Training Log Archive: Anvil

Event: RockstAR Adventure Race
 

RockstAR Adventure Race with 'Bent.

Bike leg went far better than expected, I was nervous about this - didn't want to get stuck mid-pack or be that guy that everyone was stuck behind.
In fact had no trouble at all, only stepped down once when the person ahead had trouble on the rocky climbs and also learnt early not to follow the same line on the downs as the 'Bent, that lead to a few scares early on.
However, Bessie did very well and coming back in 4th was a really nice surprise.

The trek/paddle stage went pretty much as we planned. Our one mistake was assuming the course would not be clearable and planning accordingly by dropping an 80 pointer, which allowed us to paddle a lot more than a 'clear the course' plan would have allowed.
Since the course was in fact clearable, because of this decision the highest we could have placed was 4th (which we did!). I'm on 2 minds about this - it would have been nice to place, but that would have meant a lot, lot more running on ATV trails and dealing with the FDFs (I now really understand the need for the first 'F'!) and it was much more fun paddling the lakes instead and it gave me the chance to practice boat navigation, which I've never done before.
Possibly could have saved some time being a little faster off-trail, but since we had a total compass failure, we were relying on 'Bent's pace counting skills and my 'gut feeling' and map reading a 1:35000 map. Fortunately, all the control were on mapped features - a marked improvement on my last adventure race. None of the off-trail controls were perfectly clean or fast, but we were conservative and didn't loose a vast amount of time on any of them.
All in all, a great day. 'Bent was a perfect team mate, making up for all my shortcomings. Having all the required gear and then setting me up with all the gear he told me to bring along and I didn't. Dudehas an awesome 'end of race' push and is a beast on the portage as well.

C • rockstar 14

C • Faile 14

TNT with Dr. PBV.
I let him decide what to do, so fittingly he came up with some sort of Fartlek concoction that was about 1/3 each walking, jogging and sprinting.
Would have been a decent session, but we should have worked harder on the 'jogging' parts - so to make up for it, after half an hour we changed it up to 50/50 sprinting/walking for a further 10 mins, which redeemed it slightly.
Came a cropper on the Ginger Valley trail towards the end, so I guess it still made me tired.

C • Would have been a decent se... 2

Exploring a patch of forest near the RIM Park for an ARK thing. Wasn't really planning on using this spot - just wanted a stickybeak.
Impressively runnable sections considering this time of the year - reminded me a bit of Southern England woods.

Epic mega fail. Decided to do some compass work, at Chedoke in the dark.
Was conscious of the potential for lightning, so drove there. After I get part of the way though I look up and see a flash in the sky that seemed quite close, so I bail and run back to the car only to discover that my car key is no longer in the key pocket.... so I run home and to get my main set and back to the car again. :/
And the lightning flash, I think I made that up in my head, maybe my headland reflecting off a sign as I looked up. Loser.
Bonus was I finally saw some (baby) skunks and a possum from this hemisphere (Ours are better).

16x1'/1' with Trav and Trix.
Left achilles was pretty grumpy for most of it, possibly getting used to the new Minimus shoes. Will give it a rest in the Kinvara's for a couple of days.
Never felt I was going full tilt because of this - I did still feel pretty spent by the end.
Was regaled with tales of Scotland. Sounds like a terrible trip and absolutely not fun or something I would want to do at all.

C • Did you mean going to Scotl... 8

In the Deeve with Dr. PBV. Humid sweat-fest.
He demanded a non-rocky, 40 minute, shady loop - some one's starting to become a prima donna.

C • to be fair... he only has 3... 4