Training Log Archive: Bash

Set out controls and took them down for the Indian Summer O Fest. In spite of some last-minute, mostly-behind-the-scenes-but-not-entirely crises, it was a very successful day. The weather couldn't have been much nastier, with pouring rain and cool temperatures, so we expected a lot of no-shows. But 50 people showed up for the introductory clinic, nicely managed by Backwoods, then we probably had another 30-35 experienced orienteers join us for the afternoon races. Because recent Caledon Navigators media coverage has highlighted juniors, we had a good turnout in the age 7-12 range. A lot of work - I'm exhausted now. But it was well worth it to see so many smiling faces, proud to have completed their first orienteering event.

Event: Trek or Treat
 

Out at Glen Haffy with ThunderDog in nasty weather, putting up streamers for Sunday's event. Major crises in our map printing plans today. I wasn't supposed to need to be involved at all, but may end up spending tomorrow afternoon getting hundreds of colour copies instead of packing for NZ - argggh.

Trek or Treat was billed as Canada's first night trail race - and it was an awesome time. (Although I do think the NavStock 15 km night adventure run should get some credit, since it involved running and navigating on and off-trail.)

'Bent and I have been busy, so we started looking around the house for costume ideas in the final half-hour before we had to leave. This didn't give us a lot of scope for creativity. We decided to promote Bullfrog Power's clean electricity, since we both own lime green jackets, SCUBA goggles (like frog eyes), and lots of Bullfrog stickers, and 'Bent even has a sleeveless Bullfrog running shirt from Sco-Fo that he wore on the outside. It wasn't a real costume, but it served the purpose of making us uncomfortable while running, which was the whole point, I think! There were some great costumes, particularly on the people walking in the 5 km event.

The place was full of people we knew - lots of fun. We didn't get the rain that was forecast, and it was warmer down by the lake, so I realized at the starting line that I was *way* overdressed. Too late - we took off on the 9 km course, following Vin on his bike. The park trails were all wide and well-surfaced, but there were some serious climbs and descents in the valley to separate people. At several locations, there were "haunters" in scary costumes, who would jump out of the trees or just reach out menacingly, usually accompanied by a scary soundtrack.

It didn't take long until I was running by myself, which was almost legitimately scary, since we were on trails in an urban park after dark - a place I would never go on my own. For long periods of time, I couldn't see anyone ahead of me or behind me. The trail was marked at intersections and with occasional glow sticks, but there were long stretches where you just had to trust that you were on the right track. After 10 minutes of seeing faint lights ahead and no one behind, I began to seriously consider bailing out to the nearby subdivision, because I thought that I must be one of the last runners in the 9 km race, and it might be better to just run back on roads and call it a night. My stomach wasn't feeling good, thanks to a snack 3 hours before the race that I shouldn't have eaten - slosh, ouch, slosh. Eventually, the terrain changed so I could see that there were still people behind me - phew. I also managed to pass a few people ahead of me after the water station, which I didn't stop at.

Then I pulled the trick that 'Bent pulled in our 5 Peaks trail race. Yes, that's right - I made a nav error in a trail race with a marked course. The trail popped me out onto a road, and I could see glowsticks along the road to my right and to my left. I slowed to a walk and went right, since I could hear the finish line sounds coming from that direction. But it didn't feel right, and I could see some 5 km walkers coming toward me. So I turned around and checked the other direction until I saw the entrance to the final cemetery before the finish. About 40 seconds lost - rats. When I reached the finish line, there was a 2-minute gap between me and the next runner ahead, which explains why it was so lonely out there most of the time - and luckily, it also meant that my nav error didn't affect my rank, only my time.

So... I was stunned to see the results. I was 2nd of the 18 women in my category, and 45th of 112 runners overall. Huh? And here I was thinking of abandoning the race because I thought I was the last one, and I must be holding everything up. Even better news - 'Bent won his category, and placed 15th overall. Our AR teammate, 3PinJim, finished right behind 'Bent for 2nd place. Martin Rydlo won overall, and Kevin Tearle (GHO Eliminator Champion) was 2nd overall in the 5 km race.

So it was a great night for people we know, and the prizing was incredible. 'Bent got a gift certificate for another pair of ECCO shoes (to add to the two pairs from past ESAR races). Good thing he likes them a lot! And I got a pair of really cool, lightweight Leki trekking poles. I have a small collection of Leki poles, but these ones are the lightest and nicest yet.

It was a well-organized, fun, lively event, with lots of work by Sherpa and the Arnolds. I'm sure it will be a lot bigger next year, as people tell their friends about it. There were some impressive, hilarious costumes. The one downer was that Race Director Mark A's foot was run over and broken by one of the ambulances that attended the event to keep things safe. Mark is also the Race Director of the annual Emergency Services Adventure Race, and has just moved from police work to become a firefighter. He couldn't get in the ambulance to go to the hospital, because he had so much work to do with the race. Very ironic - and it looked painful too. Good thing there were so many Leki poles around.

Hard Core Conditioning DVD with 'Bent. I finally bought a soft, ball-shaped weight so I can follow along when Caron says things like, "If you have a weight, hold it at your chest". For some of the exercises, it doesn't feel much different, but for others, it really increases the degree of difficulty.

Caron is attending our orienteering clinic and race this Sunday. It will be very tempting to make her run lots of hill intervals, do 200 sit-ups, then orienteer with a big weight tied to her compass. ;-)

While watching the Daily Show. Today Jon's main target was himself, after he threw out the first pitch at a Mets game and bounced the ball before the plate.

Stopped near Syracuse last night, then drove the rest of the way home this morning. I probably would have made it all the way home in one shot, but I was feeling quite squeamish about my first race in serious tick country, and I wanted to stop to do a full tick check and have a shower. Fortunately, it looks like the ticks decided to wait for someone to run by who was dressed better or didn't smell as bad. ;-)