Training Log Archive: Bash

Time 161419

Just added these two entries to associate the Garmin tracks with this course test. We used my 310XT till the battery got low then switched to Jack's. There was some overlap.

2011 Wilderness Traverse 24-hr adventure race course test

Since last fall, Bob and I have tested every segment of the 2011 WT course, scouted areas that didn't make the cut, and connected the dots to get back to our vehicle. We did it all in daylight so we could check out CP/TA areas and identify safety hazards, private properties or glaring map issues along the course. We recorded GPS tracks with our distances and travel times to help estimate race splits.

But to tell you the truth, we've been kinda soft... Until now, we've done all our course testing at my training (not racing) pace on a full night's sleep. We cherry-picked our favourite seasons and made last-minute schedule changes based on the weather report. If there was a route choice that involved swimming, we chose the other one. (We often tested when there were snow patches around.) We chatted a lot and posed for photos for the website. Sure, we would trek 35 km through the wilderness, but by sundown we were always in a restaurant hoovering down steaming plates of pasta and large tumblers of chocolate milk.

Not exactly hard core.



It's tough for an RD to do a full run-through of an overnight race course. Even an experienced racer shouldn't do it alone. Unlike a race, there is nobody waiting for you to show up by a particular time, nobody watching your location on a SPOT tracker, no team of medics, no easy way to bail out if you're injured or your bike fails, etc. You might need a non-racing friend to transport gear between TAs. You have to carry all your food the whole way since there are no volunteers at TAs to fend off bears. (There were two bear sightings this weekend including a mama with three cubs.)

Because we'd completed the WT design/test by mid-May, Bob and I wanted to do a non-stop course test to get an estimated finish time for my hypothetical team. We know roughly where the Tree Huggers should finish in the pack, which would be useful information for planning cut-offs, confirming the course length, etc. It would also improve the accuracy of our time estimates since we'd hit each part of the course at the right time - when we're fresh, when it's dark or when we're fatigued.

It came together a little differently, however. Jack Van Dorp (Frankenjack on AP) is racing with Bob at Raid The North Extreme and will share the navigation. Wilderness Traverse is designed to reward skilled navigators so a full course test would be a perfect practice session. It would also be Jack's first non-stop session longer than 13 hours so it would be a great test of food, drink, gear, etc.

This change in plans was mostly good news except that (apparently) we were no longer aiming for the Tree Huggers' finishing time. Bob made a couple of offhand, uncharacteristic remarks about tow lines, taking weight from my pack and other ways we could travel faster. Uh oh.

When I say that Bob and Jack are on a different level from me, I don't just mean one or two levels, as in "they're male and under 40". I mean "a few seconds off the podium in Primal Quest" and "top ten at the World Multisport Championship". Last month each of them competed solo in a different large Ontario adventure race and placed first by a significant margin. So we're ridiculously mismatched. I made excuses to stay home but Bob wasn't buying them. I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to the weekend wholeheartedly.



For the Sherlock Holmes types in the crowd, Bob will release the sequence of disciplines and estimated times well before the race. But the secrets aren't mine to reveal so I'll just share highlights from the test. Bob said in his log entry that the total course distance with good nav will be around 146 km. He mentioned the awesome, challenging 35-ish km wilderness trek, "perhaps the most difficult from a nav perspective of any of the past 24-36 hr races in Ontario (lots of route choice and funky terrain)". He also revealed that most teams will do some paddling at night with fairly intricate nav.



General comments... Our "Team Beta Test" (the boys weren't fond of "Bob/Jack Dragging Barb") navigated well in all disciplines. Jack learned a few lessons about adventure race navigation but most of the time, he was bang on. He made me wade through a chest-deep swamp so we know he's not a triathlete anymore. ;)



Conditions this weekend were not as pleasant as our previous visits. Mosquitoes whined and swarmed incessantly. Recent heavy rains had left the forest soaking wet with huge mud puddles on the trails. Light rain fell on and off until the wee hours.



Reviewing the sections in no particular order... The big trek is interesting and tough. I can't say it will determine the winner since there are also navigation challenges in the bike and paddle sections, but it will certainly determine who finishes in the top ten because a big mistake could take awhile to fix. I predict the slowest teams will take more than twice the time of the top team.



Trekking was the discipline where the difference in our speeds was most pronounced, especially since each of us was wearing a 17-lb pack. (Bob took a bag of my food but I carried more water.) I'm sure the guys would have loved to go faster to outrun the thick clouds of mosquitoes. Here's a ritual we performed over and over - spraying Muskol on one other.



We ran most of the time when we were on ATV trails. Bob towed me on some of the smoother trails but I didn't want to risk injury for the sake of a course test, so we didn't tow when the trails got gnarlier. In one 4-km section of technical trail, he ran with my heavy pack on his shoulder as if it were nothing! When we were off-trail, which was quite a bit, the boys motored quickly through the bush.



Their longer legs carried them over fallen logs and other obstacles that stymied me, and I had to hustle to keep them in sight in the foliage. I wasn't keen to become bear bait!

I fell behind on eating because I had to keep one eye on my foot placement and the other on the boys. I wondered if the difference from my usual pacing and nutrition would lead to my first bonking experience but luckily it didn't happen.



I appear to be in shock in this photo in a rare moment of rest while Bob and Jack refilled water. There are two mosquitoes stuck on my chin - so ladylike!



The WT biking is mostly fast, hilly and fun - the best kind of AR riding. There are some good climbs where strong technical riders will do a better job of choosing the best lines through ruts and loose rocks. There are a couple of mucky, ATV-churned sections totalling a few kilometers each, just to remind racers what they're missing out on.



As the team boat anchor, what could make things even worse? How about two flat tires within the first 4 km of one of the bike sections? I've only had one flat tire in 20 years of mountain biking - and it wasn't in a race. Jack and Bob were rock stars, working together in a sea of bugs to fix both flats while I sprayed Muskol and slapped at their bodies randomly. Luckily, Jack removed a thorn from the tire during the second change, which ended my troubles.



I felt relatively strong and smooth on the bike and we maintained a good pace. It wasn't too tough to keep the boys in sight, and we only towed on the few kms of paved road. Bob said they only had to wait after some of the gnarlier downhills where my death wish was less than theirs.

Speed wasn't an issue in the paddle section since we were all in one canoe. :) I'd stashed a can of Starbucks double espresso and a bottle of Coke with my PFD so I was totally wired by the time we hit the water. Poor Bob and Jack had to listen to me sing and I kept dragging them into conversations to make sure they didn't start snoring to the soothing rhythm of our paddles. We flew, averaging over 9 km/hr for the first half hour before settling down a little. Bob and I eventually got chilly from the splashing; it was easy to warm up while paddling but we were cool on the portages.



Because of all the rain, the mossy rocks on the trail were like oil slicks and I had a few good falls onto rock, including one on my knee and one on my elbow that hurt so much that I lay still for a few seconds wondering if I'd broken it. I had the lightest load - just the kayak paddles and the middle seat. Ironically, my biggest post-race muscle pain was in my forearms from the awkward task of gripping three long, unwieldy paddles on the portages.

The navigation on this paddle required close attention, especially since we did some of it in darkness, and Jack did well. He tested the new mega-light that Richard built for him, affectionately known as The Jack O'Lantern. It worked perfectly.



We had to stop for a minute beside a cliff to say "oooh" and "aahhh" because the light reflected off the waves and created a cool, moving laser-style light show on the rock. Whenever we could, we paddled without lights and just aimed for locations along the black silhouette of the shoreline. Amazingly, we didn't crash into any rocks, logs or peninsulas although there were some close calls.

We finished in 22 hours, which we think will stand up as a respectable time even with our relaxed transitions, mismatched teammates, flat tires and couple of nav bobbles. The challenging nav will likely spread teams out so much that we'll need several short course options to keep everyone in the game.



This year's WT race course was a cool way to explore the rugged and beautiful Canadian Shield. Although I was dragging more than usual by sunrise because of the faster-paced trek, it was kinda cool to realize that I could survive it. We sprinted the final 100 meters to cross the finish line at the Stanhope Community Centre. Yay, we were the first team to finish the 2011 Wilderness Traverse. :) Can't wait to see everyone else tackle it on Aug. 20-21.

Good times with great friends who share my love of crazy outdoor activities. Thanks to Bob and Jack for their help, patience and good humour.

For folks not on Facebook, here's breaking news from Kirikou on Thursday night:

"Our little man has arrived! Dexter Anthony James Frank @ 6:39pm 7lbs 15oz. Melissa was a trooper!! We are home and all is well! What an amazing day!"

Mark Burnett's Expedition Impossible premieres tonight on ABC at 9 p.m. EST.

Alas, they would not consider the all-female team of T. Rex, Crash and myself because we don't hold American passports, so we will just have to put our feet up, grab a beer and enjoy!

Time to taper and pack for Wilderness Traverse. No, I'm not doing this excellent race alongside the real competitors in the warm, dry, bug-free conditions we expect in late August. And no, I'm not doing it with like-minded, similarly fit teammates.

I'm doing WT this weekend in cool rain during the convergence of mosquito, black fly and deer fly seasons, and my "teammates" will be Getawaystix and Frankenjack who are treating it as a tough training weekend in preparation for RTNX. I tried to get out of it but GStix wasn't taking "no" for an answer from his assistant RD, bless his cruel little heart.

Angel Sitting on Right Shoulder:
"What a fantastic opportunity to experience a 24-30 hr race course with two of Canada's top adventure athletes on a serious training mission!"

Devil Sitting on Left Shoulder:
"Those boys are going to kill you, Barb. Bwaaaahahahahahahaha!!!"

Around Island Lake in the JKK Eclipse. The weeds have become so thick that it was like bushwhacking through some parts of the lake! I spent a lot of time clearing vegetation off my paddle, boat, PFD and head. Guess I'll need to stay out in the deeper water instead of doing my loop around the shore. There were a few fishing boats lolling about and one couple in a rental canoe. The guy was in the bow with both hands awkwardly clutching the paddle shaft and his bright green hair waving in the breeze. It was heartening to know that for once I wasn't going to be perceived as the weirdest person on the lake. (At least, I don't *think* so.)

Since I was in Orangeville, it was a perfect opportunity to do the mandatory post-adventure race Dairy Queen trip. Harps was missed.

I'd ordered one of our triathlon club's nice custom tri tops and the president coyly suggested that I might want to meet him at one of their triathlon workouts to pick it up. As long as you don't have an ego, it's a good idea to train occasionally with people who are a whole lot better at things than you are. This was one of those nights. Fortunately, it was designed for people like me.

1) 2.5 km warm-up run, which I did with the woman who placed 3rd on the Sport course at 5 Peaks Hardwood (Leanimal's counterpart). I didn't have the guts to tell her that I almost never run as fast as her "easy warm-up pace".
2) Drills (logged separately)
3) 16 X 2 min. intervals with 1 min. breaks, during which the fast people came back toward us slow people. That is a lot of 2 min. intervals!

It was fun although I'm not someone who needs a running group to motivate me to do stuff, so I will continue to do my own thing most of the time. But maybe I'll get out to a few more of their sessions, particularly the road riding where I like to have company. It was nice to see Coach CHuet on a break from late June marking.

The big news is that the club co-presidents suggested that as club members, we could take our kayaks to the quarry where they do their swim training. I'd been thinking that I might broach the subject some time but they said it could actually be beneficial to have a boat around if a swimmer got in trouble, so they have no problem with it at all. Yahoo! At last a place with clean enough water to practise my roll!

Toe walking, heel walking, As, Bs, Cs, grapevine. Passing cars were honking at us in delight. We *did* look pretty silly.

So... I had no events booked after ESAR which felt weird. I've been thinking about doing different things but haven't figured out what. It would kinda help to know what I'm training for.

Raid The North Extreme wasn't in the plans, then I was approached by three experienced expedition racers who came with strong recommendations from friends who felt we'd be a good fit. After thinking for a couple of days, I said yes - just as one of my prospective teammates dropped out and another suffered an injury.

Although there were other RTNX opportunities, I opted to join Team Checkpoint Zero/Tech4O for the 48-hour Equinox Traverse in Pennsylvania the week before RTNX.

They are the 1st place Coed Elite team in the Checkpoint Tracker Series, and as near as I can tell from reading the rules, there's no way I can screw it up for them. :) I'm looking forward to racing with JayXC and Sony, both of whom were at APEX on Team Untamed New England.

That only gets me through the next 4 weeks so I also signed up for the long course in Frankenjack's Bruce Peninsula Multisport Race in August.

The week after that, I'll be managing Race HQ for the almost sold-out Wilderness Traverse, then I'm thinking about the North Am Rogaining Champs in September in B.C.

Beyond that, I like Mrs. Gally's plan of working toward Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in 2013. Working backwards, I figured I'd better sign up for the Creemore Vertical Challenge 25K on Canada Day weekend! :) Btw, Creemore has a great event atmosphere and appears likely to sell out again, so register soon if you're thinking about it.

Next step should probably be a fall ultra, preferably a UTMB qualifier. I keep gravitating to the Coastal Challenge website - a 6 day trail running stage race in Costa Rica in January. No UTMB points but a very cool experience. Hopefully, 'Bent's joints will be ready for more running soon!

So there's a tentative plan to try on for size and see how it feels in the coming weeks. We sure are fortunate to live in a world with so many awesome choices! (And to have the good health and means to take advantage of some of them.)

Rode to Albion Hills and did a lap of the 24 Hrs of Summer Solstice course. 'Bent is doing it on ThreePinJim's team and Crash is doing it solo. Is anyone else going to be there? Unfortunately, I'm not able to go this year.

Chico has only marked 15 km of the lap so I'm sure they will make some final adjustments to get it up to 16.5-17 km. I took it fairly easy today although "easy" is a relative term since there is a minimum level of "oomph" required to get up the climbs and over the roots and rocks.

Earlier this spring, my biking fitness was out of synch with my diminished technical skills after 7 months of road and trainer riding. It feels like things have converged again. I had to steer very precisely in the northeast section where lush poison ivy surrounds the trail. I suspect there will be some very itchy cyclists next Tuesday!

(Note: My GPS measured the Solstice lap as 14.2 km on twisty forest trail but my bike computer agreed with the 15 km on Chico's sign. Normally the GPS and bike computer distances are virtually identical.)