Paddle faster and it will be over quicker

Jacinta is cruel... I thought she was a nice, humble, HONEST, Canadian but nooo....

The start of the last leg of the race is perfect. Laurel is still sick as a dog but she manages once again to keep us upright on the start. We have the best start of the race and end up at the front of the pack for the first time. I see the Belizian women to our right and then focus on the smooth water ahead. All we need to do is paddle. Like Jacinta says.. it is just another Saturday practice with Art. 

This turns out to be the hardest day of all. I am definitely dehydrated. Laurel is obviously sick and doing the best she can keeping it together. Jacinta is doing a great job keeping us motivated and focused. I think we are doing well, paddling strong despite our difficulties until Jacinta informs us that the Belizians are ahead of us. I can't believe it! How did they get up there. We had such a great start and I saw them to the right of us... I am in disbelief but as long as I have known Jacinta she has always been right about everything. I do not have my glasses on so everything ahead of me looks like a blur. We take her word for it and start paddling like we did the days before... knocking boats down one at a time. 

I set my sights on what I think is the Belizian crew. We catch up to one pack and I realize it is not them. I ask back which one is the girls. Jacinta says she can't see them anymore and my heart sinks... How did they get that far in front of us. Now the race strategy changes. Instead of going steady and maintaining our lead we need to sprint to secure our time. There is no way we can catch up to them now so we need to make up time. 

The weather is in our favor as it begins to downpour. The rain is so heavy that Laurel needs to keep bailing to keep us steady and afloat. Every time she stops to steer or bail the paddling becomes grueling. My neck is worse than ever. We are facing a head wind and we can't seem to catch up to the Belizian women no matter how hard we paddle. In the middle of the downpour see a crowd of spectators on far right of the river. We are struggling but in the distance I hear "IMUA".. I know Andre is there. In fact I know where Andre has been because every now and then we hear - "that's the Hawaiian" from the shoreline. 

We start getting our groove back and begin gaining on more canoes. At this point we are paddling with the same group of paddlers as we did the previous days - teams like Grumpy Old Men, Junkanu, the guys in the black shirts.. they are our friends. They start in front of us, we catch up, and then pass them somewhere during the race. The same thing happens on the last day. Again we think we are doing OK though we are concerned at how well the Belizians are doing. I see 2 crocodiles off to the left and remember that this is croc country. Their tail whips create big splashes in the river. We stay to the right and follow the path of the other canoes in hope that we don't accidentally hit a "live" log. 

We get closer to civilization which is a good sign. Belize city is close. We have about an hour left in the race and we are feeling pretty good despite the circumstances. I have learned to call out obstructions better... like log to the left... branch straight ahead... canoe down. We approach a dock area that has no wake buoys sticking out of the water. They are bright orange. I call them out ahead of time and Laurel acknowledges that she sees them. We clear one but then make a straight line towards the second. I yell "buoy straight ahead" and again she says that she sees it. In an outrigger you would simply kahi if something was in your way. In the Maaga Ting you don't move unless your steersman tells you to. As we approach the buoy it becomes clear that Laurel does not see the buoy straight ahed and I quickly kahi to the right and have time to push the buoy the my left hand. Then Newton's law takes over and the buoy comes back to whack the back of the canoe... and then... slowly...we huli again. This time we have a crowd to watch us flounder in the water. My heart sinks again because now we are not only behind the women but are floating in the water and losing precious minutes as the pack we passed an hour before floats by us (again).

The rescue boat appears in no time and gets us upright much quicker than before. We ask how much longer we have and they inform us we have 15 minutes until the channel. By our calculations the finish is an hour away... 15 minutes to the channel, 30 minutes in the channel, and 15 minutes to the bridge. We can do anything for an hour and now we have to sprint. 

Since we lost our positioning we are once again behind the Grumpy Old Men and Junkanu and the guys in the black jerseys. We manage to catch up to them but not pass them as we enter the stinky swampy channel. There is no passing in the channel as it is just wide enough for our canoes to glide through. There is also no bailing (huli) in the channel because it is gross and lined with crocodiles. We are lucky that we are behind the men. We ride their wake for a half hour and basically get a rest before the final sprint home. One canoe has hulied in the channel. We hear loud crackling on the banks which can only mean grumpy crocs. 

The channel widens and we are finally out of the muck. We begin our sprint as we have 15 minutes to go... We can do anything for 15 minutes. We take off and our friendly group of men cheer us on. We pass 3 canoes and chase down one more to the bridge. We are sprinting - just like the end of Molokai. We cross the bridge and I look for the women's canoe. I can't find them. Another paddler, Connie of team Bel-Can holds up her hands and waives a number to us. I cannot see if it is one or two... until we get closer. Then she clearly tells us that we won.... In fact the women were behind us the whole time!!! Jacinta was wrong.. VERY wrong. I am not sure wether to hug her or squeeze her neck. Andre tells us that we were about 8 minutes ahead of them AFTER the huli. Jacinta smiles and says "well, at least we finished sooner, it just hurts longer if you paddle slower".  It is a paddling truism and even though she is right I can't help but think we could have done without the added torture. 

Anyway, we survive but more importantly we are all still friends. I have a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for Laurel and Jacinta. I am honored they asked me to join them on this once in a lifetime adventure. They knew all along we could do it... more importantly that I could do it. As the clear rookie at adventure racing I learned a lot about myself and what a true team effort is. Our support crew (Kim, Andre, Joan Jennifer), our advisors (Bob an friends), our sponsors (Merrell, Da Life, Mion, Kaenon, Chaa Creek, Bear Mountain, Koop Geotechnical Services), and our well wishers all made this happen. Laurel's dream came true and thanks to her planning and determination we all had an adventure of a lifetime. I am not sure if I will do anything like this again but it is something I will treasure forever.... 

Mahalo,

Marleny 

Hold it together...

We eat our last meal of the race together at the Black Orchid Hotel in Burrell Boom. We try to eat something other than chicken, beans and rice (that has been our diet for a week). We have a great final dinner recapping the days events and strategizing about the last run. Basically we have a 15-18 minute lead on the Belizians so our plan is to stay out of the way of other canoes and not huli. 

We are joined by the Belizian women's crew and have a fun time talking about everything paddling - racing, training, events... We learn that they are part of a paddling legacy. Their whole family paddles. There are 8 kids in the family and most of their cousins and relatives are elite paddlers as well. Their brother is winning the men's division and their cousins are also in the top crews. The girls have not paddled outside Belize so Laurel starts to talk to them about other races in the U.S. and Canada. Apparently La Ruta Maya is the 3rd longest marathon canoe race. The longest is the Yukon River Race and the second is one in Texas. Both are pretty much straight shots.. no stops (except a 7 hours rest on the yukon). The Texas race is about 270 miles without stop -  that means no sleep!!! The more I hear about these races the more horrified I am that Laurel thinks this is "fun". I have never met anybody that loves anything as much as Laurel loves paddling. She has done the Yukon river race in 50 something hours. Now she is trying to recruit the Belizian women for the Texas River Run. And to my surprise they are game! I can't believe it! The thought of paddling 270 miles sounds FUN to them. In fact they begin to tell us that they have paddled the entire length of La Ruta Maya (170 miles) in one straight shot. I start thinking about crocodiles, tree stumps, rapids - in the dark... They are crazy! Then they begin to tell us that last week they did the last leg of the race and saw 7 crocodiles.... this is exactly the leg we are doing the next day.  Anyway, we leave the dinner certain that we (at least Laurel) will paddle with them again some day. I have an even more profound respect for the Belizian women and marathon paddlers in general. There is a whole lotta crazy going on... 

After dinner... and I mean right after dinner, Laurel decides she does not like what she ate and reintroduces to the world. She apparently does this all night and morning in preparation for the last day.. I too and still tossing my cookies and we both agree that we may have drunk to much river water on our huli 2 days earlier. 

Dehydrated and ill we get ready to paddle the next 3.5 hours. Laurel is truly suffering. Jacinta "the rock" Sheridan is holding everything together for us. The game plan is stay upright, paddle smooth and maintain our lead....oh and watch for those crocs!

Say no to drugs!

What long strange trip it has been. Day 3 is the weirdest. The night before we eat at our hotel/bed and breakfast called El Chiclero in Burrell Boom. A homemade dinner with lots of garlic. My neck is hurting so Joan, the owner of Bear Mountain Boat Shop works her magic and manages to contact a chiropractor/accupuncturist on saturday night. (side note) Joan and her daughter Jennifer are the people that designed and built the Maaga Ting. They are friends with the owners of Chaa Creek and live in Ontario Canada. They flew down to from Canada to support us on our journey and continue her work as an ambassador for the sport of canoeing. Joan is an amazing person and is clearly loved in Belize. We owe a lot of our success to her and Bob Vincent (Laurel will fill you in on the BOB blessings). 

Anyway, we manage to get a ride into Belize city on Saturday night for an 8pm appointment with Dr. Kim Lee... the chinese chiropractor. We are more than fortunate to have Tamela and Curtis, native Belizians, ride with us on our journey to the doctor. We learn a lot about Belize history, politics, culture, music and food. We learn that 24 hours in the penal system only means 12 hours so if you have a 2 day jail sentence you are out in a day...??? We get a tour of downtown and end up at the doctor. I get popped, twisted, poked and suction cupped back into working condition and we head back to Burell Boom Belizian style - windows down, music up and singing all the way. 

The next morning I wake up sick to my stomach. I try to drink water thinking I may be dehydrated. I immediately throw up the water. I try to eat cereal to keep something in my stomach which works.. for about a half hour. 

While unloading our canoe in Bermudian Landing I walk to the side of the road and hurl my breakfast in front of all the paddlers. I figure having the stroker (bowsman) throwing up on the side of the road will throw off the competition. Feeling better I drink some water and get ready for our 4.5 hour paddle. 

I don't remember much of the paddle. I know About 2 hours into it I take what I think is a muscle relaxer called Robuxasin (sp?). Laurel mentioned that the only way to REALLY get through such a grueling event is drugs... more specifically muscle relaxers. Anybody that knows me knows that I do not take any drugs..ever... so in the rare instances that I do take a drug it has a profound effect. My neck is starting to hurt again so I pop a little yellow pill in my mouth and continue to paddle. About 5 minutes later everything starts getting blurry. I can't really hear anything anymore and I have what can only be compared to as an out of body experience. I know I am paddling but I am not sure how. I see things in the river so I start calling out everything I see. This lasts for what I think is 45 minutes. At one point I think of telling Jacinta that something is really wrong with me but I can't muster the words. And then... just like that... I snap out of it. I yell "I'm Back" but I realize that it is completely out of context and my teammates have now idea what I am talking about. 

I continue paddling but I am puzzled why I was tripping out. Was I dehydrated, was I sick, was I tired? Regardless we finish about 12 minutes ahead of the Belizian women. I am still out of it and my neck is hurting more than ever. I stay by the canoe and decide to check my pill box. It turns out I accidentally took a vicadin not a muscle relaxer. I am/was literally stoned! It is the strangest morning ever. Even stranger is that after 4.5 hours of paddling we are no more than 12 minutes away by car from where we started. We stay at the same hotel for the last night of the race. Three and a half hours (30 miles) more to go!

Day 2 (oh the pain!)

Sleeping is hard to do when you know you have to paddle 8 hours straight the next day. Fortunately we are not camping. Many of the participants have pitched tents along the river banks amongst the wildlife and other creepy crawlies. We are in the lap of luxury (Belizian style) with beds and mosquito nets. 

Today my fear and anxiety is overwhelming. Yesterday was hard but today seems unimaginable. 8 hours of paddling with the ominous BIG FALLS rapids at hour 6. I have never run a true rapid or fall so I'm a bit nervous. Luckily we did not drive to view it as some have suggested because all I would do is dwell on the big boulder looming in the middle of the river. 

It is dark when we set up our canoes. We use headlamps to duck tape our food and water to the boat. We did not huli the day before but with Big Falls ahead everything has to be secure. The river is even tighter at the start line today. Our start is horrible as we struggle for 45 minutes to get out of everybody's way. We manage to stay upright but our competition has left us in their wake.

Amazingly I feel good. As Laurel and Jacinta say, 8 hours is no different than 6 hours. I take their advice with a grain of salt because I am convinced at this point that they are not human. They had "fun" the day before and were all smiles at the start. I "survived" the day before and had the fear of God in me at the start. Funny thing though... and I know paddlers can relate to this...once you are in the boat you forget about everything. You forget how much your butt hurts, how many blisters you have, how much you hate gels and goos.... Everything is in that moment and in that stroke. So.. they are right. Your body figures it out and it knows what to do. You get in the ZONE. So for five and a half hours I hear "It's you and me Marleny" "We can do this" "We're halfway there" "It's just like Saturday practice with Art". Which is right but I did the calculations in my head and I came to the conclusion that this adventure is one month's worth of Art's practices in 4 days - with the same intensity as race day. 

With the small rapids mostly behind us we use the flat water to our advantage. We are outrigger paddlers so we have a comparably longer smoother stroke than the Belizians. Neither technique is better or worse, they are just different. We start knocking boats off one after the other. Everybody that crowded us at the start is our next target. We determined early on the majority of the men's crews aren't too happy when they get "girlied" up. Some are nice and let us pass, some challenge and make us fight for our position. As soon as we pass we get back on our glide and focus on the next canoe. 

Marathon canoe paddling is a lot of strategy. We were about 2.5 minutes behind the Belizians after the first day. We pass 2 checkpoints already and each time the Belizians are ahead of us. Andre yells out the time difference between us and the Belizians and we know we are gaining - 40 seconds was the last count - right around the corner. Somewhere between checkpoint 2 and 3 we catch up to the girls. They do not want us to pass. They challenge us for about 20 minutes and then we win. We get back in our groove and paddle to shave off some time. We have 2.5 minutes to make up. About two and a half ours later we are feeling pretty good. We have caught, challenged and passed about 7 boats (all men). Knowing that we have our last safety check soon Laurel makes the mistake of saying out loud "won't the crowd be surprised when they see a new women's leader". Not 20 minutes later the river Gods humble us as we hit a submerged log and huli. 

All the canoes we challenged for the last 4 hours pass us in a matter of minutes. There is no beach, no shallow area, just mud and roots. I am not sure what to do as it is very different than outrigger paddling. We have to swim the boat to the "shore" turn the canoe downriver and figure out how to get in the canoe with no ground below us. Fortunately the safety boat is not too far behind and they help us out (but not before dunking us one more time). We watch as the Belizian women fly by us. I am frustrated, mad, and determined to get our position back. Two and a half hours to go... we can make up the time if we paddle our butts off. 

It turns out that the huli is a blessing in disguise. We cool off, regroup and are determined to regain the lead. In fact we manage to take the lead even before the 3rd check station - and yes our support crew is excited to see us in first place. 

The next challenge.. BIG FALLS. 

First off, Laurel is my HERO. As we approach the rapids (with crowds on the banks of the river to watch the carnage) Laurel says "look at the boulder". There is a HUGE rock in the middle of the river that I am supposed stare at. For the last 12 hours all everybody has been telling me is "look where you want to go, not want you are going to hit". Now Laurel is telling me to look straight at this gigantic, face breaking rock - she will do the rest. I can't close my eyes so I breathe in deep and paddle. Jacinta, as always, reminds me to "stay loose and paddle hard". We head straight for the rock.. I look forward and paddle as hard as I can. Big Falls is not one fall but a series of 3 rapids. Going through rapids is like doing an all out sprint start with water tossing you around everywhere. My breathing resembles a woman in labor and my heart is pounding. All I can do is listen to Laurel and do whatever she asks me to do. A few minutes later Big Falls is history. We slow the pace down to take a water break and catch our breath. Smooth sailing ahead as we paddle for time. We end our epic day almost 6 minutes ahead of our competition despite the swim in the river. The longest day is done and we survived. 2 more days to go. 

The First Day

90 something boats and the river is not much wider that the mouth of the Hule'ia next to Niumalu. We are told the most challenging part of the race can be the start. Staying upright is a challenge as there is no ama to rely on. Core strength, hard paddling and a good steersman is all you have to keep you upright. And when you huli (tip) you have to swim your canoe to the banks of the river no matter how far out you are. No mid channel self rescues on a canoe. To add to the excitement, the Maaga Ting is VERY TIPPY...fast but tippy. 

The first day we have to contend with hopeful paddlers, a fast shallow river and a low lying bridge which has to be crossed safely just to start the race. We practiced once with no one else in the river and it was challenging making it through the bridge pillars without hitting the canoe or getting swept up in the current. On the other side of the bridge is a small rapid which also requires masterful navigation.

Our strategy is to survive. The horn blows and it is a free for all. Even though there are different divisions (recreational, men's women's, mixed, masters) we all start at the same time. This alone presents dangers as recreational paddlers (literally families in pleasure boats going sightseeing) have a hard time steering their much bigger and heavier canoes. Everywhere we look canoes are tipping, smashing into one another as the bridge gets closer. We have to stop, back up, push canoes away, scream our way down the river. Amazingly we make it through. You will have to ask Laurel for the details because it was all a blur for me. 

Day one is hard... nothing really else to say. This part of the river has the most rapids so all the skill and technique falls on Laurel. I have never been on rapids so I am useless when it comes to front side steering. I am even having a hard time getting all the terminology down. Draw means kahi, not stop... we get wedged in a rock, hug some branches but all in all we fair pretty well. It is sunny and hot which makes an already long grueling day even tougher. The shade underneath the trees is a welcome rest from the beating sun. I feel like I am getting delirious. Two hours to go and I start having some doubts. What if I don't make it? Why am I doing this... and tomorrow is even longer... 

Then I start getting scared because i think Jacinta is reading my mind. I think "my back hurts" and Jacinta says "sit up and breath". I think " I can't do this" and Jacinta calls out "you can do this". I think I won't last another hour and Jacinta says "It's only an hour... you can do anything for an hour". So I give up... not on paddling but on the negative thoughts because (one) it is not helping and (two) Jacinta is freaking me out. Is she telepathic?... I knew she was observant but a mind reader?

So six hours go by. Bend after bend, tree after tree and then we are done. I try to get out of the canoe and my legs fail. Jacinta and Laurel are pumped up. We come in 2 minutes behind the Belizians which is really good considering this is their home turf. As Laurel told us the first 2 days is river knowledge the last to days is pure strength and determination. Supposedly we have the advantage on last two days but after 6 hours of paddling I am having my doubts... not about my teammates but about my strength and skill. That night I pray for strength, cool weather and our health. I ask Grampy for support as I know he is with us every moment. 

The next day, our prayers are answered. 

P.S. It is Laurel's birthday and I don't think there is any other way she would have wanted to spend her special day. The river is in her blood! Happy Birthday Laurel. 

The Pre Race

Well, surprisingly the internet access along the race route was close to non existent. Our jungle inns lacked many amenities so wi-fi was not on top of the priority list. This post will sum up the last four days.

Pre-Race Meeting

The first thing I notice when we register is that La Ruta Maya River Race is for Belizians by Belizians. It is certainly an international race with international paddlers but the majority of participants are Belizian - which is how it should be. It is our first introduction into the Belizian paddling culture. Like Hawaiians, Belizians love the water, love to paddle, and love to share their culture with those lucky enough to spend time with them. Oh - and they are VERY competitive. 

At the meeting we learn all the race rules, all about the hazards, and what to expect. We learn that it is better to drink the river water than to get dehydrated because we can always deal with the amoebas later. You can start with 3 paddlers but if someone gets sick they can jump out of the boat and start again the net day. We also learn that the support boats may cause people to flip over but they are not doing it on purpose... lots of things to remember but that's what our team captain/steerswoman/travel agent/navigator Laurel needs to know. Jacinta and I, we just PADDLE HARDER!

At dinner the Belizian powerhouse women who have won every year for the last 10 years introduce themselves. I have been visualizing these women for about a month...Huge jungle women with arms as big as my calves...Laurel had her doubts because unlike outrigger paddlers the smaller you are the faster your boat runs.  When we meet the women we are shocked. They are beautiful and deceptively petite... and they LOVE paddling. The oldest sister is 25 the youngest is 17. The steerswoman has been steering the race since she was 13 - she is now 20. This is their turf and they know these waters better than anybody else. I am scared out of my mind about the days ahead and these young ladies appear calm and collected and definitely in their element. When we talk about our collective paddling experience I realize I have never paddled on a river with current and have never paddled more than 3.5 hours straight...and there are rapids, and crocodiles, and manatees, and river things!!! And oh yeah... I am scared of freshwater!  - but like Laurel keeps reminding me.. all I have to do is paddle she will take care of the rest. 

mc

San Ignacio and the Mayan Ruins

On monday we moved to the hotel Cahal Pech ("mountain of ticks" in Mayan) and stayed there for 4 days to train. The Cahal Pech Hotel is very nice with great food. Our cabanas are made out of brick and cement and have thatched roofs... which presents a problem. Apparently the "kissing bug" lives in warm climates and uses the traditional thatched roofs for their homes. The "kissing bug" bites you and delivers a parasite that lives inside of your bloodstream, affects your internal organs and makes you ill throughout your life. It is called Chagas disease and as of now, there is no cure. Andre has killed 4 of them on this trip alone. 

The threat of vampire bugs aside, San Ignacio is beautiful. The people are genuine and exude Aloha. Right next to our hotel is a mayan ruin called Cahal Pech. After one of our training runs Andre and I walk over to Cahal Pech and are immediately in front of an Ancient Mayan Ruin. It is unbelievable! Apparently ruins are a dime a dozen in Belize because this is a "smaller" ruin and does not attract as much attention as others in the region. A $5 US entry fee allows you to walk the grounds at will. Amazingly you can walk all over the temple and ruins without a second thought. This is a bit shocking as it seems akin to walking on heiaus.  Cahal Pech is one of a about 2 handfuls of uncovered temples in Belize. There is an estimated 700 still uncovered. Everywhere we walk we can see unnatural mounds that seem to indicate buried mayan ruins. We later visit another much larger ruin called Xunantunich which is just up the road and even more intriguing. From the top of the temple you can see Guatemala, all of San Ignacio and what we can only imagine are more temples. But as intriguing as this is I cannot forget why I am in Belize as my thoughts turn to the river and the unbelievable distance we will travel down the Cayo valley below. I cannot even see the finish line in the horizon. 

aloha, 

Marleny