We had a blast in the 2009 Metro Trek Adventure Race, which had us trekking, cycling, paddling, climbing, and orienteering around Kalamazoo for 50 miles in 9 hours and 18 minutes. We took 3rd place immediately after the race but the official results have us at 4th. I’ve never been good at math, so I’ll just go with 3rd.

Click here for our route.

Oh boy. Just over 6 hours and almost 33 miles of trekking, mountain biking, kayaking, and orienteering through the dunes and woods of Muskegon State Park.

There were five of us, two teams of two and me going solo, and as a whole we missed 2nd place in the solo division by a few minutes. We could look back at a dozen decisions that may have made up the time, but the bottom line is this: faster is better.

Because our speed endurance is lacking, we have a very small margin of error in our decision making. One wrong turn can mean we don’t finish on time, and while we learn something new every time we complete a race, it’s impossible to guarantee we won’t make a wrong decision in the next one.

On the other hand, it is possible to guarantee we can run and bike and paddle for 6 hours (unless we get eaten by raccoons or twist an ankle).

The only problem: I loathe running. When I played sports in high school, running was punishment. I started looking for a training method that will increase my running endurance without actually running, but I know better.

To write better, write.

To get stronger, lift.

To run better, run.

Zoom!