Robyn Benincasar: Fitter than Fit

Nothing New
That women are often fitter than men should not come as a surprise anymore. I've been hammered into humility by women in better shape than myself countless times. Anybody who's ever skated an inline race in the Golden State has already been served notice by the stronger sex on many occasions.

California skaters Julie Brandt Glass and Helle Carlson, both of whom can single-handedly decimate a whole men's field with a couple of heinously long, strong pulls, qualify as endurance goddesses of the first order.

Startled Again
I was knocked off my rocker again recently when I witnessed the staying power of a woman by the name of Robyn Benincasar at the Salomon X-Adventure race, in Aspen, Colorado, July 22-23, 2000. After seeing Robyn perform at a consistently high level in a variety of sports for two solid days, I knew I had to tell the world about it and nominate her as the fittest woman in California.

Robyn was the first U.S. Athlete to win the premiere International Adventure Race, the Raid-Gauloises. She's currently a Team Member of the World Champion Adventure Racing Team, Salomon/Eco-Internet, and in addition to being a San Diego City Firefighter, Contributing Editor to Triathlete Magazine, and Award-Winning Top Sales Executive for a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical firm, Robyn sports a long list of athletic feats She was a U.S. National Judo Champion, a PAC-10 Diving Champion, accomplished gymnast, and most recently, a world-class inline adventure skate racer.

Inline Addition
The X-Adventure race, a grueling, multi-event oddysey, was the first of its kind to seriously incorporate inline skating. As one of the legs, 48 mixed, three person teams from around the globe inline skated up a brutally steep section of the Castle Creek road into the cirque basin below Mount Hayden.

Teams pushed, pulled, and coaxed themselves up the mountain, sometimes hooked up trunk to tail with the aid of climbing ropes, bungee cords, and wind-breakers. Usually it was the woman member of the team who stoked the train or pulled like a locomotive.

Multiple Challenges
After two days of adventure racing including two inline portions, along with mountain-biking, rock climbing, rappelling, orienteering, river kayaking, and running with horses, Robyn's Team Salomon/Eco-Internet finished a mere 42 seconds back of first place with a time just over 22 and a half hours (the average finishing time was more than 40 hours -- see the results at http://www.x-adventure.net/live_usa.phtml).

Fit for the Stars
Asked where she thinks her team lost those 42 seconds, Robyn says it's difficult to put a finger on it. "We lost all kinds of time over the 48 hours. While we were ahead we hung out with Don Johnson for about 5 minutes, though. It was in the middle of the long hiking leg. His cabin just happened to be in a meadow right along the race course, and we stopped to beg his party for something to drink! We had no clue he was from Miami Vice until we took a closer look at his face as he kindly served us refreshemnts. The man is WAY cool. That was a nice benefit of being first. And it was well worth the 42 seconds."

San Diegans Beware!
Although Robyn's not losing any time on her skates, she does still look at her inline skates with some trepidation. "I'm a road menace on those things!" she exclaims. As she spends more time on skates, though, Robyn agrees that she'll gain the necessary muscular memory and confidence to handle her skates at speed and be able to stop. "I'm adequate now," Robyn states, "but I know I could be pretty good with some practice. A cross-country skiing background and all those years on the dang balance beam should be good for something!"

Perfect Training
Robyn also knows she can get a good workout on inlines. "Especially in my hips and butt," she says. Robyn even likes the soreness after a long skate. "Perfect girl training," she adds. Aerobically, Robyn is still hesitant to hammer into anaerobia because she'd produce scary speed. "The only time I breathe really hard," she admits," is when I'm trying to skate uphill -- especially in Aspen!"

Crazy Sick
Robyn says she's not more fit than the next woman based on her VO2max but because she's the "craziest, sickest" athlete and is willing to try what it takes to be the best. That includes inline skating. When she first got her skates a year ago, the story goes, her teammates took off her skate brake right out of the box. "That's some seriously tough love," she muses, "but it sure taught me how to go fast in a hurry!"

Going Longer
Robyn trained more than enough for the inline skating portions of the X-Adventure race, and wouldn't mind if the legs were actually longer. But not too long. "When I get better at it," Robyn says, "I'll ask the race gods for more!" Meanwhile, Californians will keep asking for more of Robyn -- unless of course they're racing against her!

See how to become an extremely fit adventure racer yourself at www.adventuretraining.com, or visit http://www.snapsite.com/guests/sk8ctrl/public/custom/action.shots/x.adventure/x.adventure.html to see pictures of Robyn in action at the X-Adventure race in Aspen.

Eddy Matzger worships Salomon skates, TWINCAM bearings, Explore wheels, Transpack bags, Powerbar, Raymond Verdaguer designs, and fit women.