Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

Event: Snowshoe Raid Adventure Run
 

This is an entirely Captain Obvious type statement but I think that this SSR will go down as the year that everyone was late!

I don't have the map in front of me as I write this but like most teams we started with a clockwise loop. All time estimates, which we believed to be conservative, turned out not to be, and about the halfway mark we changed our plan and started heading back toward the finish. Our critical mistake was after 55, deciding to go into the land of 33-35. We found 33 no problem and got a bit caught up in the idea of going to get more when we saw Anvil flying through the slippery valley with the greatest of ease. We headed toward 35 but weren't paying as close attention to the map as we should have been and things went downhill from there. At one point, I started taking us the WRONG way down the flagged snowshoe trail and wondered why I saw teams going the opposite direction (duh!). Ran into a non-racer who told me I was headed toward Hwy 26. Oh goodness. At that point, my morale was shot and I knew we were going to be late which I don't think has ever happened to me in an SSR. We followed the flagged snowshoe trail in the CORRECT direction this time but missed a critical intersection to get to 36. So we didn't check out and I believe therefore lost the points we actually did get in the matrix. THEN, because we missed that trail we ended up at the top of the Craigleith switchback trail not exactly sure where we were. There was another team behind us in ROAD SHOES! who had no idea either and said they had just been following us. Fortunately, I have a brief moment of common sense and realized we had to go further and eventually we found ourselves somewhere we recognized but didn't think it was worth it to go back for 36. We'd worn snowshoes, which we both decided was the wrong decision and I decided to take mine off at the top of the last descent as I was convinced I'd be faster in my Speedcross (WRONG!). Managed not to kill ourselves on the downhill and came in 15 minutes late, heads hanging in shame. Definitely not our day out on course but a very fun day and weekend otherwise!

C • Descending in Speedcross! 6

Loop around Hoggs Falls on our way up to Collingwood. We wore microspikes and could see (at this point) why snowshoes were being recommended for Saturday. There was tons of snow there....well over a foot off trail and even on trail it was slog with the spikes because it was so soft.

More frequent yoga sessions all logged at 20 minutes are in part because I discovered Brooklyn 99...I set up my iPad in front of yoga mat in the basement and it's a good way to motivate more frequent stretching and other rehab / preventative type stuff!

Well I really don't know if I should call what I did out there "orienteering!" Since I'm an optimist, I'm gonna say that hopefully this means I got all my stupid mistakes out of my system yesterday rather than next weekend. My first control was definitely an omen when I realized I was looking for it on the wrong side of the trail, but if only I knew things were going to go downhill from there! Of the 16 controls on course, I think I nailed about 2 of them. I'm not sure what was wrong with me but I never really figured out the scale and hadn't been to Claireville before so it was a real comedy of errors. This is the maybe the first time I wished I had a GPS track to share as I think it would result in some good entertainment.

Disastrous orienteering aside, I thought we had lovely weather for this and it was really nice to have an indoor home base for before and after. The temps were perfect and it was fun to run on the icy trails. Also, while my post-race lunch selection disappointed in the beer department (um, if you call yourself a "brewpub," you should really have at least one IPA!), the company was great!

I don't even really know if this is my time. It's an optimistic guess that will likely be proven wrong when the results come out.

C • Comedy of Errors 2