Training Log Archive: OutdoorsMama

Event: Summer Fury Sprint Adventure Races
 

Well that was different. Started the race at 4 am (on very little sleep due to thunder storms/wind while camping out at the park). We started by running around to CP 1, then swimming across the bathtub temperature Lake Seven to an island. I wonder if it would've been OK to bring flippers? I wore my Keens, which are rugged enough for the trekking around the starting area. I did not want to wear bike shorts, as the thought of having soaking wet bike shorts for the rest of the day was unbearable. So I wore my favourite quick dry kayaking shorts. Luckily we did not have to carry our packs for this leg. CP 2 was on the island, then CP 3 was on the shore of the little lake that was added to the topo map as an afterthought. I found a few brambles to scramble through and ended up too far to the north, but found the water and followed the shore back to the flag. I nailed CP 4. There were eyes glowing at me from the woods. In my estimation, they were too far apart for raccoon eyes. Back to the start, switch to bike shoes, put my Keens in my pack, and on to the first bike section.

C • Flippers are okay 3

Single track in the dark. There has to be a first time for everything, right? Actually, we were in a bit of a pack. I had one brighter bike light pointed forward and a dimmer one pointing down. I did not put my headlamp on as it seemed like there were lots of bike lights around me. We got to a trail junction (with no trail markers) and had to decide which way to go. At that point, I realized that my map case was not sealed shut and that rustling noise I had heard at the beginning of the ride had been my park map falling out. Oops. So I was at the mercy of whoever had a map. Took a couple wrong turns, back tracked, did a royal wipeout, and then found a park sign that set us on the right path. I was riding with Dan at that point and a few moments later, he hollered that I had missed the CP (I was looking down, studying the trail, trying to avoid another wipeout). Thanks, Dan!
I recognized where we were by then, so soon jumped on the paved park road and made our way out of the park. Fortunately, I had been to the area a week earlier, so knew how to get to the boat put-in area in Holly without having my nose glued to the map. For the record, the donut shop in downtown Holly is not open at 5:50 am, but the bait store is.

C • Impressive solo race 3

C • Jen, you rock. 1

Approximate time...... I rented a kayak this time, since I was afraid of having to portage my sea kayak through the bush or such. The rental kayaks were Old Town ones that tracked OK, but still were pretty heavy (thanks for the help carrying it, guys). Also, the foot pegs would not come back far enough for 5'2" paddlers, so I could only brace myself with my tippy toes....not practical for a few hours of paddling. We set off across the old Holly millpond and wove our way through the mess of lily pads and assorted marsh plants. CP 13 was at the back of a nasty mess of lily pads. CP 10 was at the road at the end of a l-o-n-g winding channel carved out through the cattails. If I had had a very light boat, I would have considered carrying it back to Holly since the paddle route was so twisty turny. The sun was just rising through this section, and there was a bit of mist rising out of the water. Very pretty. I met a muskrat and many, many red winged blackbirds. I had decided the night before not to go for any optional CPs in the first few parts of the race, especially after the race directors commented on how tough it might be to paddle through the lily pads.
Back to the road with Dan, and we carried both our boats across together. That was easy! Then it was the Shiawassee River. The local cleanup crew had been through in the last week so there was minimal portaging over fallen trees (hurray!). A beautiful scenic paddle, and a beaver dam to push my kayak over. I saw a juvenile muskrat, but no beavers. I ate my peanut butter sandwich and a yummy mint chocolate Cliff Bar while paddling on the river, which isn't as easy as it sounds as the current kept pushing me into the banks whenever I pressed the pause button on the paddling and tried to eat. I tried something different with hydration while paddling and it worked: I put a 2L bladder in my paddling bag and added a couple Nuun tablets just as I got on the water, so had both plain water (in my usual Camelbak) and electrolyte water to sip on as I paddled. On the last part of the paddle on the lake, I started to sing folksongs to try and inspire myself to keep up the pace. I need to re-learn the second and third verses of Farewell to Nova Scotia.
We pulled to shore at the Fenton dam, left our paddling gear in bags by the boats, and set off on foot. I know it was 7 miles from Holly to Fenton.

Approximate time..... We did a brisk walk back to Seven Lakes State Park. I was hoping to pass a corner store on the way out of town and buy a popcicle or such, but no luck. I jumped when I passed by a dead deer on the side of the road...it was just starting to smell. We met a young woman jogging on Eddy Lake Road and asked her how much farther it was to the path into the park, and she said the only entrance was off Fish Lake Road (i.e. the main entrance). I guess she isn't into trail running. We found the trail and the corresponding CP and made our way back to the start. We met a few mountain bikers from the 6 hour race and saw some of our pre-dawn mountain bike course in the day light. I wonder if anyone got pulled off their bike by that low-hanging branch?

Navigated through some rolling gravel roads north of Holly, picking up a few CPs along the way. At one point, we passed the Great Lakes National Cemetery. I had not even heard of it before, but was awed by the rows of headstones and the Avenue of Flags. I felt like I should've taken my helmet off in respect as I passed by. Dan and I stuck together through most of this section. I was glad I had put new tires on my bike that weren't as knobby as the off-road ones that had come with it. That was a lot of gravel road riding. The E-Load gel went down well during this leg.

This was my "duh" moment of the race. We only had to get one CP, and the closest one was "south of the corn field, on the trail". I am a farm kid and have helped farmers grow and market corn for 20 years. I know what a corn field looks like. I took my bearing from the CP at the parking lot, and set off on my own, dodging scrub trees. I didn't do an exceptional job of keeping a straight course, as I was looking for a corn field. When I came out into a clearing, there was a bright green shiny corn field to my right. I knew deep down that it was too far to the west of my track, but it was a corn field, for goodness sake. So I crashed around in the briars to the south of it for too long, not finding a flag and not finding a trail. A couple other guys showed up as well, and we could not find the flag. So I headed back to my last known position, took another bearing, trusted my route, and found what HAD been a corn field in maybe 2010 or 2011. There were maybe a couple acres of grey stumps of corn stalks that had not been harvested, and were grown up to weeds. And sure enough, to the south, there was a trail and a CP. I was pretty disgusted with myself!

Since I got to the single track at Holdridge around 1:30, I could only do the north (short) loop for 2 CPs. I was hoping to do both loops, as CPs on singletrack are easier to find than those randomly placed in the woods during the final O-course. There was also a gear check here (got it!), then back on the road again. I started thinking about what I would like to eat......watermelon, ice cream sandwich, popsicle, lemonade....... I saw a watermelon rind on the side of the road so that was probably what triggered that thought process. Quick Road wasn't so quick where it was covered in loose sand/gravel from the recent rains. I stopped at the CP at the railway track. After the end of the race, a couple guys told me they saw me there, and thought I was getting off the road for a potty break. Then realized it was a CP, so backtracked a bit to catch it too. Hmmmmm. Back to the start/finish line.....no watermelon :(

C • I saw some racer types headed east on Quick! 1

The final O-course. I had to get 2 to be ranked, so I went for what I thought were the easiest 2. And found them just fine on the east side of Seven Lake, and got back to the finish line with 23 minutes to spare. If hindsight, I should've gone for one more, but I was worried about time. As it was, I got a burst of energy at the end and was able to put a bit more hustle into my trip back to the finish line. And got 'r' done at 3:37 (with a 4:00 pm cutoff time).
I was slightly amazed that I finished on time. It took a while to sink in. I had no cramps, and did not bonk.... The E-Load gels, the Nuun tabs and a couple extra E-Load Zone Caps did the trick during the race. I have also been watching my potassium intake in the last month, which probably helped too. Peanut butter sandwiches, a Cliff Bar, chocolate chip cookies and Peak Frean's cookies were easy and yummy to eat. I had bought a couple bananas, but had not put them in the cooler, so when I got back to the car during the transitions, they had self destructed in the extreme heat of the car. Gross. And silly me, I had forgotten that I had some peanut M&Ms in my backpack....those would've been good to eat while trekking.
So all in all, I was very happy with the results. But of course, I will continue to critique my performance, and find ways to improve for the next race. And work on moving on to a 24 hour race at some point!

C • 24 hour at some point? 3

While waiting for others to arrive at Seven Lakes State Park, Maria and I went for a walk along the trails east of Big Seven Lake. We were both wearing flip flops and neither of us had put on bug spray.... The trail was mostly tame enough for the flip flops, and the mosquitoes appreciated our time on the trail. A thunderstorm had just gone through so they probably hadn't had anyone to feast on for about an hour.

Just sitting on the deck is a sweatfest. When I got back from hauling myself around the streets of town, I realized that our front lawn needed mowing. Out came the manual reel mower for 30 more minutes in the sauna known as a southwestern Ontario summer. I thought about running in YakTrax last winter in 6" of new snow.........

Inverted push ups, heavy weights on the machines......that is all for this week.