Training Log Archive: KFish

Event: SMOC Monks Rd
 

Despite racing yesterday we wanted to make it home for orienteering, especially because it was igor's meet which meant it would be super tricky. It didnt disappoint, im not sure I had a single leg which I would truely call clean, but racing against all the other people that also raced yesterday I managed to squeak out a 1 minute win.

1- Trail north and then follow the swamp. hesitated at the first swamp. Road to E trail probably would have been faster
2 - thought i was paying close attention, but got sucked E, lucky correction landed me on the flag
3 - probably my cleanest leg, what a nice spur
4 - Couldnt convince myself there was actually a reentrant there, so I reattacked from the swamp
5 - straight bearing, which landed me well but the woods were slow
6 - bearing, took it slow to make sure i didnt miss it
7 - back through the thick stuff, attacked from trail junction
8 - long trail loop around in the pouring rain. took the trail all the way past the control and attacked from the depression. Saw Mr. W looking a little confused
9 - trail around the thick woods
10 - Weird trail things. Cut through the woods straight north but couldnt find the second EW trail. Not sure why. Eventually found the indistinct trail, which I slid down on my butt, and then carefully picked my way through the woods along the contour. Overall not very efficient.
11 - beautiful woods!
12 - across the land bridge and then N from the knoll.
13 - back around to the east because the west side looked green and my map was disintegrating. Apparently there were game trails that worked out well though.
14 - slid up the indistinct trail and then attacked from the hill top marked by a yellow course flag
15 - careful bearing
16 - careful bearing, but had some hesitation and slight wander. Also tripped on a tree and fell on another tree that hit me in the gut and knocked the wind right out of me
17 - overshot just W and got to the swamp
18 - wiped out on the muddy trail and then slip and slid my way to the finish.

Every leg was so tricky! Not helped by the green woods, but would have been tricky no matter what. So worth driving back early for! Thanks Igor.

Flag pick up. Just walked.

C • Thanks for picking up the f... 2

Red - Splits

Event: Michigan Adventure Race: Ludington (6 or 12 hours)
 

MAR Ludington 12 hr - 2017 with syd, work4justice, and Andy Brown.

Linear race format that started with a hectec 40 minute planning session and then a 45 minute bus ride to the start. That was kind of cool, a first for us. Bus seemed very long, and we knew we had to make it all the way back under our own power, which made me a little nervous.

Leg 1 - Linear Trek - 7.3 mi, 1:51, 8 c
USGS map that looked like contour catastrophe, but syd navigated us through ti really well with the rest of us trying to keep a close eye on bearings. Tried to keep the pace up, but ended up in the lead pack for the first several points and the lead time set the pace, which was sometimes a jog, sometimes a walk. Got a little split up on a tricky #5, but saw most of the pack again throughout the last 3 points. Don't really like being in a such a pack.

TA1 - Find your bike (bike drop the night before was in a different place, and bikes were transported, so completely mixed up from the team.) Fast TA and got through quicker than the 2 other teams. Flats for the win.

Leg 2 - Linear bike - 18 mi, 1:25, 1 c
A mix of some paved, some dirt, and some seasonal mostly sandy roads. This bike was a lot of fun. Syds nav was ON with help from bike computers and we made a few turns that the other 2 teams near us missed (MRA and a 2-male team). Unfortanately they were slightly faster bikers, so they would always correct and pass us. But they were still in sight by the end of the bike, so we were pretty happy with our effort. At one point considered a longer N route that we thought might be paved, but we hadnt measured, and pavement wasnt assured, so we stuck with the S dirt route. Turned out to be a bad choice and possibly a critical route choice leg, as WAR picked up a lot of time on us by taking that route.

TA2 - Bike to Paddle. Another fast transition, passed WAR in transition, and MRA were in view as we put in.

Leg 3 - Paddle - 6 mi, 1:15, 3 c
Got an idea of who was ahead of us as we paddled upstream for 2 points and saw a few teams coming back down river. Bobbled the 2nd upstream point because it was hidden behind a tree, and the hand copied circle was not centered properly. should have not taken the hand copied circle so literally. Got passed by RaceTC on a stand up paddle board, but finished the paddle in 5th, which we were pretty happy with.

TA3 - Paddle to bike. Another quick TA, MRA leaving on bikes as we pulled into TA. First place team was 18 minutes ahead, oof.

Leg 4 - Bike 2 - 25 mi - 2:33, 8 c
CPs guided you, so not much route choice and mostly paved roads. A nice tail wind let us FLY at about 30km/hr on all the W legs, which was most of it. Pulled up to the first single track section and made an error that definitely cost us. It was single track bingo, but we failed to look at a trail map and ended up repeating 1 loop and completely missing another. Were about to call Mark to say it was missing when we got confirmation from MRA that it was indeed there. 20 minute error!!!! Second single track loop went well. Third loop started well, going the correct direction based on Mark's prerace comments, which caught us up some time. But Andy got a flat from a staple, and then wasted a CO2 canister on a flat spare, so by the time he was up and running we had lost another 20 minutes. In addition his brakes were rubbing for hte rest of the bike and his wheel was wobbling, which meant we slowed down a lot for the last bike stretch. Sucked the wind out of us and no longer felt like a race (despite the fact we were still in approximately 7th or 8th).

TA4 - Bike to Foot. Grapped a map and made quick work of it, again passing WAR in transition. Being there at the same time as them gave us a slight boost of endergy

Leg 5- Trek 2, 6 mi, 1:45, 8 c
Clockwise loop, started off jogging roads and trails. Syd's nav was still great but Andy especially started having issues. Took it slow through the woods, walked up hills, and did short jog spurts and then walks. Saw WAR again just before the halfway point in the loop, which again spurred us on, but Andy didnt have much left to give. luckily we had the easier half left and beat them to the finish line by a few min :).

Got to the finish in 6th overall and 3rd in our division. Clear 40 minutes lost (ST error + bike mechanical), with another 10 or so lost to route choice. Still head a great time. The weather was overcast and cool, but only about an hour of rain compared to the full day of rain that was in the forecast most of the week.

Stayed on top of eating and electrolytes better than ever before, and felt awesome the whole time. ~ 25 salt sticks, 1 bagel sandwhich, 1 fig bar, 1 waffle, 2 gu, 1 shotblocks, 1 bag of jerky, 1 can of pringles, 2 gatorades, and 2 bladders of water.

NC Sprint approval 'granted'.

Need to check in with about 5 different people.
- May need to forgo snacks (OSEH requirements)
- May need to offer event for free (donations and sales expressly prohibited)
- May need to borrow a billion saw horses. Stakes can only be sunk in 3"

C • Ugh, but I guess we take what we can get 5

Some bouldering some top rope

After this week i'll need to go on daily leisurely 5 mile rides to make up for no longer coming in to work!

Prerun of north course. Found one sidewalk I need to add to the map.

C • Either it's flat or you're fit!! 6

Prerun of south course. Made 2 bobbles even knowing the map!

Really happy with both courses, now we just need to hear back about approval! Will need to have everyone do the same order, or have a "competitive" and "non competitive" category that do them in opposite order to ensure fairness for comparison but spread people out a little more.