Training Log Archive: Work4justice

Woke up before my alarm again, guess who? SEAGATE. :)

Waited again for them to clear out before I got up and got myself situated. Had a cup of coffee while I watched SAFAT and AMK and Haglofs roll through. Caught AMK's full TA. What I noticed is that a successful TA is a tight TA, when team members stay closer together there is less corralling or impression of more time. As AMK entered this TA one of their members drifted some but Mari reigned him right in to their bins, and before they headed out...they had a diet pepsi treat, I don't think any of them had whiskey.



In the meantime, I decided to suit up and go out the several routes teams may have come in on, but I didn't dare to go further than the valley. Back and forth, back and forth. Then ventured up the hill to see there was service, and around. Then breakfast, then coffee, then waiting.

In the meantime, Fenix had to retire and wait around they expected for some time. Casually asked if they wanted a beer, or six. They were happy!



They arrived about mid day, and heard how brutal that trek was. Feet were a bit worse for wear, for sure! They got treated and bandaged and headed off on bikes. Told them I would meet them at 17, the rappel. As I headed out I decided to drive through Atlantic City, and ran into Legendary Randy, Rob Howard and Chris Radcliffe. Gave them all a run down of what was going on at the TA, and they invited me for a beer, sure! Swapped stories, but kept an eye out for teams.

Decided to head into Landers for the night, and splurged on a hotel. I was glad to have internet and a chance to shower and "reset". Dot watched, updated the page, and watched coverage of Charlottesville. :\

I expected the team to roll into the TA around 12:30aish and they were well on their way to the rappel around 1a. Then down to the caves and back and on their bikes for the monster bike. They decided to bed down about a half hour in to refresh for the ride. I got to the hotel around 4/5ish.

C • Great Stories! 2

Heard Seagate before my alarm. Seagate! 100 ft from me! I did sneak a selfie with them on the parade.



They were swift and quiet. I waited until they cleared out before I got out of my tent. Later on, the sun started to come up and it was a beautiful area. Had some time to hike around....and kept going back and forth on the trail they would be coming in on hoping to see them. But I did see a big bear paw print!



There was no internet to speak of, so I had no idea of the standings until I rolled out after the team TA'd. The team came in around 8:15 and shared that they didn't have water for the last 10k...holy smokes. But they looked good and got on their bikes rather quickly.

From there, I went on up to Pinedale to get some photos and up date the FB page. I sat right at the CP, and was surprised a couple of teams rode right by and didn't see the CP. Then, it was on to CP/TA 7 where I was warned to park at the bottom of the hill and hike in, which was fine by me! Made my way out there with my pack with a chari, food, equipment, etc, and it was so desolate yet so beautiful. It was in the Big Sandy area. I was worried about getting there in time, but turned out I had three hours to spare, so I chatted it up with the referees, some other volunteers and such. The team came in looking like it had been a heckuva ride, but in great spirits. The TA'd to prep for the next big trek over to CP12. Hiked out and got some photos of them leaving the TA.



I went back to watch Vidaraid TA, pretty quick but one of their guys was feeling unwell. Another team was sleeping, I believe OutNorth.



Then the hike down to the car. I was looking forward in that it was all downhill, however, a bit in I noticed there were a lot of bulls on the road. ;/ I think the swish of my pack was making them nervous and I got to a point where they were either not backing away or approaching me. That made me nervous! And as I was getting some dried bananas to throw their way, Igor, one of the referees was driving down and offered me a lift! Thank goodness!

Got to my car, organized things, and put the top down and blared music across Lander Cutoff Road. It was amazing. Got to South Pass City (Ghost Town, NOT city) and checked in at the TA. Heard that the teams were tracking rather slowly. I was offered a space in the jail overnight, which I took happily. The previous night was a smidge chilly even with all of my layers. Worked on my plan for the next day, and asleep by midnight. I put my alarm on for 5 just in case.

RACE DAY!

How exciting! I didn't sleep much, too excited!

Got up around 4:45 for a quick shower and last packing for the road. Went to starbucks and ran a quick gas station errand for Mindy. And, then over to the buses at 5:15.

Headed out to Jackson Hole around 6. Got a look at the maps briefly at the rest stop, and wouldn't be until later that night I could fully digest the course. Got to the start line and had about an hour before the start. It was very cool that Jesse Tubb of UNE got to play the national anthem on his trumpet. He was so calm...a big performance x2! And look at that hand!



And they were OFF!! Up into the hills for the prologue, and then a 12kish (Pavement!) run to the packraft put in. Frankly I was nervous about how to do all of this, but thought I'm here to tell a story and they will tell me if I am in the way.

Watched the packraft put in and had a chance to catch up with Cali Cowboy on his thoughts of the course and the race. That video is on the UNE FB page. Then, a sprint to get to a point to see them go by on the Snake River. Parked the car and made my way into see them. They went by, and then waved good bye until CP3, which was a bit of a packraft and quite a trek away.

Ran into Cali Cowboy again, and suggested beers that night at the TA, so when I was in town picked up some and fruit and veggies and water and headed to CP3. Another media person reached out not knowing how to get to the CP so I met up with her and she followed me out there. Got into that TA around 9, and got so involved with the maps I forgot about the beer and just crawled into my tent and set my alarm for 5a...the team was running ahead last I checked and didn't want to miss them.

A lot of running around and packing today! There were some weight limits, and real decisions that needed to be made, especially for Bin A. The check in time was 2 for the team, and had to be creative in getting gear over in the blueberry. This got a lot of laughs!



We weighed and moved gear around. A bin broke and got another....on and on! Interestingly, the rappel test for the World Championships was off the back of a truck...



By 4:30 all set for the pre race meeting, which wasn't a lot, mostly rules and what to expect, the maps came as soon as they got on the bus. Afterward they went to take care of a few things and I went to a media meeting. Again, not a lot of information, but my excitement kept building and building!

Off to bed early, wanted to get starbucks for the team before they rolled out at 5:30 the next morning.

Took me a while to sit down and write this all out...

Day one in Wyoming! So excited to be there, I think I flew out of bed! Shrekfeet and I flew in the night before, ran some errands in what we affectionately called the "Flying Blueberry."


Truthfully, I got a lot of questions about the car, and I devolved to "don't judge." I vowed to find someone with a 4x4 for when I needed it.

Mindy needed a few things so we decided to run into town to see what we could find, and we found all that she needed! That was great. Then, it was off to the Parade of Nations. That was very cool, and the team looked great!

The parade was a couple of miles into Casper, then a prologue around town to visit the various businesses. Then, the bull ride! Jesse was very excited to do this...and he almost went off a couple of times and the third was the charm, I guess! He came off with a broken finger! The race doc was nearby and offered to get him to Ortho care, and we bustled back to the hotel to get blueberry to pick him up. The team was tossing around a lot of names of who could fly in just in case Jesse couldn't race. I don't know if JayXC was kidding or not, but when I mentioned I could take Jesse around with me as media he said "if Jesse can't, you're going" and Mindy asked if I was recovered from my last race. My heart was in my throat! I said Jesse would be fine, and he was!

Last bike around before heading to the airport.

Getting T used to longer paddles. :)