Training Log Archive: Work4justiceIn the 1 days ending Apr 2, 2019:
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Tuesday Apr 2, 2019 #
Mountain Bike 4:00:00 [3]
Orienteering 8:00:00 [3]
Stage 2: Swim Trek Swim
Landed in TA2 with Columbia Vidaraid passing us on their way out, I believe. Once we rolled in, I went to the race staff to share about JD’s condition so there wouldn’t be any surprises. He seemed a lot better, but I didn’t want to take chances. Because this kind of stage was new for me, I said I would do the land, but not the swim. So we headed off, got 13 and made our way to the swim. When prepping for the race, I consulted on the swim gear. What I deduced as best (pull float, small inflatable board and paddles) the guys wanted full floats and paddles. In hindsight, I don’t know if “bucking the trend” would have been good, but nonetheless it was what it was. I was really nervous about this section.
Once we got to the shore, JD realized he lost his float somewhere along the way. While we were inflating, he took a look around, but it was gone. So two of them doubled up while two of us had our own. We got to 14 and I suggested we try the land route to 15 after a bit of a swim in this crazy way. We landed for this little trek and after getting going for a bit, JD was attacked by red wasps, he thinks he got 8 bites. They just wanted out of there and to not continue for 15. So, we started to proceed back across the water. JD and I each got on a float and the guys got onto the 3rd with a little too much enthusiasm and it got punctured. Down to 2. I started to feel pretty low at this point. I had some tenacious tape and duct tape to try to repair, and a pair of socks I had in a dry bag to dry the spot for repair. As it turned out, we had to have 2 on each float. As we proceeded across the water, the wind really picked up, and kept us from proceeding at all. Gustavo (the RD) came out on a jet ski to see how we were doing, and gave a tow to shore. We went on to 16 and by this point we realized that we were so far behind that we might as well skip this stage as well and get back on bikes-Gustavo agreed.
Landed in TA2 with Columbia Vidaraid passing us on their way out, I believe. Once we rolled in, I went to the race staff to share about JD’s condition so there wouldn’t be any surprises. He seemed a lot better, but I didn’t want to take chances. Because this kind of stage was new for me, I said I would do the land, but not the swim. So we headed off, got 13 and made our way to the swim. When prepping for the race, I consulted on the swim gear. What I deduced as best (pull float, small inflatable board and paddles) the guys wanted full floats and paddles. In hindsight, I don’t know if “bucking the trend” would have been good, but nonetheless it was what it was. I was really nervous about this section.
Once we got to the shore, JD realized he lost his float somewhere along the way. While we were inflating, he took a look around, but it was gone. So two of them doubled up while two of us had our own. We got to 14 and I suggested we try the land route to 15 after a bit of a swim in this crazy way. We landed for this little trek and after getting going for a bit, JD was attacked by red wasps, he thinks he got 8 bites. They just wanted out of there and to not continue for 15. So, we started to proceed back across the water. JD and I each got on a float and the guys got onto the 3rd with a little too much enthusiasm and it got punctured. Down to 2. I started to feel pretty low at this point. I had some tenacious tape and duct tape to try to repair, and a pair of socks I had in a dry bag to dry the spot for repair. As it turned out, we had to have 2 on each float. As we proceeded across the water, the wind really picked up, and kept us from proceeding at all. Gustavo (the RD) came out on a jet ski to see how we were doing, and gave a tow to shore. We went on to 16 and by this point we realized that we were so far behind that we might as well skip this stage as well and get back on bikes-Gustavo agreed.
Mountain Bike 12:00:00 [3]
Stage 3: MTB (the big one!)
Back on the bikes! While slow going, we carried forward—tricky turns, gate hopping, cattle clearing, Jorge even got smacked in the face by a night hawk. It was our plan to sleep a smidge after this, so staying focused and getting through it was key. We stopped twice, once at a small roadside tienda and a little gas station. I think there was only beer at the gas station. We continued with the ride until the TA, and as we got close, JD was pretty convinced it was in a gated and locked area, I had remembered a community football field. He wanted us to go into the locked gated area, which we did. Turns out it was someone’s private ranch, and we were so lucky that we didn’t have trouble I think! I had told him from the contours on the map it looked like the TA was a couple of k up the road, so we headed that way, and got into the TA. It had been my vote to swap out, start trekking and sleep somewhere, but the guys voted otherwise and we stayed. I slept a little, woke up and went to the others to get them going. I couldn’t find Jorge! Turns out someone loaned him a mattress so he was behind a table. Gah! Let’s go guys!
Back on the bikes! While slow going, we carried forward—tricky turns, gate hopping, cattle clearing, Jorge even got smacked in the face by a night hawk. It was our plan to sleep a smidge after this, so staying focused and getting through it was key. We stopped twice, once at a small roadside tienda and a little gas station. I think there was only beer at the gas station. We continued with the ride until the TA, and as we got close, JD was pretty convinced it was in a gated and locked area, I had remembered a community football field. He wanted us to go into the locked gated area, which we did. Turns out it was someone’s private ranch, and we were so lucky that we didn’t have trouble I think! I had told him from the contours on the map it looked like the TA was a couple of k up the road, so we headed that way, and got into the TA. It had been my vote to swap out, start trekking and sleep somewhere, but the guys voted otherwise and we stayed. I slept a little, woke up and went to the others to get them going. I couldn’t find Jorge! Turns out someone loaned him a mattress so he was behind a table. Gah! Let’s go guys!