Training Log Archive: Bash

This weekend was the first edition of the Keen Adventure Sports Games, a new concept in Ontario, although there have been similar events in other locales. Six events were held at different locations in the Collingwood area over a 2-day period, with about 90 minutes between events. On Saturday, there was a 5K or 10K river paddle, a 30K/60K mountain bike race, and a 5K/12K/20K trail run. On Sunday, there was a 10K open water paddle on Georgian Bay, a 20K mountain bike navigation event, and an 18K adventure run nav event. People could enter any individual event, or they could do all 3 Saturday events as the Multi-Sport Stage Race, or they could do all 3 Sunday events as the Adventure Stage Race. The grouping of all 6 events was called the Keen Ultimate Adventure Challenge, and the top team of two would win a $10,000 trip to Australia for the Keen Great Ocean Road Adventure Race, where representative teams from 5 or 6 different countries would face off in the finals.

I love non-stop, long-distance adventure races - they are a good fit for my slower speed and ability to withstand sleep deprivation. However, I think the Adventure Sports Games is a big step in the right direction, given the shrinking numbers in our sport. It attracted people from different sports who don't usually adventure race, and hopefully it piqued their curiosity about things they may not currently do, like navigation or paddling. At minimum, it increased ARC's mailing list!

It was also interesting to approach each discipline one at time, within the context of a full day of mult-sport endurance activity. Before each discipline, there was time to dress in dry clothing, have a snack, review maps, refill water or whatever. And during the events, most of us pushed at higher intensity than we would dare to do during a non-stop race. It was also more social, since we got to see the other racers before and after each race, comparing notes and sharing laughs. Unfortunately, 'Bent was unable to race because of his knee injury, but I was lucky that he, BulletDog and ThunderDog came along to cheer and support me. It would have been a lot more difficult if I had to get my own kayak on the roof rack, and I never would have had that yummy beaver tail from the Village At Blue between races!

I hope that Keen will stay involved, allowing this event to continue and flourish in future years - it's a great concept. By the way, I know that some of us have been FAR snobs, avoiding ARC events because of past bad experiences, but you should give ARC another chance. With Bob Miller as Race Director, course designs are high quality, and the courses are actually tested - unlike, say, the recent Raid The North. Some of the race starts were delayed slightly, but the event was noticeably well-organized in spite of its complexity. We had detailed, accurate pre-race information several days in advance, smooth registration procedures, a friendly post-race pub dinner, well-informed volunteers, electronic SI timing, partnership with an orienteering club, and a great field of competitors. Well done, Bob and ARC!

The 10K Georgian Bay open water paddle took place shortly after sunrise, and it was so pleasant on the water that I sometimes had to remind myself that it was a race. We headed out toward an island with a big lighthouse, which we had to circumnavigate clockwise before returning. Since Georgian Bay is low, there were areas with rocks and shoals, so we had to be careful and sometimes make large diversions to avoid trouble in the waves. I was using my Kevlar touring kayak with a rudder, so I had to watch the water depth and pull the rudder up as needed. I did end up in one shallow, rocky area where I had to get out and pull the kayak a few meters until I could float again, but I didn't lose any time to the people who paddled around the shallow section. There were some big swells in the cold water, and I saw a few boats flip.

My kayak is not a racing boat, but I love racing in it anyway. It's light and low, and it's taken me hundreds of kilometers on Georgian Bay and Lake Superior, so I know what it can handle. A year and a half of paddling classes with Bill Trayling improved my technique, enabling me to do more with less upper body strength, which is helpful for a woman competing against men. Today I tried hard to use good technique and to push myself with intervals of harder paddling. Unfortunately, I was also hit with heart palpitations at several points in the race, so I had to slack off for a few minutes here and there.

In the end, this turned out to be my best result of the day. It's hard to know how to talk about my results from this event, since I was the only person who signed up for the Adventure Stage Race, i.e. the Sunday-only events. So I was competing against people who had raced on Saturday in some very tough events, which put them at a disadvantage. On the other hand, it's also a disadvantage to be a woman 10-15 years older than my competitors, so I think the playing field was relatively level! Anyway, I finished 3rd of the 14 teams or solos who were doing the 3 Sunday events, all of whom were male except for one female duo and one coed team. I finished 42 seconds behind the 2nd place team - my friend AndyCam and my Chuck Norris Challenge teammate, Jason. There were also a few paddlers in highly specialized boats who finished at the top, including a former Hungarian Olympian paddler, but that was their only event of the day.

Next was the 20K mountain bike orienteering event at Pretty River Provincial Park, known as the Three Stages. I knew this would be the toughest event for me because I'm chicken-hearted when it comes to biking on wet slanty tree roots, mossy rocks, puddles of muck, and steep, rutted downhills. Three Stages offered all of that after yesterday's big rain, along with some huge hills, plus I had to watch the map as I rode, which occasionally caused me to veer into saplings or deep puddles. A good mountain bike orienteer needs better map memory than I have! It was fun looking for opportunities to bikewhack through the forest to save time - I don't think that's allowed in real MTB-O, but all's fair in adventure racing. I was one of the last to start, and for a long time, I hardly saw anyone. About halfway through, I met up with some other teams, then I had a massive screw-up looking for #12, which was in a complicated trail network, but should not have been that hard to find. Rats - I probably lost 10 minutes there as I bikewhacked through the forest and hooked up with trails that weren't making sense. Tiny thinks that the control may have been misplaced, which could be part of the explanation, and since I eventually found it through dumb luck, I can't offer any opinion on its placement. I placed 7th of 13 teams/solos. Given my extreme caution and the amount of hike-a-bike I did, I feel lucky that I didn't do worse! Actually, I mostly feel lucky that I didn't smash my knee on some rock.

Finally, we had an adventure run at Kolapore. I was excited about seeing this beautiful area from a completely different perspective. The race had a 3-hr time limit, and there were different penalties for missing any of the 9 controls, ranging from 5 to 40 minutes. If you arrived back late, they doubled your late minutes, e.g. if you arrived at 3:14, your result would become 3:28.

I had a dilemma. I measured my planned route with string, and it was 18K. I knew it would be a stretch for me to orienteer that far in escarpment terrain with a dubious ankle. So I spent awhile analyzing whether it would be worth planning to drop a control right from the start, i.e. planning to take the penalty and treating it like a score-O. The problem was, I guessed that the nastiest control would be #3 of 9 controls, with a 30-minute penalty, and I hated to throw in the towel so early in the race. Finally, I decided to go big or go home, and if I was going to go down in flames, I wanted it to happen while I was trying to do it all! It was a challenging race, with lots of hills, some thick bush and a few swampy sections. I forgot my ankle brace, so I had to be highly aware of my foot placement in the rocky terrain. It was a nice, cool, sunny day for running, and it felt good to be out there.

I got to #5 after 90 minutes, and it seemed possible that I could just squeak in under 3 hrs. Unfortunately, I had a bad fall on the trail just before the last control, which was an easy one at a trail bridge. I wasn't sure if I might have broken a rib or severely damaged my quad, and I couldn't see out of my right eye because I'd landed on my face, and my glasses were dirty. So I struggled to my feet and stumbled past a vague trail intersection where I should have turned right. As I crossed an unexpected creek shortly afterward, I looked at my map (not a detailed O map) and wondered if I'd gone too far. But some passing mountain bikers assured me that everyone else was ahead of me on that trail, along with trail intersection #61, which I was looking for, so I decided to give it some time. I probably gave it 3 minutes before deciding that they were wrong. When I went back, I found the intersection that I'd missed, and it was still hard to see. I got the final control, and by then it was too late for my planned trail run to the finish, so I bashed straight through some nasty swamp and forest, soaking my map in black grunge and coming out serendipitously right at the intersection of the trail that led straight to the finish. It wasn't enough - I finished in 3 hrs 2 min. But it was still worth taking the 2-minute penalty compared to the penalties for missing any of the controls. The winning time was 2:29:35 by Team Running Free B&B - wow! That gave them the overall event victory. I was 5th of 13 teams/solos, and I think only one team behind me got all the controls, so there were a lot of penalties awarded.

It was sad to see my friends on Team Urban Athlete (Billy Wells & Martin Rydlo) lose their trip to Australia on this one race, after leading for the entire event. They had difficulties with #3, the control that I had considered skipping. Ironically, if they had skipped it and just taken the 30-minute penalty, they would have won the event overall, since they came into the adventure run with a 50-minute lead.

Overall, my total time for the day was 3rd of the 13 teams/solos who completed all three Sunday events. I'm sure that wouldn't be true if I'd raced on Saturday, but I'm still happy with that. I'm not exactly known for my prowess in high-intensity races like these. I'm also *really* sore from my fall, but if anything major had gone wrong, I think it would have blown up by now, so I'll be good to go for Storm The Ten on Saturday.

One mildly sour note, but it didn't detract from a great day... At the post-race dinner, the ARC manager pulled me aside to ask if I'd mind if they didn't mention me at the awards ceremony to avoid taking attention away from the 2-day racers. I wanted to ask if he minded the fact that my entry fee was contaminating the pool of money that the 2-day racers had given him, but I bit my tongue and said of course I didn't mind. He pointed out that nobody else (no teams, no male solos, noooobody) had entered the 1-day Adventure Stage Race, but I had "won it fair and square". I felt a little patronized, since I'd worked really hard and had a good day relative to some very strong racers, and in my mind, I heard it like he was saying, "Yeah, well, of course you won your easy little category, and it would be embarrassing to include you with the serious racers." Although actually he was much more polite than that, so I shouldn't put words into his mouth. But really, speaking as someone who has been involved in organizing events, this seemed like a bizarre request. How much trouble would it be to take a minute at the awards ceremony to shake the hand of the one competitor who supported an advertised 3-race combo event? Anyway, he handed me a gift certificate for Keen shoes, which is a fabulous prize, and I happily stayed to enjoy the party and cheer on our friends. Big kudos to AndyCam and Jason for placing 2nd overall by only 17 minutes in an event with a 14-hr winning time. I'm very proud of them!! And the Milton Basement Racers were solid and consistent in 5th place, showing that they belong with the best adventure racers in Ontario.

Event: Adventure Sports Games
 

If we're in town, we always try to do the annual Terry Fox Run to raise money for cancer research. I know that some people who read my log weren't even born when Terry had to abandon his run, but I remember crying then, and I still have to fight tears when the media retells the story of his journey each fall. Although he never had a chance to live beyond the age of 22, Terry was one of our great Canadian heroes.

Unfortunately, we can't do the run this year. Too bad, because BulletDog recently received a letter from the Terry Fox Foundation (addressed to "Mocha Campbell") because she had such a high level of sponsorship last year that they wanted to thank her specially and give her a commemorative pin. It would have been fun trying to decide where she should wear the pin!

Anyway, I'll pledge $50 to the first Terry Fox runner who asks me. Look forward to hearing from you.

Poor 'Bent's knee is still too injured for the Wednesday morning group ride, so I left him at home to sulk and do weight training. Nice cool morning, and last night's rain was just what our dusty trails needed.

I had two unscheduled stops during my ride to Albion HIlls. First, I saw our neighbour's car sitting partway out of her driveway, running. I waved as I approached, but the car didn't move, and then I noticed that the driver's head was slumped forward. Yikes, that got the adrenaline pumping! Just as I approached the window, she looked up from her Blackberry and rolled down the window to say hello. She was waiting for the school bus with her son in the back before continuing on to work. Phew! So we chatted for a moment, then I carried on.

Once I got to Albion Hills, I noticed trail closure tape, orange cones and cryptic signs near the road. I stopped to talk to a man who was placing a sign on the road. He told me that they're filming a TV show, which we learned during our ride (when we met him closing a trail) is a new YTV show called Adrenaline Challenge. Today, a group of teenagers is learning the sport of Dirtsurfing, and tomorrow there will be a race.

Our ride, which seemed almost wimpy by comparison, was still a good workout. Leanimal led the way at a good pace with Stan (Stanimal?) and I chasing behind. We did a good selection of of AH single track and discovered a few slick, off-angle tree roots along the way. It's been such a dry year that we'd almost forgotten about them! Lots of fun, great weather.

Humber Valley Trail with Leanimal. Nice to have cooler weather, although it was still surprisingly humid. We both felt *much* better than last week. I was quite chuffed to note that we had reached our turnaround point in record time by several minutes, but when we finished the run in the same time we always do, I revisited my arithmetic for the first half, and oh well... I guess we can be proud of our consistency.

Went to Albion Hills on an evening with a steel grey sky. Checked out a few control locations for tonight's training session that I planned to do with our local high school adventure racing team. The trails were nearly deserted, and I heard many cougars.

I guess I'll call this trekking, even though I had a map in my hand, because I made the high school guys do 99% of the navigating! They're going to be doing an adventure race that starts at 4 a.m., so we'd planned an evening session with the idea that we'd have some light and some darkness. The sky was so dark with clouds that we already needed headlamps on our way to the 1st control. Too bad, because I'd made the first few controls more difficult, thinking that we'd do the easier ones in the dark.

It was fun watching their teamwork and seeing them go through their decision-making processes. They made reasonable navigation decisions throughout, and they each had different ideas to contribute. The one piece of advice I gave them that should hopefully speed them up is to stop being so darned polite to one another! They'd be on a bearing, e.g. 400 meters of tough bushwhacking in the dark at 195 degrees, and they would pause to have a well-mannered discussion to agree on which tree to aim for. They're really nice kids, so they found it tough to make the transition to less democracy and more efficiency, but I could see they were starting to get the idea. When they know where they're going, these guys are super-fast. They were 1st of 60 teams in the Ontario high school adventure race this spring, so I'm hoping they can kick some adult butt (although not OURS, if I'm lucky!) in the FAR Fall Classic later this month.

We met Smash back at the parking lot. He'd gone around the controls backwards in hopes of meeting us enroute, but we'd managed to miss one another. Sounds like he had a good run.

My core is SORE after resuming my Hard Core work! Guess I shouldn't have let it lapse. I'm going to be paying for it in the classes.