Training Log Archive: Bash

CNYO Sugar Hill Rogaine - designated the 2010 U.S. Champs. Day 2.
Finger Lakes Region, NY



Tiny and I teamed up for this event because our regular rogaine partners had the audacity to make different plans for the long August weekend, i.e. running the 125 km Canadian Death Race (M&M) and exploring the temples of Kyoto ('Bent and his brother).

Since Tiny is accustomed to a speedy teammate, I planned to move as quickly as possible so I didn't carry my camera on the race course. There were some fantastic views of low mountains and lakes which you'll just have to imagine!

Pixie and Shirley, Tiny's wife and sister, came along to do their first 24-hr rogaine. They planned to get some sleep during the night then head out for another round in the morning. The idea was that they would be wider awake for driving home.



Tiny and I planned a good route, I think, using about 70 km of string (straight line distance between controls). Our goal was just over 2400 points. We knew where we should be when the sun set and it looked good in that part of the map. We would have to purify water in streams because the weather was hot and we wouldn't reach our first official water stop for a long time. (It turned out that we reached the first bottled water cache after 12 hours.)



This may have been the best rogaine I've done for keeping the pace up and sticking closely to our planned schedule. If anything, I wondered whether we should have been more ambitious. It's my fault since I chose the appropriate string length. We did light running on some flats and almost all downhills when we were on trails and roads where the terrain wasn't overly conducive to ankle rolling. Tiny turned a little green during the hottest part of the day but he kept soldiering on. I forced myself to drink more than I wanted to but I'm sure it was still less than a doctor or exercise physiologist would recommend. Regardless, I felt great. It helped that my summer rogaine pack was so much lighter than my usual load since I didn't have to worry about getting cold at night.

With two navigators and strong lights, our night navigation went very smoothly except for one low value control (40) in a re-entrant that managed to elude us after a particularly heinous bushwhack through thick forest and tangled blackberry bushes over our heads. (My poor legs aren't looking good today!) We came across the well-lit Monterey Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility but in spite of our curiosity to check it out more closely, we had no desire to be seen running past their gate in the wee hours. We saw a sign for it with a cartoon head of a fierce dog and the slogan "Home of Shock". Hmm.

By 5:30 a.m., we had 1690 points and were on schedule to head into the "densest point value" part of the map to collect the remainder of our controls closer to the Hash House. But that's when the Bash Rogaine Partner Curse kicked in. Tiny had been nursing a painful Achilles tendon for a few hours - something he hadn't experienced before - and it wasn't getting better. With Untamed New England coming up next week, it would be crazy to take the chance of damaging it further. It had been great racing with Tiny and we'd worked well together for as long as we could. So we hiked back to the Hash House and were served our own private breakfast of scrambled eggs and cereal before getting a good sleep in Pixie and Shirley's tent. The results aren't up yet but I think our score will stand up reasonably well even though we only raced for 75% of the time. C'est la vie.

Pixie and Shirley went out for a second round in the morning and ended up earning about 1100 points. Fantastic job for their first 24-hr event!



We had a wild time with the other GHO racers after the race ended.



GHOSlow was the life of the party.



Pixie and Shirley won the bronze medal in the female category. Ray & Terri won Super-Vet and I believe Team GHO Slow was 3rd in Super-Vet. (Awards were a little confusing due to the many categories and the issue of U.S. Champs eligibility.) Congrats to all!





One day later, I'm a little tired but feeling good. There are a couple of minor foot blisters that should heal quickly. It helped that I was able to keep my feet dry for much of the race - an all-too-rare luxury. The blackberry bush scratches are fading. My muscles aren't screaming and my Achilles was only a little tight this morning. So I'm in reasonably good shape to start tapering for Untamed New England!

Hiked back to the Hash House after we stopped racing.

Event: 2010 US Rogaining Championships
 

CNYO Sugar Hill Rogaine Day 1.

Since there isn't much time left to train for Untamed NE, I decided my time would be better spent spying on one of our rivals and attempting to lose him at sea.

Getawaystix and I headed out on scenic Georgian Bay on a breezy, choppy morning. I had my Current Designs sea kayak, which can handle just about anything, and he took a speedy - but tippy - surfski. We started at Northwinds Beach in Collingwood, threaded our way east through shoals and gorgeous stretches of brilliant blue water, took lots of big waves from the side, and smashed through some impressive rollers as we headed out toward the main Bay on the windward side of the lighthouse. A few big waves came at me head on and broke right in front of my cockpit, smacking me in the face and soaking me completely. Awesome! When we were out far enough, we slowly changed direction until we could surf back in on the far side of the island, working hard to keep our boats under control. So much fun!!

Conditions were tough for balancing a surfski and GStix did well to stay on it. But of course that didn't suit my purpose of messing with a rival racer so I convinced him to tip over deliberately "just for the practice of getting back on it in deep water". Haha, he totally fell for it. After a few attempts using different approaches, he had the technique dialed. Too bad, I was looking forward to the chance to practise my rescue skills - although I might have waited until after Untamed. He's very good at treading water so I'm sure he'd be OK out there. ;-)

Be careful what you wish for... A few weeks ago, I was feeling down because I was doing AR training but it wasn't really clear what I was training for, given that the other Tree Huggers are mostly retired or injured.

Well, I just finished an 8-hr race that banged up my body a surprising amount. I'm packing for a 24-hr rogaine this weekend with Tiny. And now I am doing the 3-day Untamed New England adventure race just two weeks away. I can't do any extra training for it at this point - it's already taper time, plus or minus that 24-hr race I planned so long ago. The next couple of weeks will be filled with packing, weighing, gear decisions, food buying, etc.

I'm racing with Team Running Free. Yes, I know what you're thinking. How are Harper, Kirikou and Relentless going to keep up with me? They're used to Dee, who isn't known for her running. ;-) OK, the real truth is that I'm totally trembling in my Salomon shoes but I'm looking forward to spending time with such great people and fantastic racers, and I'll do my very best out there. Back when I started in the sport in 2002, the Running Free team of that era were my heroes, so it's an honour to race with them. It's going to be an exciting experience and I look forward to seeing so many friends there.

Off to see 'Bent's knee surgeon...

Just returned from Barrie where 'Bent saw the knee surgeon. First an intern took his medical history, reviewed the various diagnostic images and examined his knee. "Oh, that doesn't hurt too much," 'Bent kept saying hopefully as the fellow poked, prodded and bent his leg.

After a brief conference, the senior surgeon (Tarno's friend) sailed into the room purposefully, grabbed 'Bent's leg, twisted it 360 degrees, tapped the toe against 'Bent's stomach, then turned to the intern and said, "Hyperflexion. Classic. And if there was any degeneration, I wouldn't have been able to do that." I'm sure 'Bent would have beamed with joy except that his eyes were still crossed and bulging and his teeth were gritted in pain.

The good news: 'Bent's meniscus tear is nothing fancy. With a bit of physio and rest, he should be doing light running within a couple of weeks post-surgery. The bad news: There are 190 people on the surgery waiting list ahead of him, which translates to 6-7 months. In the interim, he can do recreational biking and light running but the instability in his knee increases the risk of doing something really bad, like tearing his ACL. So 'Bent is out of racing for most of the next year - and no skate skiing this winter. :-( But the news could have been a lot worse and we are focusing on the positive. There is still lots he can do - and I have an awesome support crew for the foreseeable future! :-)

BB5TI (Before Breakfast 500m Trail Intervals) with Crash. She is still recovering from a tough effort on Saturday when she won an 8-hour solo mountain bike race over a pro biker from New Zealand so she just came out for moral support today, running behind me during the intervals and encouraging me to go faster. It apparently worked, since I felt very fatigued (lousy sleep the last few nights) but my intervals were relatively consistent, and one of them was the fastest that I've done since we started 3 weeks ago. Thank you, Coach Crash!! :-)

2:11
2:11
2:06
2:09
2:08

Several of us are doing a taper-paced Hockley Loop (Bruce Trail and side trails) on the morning of Sat. Aug. 7 - about 3 hours, 22 km with lots of hills. So far, it's all women but friendly males would be welcome. Meeting at the Bruce Trail parking lot on Hockley Road across from the Hockley Resort at 9:15 a.m. Let me know if you'd like to come!

Argghh - fridge stopped working yesterday. We only have a freezer now. Anyone for sour milk?