Pole, Pedal, Paddle
This past weekend the 40th annual Pole, Pedal, Paddle (PPP) event was held in Bend, Oregon. This was the first time I had attended.
The PPP
The PPP is a race that can be done individually, with teams or pairs. It starts at Mt. Bachelor where you either downhill or snowboard to the Nordic skiing site. At the end of the downhill, you either handoff to a team mate or do an 8K cross country ski, then handoff or bike 22 miles down Mt. Bachelor where you handoff or run 5 miles to the kayak, canoe or paddle board site. You
handoff or paddle 1.5 miles on the Deschutes river, then handoff or sprint a half a mile to the finish line.
There were some amazing athletes that either worked in teams or individually. There were also families and seniors who participated either competitively or just to say they made it to the finish line. There was a Mini PPP for the kids, too. Adults and children had team names and it was common to see adults and kids in tutus, dressed as Merlin, unicorns or Superman/Supergirl. They were creative, and it was tons of fun!
So much fun in fact, the klutzy athlete will be participating on a team next year, and she will be take on the 5 mile run and the half mile sprint—something she has never done before, but will have a year to prepare.
Training
This morning I ran a mile without falling and logged in an impressive 15 minute mile! I may not be fast, but I will cross the finish line. My goal in the next year is to reduce that time, and I will post my progress here.
I’m looking at some online sites for a training schedule and consulting with some experts. Here are a few links I’ve found online for newbies runners like me:
Since I have a year to train for the PPP, I’ll be experimenting with my training schedule to find one that works best for me as I still want to get my 2-3 mountain biking days in when the weather permits. Another factor I need to think about is what I should be feeding my body, and I’ll be discussing that in future blogs as well as share links for food and recipes.
New Challenge
I excited about my new exercise challenge, and I really hope to improve on that 15 minute mile before the 2017 PPP.
Do you have an exercise challenge you’ve been wanting undertake?