mike has done two other expeditions.

In January 2006 (Arctic winter) he set out with legendary Arctic explorer Borge Ousland to reach the North Pole during the Arctic winter; a time when the sun is nowhere to be seen for months. It took them 2-months (60-days) and logged the pair as the first men ever to arrive at the Pole unaided and in the Arctic winter.

In October 2007 Mike Horn and 3 climbers (Jean Troillet, Olivier Roduit and Fred Roux) set off on a "4 Men, 4 Summits" expedition where they planned to ascend 4 x 8'000-er Himalayan mountains* without supplementary oxygen.


* Gasherbrum II (8068m), Gasherbrum I (8035m), Broad Peak (8048m) and K2 (8611m)

They spent two months in Pakistan and summitted both Gasherbrum peaks but were turned back from completing the expedition by heavy snow, high winds and the approach of winter.

Mike's next adventure starts this year: the circumnavigation of the World. The expedition is titled "Mike Horn's Global Expedition" or "Pangea" (on another part of his website).

This will be done without any motor-powered transport, over the North Pole and South Pole, crossing the seven continents, passing numerous islands and sailing across several oceans.
The expedition will be divided into seven stages. Each stage will represent one of the seven continents (Africa, Europe, North America, South America, Australasia, Asia and Antarctica). Transport/disciplines include sailing, walking, canoeing, kayaking, kite surfing, walking under water, skiing and any animal locomotion i.e. horses, camels etc. where available and necessary. The expedition is tied into global environmental awareness elements.

Mike's website is http://www.mikehorn.com/. The site is currently quite scrappy but is seems to be scheduled for revamp to support coverage of his new expedition. You can sign up on the site for Mike's newsletter.

Dream Date
If Vin Diesel isn't available to read me a story, I'd bag a date with Mike Horn to hear his stories of the Arctic winter, the open Alaskan expanse and what it is like to walk on water (the Arctic ocean). I'd definitely ask him to teach me how to build an igloo. In return I'd love to take him on an AR; and I'd even relenquish my hold on the maps 'cos this guy has travelled in the Polar night (twice) and he didn't get lost...

Craving cupcakes

I've always enjoyed baking - cakes and breads being my speciality. I've even successfully made batches of cookies, although they are more work. I used to bake cakes every weekend for my mother's ceramics group or occasional tea-time treats for neighbours.

When I haven't baked for many months I get this overwhelming need to bake for people. It's no fun baking for myself.

So, I decided to do the cupcake thing; I really like doing cupcakes because icing each one individually is fun - albeit time consuming - and each cupcake recipient gets their own personalise mini-cake.

This was the first batch I made (photo opposite). A few days later I made another 18 to take into work for my once-a-week Thursday meeting there, which fell on Valentines Day. They were chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and pink hearts.

Two days later I made another 2 batches of some 48 cupcakes to take to the Valentines Nite Race for our Adventure Racing Club runners. These were vanilla cupcakes with either pink, white or pale purple icing with hearts and stars piped in various icing shades. It was such good fun they looked fabulous (I forgot to take a photo!) and they were devoured.

My craving to create cupcakes has been satiated; for a while anyway.

Support crew, we need you

I chatted to a chap yesterday, whose team withdrew at the last minute from the UGE 150/220 when their support crew person's dad had an emergency medical situation that prevented them from assisting the team. After weeks of preparation and excited anticipation, he described the experience of withdrawing at the 11th hour as "quasi-traumatic. It's still a taboo topic". The fact is, without support crew, adventure racers cannot race.

There were a lot of emails going out pre-race with teams looking for support crew or even just requesting drivers to move their vehicles from one transition to another. Teams were prepared to support themselves just to be there. My mom asked, "Don't they have parents and friends who will help?"

And this is exactly it... Racers, you'll nod in agreement when I say that it is incredibly difficult to find eager, reliable support crew. How many of you have been left in the lurch when a "friend" calls two days before you're due to depart to say that they have a sore throat? Partners and spouses sometimes volunteer and you'll spot the odd parent in the transition area. But for the most part, nailing down a friend or family member is like going out frog catching with baby oil on your hands.

If AR was like athletics, your supporters could gather in the stands. If it was cricket, they'd watch from the lawns and if it was cycling, they'd wait at the finish. In these sports supporters are appreciated; but in AR supporters are NEEDED and APPRECIATED.

Whether you sell it to your friends and relations as a weekend away or an opportunity to explore incredible regions of our country, what it really boils down to is an opportunity for your friends, partners and parents to show their support of your participation AND their support of you.

You can show your appreciation by making the supporting experience pleasant:

• cover all their expenses and include nice munchies in the food crates
• make sure you have proper seconding equipment: tables, gas stoves, flasks, good lighting, cooler boxes, water containers, washing up stuff
• provide a decent support vehicle - make sure you have a spare tyre, jack, tow-rope, jumper leads - and bike/boat transportation system
• leave the transition areas tidy when you leave; re-pack your race crates, follow their instructions, eat all your food and don't leave smelly socks lying around. No need to be a piggy - they're not there to clean up after you
• say thank you and never grouch
• offer to mow their lawn, clean their pool or babysit children for a month after the race

I don't have a solution to the support crew shortage but I do question why there are so many "friends" out there who won't give their adventure racing friends their support?