Training Log Archive: BashIn the 7 days ending Jun 14, 2009:
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Sunday Jun 14, 2009 #
Orienteering race 1:50:00
TOC's Navstock Adventure Run at Rattlesnake Point. Interesting format - two different Score-O maps in 2 hrs. While one teammate was running the northern map, the other teammate ran the southern map. You planned to meet your teammate at the start/finish at a particular time to download your SI card and switch maps. The twist was that you only got points for controls that both teammates visited. So the strategy depended on relative teammate abilities as well as the point values of the controls. Considering how fatigued we felt, I think 'Bent and I did OK with our 314 points, but results aren't available yet. It was great to have Goose there after a long recovery from his broken ankle. I don't think we could have chosen trickier terrain for him, and a 2-hr event was a great re-introduction to racing! Tiny cleaned the course - awesome. Great to see so many friends out and enjoy the BBQ afterward on a gorgeous day.
Saturday Jun 13, 2009 #
Adventure Racing race 5:29:00 **
Emergency Services Adventure Race 2009 at Canadian Forces Base Borden.
We've often driven past this military base and wondered what was behind the fences, so it was very cool to have the opportunity to race there. When the map indicated that an area was out of bounds, it was probably a grenade testing area or artillery range, so there was little risk of anyone breaking the rules.
I was looking forward to racing on a brand new female team - the Beowulf Tree Huggers - with Rocky and Mrs. Gally. We had done a 1-hour paddle training session and discussed various teamwork strategies by e-mail, but we knew the key to our success would be our matching shirts, pigtails and hot pink hair ribbons (courtesy of Mrs. Gally, who has a 3-year-old daughter and knows about such things).
We had a mass bike start and followed a marked route to a gate out of CFB Borden. We started on pavement, then moved to gravel, and before we knew it, we were pedalling through mud and pushing through deep sand. It took a surprisingly long time to get off the base, and it took more biking skills than I'd expected from looking at the map! Rocky towed me a few times on the roads, then we settled into a pace line drafting each other for the rest of the race with Rocky and Mrs. Gally taking turns on the front and me falling behind whenever I looked at the map. They are such strong athletes - thanks for your help, you two!
We got to the canoes and had a bit of a portage to the Nottawasaga River. I carried the canoe, and just before we launched, a team of fit-looking female firefighters jogged by and tossed their canoe into the river. I think we should have bought them a beer afterward, because they stayed less than 100 meters behind us for the entire paddle, and this meant we could never slack off. There was no way we were getting beaten by another female team, even if they weren't in our category!
Mrs. Gally and Rocky paddled hard, doing occasional higher intensity intervals of 20 strokes. Mrs. Gally's experience with fitness class teaching came in handy, "Come on, girls! Make this next one count! 10 more! 5 more!" I'd decided on a canoe paddle for the stern after seeing how twisty the river was, and I'm not sure if it was the right choice. I liked being able to J-stroke and sweep on the hairpin turns, but I would have loved my kayak paddle on a few of the long, straight stretches. The firefighter women had 3 kayak paddles, and they were keeping up, but the only team that passed us was a coed team of police offers with the same configuration as us - 2 kayak paddles and a canoe paddle in the stern.
By ESAR standards, it was a long paddle - around 75 minutes of hard paddling with lots of steering. Getting the canoe and all our paddling gear up the steep riverbank, across the train tracks and over a couple of fence posts to the TA was a slog, but the ladies were smiling as they got ready for a 2K road run.
Mrs. Gally had me on tow as the female firefighters ran past looking strong. They were exactly the kind of people we would want to see if our house were burning down, but we weren't pleased to see them right then! Shortly afterward, we hit a busy road with a traffic light. The firefighters jaywalked/ran across the road, and we arrived just as a stream of traffic passed by. It's always a little sketchy to cross a busy road on tow, and we ended up waiting with some policemen until we had a Walk signal. The firefighters were long gone.
We got to a school where we picked up our bikes. From this point on, if you wanted to change between bike and trek shoes, you had to carry extra shoes for the rest of the race. I had decided to stick with my Pearl Izumi bike shoes for the entire race. They have a good tread for running, but they clacked on this 2K pavement run! This link shows a newer style, but the tread is about the same as mine. This plan worked really well, since it gave me extra time to review/adjust the map at TAs, have a snack, etc. while the others changed their shoes.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Pearl_Izumi_Alp_...
We started biking with the friendly policemen and passed them on the next open stretch. One of them called out, "Hey, cars never pass us on the highway!"
After crossing Hwy 90, we were on a trail that stopped at a river. Our instructions were to go 100 m east of the trail, and we would find ropes strung across at a relatively shallow part of the river. The volunteer there said it would get "belly button deep". We looked at 5 foot-tall Rocky and assumed that he wasn't talking about *her* belly button! We had to hold our bikes up high to keep them out of the river, so the ropes were only useful for getting in and getting out. The far bank was a steep mud slick. I ended up throwing my bike up the bank, then crawling up the ooze, grasping at weeds to pull myself up. But my hot pink hair ribbons stayed intact, and that's the important thing.
With all three of us on the far bank, we just needed to follow a grass path along the bank to get back to the trail we'd been on. Blocking the grass path was... the firefighter team! Where did they come from? They didn't seem to be moving or doing anything. We excused ourselves and went around them in the tall weeds, and within a few seconds, we were back on the main trail, which turned into a gravel road. The other team was right on our tail - maybe they weren't sure of where to go. We discovered that if we maintained a good pace line, we were able to make time on them, so we pushed hard on this section, eventually entering CFB Borden and dropping our bikes to find two CPs on a topo map.
There was an obvious attackpoint to CP6, and a less obvious one with the same distance of bushwhacking. I picked the less obvious one, which meant we didn't lead anyone there. We hit some big deadfall, but it sounds like everyone had the same problem. I was impressed that my two teammates - who are blessed with strength but not height - were able to scramble over everything we encountered. It was nasty! After CP6, we kept the Mad River in sight, touching on two northern bends before taking a final bearing toward the bend where CP7 sat by a pond. We met Pete Dobos and Padre Andre here, racing with green and black camo on their faces - a very high SPF, they said. It was a thick bushwhack up to the road, but fairly short.
The volunteers at the TA said we were in 8th place, which got the adrenaline flowing. We didn't see the firefighters again, but I think we kept imagining that they were right behind us!
After a speedy ride through the base on deserted gravel and paved roads, we dropped our bikes at the start/finish and received an orienteering map. We had 7 CPs to find in any order, and CPA near the finish line had an obstacle course, so we left it for last, It was a pleasure to adventure race with a real 1:15,000 orienteering map. There had been a few changes since the map was made, but it was still awesome. We went around counterclockwise and met Milhouse at our 1st CP, which was his last one on the way to the finish line where he, Dave Corner and John Blackwell won the race overall.
Near one CP, we met Team Flashover in the road. We asked what they were doing, and they said, "Waiting for you, Barb!" (One of their strong team members was a track star at my public school in Brantford many years ago - small world!) The control was at a trail junction about 30 m off the road, and I guess they hadn't seen it because one of them ran in with Mrs. Gally to punch the control. Ironically, they were the only 911 team that ended up finishing ahead of us - by 3 minutes - and we helped them do it!
Before punching the final CP, we had to do a military obstacle course - loads of fun. We had to haul ourselves over walls, swing along a row of monkey bars, crawl through sand, balance on poles and ropes, etc. I'd like one of those in our back yard. At the end was a toonie slingshot for charity, but we didn't have to hit the target, so I didn't try to figure out the contraption - just shot my toonie at the ground. Rocky hit the target, and Mrs. Gally was close. People hitting the target received draw prize tickets, and the volunteer generously handed a toonie back to Mrs. Gally saying, "Here, you've got time to take another shot." "No, she doesn't!!" Rocky and I said. But she quickly hit the target, then we ran up the final hill to the finish line - yay.
Fun race with great teammates! It's always a treat when you race in a new team combination that clicks. We're waiting for the final standings, but based on the manually posted results, it looks like we were the 6th ranked team overall out of about 80 teams. (A team of two police officers was faster, but they were unranked.) Our dream goal had been to finish ahead of all the coed teams, and... mission accomplished - woo hoo! I used this as an excuse to eat 3 pieces of fried chicken at the mess hall - something I never have, and it was soooo yummy.
The Milton Basement Tree Huggers ('Bent, Tiny and Tommy Hillflyer) had a great race, finishing 2nd overall. Milhouse's team took the victory as expected, but only by a margin of 12 minutes in a 4.5 hr race, so our boys should be very proud!
Thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Flatfoot, STORM, Sherpa, Vin and all the ESAR gang for another well-organized, fun event. There's a reason you guys sell out your races. They rock!
We've often driven past this military base and wondered what was behind the fences, so it was very cool to have the opportunity to race there. When the map indicated that an area was out of bounds, it was probably a grenade testing area or artillery range, so there was little risk of anyone breaking the rules.
I was looking forward to racing on a brand new female team - the Beowulf Tree Huggers - with Rocky and Mrs. Gally. We had done a 1-hour paddle training session and discussed various teamwork strategies by e-mail, but we knew the key to our success would be our matching shirts, pigtails and hot pink hair ribbons (courtesy of Mrs. Gally, who has a 3-year-old daughter and knows about such things).
We had a mass bike start and followed a marked route to a gate out of CFB Borden. We started on pavement, then moved to gravel, and before we knew it, we were pedalling through mud and pushing through deep sand. It took a surprisingly long time to get off the base, and it took more biking skills than I'd expected from looking at the map! Rocky towed me a few times on the roads, then we settled into a pace line drafting each other for the rest of the race with Rocky and Mrs. Gally taking turns on the front and me falling behind whenever I looked at the map. They are such strong athletes - thanks for your help, you two!
We got to the canoes and had a bit of a portage to the Nottawasaga River. I carried the canoe, and just before we launched, a team of fit-looking female firefighters jogged by and tossed their canoe into the river. I think we should have bought them a beer afterward, because they stayed less than 100 meters behind us for the entire paddle, and this meant we could never slack off. There was no way we were getting beaten by another female team, even if they weren't in our category!
Mrs. Gally and Rocky paddled hard, doing occasional higher intensity intervals of 20 strokes. Mrs. Gally's experience with fitness class teaching came in handy, "Come on, girls! Make this next one count! 10 more! 5 more!" I'd decided on a canoe paddle for the stern after seeing how twisty the river was, and I'm not sure if it was the right choice. I liked being able to J-stroke and sweep on the hairpin turns, but I would have loved my kayak paddle on a few of the long, straight stretches. The firefighter women had 3 kayak paddles, and they were keeping up, but the only team that passed us was a coed team of police offers with the same configuration as us - 2 kayak paddles and a canoe paddle in the stern.
By ESAR standards, it was a long paddle - around 75 minutes of hard paddling with lots of steering. Getting the canoe and all our paddling gear up the steep riverbank, across the train tracks and over a couple of fence posts to the TA was a slog, but the ladies were smiling as they got ready for a 2K road run.
Mrs. Gally had me on tow as the female firefighters ran past looking strong. They were exactly the kind of people we would want to see if our house were burning down, but we weren't pleased to see them right then! Shortly afterward, we hit a busy road with a traffic light. The firefighters jaywalked/ran across the road, and we arrived just as a stream of traffic passed by. It's always a little sketchy to cross a busy road on tow, and we ended up waiting with some policemen until we had a Walk signal. The firefighters were long gone.
We got to a school where we picked up our bikes. From this point on, if you wanted to change between bike and trek shoes, you had to carry extra shoes for the rest of the race. I had decided to stick with my Pearl Izumi bike shoes for the entire race. They have a good tread for running, but they clacked on this 2K pavement run! This link shows a newer style, but the tread is about the same as mine. This plan worked really well, since it gave me extra time to review/adjust the map at TAs, have a snack, etc. while the others changed their shoes.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Pearl_Izumi_Alp_...
We started biking with the friendly policemen and passed them on the next open stretch. One of them called out, "Hey, cars never pass us on the highway!"
After crossing Hwy 90, we were on a trail that stopped at a river. Our instructions were to go 100 m east of the trail, and we would find ropes strung across at a relatively shallow part of the river. The volunteer there said it would get "belly button deep". We looked at 5 foot-tall Rocky and assumed that he wasn't talking about *her* belly button! We had to hold our bikes up high to keep them out of the river, so the ropes were only useful for getting in and getting out. The far bank was a steep mud slick. I ended up throwing my bike up the bank, then crawling up the ooze, grasping at weeds to pull myself up. But my hot pink hair ribbons stayed intact, and that's the important thing.
With all three of us on the far bank, we just needed to follow a grass path along the bank to get back to the trail we'd been on. Blocking the grass path was... the firefighter team! Where did they come from? They didn't seem to be moving or doing anything. We excused ourselves and went around them in the tall weeds, and within a few seconds, we were back on the main trail, which turned into a gravel road. The other team was right on our tail - maybe they weren't sure of where to go. We discovered that if we maintained a good pace line, we were able to make time on them, so we pushed hard on this section, eventually entering CFB Borden and dropping our bikes to find two CPs on a topo map.
There was an obvious attackpoint to CP6, and a less obvious one with the same distance of bushwhacking. I picked the less obvious one, which meant we didn't lead anyone there. We hit some big deadfall, but it sounds like everyone had the same problem. I was impressed that my two teammates - who are blessed with strength but not height - were able to scramble over everything we encountered. It was nasty! After CP6, we kept the Mad River in sight, touching on two northern bends before taking a final bearing toward the bend where CP7 sat by a pond. We met Pete Dobos and Padre Andre here, racing with green and black camo on their faces - a very high SPF, they said. It was a thick bushwhack up to the road, but fairly short.
The volunteers at the TA said we were in 8th place, which got the adrenaline flowing. We didn't see the firefighters again, but I think we kept imagining that they were right behind us!
After a speedy ride through the base on deserted gravel and paved roads, we dropped our bikes at the start/finish and received an orienteering map. We had 7 CPs to find in any order, and CPA near the finish line had an obstacle course, so we left it for last, It was a pleasure to adventure race with a real 1:15,000 orienteering map. There had been a few changes since the map was made, but it was still awesome. We went around counterclockwise and met Milhouse at our 1st CP, which was his last one on the way to the finish line where he, Dave Corner and John Blackwell won the race overall.
Near one CP, we met Team Flashover in the road. We asked what they were doing, and they said, "Waiting for you, Barb!" (One of their strong team members was a track star at my public school in Brantford many years ago - small world!) The control was at a trail junction about 30 m off the road, and I guess they hadn't seen it because one of them ran in with Mrs. Gally to punch the control. Ironically, they were the only 911 team that ended up finishing ahead of us - by 3 minutes - and we helped them do it!
Before punching the final CP, we had to do a military obstacle course - loads of fun. We had to haul ourselves over walls, swing along a row of monkey bars, crawl through sand, balance on poles and ropes, etc. I'd like one of those in our back yard. At the end was a toonie slingshot for charity, but we didn't have to hit the target, so I didn't try to figure out the contraption - just shot my toonie at the ground. Rocky hit the target, and Mrs. Gally was close. People hitting the target received draw prize tickets, and the volunteer generously handed a toonie back to Mrs. Gally saying, "Here, you've got time to take another shot." "No, she doesn't!!" Rocky and I said. But she quickly hit the target, then we ran up the final hill to the finish line - yay.
Fun race with great teammates! It's always a treat when you race in a new team combination that clicks. We're waiting for the final standings, but based on the manually posted results, it looks like we were the 6th ranked team overall out of about 80 teams. (A team of two police officers was faster, but they were unranked.) Our dream goal had been to finish ahead of all the coed teams, and... mission accomplished - woo hoo! I used this as an excuse to eat 3 pieces of fried chicken at the mess hall - something I never have, and it was soooo yummy.
The Milton Basement Tree Huggers ('Bent, Tiny and Tommy Hillflyer) had a great race, finishing 2nd overall. Milhouse's team took the victory as expected, but only by a margin of 12 minutes in a 4.5 hr race, so our boys should be very proud!
Thanks to Mr. & Mrs. Flatfoot, STORM, Sherpa, Vin and all the ESAR gang for another well-organized, fun event. There's a reason you guys sell out your races. They rock!
Friday Jun 12, 2009 #
Note
Not feeling any worse, so all the cold-preventative measures must be working - yay.
I've never had a flat while biking, which has contributed to my lack of bike repair skills. But I got a flat today in the driveway while pumping my tires for tomorrow's race, and I'm proud to announce that I managed to fix it - thus achieving the skill level of an average 6th grader. (Although I made 'Bent do the final sweep to check for pinch flats since I didn't trust my newfound abilities.)
I've never had a flat while biking, which has contributed to my lack of bike repair skills. But I got a flat today in the driveway while pumping my tires for tomorrow's race, and I'm proud to announce that I managed to fix it - thus achieving the skill level of an average 6th grader. (Although I made 'Bent do the final sweep to check for pinch flats since I didn't trust my newfound abilities.)
Thursday Jun 11, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Taking it easy, drinking plenty of fluids, not pushing my lungs or legs, taking ColdFX and vitamin C... No time to get really sick until Monday - and of course I'd rather not.
Wednesday Jun 10, 2009 #
Note
I think all the pieces have finally come together for our trip to Sweden - hotels, mountain lodges, 18-hr train trip with sleeper car, flights to and within Sweden, bus schedules, backpacking trip (except I don't have a map), luggage storage while we're backpacking, rental car for the part of the time, mountain marathon, pre-and post-race banquet registration... PHEW. With a not-so-speedy Internet connection and a country that seems relatively unconcerned about credit card security, this was more complex than I'd expected. But the mountains and the saunas will be worth it! (If not the food...) The only down side is that we are going to have to pack a big bushel of money. Nothing comes cheap in Scandinavia.
Note
I thought I'd successfully fought off the bug I started feeling on Monday, but it came back with a vengeance tonight. Sniffle, achoo. Apologies to my ESAR team - I'll be heavier on the tow rope than I'd hoped.
Tuesday Jun 9, 2009 #
Note
Argghh, I can't believe how many people in Sweden want me to e-mail them my credit card number or type it into an insecure website. Are things really so different there?
Running hills (Trail) 43:22 [3] 6.5 km (6:40 / km)
Crossfit run with Slowrunner, joined by Leanimal partway through. We ran the HVT from the Wellness Centre to Duffy's Lane, then back to the 82 Steps for some Crossfit and hill intervals. After the final hill, we chatted off the clock for a bit, since Leanimal had to go back the other way. I started to feel mildly dizzy, but it faded. It happened again after we ran up from the bottom of the valley and stopped at Hwy 50. It didn't go any farther than that, and Slowrunner was ready to catch me if I started to go down! Kinda disappointed - I'd hoped the fainting thing would be a one-off. Slowrunner said it was a particularly hard workout today - I find it hard to judge, since they all feel tough to me. And I am fighting off a cold, so my breathing isn't great today. Anyway, it was still loads of fun, and we all agreed that it was way better to do this with friends.
Strength & Mobility (Crossfit) 12:00 [4]
Crossfit + Hill Intervals
10 Jump-ups to bridge deck
8-15 Push-ups (I kept decreasing)
20 Jump squats
25 Dips off the bridge (I think I cheated and did less on one of these)
Then run up the 82 steps (about 105 m out and back - very steep trail) and back down again. (This distance is included in the run above.)
We did 4 repeats, and on the final one, Slowrunner said this was her last one. She had announced 5 repeats up front, but Leanimal and I interpreted this as meaning that she had had enough. After all, she had run about a million miles on the weekend. Of course, neither of us spoke up and insisted on doing an extra repeat ourselves. Turns out Slowrunner had simply miscounted - and Leanimal and I just let her do it!
10 Jump-ups to bridge deck
8-15 Push-ups (I kept decreasing)
20 Jump squats
25 Dips off the bridge (I think I cheated and did less on one of these)
Then run up the 82 steps (about 105 m out and back - very steep trail) and back down again. (This distance is included in the run above.)
We did 4 repeats, and on the final one, Slowrunner said this was her last one. She had announced 5 repeats up front, but Leanimal and I interpreted this as meaning that she had had enough. After all, she had run about a million miles on the weekend. Of course, neither of us spoke up and insisted on doing an extra repeat ourselves. Turns out Slowrunner had simply miscounted - and Leanimal and I just let her do it!
Monday Jun 8, 2009 #
Note
We're collecting ultralight gear for our mountain marathon in Sweden. We're also using it for a backpacking trip beforehand, so we don't want to sleep in a garbage bag and heat our food with a candle. But it's going to be close! ;-)
Our Tarptent Double Rainbow has arrived - 1135 g. A big thunderstorm hit right after 'Bent pitched it, and we got to see how it responded. It's like a rock in the wind, but it got a little wet around the edges, so we'll want synthetic sleeping bags.
We picked up a Varga Triad alcohol stove at MEC, since apparently that is the fuel we will find most easily in Sweden. It weighs 28g and is about 1/3 the size of a muffin. It may take all evening to cook our dinner, but the midnight sun in Lapland is good for that! Besides, 'Bent loves fiddling with camping gadgetry.
Our Tarptent Double Rainbow has arrived - 1135 g. A big thunderstorm hit right after 'Bent pitched it, and we got to see how it responded. It's like a rock in the wind, but it got a little wet around the edges, so we'll want synthetic sleeping bags.
We picked up a Varga Triad alcohol stove at MEC, since apparently that is the fuel we will find most easily in Sweden. It weighs 28g and is about 1/3 the size of a muffin. It may take all evening to cook our dinner, but the midnight sun in Lapland is good for that! Besides, 'Bent loves fiddling with camping gadgetry.
Note
(rest day)
Rats, I was going to do light training today, but I feel a cold or something coming on. Nooo! I hope it's not tuberculosis or flesh-eating disease from swimming in Lake Ontario during Saturday's race. With ESAR coming up, it's time for serious evasive maneuvers - and no training until my Crossfit date with Slowrunner tomorrow.