Training Log Archive: silkychrome

Event: Tour of Hermann Gravel Challenge
 

Event: The Breakdown Adventure Race
 

breakdown 30hr AR w hash brown dreamteam: Jeff, David, Erl, me as Alpine Shop. drove to Louisville Thursday night, picked up David in Lexington Friday lunchtime, then arrived at Breaks Interstate SP Friday late afternoon for pre-race check-in, meeting, and bike drop. we got all but 2 CPs Fri night and race instructions: no mandatory CPs and the RDs didn't think the course was clearable. so we plotted and decided to skip CP1 because it was nearly 7k redline out of the way through some steep terrain. we were worried that our legs wouldn't cover the steep KY/VA terrain as quickly as we are used to, and the later biking trails would be muddy hike-a-bike messes after the area received heavy rains the previous week. so, saving 2-3 hours early in the race seemed like a great idea.

TREK 1, CPs 1-15, 0600-1130, 10mi
started in chilly but dry temps and quickly found out that several other top teams chose to skip CP1 also. right on. traded spots w Rev3 (3p coed), Run Forrest Run (2p male from Canada), BDAR 1 and 2 (both 3p coed), and USMES (2p male) teams until the course went off-trail, and then we were quite alone. yay! had trouble w CP11 but recovered and flowed thru rest of them. found CP14 lying on the ground so re-hung it. made it to CP15 in 3rd behind Rev3 and RFR.

ROPES 1, no CPs (just punched TA1), 1130-1200
a short zipline to get across Russell Fork

TREK 2, CPs 16-18, 1200-1330
on roads to start, then sketch downhill and trail to CP16. really beautiful, Pacific-Northwesty trail to CP17, then big climb to CP18 and up into SP.

SWIM 1, CP 19, 1330-1400
at TA2, choice between 100m swim or 2mi trail run, only 1 teammate required. Erl swam for the punch and coordinates to CP20 while we TAd on shore. it was warm and sunny at this point so not too cold. left the TA about 40min down on Rev3.

BIKE 1, CPs 20-21, 1400-1530
2-3mi singletrack, we struggled w the spaghetti-bowl of trails to CP21, then 10mi road ride to Haysi. big climbs but all surprisingly spinnable/rideable. Jeff and Erl alternated towing duty for me. super fun, rideable downhills as well. some traffic but no asshole drivers...really pleasant ride!

TREK 3, Haysi Urban-O, 6 CPs, 500m,
arrived about 20min down on Rev3. a super short trek in bike shoes thru Haysi. we were NOT organized about this O, sort of stumbled thru it, but managed. race volunteer/aspiring Mayor of Haysi had pizza at the shelter but i couldn't eat it :/ so i yelled at the boys to get out of there while they chatted up the Mayor.

BIKE 2, CPs 22-25, 25mi,
road ride w 2 bridge crossings. again, tons of climb but very rideable, got lots of help from the boys, super nice day to be out. caught Rev3 at CP25 and rode their wheel into TA. discovered RFR just about to put in, so top 3 teams (all had skipped CP1) together at this point.

PADDLE 1A, CPs 29-31, 7.5mi, 1740?-1930?
outbound on John Flanagan Reservoir. me/Erl and David/Jeff in the plastic banana boats. met RFR at CP29 which neither of us could find. we knew we were coming back this way so didn't spend a ton of time. paddled up to CP30, saw Rev3 and RFR boats beached there doing Leg X trek, but we went and got CP31 first and then beached in a different spot for the mini trek.

TREK 4, "Leg X", CPs 42-45, 2k, 1930?-2000?
nailed this just as the sun was setting. good plan from David and good execution from team. mojo v high, probably bc we ate a TON on the paddle. snuck ahead of Rev3 here.

PADDLE 1B, 7.5mi, 2000?-2200?
inbound on John Flanagan Reservoir. continued jamming out on calories and caffeine and crushed it. paddling w Erl is so fun. re-attacked CP29, couldn't find still, so agreed w Rev3 to skip it. finished the paddle together w them

BIKE 3, CPs 32-41 and "Leg Y" CPs 45-47, 20mi, 2200?-0500?
we were all pretty cold coming off the water but had enough clothes in TA to fix, plus got some killer hot noodles and hot chocolate from race volunteers. took off ahead of Rev3 and started last leg of race - mostly bike but w short treks to CPs. map showed lots of trail, but when we got there most of it was gravel road so it went WAY faster than we had planned. caught RFR at CP41 "overlook" and spent a bunch of time searching for flag, couldn't find, made another truce to leave area and go to finish. had trouble w CP45 on Leg Y, but finally pinged it, got CP47, and boogied to finish line.

RFR finished ahead of us, they skipped CP1 too but also couldn't find CP14 (the one that was on the ground) so we were 1st overall. bad luck for them bc after seeing their nav skill, surely they were in the correct reentrant to find it, just bad timing. Rev3 about 1hr back from us w same # of CPs, super strong effort from them w 2 girls/1 guy. **UPDATE** 361 Adventures decided to award CP14 to RFR so they are official 1st place OA...well deserved!!

seeing as we finished at 0500 (??) and race cutoff wasn't til 1200, we def had time to get CP1...we figured about 2 hrs to get it and then maybe up to 1 additional hr of fatigue. but who knows, anything can happen out there. we had to respect the brutal terrain and potential for super slow trail conditions, neither of which affected us as much as we anticipated.

i wore Fellraisers for their 1st AR and they were AWESOME. also new bike shoes (same model, larger size) and new tri shorts (brand new style) did great. so pleased w those choices. also nailed clothing.

361 Adventures did a SUPER job w this race. terrain is incredible and their course had great flow. they put us on the Pine Mtn trail a lot and it was so so beautiful, def want to return to thru-run/hike it. wow. def worth the long drive from STL. highly recommended!!

and my teammates weren't half bad either :)

http://361adventures.com/BREAKDOWN_2015_RESULTS.pd...

C • Congrats! 10

C • What was up... 6

rainy, and race week, but i REALLY wanted to use my new toy, a 920XT, so ran to the gym anyway. holy cow it is so cool. 920XT + bluetooth + garmin connect import to AP...money. can't wait for the fun band to make it complete.

WU:
5min AD, foam roll, 2x10 SD, 2x15 AS, 2x10 push-up, 3x5 SLOB squat each leg 21" no wall.
THEN:
5x5 good morning 35#
3x5 RDL 53#
THEN:
4x15 DL 65#
4x15 deficit DL 65#
THEN:
4x12 BP 45#
THEN:
2 rounds of: 40m farmer carry 2x45#, 2min EZ AirFit, rest.

a recovery/flush type of day and i really needed it. Matt gave me a ride home in the new Camero afterwards. good choice. leaving for VA tonight!

C • Good luck! 1

EZ morning spin checkin out the 'Slayer before the Breakdown. bike is good, now just hope legs perk up a bit. but so excited for the weekend. #dreamteam

C • tires for CBT 3

to PD. super humid but first morning run in t-shirt!

WU:
5min AD, foam roll, 2x15 AS, 2x10 SD, 2x15 push-up, 2x5 GS 36#.
5x5 SLOB squat each leg 21"
THEN:
10 --> 1 PC ladder (55# --> 105#)
THEN:
5x5 DL 95#+blue bands.
THEN:
3 rounds of: 20m sled pull 75#, 20m reverse sled pull 75#, 10cal AF sprint, rest.

race week = power cleans! i struggled a lot w the ladder as we skirted PR territory. but made it thru and felt good about the rest of it.

back home in a thunderstorm!

Alpine Shop Tuesday Night Ride
"The Northwest Passage" route

hung in w the whole group til Price. then dropped off w 4 others to form a "B" group and pedaled around the rest of the loop. windy out of the S. the 4 took a shortcut back so i finished out the loop solo. missed a late turn so had to deviate slightly from the "official" route. but a great ride...shorts and ss jersey!!