Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Red Classic course at GPHXO's First Water map.

I had considered doing Blue...but I quickly felt happy to be on Red, when I realized how slowly I would be moving on the steep, rocky terrain. Finishing Blue probably would have taken me four hours.

I got really lost in a few places on this map last year, and this is another GPHXO map with lots of relief and detail not shown by the 20-foot contour interval, so I had planned to be very conservative.

I spent many minutes standing totally still, looking around 360 degrees (since it was so open), trying to figure out where I was. But I didn't have any totally disastrous mistakes. And, after looking at the results, I guess I'm glad just to have finished -- 13 of the 31 Red runners DNF'd and one MP'd. And I wasn't even dead-last among the Red runners who finished -- 11th of 17.

I tried to use trails as much as possible -- easier to run. Mostly, that didn't take me too far out of the way. From #8 to #9, I had planned to leave the trail and head northeast when I saw the distinct saguaro that's mapped just north of the trail (green X); but, I never saw it and I ended up going about 200 meters too far along the trail. Nailing #9 felt like a miracle (and was mostly due to luck -- I wasn't even remotely sure of where I was when I saw the flag).

My other dumb mistake was not knowing where I was (or which direction to turn) when I hit the wash near #12 -- I think I aimed off from the wrong mine-claim post. I figured it out and turned around when I saw the fence...

I ate my favorite GPHXO snacks at the finish (Cheetos and a canned Arnold Palmer -- they always have this stuff), headed to the Freestone Rec Center for a shower, and then made my way back to the airport to fly back to cold reality (work, freezing air, etc.). :-P

Jeff from TSN on the Red course:

Red Day 9: First Water Classics - Splits

Event: RMOC - Ski Orienteering / Barneløpet at Snow Mountain Ranch
 

Three-loop Motala at GPHXO's Needle Vista map.

I overshot my control once or twice, but otherwise I think I did OK (I think it was Orange-level orienteering, and luckily I knew what to expect with the 20-foot contour interval, similar to how RMOC's Fox Run map used to be).

No photos this time -- I wanted to try to be competitive. Results pending...

Two-hour Night Score-O at GPHXO's Needle Vista map -- on the other side of the highway this time.

The afternoon traffic to, through, and beyond Apache Junction was so heavy that I was worried we weren't going to make it back in time for the mass start. But we hadn't brought along our headlamps, so we had to go back and forth from the hotel.

We made it back with just enough time to hurriedly get ready. Whew. Ron gave us a few minutes to review our maps, so I drew out an overly-optimistic plan to visit all of the controls.

On the way to my third control, I had the worst cholla encounter I hope I'll ever have. My right arm brushed against one of the taller tree-size teddy-bear chollas that was kinda outside my peripheral vision, and I ended up with four HUGE "cobs" stuck into the side and back of my arm. I really regret not having had my phone / camera with me to capture how awful it looked.

I considered going back to the start for help, but I hated to quit the race so early (especially after how stressful it was to get there in the traffic), and it actually hurt to walk / run since that jostled the cholla cobs.

It took me about five minutes to get them all out. Thankfully I had the SWSW souvenir plastic comb in my front vest pocket. I had to take some deep breaths, grit my teeth, and then yank hard to get each one out. One cob required two yanks, and another one ended up in my foot after it fell. ARGH! A few people said later that they could hear me yelling... It was a painful process.

After that, no other injuries or disasters. I caught up with Sverre and we visited a few controls together. But then we parted ways and I did the rest on my own.

I wandered a bit at the end (changed my mind about getting #15), and I went directly back to the finish after crossing through the culvert, when I probably would have had time to get the two 10-pointers on that side of the highway. Oh well.

Very fun overall. Results pending.

I woke up to heavy snow -- in Tucson!

I had a hard time getting motivated to go to the meet, but I went.

I eventually found the first control, after some wandering, and my hands and feet were both soaking wet and freezing cold by that point. So I took some photos and then bailed. :-P

Sprints at the University of Arizona campus.

I started first and parked myself at a few of the controls to get some photos of the participants.

Also, midway through the course, I had to run off campus to put more money in my parking meter (it had a one-hour time limit...). So my time & distance include that excursion, along with my initial walk to the start and final walk back to the car.

Had a very nice lunch afterwards with Amy, John, Stephanie & Ben, at "Tumerico".

SWSW -- Day 4 -- Rest Day.

I slept late since I was up until such a ridiculous hour last night / this morning. :-|

Visited the Tucson Botanical Gardens and took a zillion more cactus photos.

Then I met up with Cristina, Lukas, Stephanie, Ben, Kathleen & Sam at the escape room. We escaped with less than 60 seconds to spare! Very fun.

Off day. Visited the Tucson Botanical Gardens and then met up with the Escape Room crew -- fun!

Delayed start due to snow!

I started without a jacket or gloves, after overheating yesterday. Then I stopped on my way to #1 to put on the jacket & gloves (the wind was COLD!). Then I stopped again on the way to #6 to take it off again. GOOD GRIEF. I have to take off my hydration vest every time I add or remove layers.

I also got caught for literally about five minutes trying to extract myself from a patch of cat-claw in the ditch in between #2 and #3.

I should have gone low to get to #4, but I did the dumb & slow thing and went high. Sigh...

After that, I did mostly OK -- but taking lots of photos. I lost track of where I was while taking a photo of someone near #14, and I went past my intended reentrant as a result.

The grass was really tall, with rocks underneath, so I didn't run much for fear of twisting my ankles.

In other words, lots of things conspired and added up to give me a really slow finish time. ;-)

Winner (Swedish ringer) was 33:32. What the...?!?

Amy invited me to join her group for dinner at Café Poca Cosa -- a place I've wanted to try for many years. It was fantastic -- and I ate & drank so much that I felt really uncomfortable for a few hours afterwards. :-P

Steve Willman from RMOC:

Set up meet details & pre-registration for Snow Mountain Ranch meet. Located an SMR photo and posted meet details to RMOC's Facebook page.

Set up meet details & pre-registration for Eldora meet.

Email follow-ups.

Sent out an HTML-formatted update email to the RMOC list.

Things I had to do in order to send the HTML-formatted email from my work laptop (I usually do it from my personal PC at home): fought with wifi settings for about 30 minutes; downloaded & installed Mozilla Thunderbird; struggled to configure Thunderbird with my Fastmail settings; and located an HTML-editing add-in. ARGH!

Also -- edited & posted photos to the SWSW event page. Also added Cristina's links for results, splits & Livelox.

Finally got to bed at around 3am...

C • Thank you! 2

Long Day 4 Kentucky Camp - Splits

SWSW -- Day 3 -- Cholla Chaser at Catalina State Park.

This was a THOMASS-style event, and I had to find four of the seven controls in the handicap area.

As usual, I did a poor job picking the best sequence of controls to visit; I seem to be really bad at quickly evaluating the pros & cons of distance, climb, and trails.

I went to C, A, D & G, thinking that the trails and flatter areas would be easier & faster running. That was mostly true, but I got lost looking for A, and Stephanie's route of B, E, C & D was obviously better, in retrospect. My splits for all the other controls are nearly identical to Stephanie & Kathleen's, but they finished ~16 minutes ahead of me.

Besides my sub-optimal control selection, I also wasted time stopping to strip off layers (when will I learn?!) and taking some photos of other runners.

I briefly went the wrong way when I hit the trail after leaving #2.

I should have used the trail junction southeast of #5 as my attackpoint (rather than flailing around in the wash).

On my way home, I picked up some frozen items at Tucson Tamale and two fancy beers at Tap & Bottle -- dinner for two nights.

Cristina's pre-race briefing: