Training Log Archive: silkychrome

Event: Stubborn Mule 30hr AR
 

Stubborn Mule 30hr AR w Tim Anna and Erl as Rib Mountain. we cleared the course and won! another hot race.

Race HQ at the start line for the American Birkebeiner ski race. a neat facility and lots of local significance. also a perfect AR facility - huge metal building w tables and chairs.

LEG 1 - Trek 8k
Erl has to run about 50m thru sand to collect UTMs for the first CP. we plotted fast (no gridlines) and decided to go there first. got to the area, no flag, replotted, reattacked, no flag, rereplotted, rereattacked, finally found it. hard to plot fast and accurate w no gridlines or flat surface!! lost about 30min we think? anyway got the rest of the points and were in the top 5 or so. my shirt was soaked 10min in and stayed that way for the remaining 26.5 hrs.

LEG 2 - Bike
fast, mostly road ride to the paddle put-in. got there in 3rd just a few minutes behind Silent Chasers (3p male) and Checkpoint 9 (2p male).

LEG 3 - Paddle
on the Namekagon River. a great section! mostly calm water w some fun riffles that required careful river reading. Erl and I got stuck a few times and left some green paint on some rocks other times. but made it thru without overheating like No Sleep. also saw an osprey.

LEG 4 - Bike 27mi
picked bikes back up at the take-out, rode back by HQ and then onto the famous CAMBA singletrack. it was legit hot/humid by this point and the trails were physical. not overly technical but punchy climbs and enough rocks/roots to keep your body engaged constantly. jumped ahead of Silent Chasers in a tricky map-reading area and Tim made a v smart call to follow the map instead of the trail sign. then caught and passed CP9 shortly after.

LEG 5 - Paddle 12mi
Spider Lake. into TA in the lead and we were worked. thx to volunteers for having cold pop available for all teams! ate and drank in TA and took plenty of water with on the canoes. this paddle had questions instead of flags for each CP so it was a fun tour of the lake and the mostly private property on the waterfront. each question we would guess the answer before arriving. entertainment. it was at least cloudy for this so we did not roast.

LEG 6 - Bike 13mi
back to HQ. we did some extra bikewhacking. prep for UNE! flip-flopped places w SC and CP9 bc of this but gained time back w some more good route choices from Tim. we were hoping to make it back to TA before dark but w the bikewhack, we were well past sunset on this leg.

LEG 7 - Trek 10k
came into HQ and changed into loose shorts. which were a maze ing. headed out on the trek w SC just a few minutes back. we moved well thru this trek. towards the end i ate a cheese sandwich which made my stomach flip. thought i could make it back to TA for porta-potty but...no. had to stop about 400m short of TA and use the woods. thankfully Tim had brought TP.

LEG 8 - Bike 8mi
changed into bike shorts...dry!! what a luxury. we were getting ready to leave TA when SC came in...wow! they had a great trek and were closer than we wanted. rode out into the trail system in the dark. this leg i think was the hardest nav of the race. so many types of trails (singletrack, Birke skate, Birke classic, North End ski, other double track, snow-shoe, etc.) to navigate between, all in various states of maintenance. this was very slow but Tim did a great job of being careful. my stomach was better but i was low energy on this trek and just trying to keep up w the team.

LEG 9 - Trek 12k
back to HQ for the last time, another longish TA, changed shorts again, but still in the same soaking wet shirt as the beginning. it had cooled down a bit but still so humid. rummaged for food choices and scraped together some bits that i was still willing to eat. headed out on this trek as it was starting to sprinkle on and off. that, plus the dawn hour, awoke the fury of the local mosquito population. they were horrible. however they spurred us to run several trail sections much more quickly than we may have otherwise. so we made really good time on the outbound portion of this loop. then on the way home the CPs were closer together and we were able to ping through them really well. nav much easier in the daylight and at foot pace (not biking). came back to TA for the final time and the W!

it's not every year that a Stubborn Mule course can be cleared so it is always nice to get that done. it was also great to get in another race experience with Tim and Anna to prep for UNE, especially in what we think could be similar terrain. the woods were great, we never wore pants and didn't regret it. i was thankful i brought so many shorts options, even tho they are a luxury for a 30hr race. the first 2/3 of the course was great, the extra loops at the end were a bit repetitive but at least we got to TA from HQ so had plenty of re-supply options to keep things motivating.

we ate 2 meals at The Rivers Eatery and Tilly's Pies which are such nice places. the Start Line Inn where we stayed were great hosts and allowed us to use the loft all day on Sunday for naps and showers, which was extremely appreciated. Paula's crew does a great job w the race!!

https://www.strava.com/activities/1674607706

C • You rock! 3