Training Log Archive: silkychrome

Event: Ozark Gravel Road Epic - OGRE (150 miles)
 

13:33 moving time. most of stoppage was spent with others trying to comfort a severely injured rider...ended up getting airlifted and now in a coma. a good reminder to enjoy the days you get on a bike.

also struggling with the creation of this event, it was RD'd by a friend of mine who promoted it like it was an "approved" continuation of the OGRE started by Bonk Hard Racing in 2013. well he did not have permission. he basically took the name, date, and route of an existing and successful event which had been dormant for the past (1 or 2?) year(s), and presented it as his own. caused a kerfluffle a few days before the event, and now i feel conflicted...like which friend to pick sides for? each have their strengths in event directing. i just feel like Bonk Hard was hurt, and I don't like it.

anyway, about the actual ride itself, it rained solidly the night before so the roads were really soft. tough going the first 50 miles. my brakes went out a couple times so Fred Flintstone-d to a stop and then dialed the pads in more. then stopped for the accident at about 55, helped where we could (not much really, but couldn't justify continuing until the rider was in the EMT's hands), and rode out w Claire and HH, and Dr. Kate (major helper), and David. The 6 of us kinda stayed together for the next 30 miles. then Erl and I were first into Tunnel Dam (85mi) and right as we were leaving, Claire and HH rolled in. Erl and I rode the loop around Tunnel Dam and back in the aid station at 100, again right as we were leaving, Claire and HH rolled in. i told myself at the beginning that no racing would be had until mile 100. well it was mile 100. and finally the gravel was drying out so we could move a little faster. and our brakes worked better on the steep stuff. we really had a great ride 100-121 and again, as we were leaving Montreal, Claire and HH rolled in! ah! booked it out of there and worked hard to keep focus for last 30 miles. had a flat but totally NASCAR-d the change and kept hustling. magnificent sunset up on the ridge over Osage River. bomber paved descent to finish the ride out.

no idea on placing. not sure i want to know. i am really glad this ride happened but still can't let it go how we were mis-led into thinking that Bonk Hard's original event was rightfully continued. so mixed emotions. just trying to focus on the satisfaction of a good ride, coming out healthy, and hoping the injured rider makes it.

RD provided poor cue cards and aid station information. Aid was at:
26 - gas station (Hwy 42)
50 - gas station (Montreal)
85 - parking lot (Tunnel Dam Rd)
100 - parking lot (Tunnel Dam Rd)
121 - gas station (Montreal)
151 - finish line (CryBaby Campground)

http://gojim.tv/ a good account of the accident and hopefully further updates.

C • Congratulations! 6

morning run w Erl n T to the grocery store.

WU:
10min AD, foam roll, 3x10 SD, 3x5 WS, 3x10 AS, 3x10 push-up, 6x2 assisted pull-up.
THEN:
10x EZ DL
3x5 DL 95#
3x3 DL 125#
4x1 DL 145#
THEN:
5 rounds of: 6x EL Bulgarian split squat, 6x plank pull, 6x push press 2x15#, 15cal Airfit sprint, rest.

Felt really motivated this morning and glad the extra naps this weekend and extra rest day this week seem to be helping.

Dr. Nick. everything in good shape. the wonders of an off-weekend.

I started to put on my Garmin for a run and just felt negative so snuggled w Tess instead.

been so tired since Breakdown. 2 naps this weekend and still barely keeping up!

w Erl n T at CCL. body was not super enthused to be running for the first 30min. then it came around. but when T got hot i was happy to be done. really nice morning.

w Jeff and Carrie on their new mtb tandem!

w Erl before he got to go to work. beautiful morning. great scenery. added in Klondike and some rolling around Busch at the end.

we saw a groundhog climb a tree...treehog ?

birthday run for Tess which ended at Treats Unleashed and a birthday cookie!

EZ fam run to the park w 2 swimming stops for T. she turns 4 tomorrow!

fam run in a light rain to the grocery store.

Dr. Nick today. my L knee hurt a lot at Breakdown so Lindsey did some work on my quad. they think that the quad/glute/ham was fatigued and let my kneecap track funny.

Event: Breakdown AR
 

ACI - Tour de Hills - Harrison, AR (4hrs)

C • Tour de hills? 2

Breakdown Shakedown.

"Peak Happiness" aka mayer22 and Earl and Julia 1st, only team to clear the course.
Alpine Shop aka "ASS" 2nd skipping 3 controls
Happy Mutant/MainNerve 3rd skipping 3 controls and ~30min behind ASS
Michigan Racing Addicts 4th skipping 4 controls

partial GPS track from about 1/2 way thru opening paddle til 1/2 way thru final paddle.

PROLOGUE run 200m to creek bend, send Jeff across creek to retrieve opening map, he runs back, we all run 200m back to put-in.

PADDLE 1, CP 1-2, 8 miles
we were in the top 10 or so to get moving, some chaos but Jeff did a great job steering us thru. once the water widened out we were about 3rd and stayed there thru CP1 and 2 and the take-out. pretty good paddling effort from everyone given the lack of early-season paddling.

BIKE 1, CP 3-6 and 15, 12mi
got on bikes at the Flanagan Spillway. thankful for the paved uphill to start and get warm. pretty good attack on 3 and 4, thru the reentrant w some rhodo but not bad. then the attack on 5 and 6 was confusing since the roads were screwy (existing vs. mapped). but we were with Happy Mutants so David and Mark worked together on this, sorta. there were teams approaching from a lot of different routes so i wonder if there was a better way.

then we chose to get 15 (the "any mode any time" CP) on the way up to TA2. the trail up there was v faint to start but we benefited from seeing other teams on it. dropped our bikes a bit early by the gas well and thrashed about to find the CP. not pretty but we got it. ride up to TA2 was v steep and i was trying to hurry but David needed to go slower to stay in contact w map and trails/roads. i felt super strong on the bike (thanks, Hermann) but needed to be a better teammate by not rushing the navigator.

TREK 1, CP 7-16 and service project, 8mi redline
we chose to delay our service project to make sure we could complete this in the daylight. went CCW to make the attack on 16 easier. we were off-trail a lot to 14 and then stayed on trails most of the remainder. saw Happy Mutant now and again on the early CPs, filled water just after CP13, and then passed them at CP10 by taking the road instead of the ridgeline. took the long around-route to CP9 and it was way better, although pretty hot. and the trails kept climbing! incredible. Jeff took my pack for a while when my L knee hurt - same as in Hermann. finished up w a bobble on CP7 which allowed Happy Mutant to catch back up. they had already done their service project so they left TA3 on bikes while we scrubbed graffiti.

BIKE 2, CP 17-18, 15mi
downhill 1000' from TA3 to Elkhorn City. was able to mostly keep up w the boys w my rigid fork and was v proud of that (Jeff was on rigid too). then climbed back up 1000' to Breaks. i needed a tow there.

TREK 2, CP 19-23, 4mi
left on this about the same time as Happy Mutant but I think they went the opposite way. we went CW. on the map the trail down to 22 did weird things so we 'whacked much of the 800' descent which was v slow (loose rocks and lots of leaves). but David nailed it and then we used more trail to climb back up. boys got the rhodo-whack CP (19) on the first try and then it was back to TA. on the way back we started to think that we would not be able to clear so went thru our options. David was nervous about the spaghetti trails at 24 and 25 from the 2015 race. so we figured those were the best to skip. got some noodles in TA5, yum, and left just after the Mutants.

BIKE 3, CP 24-25, 5mi
rode straight to the swim, skipping 24 and 25. we didn't know what the details were and were all kinda scared to be cold (air temp was in the 40s).

SWIM 1, CP 26-27, 100m max
but when we got to the TA6, volunteers said only 1 person had to do it. i am the designated swimmer on the team. so that was an easy decision. did the swim in my shorts, calf sleeves (too time-consuming to remove), and a PFD...the key being a dry sports bra afterwards. the swim was actually not bad. the volunteers had a fire going so i just got dressed again next to it and was quite comfortable. Peak Happiness was swimming at the same time and i think we scared them a bit (bc we did not tell them about our skipped CPs).

BIKE 4, CP 28, 15mi
a nice uphill out of the swim. then it was time for the crux route choice of the race, take a chance on an mapped but much shorter (3k) and flatter jeep road? or take the surefire but longer (10k) and climbier paved route? we had Google-examined it the night before and David was skeptical of the jeep road. given how the other roads had been treating us during the race we decided to take the surefire paved route (this was the result of about 6 hours of conversation and many, many math problems). descended to the decision point and saw Peak getting ready for the jeep road...and did not stop. pushed hard on the pavement and then got to the attackpoint for 28 without seeing Peak's lights. as most things go, either we were geniuses or morons. ate some hush puppies from last night's buffet as we left the CP. still no lights. hopefully we were geniuses.

PADDLE 2, CP 29-33,
we plotted quickly and thought that CP33 would be a stretch with the time remaining. put in and our boat only tracked left. sigh. the first 2 were EZ and then we struggled w 31, not really hung where we expected and the spur was super slow going, v rocky. but the 2p male team we were working with found it, right as Peak paddled up. oh here, let us show you the CP! but we had benefited from other teams too so it's just how things go. Peak went for far-out 33 and we played it safe and went in. not too sad about that since it was quite cold on the water.

BIKE 5, no CPs, 5mi
before we could get on bikes we spent about 15min at the fire (breaking Legendary's AR Rule #26). we were all in sad shape, super cold. and we knew we were going to freeze on the final bike descent. not motivating. but finally got ourselves out of TA, climbed, descended, froze, and finished!

we had a solid effort but never really got into real-deal race mode, which we would have needed to have any chance of keeping up with Peak. hopefully it's just early-season kinks and we'll get things rolling for Mission. course was nice but I really enjoyed 2015 more, being up on the western part of Pine Mountain was incredible and I was sad not to re-visit it. great to see the east-coasters though!!

C • GPS 4

C • CP 7 3

Dr. Nick today. the usual percussion.

WU:
10min AD, foam roll, 3x5 WS, 3x10 AS, 3x10 push-up, 3x12 GM, 3.20m lunge, 5x2 assisted pull-up.
THEN:
5 rounds of: 5x BS @ light chain, 3x BS @ medium chain, 2x BS @ heavy chain, 5x box jump 18", rest.
THEN:
5 rounds of: 20m sled march, 5x seated box jump 18", 10cal tempo row, rest.

w Erl n T. shorty jog before packing for Breakdown.

C • Happy trails 3

Tour of Hermann loop 4. a long stretch on the Katy to start and we got a little thunder and lightning too. rode mostly solo on the rest of it. L knee started to hurt. once i popped back down to the Katy for the return trip i noticed i could maybe get in under 4hrs if i pushed it. so...fired up the diesel engine (i.e. 50 rpm cadence) and pushed hard into the wind to make it back. success!

C • Impressive! 4

Tour of Hermann loop 5. yeah! with knee pain from loop 4 and general exhaustion i did not want to go out on loop 5. so i ate a turkey sandwich, drank a coke, took 2 Motrins, and got peer pressured from Erl and JZ to go w them. i couldn't turn down the good company. the loop turned out to be great and not as much loose gravel as yesterday. so glad i went out again. good miles and a great event.

Event: Tour of Hermann 2-Day Gravel Challenge
 

Tour of Hermann lap 1. some flat miles on the Katy and then fast gravel north of town. changed to a 38T which worked out great.

Tour of Hermann lap 2. south of town and seemed like a ton of freshie fresh gravel. some more climb too.

Tour of Hermann lap 3. Erl waited for me and we rode this one together. so thankful for the 38T in front, i could climb everything without standing which was necessary on all of the loose chunk. Erl got a flat towards the end but it was nice to take a little break to change it.

WU:
10min AD, foam roll, 3x10 SD, 3x10 AS, 3x10 push-up, 3x10 GM, 3x5 BSS each leg, 3x15 KBS 25#.
ankle flossing w MobilityWOD Voodoo Floss Band
THEN:
work up to 80% PC with some jerks thrown in too
5x (2/1) PC/jerk @ 85#
THEN:
learn power snatch
6x (3/3) PS/OHS @ 35#-45#
CD:
5 rounds of: 20x KBS 20#, 30sec FLR on rings, rest.

I have long femurs.

C • Mm flossing 2

Dr. Nick. no ribs out of place this week. got a nice adjustment on R ankle.

EZ jog around the hood w Erl. we had planned a funner fam run w T but she had a mysterious limp when i came home. so she had to stay home.

Alpine TNR except I just did my own thing and bailed early. low mojo. R ankle felt fine but L ankle tight.

Lightning Strikes 8hr AR w Biz and Erl...WEDALI!

Trek 1, about 3k around camp
Bike 1, 15k gravel/paved road
Trek 2, 10k in Pacific Palisades SP
Bike 2, 25k gravel/paved road
Trek 3, about 3k around camp w ropes (80' ascent, 80' rap, 300' zip)

Erl and I rolled in to Camp Benson Sat afternoon for ascent practice - Robyn helped me get my set-up sorted which was super cool. I always feel rusty on my ascending during a race so the extra no-pressure practice was really useful.

We got maps late Friday night and right after we finished plotting (only 3 CPs to plot) then Biz rolled in so we were able to brief him and get his stuff sorted before bed. Cold night but heated cabins!

Trek 1 was a brief run-around the camp on a 1:5k LIDAR map. Rolled my ankle just after CP1 unfortunately. Left camp in 2nd overall.

Bike 1 was a straightforward gravel/paved ride to Pacific Palisades SP. Not windy yet. Did not see anyone ahead/behind.

Trek 2 was the crux of the race. Point-to-point nav with 4 CPs having "bonus" CPs which were revealed with a map at the flag (like the "mother" controls in the recent Raccoongaine). I was worried about this but they routed everything well so the bonus CPs added distance but did not disrupt the flow. We caught up w 1st place "Twigs & Berries" 2p male team and gained separation from time to time but they kept re-catching up. So good on their part for not allowing us out of their sight but it was frustrating to keep helping them w nav! I was maxxed out running thru the woods so nothing we could do really.

We started Bike 2 just a minute back from Twigs & Berries but did not have the team horsepower to catch them. Wind had picked up but we pacelined/towed where we needed to keep us all together. Straightforward route.

Final trek was another run-around camp with ropes elements. We caught up to Twigs & Berries again at the ascent but 1 team per rope so they had the advantage of 2p vs 3p going up. I felt the ascent went well for us and the Sat practice definitely helped me. The rap was simple. Then the final zip line was scary!! A few feet of free-fall and then the rope caught and took us over the river. Then it was fun. Run back to the finish line and done!

So so great getting to see Biz and have him kick my butt in the woods even though he was sick. Great team effort all around.

Highlight of the event for me was the kids. Lightning Strikes is a Fri/Sat AR training camp and Sun race. Lots of 9-15 year old kids learning and racing w their parents. Really rad seeing these kiddos getting exposed to the outdoors and navigation with their equally rad parents. Also a lot of new adventure racers there too. Inspiring!

got to meet Robyn Benincasa at High Profile AR Camp. she signed my book! v interesting to hear her stories and feel her positive mojo!

Event: Lightning Strikes Adventure Camp and Race
 

morning run w Erl n T. kinda sore from yesterday!

Dr Nick appt. 4 ribs out of place! and PMR1000 was so intense.