Training Log Archive: davelevine

Event: QOC Post Super Bowl Saturday Bumble at Morven Park
 

Morven Park - Bumble Blue
38 controls; 8.6 km

Actual Distance Traveled: 10.5 km
Actual Climb: 231 m

This is not really my kind of event. The terrain wasn't too challenging. With one exception there wasn't much in the way of hilly terrain. Relatively flat open terrain doesn't excite me. I prefer a good mental challenge combined with some hilly terrain. I didn't get that today but because I did the longest course possible I did get a decent physical work out.

The bumble is similar to the Susquehanna Stumble in that there are certain controls that have to be visited in a particular order and some that can visited in which ever order you choose. This year's bumble had five windows. Within those windows controls could be punched in any order desired. Because I was doing the blue version of the bumble I had to find all 38 controls on the course. People doing less that the blue had the option of skipping one or more of the windows depending on which course they were doing.

The 1st and 4th windows were fairly easy. They had lots of open area and the controls were very easy to find. The 2nd window was the most difficult, primarily because it was the only window that had hills of any size to climb. There were a few controls between the 1st and 2nd windows and the 2nd and 3rd windows which also involved some steep hills. The terrain in the 3rd window wasn't wide open but the controls were relatively easy to find. The 5th window included some thorny territory. There were ways to avoid the thorns but I managed to spend more than a few minutes wading through avoidable patches of thorns.

I made a few mistakes when searching for controls that cost me some time. I think I inadvertently wandered into the forbidden zone just south of the second window while searching for "I".

I found a few trails that weren't on the map that proved to be quite helpful.

The weather was great. I started with my gloves on but took them off within a half hour.

After I finished I grabbed a bite to eat at the pot luck lunch in the museum. After hanging around for about an hour I finally walked back to my car and drove home. Traffic wasn't too heavy on the way home but I hit a few choke points on 7 and 495. It took me 80 minutes to drive the 45 mile route.

The parking area was about 500 m from the museum where the registration and potluck took place.

Blue - Splits

Division to Park

Park to Farragut

Finally got back to bicycling. It had been about 3 weeks since my last bicycle ride. I took the break because my left hip was sore and bruised after I slipped and fell and landed hard on some ice about a month ago, while walking back from lunch. At first I just shrugged off the pain but when it got worse I decided it was time to take a break.

The bicycle ride this morning felt good. I took it easy. I don't feel confident about going back to my regular bicycling schedule immediately. I don't want to relapse. I want to participate in most of the QOC events over the next few months.

I'm also planning to take part in a couple trail races this Spring and wouldn't want to have to cancel either of those trips due to avoidable injuries.

- Mar 28: Mile Run Half Marathon
- Apr 18: 25K Hyner View Trail Challenge

If I've learned anything about myself it's that if I'm not careful I have a tendency to push myself to the point of injury. I've learned the hard way to take it easy but sometimes I forget. Here's hoping that having scheduled events will keep me focused on staying healthy and in shape.

Farragut to Upshur

Upshur to Division