Hey, did you ask the Lord to humble you lately?

Last week was the last adventure race of the season... Race the Rockies Urban Adventure Race in Edmonton... awesome. It is an introductory race designed to introduce new people to the sport without scaring the crap out of them.
My (awesome and amazing and buff) partner were making good time to checkpoint 2. We were with the elites, making good choices, making good time. We had found our way through the bottle neck opening across the river - we were minutes away from a much needed break and change of discipline (our butts hurt and needed off our bikes for a while). 5 minutes away from the checkpoint, navigating our final road - we asked God which way to go... and the answer was SO CLEAR... "Go back to Checkpoint 1 - you totally forgot to do it."
Checkpoint 1 is about a 10km bike ride away, and it's not flat. We were within a few blocks on our way by the first time. ARG! - but so funny. Lessons from this approximately 3 hour mistake (bike time + fatigue) include but are not limited to:
1 - The title of this blog is the question I asked my partner on the bike ride back... going back the opposite way, passing almost every team that is now ahead of you, is a very humbling thing. And I did get asked a few times "is this your first race?" "Ummm... nope."
2 - Even though they're all going the right way, they all questioned their direction because of one team going back the opposite way... 31 teams were going with the flow. The opposite way? - just us;)
3 - We were so focused on that tight river crossing that we totally forgot the next step... my partner is very detailed, and I am a big picture person. We wrote down street for street our entire day. Still, we both missed the elephant on the map labeled Checkpoint 1.
4 - BUT - our communication was awesome. We were on the same page all the way.
5 - AND - our attitudes were pretty good too - we had a wonderful day (though it ended up being 9.5 hours)... we were fatigued and dehydrated and needed real food, but enjoyed the whole day. Yes, it is tempting to give up, but we didn't let it be an option. Wow the Edmonton river valley is something, and with great company and the chance to explore it, it was a dream day.
So that's the nutshell... hope you got a laugh out of it, we sure did:)

PS - As another part of the race, we had to swim across the North Saskatchewan on September 27th... some of you (especially those I've been to Costa Rica with) know just how significant that is for me... BRRR...