I’m sitting here in my apartment next to my packed bags listening to the wind gust and I’m nervous. Should we have rented a car? Why didn’t we think about sending food ahead with the gear bins sooner? Why didn’t we think about food in general sooner. We’ve had time to make plans and prepare, and we’ve taken advantage of that time. Was it enough? The media team is talking about spending the first night on a summit in the snow. I expected to be out in the cold, but laying around in the snow in Patagonia at night? Am I ready for THAT type of cold? We are hoping the race team will pass that point before the sun sets, but predicting the future during an adventure race is harder than predicting the weather here at the southern end of the world. My bag is already pretty heavy, do I have enough gear? Too much? This is my first adventure race outside of the states and my first media job so far away as well. Normally I have my van to fall back on, if I forget something I just need to find my way back to where my home-on-wheels is parked and find whatever it is I missed. This time I have a backpack and a duffel bag. Once we leave Punta Arenas tonight (at midnight) we won’t see another city again for at least a day and a half, there is no going back for a thicker jacket.

These feelings aren’t unusual, in fact I’m surprised it took until the last 12 hours before the race for them to grow so strong. Maybe I’m getting better at this. More confident, less imposter syndrome. Or maybe having the support of two other members of the media team and a race team that I’m pretty close to has helped keep me calm. I get this feeling before I compete in races too, but the remoteness of this race is something I’m still not accustom to.

Despite my nerves starting to get to me I’m actually excited to get started. This race is so long that even if things fall apart for the first 3 days there is still time find our stride, rally, and finish the last 4-8 days strong. I’ll have to try to remind myself of that. We are a strong team, we are in a beautiful place, and we have a lot of people supporting us both here and at home. Time for an adventure!