Training Log Archive: britty327

Trek (Score O) 18k
Savage Mt Forest. Initially the plan was to skip AA and BB. After seeing some of the climbs, Greg elected to skip FF, which looked particularly nasty and was the furthest from TA. We attacked the 3 ridge CPs first, finishing with HH on the way down. So many mid-pack teams had come through that there was a decent trail along the ridge, if you could keep track of it. From there, hit DD (Greg used it as a warm up), then to GG and EE. Turned back south and ran the road towards CC. Where the creek crossed under the road seemed wrong (Kyle mentioned this to me too), and we couldn't see with certainty which ridge it was. Long story short, after an hour covering the area of the ridge it should be, Greg realized it was the ridge to the south. They are similar in shape and direction. We were running out of time, and it was already daylight. Instead of heading all the way down to the road, we took the ridge around to BB and AA. Since we had planned to get LL btwn CC and AA, we had to go back down towards it instead of towards TA. That was the absolute WORST downhill we encountered in the Score O. Basically fall down a mountain. We skidded to a halt at the creek, and I filled up H2O. I'd been out for about 3 hours. Grabbed LL, which looked nothing like a reentrant, and ran to TA. Missing CC gave us 9/10 points. It was disheartening, as I truly believed the top 10 or more teams could clear this course. But as you know, in AR, anything can happen. We layered up for a cold and windy ride home.

Bike3 (South) 31k
We were crunched for time from here on out. Had a sustained 4-5k climb to get back up from the river, and once you got up on the ridge, the wind came out in force. Rode to the Deep Creek trail system. Missed the turn in and had to backtrack. Once in the park, grabbed the remaining CPs and were treated to some rocky downhill. Hit the roads and 219, riding back with Odyssey.

Trek 1.8k
Hurried out of TA and up the ski slope to 33. After hitting it, we had 1:05 left. We decided that getting the CP would most likely negate any time credit we might have on teams who might have only skipped the paddle. There were teams coming into Wisp every few minutes, and no one knew how many CPs others had. We ran back down the slope and called it a day. Turns out only Tecnu, BW, and Untamed cleared. We finished 7th coed, 8th overall behind the master's team. Alpine Shop and Quest both skipped the paddle and were able to clear the rest, finishing a CP ahead. Well played! Not what I would call a fun course, but it was a good brutal challenge for a championship race. And yes, we did get pelted with ice balls on the final bike ride haha.

Borrowing Joe's distances since I didn't have a tracker.

Trek to Top 1.8k
Took a slightly longer route up the ski slope to see where we would be riding back up for KOM.

Whitewater Swim/Float/Drown 0.5k
At the top, I threw on my shorty wetsuit and headed out on the WW course first. Got punched in the face by a few waves and sucked into a couple eddies. The disadvantage to going first was our whole group got stuck in the main eddy in the lower pool where we had to swim to the conveyor belt. Ppl on the side were yelling at us to go to the outside, but it was too late. Once you're sucked in, you're stuck. Felt like we were going nowhere, but we eventually made it out. The 2nd and 3rd rounds of ppl went to the far outside and zoomed around the pool! Changed into dry clothes while Greg and Fritz took their turns.

Run Down 1.8k

Bike1 17k
Headed back up the ski slope through the KOM arch and entered the Fork Run trails. Made a couple of bobbles here, first straying from the main trails and having to bikewack back up to the beige trail, then missing a needed wack from the green trail to the road. We backtracked to the first switchback and got down to the road to get back on track.

Run to Paddle 1.8k
Road run to the put in. Missed the little trail shortcut but made note of it for later.

Paddle1 27k
Even though we had a stiff 20ish mph headwind from the SSE, we decided we had to go for the far southern CPs to try to the clear the course. With few mistakes, the course was certainly clearable, and we were going for it. Paddling is our strength, and we passed several teams throughout the section. Water was very choppy all the way to the south end of Deep Creek Lake, but as soon as we turned around, the wind died and it started to rain. No tailwind haha! The lake turned to glass, and we slogged back to the state park for the O course.

Trek 11k
Deep Creek Lake State Park O course. Nice little park. Grabbed CPs at a steady pace. Traded places w/AAS a couple times.

Paddle2 6.5k
State park back to the put in. Motored right through this section. Pouring rain by the time we reached shore.

Run to Wisp 1.8k

Bike2 (North) 69k
Lots of tricky nav here. We made several small mistakes but nothing major. Very busy trail system, with teams who did the full paddle mixing with teams who skipped the far CPs. Saw BW a lot. Fritz's Lupine light was not working (nor was his bar light), and after the 5th or 6th time stopping to try to reset it, I gave him the Stella from my handlebars.

Event: USARA Nationals
 

Dialing in the bike. Coffee ride.

Paddle to/from FH w/the hound

Fountainhead

Lake Bridge to Burke

Start of 2 wks off work. Driving IL to VA. Leaves are changing. MD could be gorgeous this wknd. Minus the prerequisite rain.

C • rain and 38 degrees is cold!! 5

Laps at work

Core and stretch