Training Log Archive: MRAPhil

I always love watching things bob their way down a river, stream or gutter. Now I got to be that bobbing cork in the whitewater swim. It was a blast floating and bobbing down the river. I only wish it could have been longer. Then it was time to get to the bikes. The Black Bear a couple weeks before gave us knowledge of the trails on the back side of the mountain. We flew past many teams stopped to look at their maps. We blasted this section and gained plenty of ground. The wind was blowing so we knew the paddle would be rough. Strong winds, big waves and miles to paddle. We worked hard to obtain all the paddle points. It was a relief to climb out of the canoe at the beach, but also painful as the legs and body were quite stiff. Then the shivers started from all the cold and water. I was shaking until we started running to the first CP. We were clean and moved fast. Then back in the canoe. After doing a long 4 hour paddle, the next hour paddle seemed like an easy break. However, the rain came in and drenched us. Cold and wet coming off the water made for a slow TA. Mark's bin had lost its lid so all his clothing was soaked. After we warmed and dried in record time, we mounted the bikes and started making up time. A few minor hiccups along the way but they were quickly remedied. But time was starting to tick away. We got the the start of the o-course later than anticipated. We hit the points cleanly but just did not have the time we needed. The hike up to FF was really fun. Scrambling over rocks, through rotodendrons(sp?) and up the hill. Good times. We realized we did not have enough time for all points, so we decided to hit the bikes and work on the o-points around the finish. Hil went to get water from the creek but slipped on a slick rock. She landed awkwardly and twisted her ankle. The pain was too much so we only walked back to the bikes. We pushed as hard as we could on the final bike and finally hit the finish. We opted to call it a day instead of trying one last CP with only half an hour left. It was great to see and race against many familiar faces.

C • Race Report 7

Event: USARA Nationals
 

237 Watts, 610 kCal