Four Months ago we made the decision to train for and complete "The World's Toughest Canoe Race" the Texas Water Safari. We knew that it would take dedication and commitment to reach our goal of paddling, non-stop, 262 miles from San Marcos, TX to Seadrift, TX. We knew it would be a challenge, we knew it would be hard, but we did not really know the full extent of everything that would happen on this adventure. During our training we often asked paddlers who have finished the race before how they did it. What did you wear? What did you eat? How did you pee? Did you have any hallucinations? What else can you tell us that might be helpful along the way.
Without the advice from our fellow paddlers and friends I am sure that the experience would have been much more difficult. As I recount all of the things we learned and all of the things we experienced along the way I am overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment and a sense of relief that we were able to do what we set out to do. 
I could not have asked for a more committed, up beat, go get em paddling partner than Joy Emshoff. Throughout our training Joy would always say "If other people can do it, we can do it!" If you have seen our boat you know that we have a bumper sticker on each side of the boat that says "We can do it!" We used this mantra over an over again as we trained, ran into rocks, hit gravel bars and experimented with food and clothing options. Anytime something went off track Joy would say "We're ok, We can do it!" As we prepped the boat one of the veteran racers said something to Joy that was also a key to our success. He said that when he was in the military they focused on staying positive and avoiding negative words. We took this positive thought process to heart and reminded ourselves of it anytime we would start to feel the heat of the day or pain resonating from our sore bottoms.
Throughout this experience Joy and I have had many conversations about the things that keep people from full filling their dreams and from doing the things that they want to do in life. Most of the things we talked about are simply decisions. I can choose to go out and paddle my canoe or I can choose to sit at home and watch the evening news. We all have the same amount of time in the day, it is simply a matter of how we choose to use the time. I am thankful that I have wonderful friends and family who were understanding when they realized that I was going to do this race and it was going to take a tremendous amount of time on the river to get it done. The level of commitment that we dedicated to the race has taught me a lot about how I can go after a goal and accomplish it with the proper amount of focus. When we started training I had doubts if I could really paddle that far, if I would be able to paddle with very little sleep or if I would be able to avoid getting sick on the journey. The very first 25 mile run from Palmetto to Gonzalez was extremely difficult and I was sore for days. Prior to race day the farthest we had ever paddled in a day was 54 miles and that was with a two hour break. So my mind wondered how we would make the jump from 54 miles to 262 miles? For me this was one of the most amazing experiences of the race. I knew that I was not going to get out of the boat and that we were going to be on the river for multiple days.
By removing the thought of getting out I also removed the anxiety of worrying about where we were on the river. We focused on getting to the next check point and getting fresh water and ice. Our team captain Brad had a bright orange shirt on and we experienced an immediate up lift in our spirits every time we came around a corner and saw his smiling face on the shore. Brad, his wife Coleen and Joy's son Josh made up our amazing ground crew. They would ask if we were drinking enough water and if we had anything to eat every time they saw us. On the first day of the race our plan was to start with only a couple of small water bottles and to have our team captain Brad give us the large bottles farther down the river. We wanted to get over the portages the boat as light as possible and leaving out some of the water and ice definitely helped. We made it through Rio Vista dam with many people cheering us on. On the upper San Marcos river we faced a couple of challenges that we quickly overcame. At "Old Dam" we took the left route and got hung up on a rock. I had to bail out of the boat to get us over the obstacle. Luckily I was able to jump back into the boat and we paddled to the left side and were on our way.
At Martindale we successfully portaged over the dam and headed towards the low water crossing. There were two boats stuck on the rock under the low water crossing and as we approached they made it off the rocks and moved on. Our plan was to portage at the bridge and get water from Brad. At the last minute I said to Joy, "let's run it... We can Do it!" This turned out to be famous last words as we missed our mark and hit the rock on the right hand side. I had to jump out of the boat and I was pushed into the rock.
Luckily we both bailed out of the boat and were able to swim it to the shore without tipping it over and without wrapping it on the rock. We had to dump water out of the boat and we ended up taking a couple of minutes to have Brad give us water jugs and ice. During this mishap the 1944 Novice boat with Greg and Wes passed us. We made it our mission to catch back up with the guys and we succeeded to catch them right before the Staples dam portage. Our portage over this dam was one of my most memorable moments of the race. Greg and Wes portaged on the right side and we were set up to portage on the left. We joked that they wouldn't even see us go by and we were correct. We slipped down the left side of the dam and passed them without them noticing. We found out later in the race that their team captain saw us go by but it was still fun to think that we made a strategic maneuver early on in the race and used our portage skills to put us in the lead.
We had visions of being the first women's team ever to win the novice class and we did everything we could to try to stay in the lead. After about 30 hours of paddling we finally pulled over to sleep. We only rested about 45 minutes and later learned that we really should have slept more after the first day of paddling. Brad and I talked a lot about our sleep patterns after the race. If we would have stopped for 2 or 3 hours that first night we would have had a lot more energy to maintain our boat speed during the day. As it was we were so excited to be in the lead that we focused on keeping the boat moving down the river at any speed. Brad woke us at daybreak after about an hour and a half nap under the Cuero 236 bridge. Just as we pushed off shore Greg and Wes pulled into the checkpoint. The day before we ran short on water and I knew we had a long stretch ahead of us leaving this checkpoint. I asked Brad to load us up with a lot of water and ice and he did just that. Brad really wanted to make sure we had enough supplies so he hooked us up with extra water and a cooler full of water and ice. This sounded like an excellent plan at the time but it proved to be a challenge as the extra water and ice added weight to the boat. We left the checkpoint with Diane and Santo in boat 52 and maintained a good pace keeping up with them as they were paddling a much lighter boat. Unfortunately lack of sleep eventually caught up and Greg and Wes came out of no where with Superman paddles flying through the water. It only took Greg and Wes about an hour to catch us.
They flew by and never slowed down. We kept thinking they would wear themselves out at some point but it seems that they maintained a strong pace all the way to the end. We tried to stay up with Diane and Santo and finally ran out of steam mid day about 14 miles from Victoria. We made it to Victoria in the early evening and we were happy to see our friend CJ made it to the dock to cheer us on. Although we were exhausted at this point in the race we knew we needed to paddle as far as possible before the sun went down. It took every ounce of energy to make it through the third night of paddling. Our light was not much stronger than the moonlight and I had to use my small flashlight to constantly scan for small stumps and obstacles in the river. Our first goal was to make it to a spot where Brad was at so we could sleep and make sure that someone was there to wake us up. We ended up tying up to trees in the middle of the river twice during the night to take short naps. Earlier that day a paddler warned us that this part of the river can be very frustrating because you can hear the Dupont plant and see lights for a really long time before you ever get there. The river also has a lot of cuts off of it in this section that could easily get you off track or lost. It almost feels as if you are going in circles for about 4 hours. This section also poses a challenge with steep muddy banks that do not allow you to get out of the boat and alligators who are happy to swim by and shine their eyes at you. We joked about using our "she-we" before the race and we really didn't realize how vital the personal peeing device would be until we got in this section of water. After a gruelling night of paddling we made it to the checkpoint just after dawn. 
The Horny toad #69 boat was tied up to the shore when we left the checkpoint. About an hour later Chris and Jon paddled up to us and we were extremely happy to have another boat to paddle with. Chris and Jon are a father and son team who were determined to finish the race. Chris completed the race last year and he talked his dad into doing the race this year. We ended up paddling with the horny toads for the last 12 hours of the race. Our last two challenges included pulling our boats through 6 water lily road blocks and crossing the bay with 2-3 foot waves. It was very helpful to have the other boat with us as inspiration and companionship during both of these challenges. I want to personally thank the following people for helping us out along the way: Our amazing team captain Brad and co-captains Josh and Coleen for following us all the way down the river! Bob for inspiring us to do the race and teaching Joy how to drive the boat! Sara for supporting me and understanding my schedule during all the crazy training runs! Jenny, Nick and Dillon for running shuttles and cheering us on! The amazing TOWN ladies for always encouraging us to go for it! Deb and Ginsie for their companionship on and off the water and for all of the advice along the way. Grady, Mike and Scott for hanging with the girls on some training runs. Phil for always encouraging us and telling us we could do it! All of our friends, family and other paddlers who encouraged us and had faith that we could do it!
Photo credits: Sara Sanford, Brad Belk, Bob Spain and San Marcos Daily Newspaper
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