Orienteering race 12:00:00 [3] 30.0 mi (24:00 / mi) +1600m 20:35 / mi
We crossed the half way mark in terms of time...
We had a lot of fun swapping race stories and just stuff in general. She is just a joy to be around.
Watch died around 3ish. I have my tracks until then. I adjusted the distance based on Olga’s ultratrac. I thought I had set it, and I didn’t –bugger. I did bring a back up watch in general. Olga had hers, and her tracks are posted on Strava. I haven't figured out how to lift them.
Around 5aish, we have covered 40ish miles and, we were arriving on 69 where we knew we needed to make a decision on whether to head to the far east in earnest, or pick up a couple and head back north to S/F. We had covered about 40 miles, and I know my brain was getting addled, I remember feeling very sleepy going up a creek to try and pick up a punch and fill out the intention sheet.
Olga mentioned she needed to clean out her socks, so we stopped on the ski hill, which offered some glimpses of the sunrise. For me, turning off the headlamps often feels ceremonial! But we could feel the heat start up again! We had planned to sit and look at the map, but with a road to our next destination, we decided we could walk and talk and look. During that traverse, we crossed a large creek bed and I slid on a rock…and went DOWN. Ow ow ow! Bruising isn’t TOO bad. Back to the planning. I shared with Olga our distance and time and what I estimated our speed would be based on our last couple of hours—factoring in a decline in speed and some significant climb both ways. I suggested looking at the maps for straightline distance and add 40% and then calculate how many hours it would take and adjust our plan accordingly. I swear, that was the ONLY time Olga looked at me and said “huh?”
I have to admit, I felt a little relieved she might have been a little tired. I knew I still had some fight left, and no question she did!
After looking at the map, we realized that we could try to get a few of the points, but I was worried because of the freeway we couldn’t cross back. I looked at Rootstock’s log (they beat us by about 2 controls) and there was not a way across the freeway. I am so glad we saw that. So, it was a road run for a 70 pointer (with some significant climb). While he was not ideal we had to do a pretty big road run just to go out to get a 70 pointer but in the end it made all the difference.
Climbing back up to head north was a bit of a bear, and when we got back into the woods around 9ish my legs did not want to climb over logs. What? COME ON LEGS! They came around, and I tried to trot when I could, but I could feel my feels. Coming off the last descent got tricky, and the green pushed us to the road that we hadn’t intended, and had to run hard to not lose points. I never know where that last kick comes from, but it comes! The crowd around cleared a path for me to kick it in, wow! And, some lovely people brought us ice in cups and there was ice cold soda at the ready. Wow! So lovely.
We got first female and second overall AND accomplished my goals. Olga was awesome to race with, she said she loved it. Go team Fragile Flowers!