Training Log Archive: KFish

Event: GNC 2017: Georgia Navigator Cup
 

sprint model course.

Blue sprint at GNC

Jens showed us the ropes, practice course, scouting how the start and finished work etc. then About 2 hours of waiting around.

Watched Jens go and come back before it was my turn.

Started a bit slow to 1, wanted to make sure I didn't make a dumb error out of the gate. Started turning it on for 2 and kept up a good pace through 9. Mostly straight and fast, not taking the time to peruse the map for route choices. Got in a few thick spots and missed #2 south getting distracted by another control, but overall pretty good.

Twisted my ankle coming out of 8, and had to hobble a beautiful open downhill field through 11, but it faded and I got back to speed for the finish

A lot of fun and a pretty good debut. 6/22 on blue and only 1 minute behind 2nd.

Flags everywhere, people everywhere, it's a totally different experience!

C • close to 20 minutes on Blue... 2

Sprint - Blue - Splits

Not even to the end of our court and a thunder storm started. debated turning around but we were already wet, so we went for it. sounded like it was getting closer, so we decided we better call it.

Cut our run short so hopped on the trainer

5.9 warm up
5.10- new
5.11-. I had tried and gotten stuck once before. Did it this time first try no falls!
5.11, struggled about half way up
5.10 one fall

Last three were all crimpy, fingers are pretty shot

Recovery spin

I think the distances and elevation measured by my watch are both low. I had my watch on 60 second ping time to conserve battery. I've adjusted the elevation based on strava. I'd expect another 1-2 miles of real distance also, but I left it as is. This would also increase my pace a bit, probably closer to 20 min/mile in day and 25 at night.

Also looks like my watch lost gps at the very end of the night portion, as it doesnt have me finishing in the right spot. (also started it 5 minutes late at the start of the night portion).

Only used 20% of my battery, so clearly i was being over conservative.

Event: FRIGID
 

Topo the Mountain, Solo Male

Woke up at 4 am, met up with W4J, and hopped in the car. Made really good time, so we arrived right at 9 and had an hour to prep before getting maps.

Planned a CCW loop, realized Syd had planned the same exact route, so reconsidered. Did the same loop CW, which had the added bonus of hitting 2 of the bonus controls earlier to get them on the map. First bonus was way far away, so ended up rerouting mid route to hit the 3rd bonus earlier than planned to get it on the map also.

It was 6F at the start, and maybe warmed into the high teens by 3 pm. ~2 inches of crunchy snow on the ground. Very chilly out, but i was surprisingly comfortable in my clothing choice: tights + zipoffs, ankle gaiters, smartwool socks, speedcross, light long sleeve, heavy long sleev, rain coat, light gloves, light hat.

Started off well, hiting the high density loop without any issues, just a decent amount of climb. 12, 16 (got D), 15. Around this point i was still with 2 other groups, and 2 BIG dogs started following us. at 13 I made a point to go straight up a hill to lose the dogs and the people. Got B. Also realized my camelback hose had frozen despite trying to keep it clear. Rearranged my pack under my jacket and tucked hand warmers under the hose, to no avail. Guess the next 3 hours were going to be waterless... 10, 14, 11, B, 8. Minor parallel error at 11 was quickly corrected. Nav was otherwise good, speed was good, I was happy.

Moved on to the top part of the course and I was starting to slow down. Hit 6 to get the bonus and went CCW instead of CW. Got D. 4 through me off because the map and clue didnt match, and stupidly i went with the clue instead of the map. 3, 2, pretty dumb parallel error. 1, got A, yuck, but still doing good on time so headed to it after getting 5. This is where I started to really decline. I was super dehydrated and could not think straight from A to 7. I was did everything in my power to stay in contact with the map, which worked, as far as knowing where I was, but I couldnt bring myself to take the more efficient high route and just beelined it. Ultimately a lot more climb, which really drained me. Got pretty confused at one point, but figured it out. I still had plenty of time to go for the last bonus, B, back near where I had started, but i was just drained and dehydrated so i made the decision to call it quits early. If I had had water throughout I think I would have been fine and gone for it.

Finished 5th solo, 8th overall. Probably wouldnt have changed placement to get B, as 3rd was back 20 minutes after me, and I think it would have taken me longer than that.

http://imgur.com/a/afyBV

2.5 hour break, pizza, lots of water and electrolytes, and it was back at it again. I wasn't really looking forward to going back out, but once I got out I felt pretty good. Single digit temps, wore a little more clothing and was possibly overdressed. T shirt, light long sleeve, heavy long sleeve, yellow winter jacket, tights, 5.11 pants, compression socks, waterproof socks, varios, light gloves, light hat. Swapped out bladder for 2 soft sided water bottles, that i kept in my coat - much better for sub freezing weather!

this time planned the exact same route as syd, but it made the most sense, so i resolved to just try to make different route choice and not see them.

Still saw them at the first checkpoint # 45, but i jogged a little bit and got ahead of them. Ended up where we thought #44 should be along with several other groups. I looked around a bit before they showed up, and then when they saw i hadnt found it they continued one way, and I went the other with a few other groups. I found it first and was on my way, now definitely ahead of them. (99% sure it was in the wrong reentrant, a smaller unmapped one).

Continued around the loop without much navigational issues, but it was all down a valley, up the other side, so i was feeling it. Got dark around 40. I also saw 2 headlights about half a ridge behind on every leg, and figured it was probably syd and W4J. 34-38 I got a little confused and decided to take a brief break. Lo and behold Syd and W4J showed up a few minutes later, and we decided to finish out the course together. This was a big mental boost for me, and I felt a lot better from here on out. The N points were all stay high, so it was easier physically. Had an hour and a half at the last decision point, whether to get 35, so we went for it and it wasnt as bad as it looked. Still had plenty of time approaching the last point, #46, but we let our attention lapse and ended up getting confused about where we were. Syd wanted one way, i wanted the other but defaulted to her. spent too long wandering back and forth, to the point where time was getting short. Decided to go back the way I had suggested, but mostly back to the finish skipping hte last point. Turns out I was slightly more rght, but still off. We did happen to pass the last point and luckily saw it and got it with about 13 minutes to get back. Gave it all we had and had about 3 minutes to spare.

3rd solo, 5th overall. Fun races with the added twist of the break in between that provides a physical break, but a bit of mental toughness to get back out there. Would choose a hotel over the onsite cabin in the future, and probably go down the night before as it was a LONG day.