Training Log Archive: glewis

Run at Harmony Hill after work. Hilly (as usual) and cool/windy. First 2.8 miles were fast, slowed to a crawl after climbing the Potter's Field Hill.

Event: DVOA Myrick Center (BVA)
 

Night-O at BVA Myrick Center. First 4 controls took longer than the final 8. Ended up in the footsteps of someone else, which didn't hurt. Struggled to get oriented with the fields and crops.

RED - Splits

Edge AR with Kevin. 1st Overall - next team to clear came in 50 minutes after.

Arrived nice and early to get the maps and get situated. Also grabbed registration materials for Rebekah and Kristin who took Noah on the 3 hr race. A quick look at the maps told us that we would be carving up some very familiar territory, and with a map that was much better than the standard state park map. We chatted with the usual bunch of racers before the event, and picked up a good insight from Nicki and Diana Driscoll, who were discussing the idea of getting F9 (a foot point) while paddling to P7 (a paddle point) which was allowable by rules. This would end up being a great decision.

The race began with a quick prologue, where Kevin ran through a field to grab two things from buckets. He was the 4th person back, and grabbed our passport. We were excited to get foot/paddle first, knowing that it was our ideal order, with bike second. We took off on a counter-clockwise route, and began nailing the CPs with precision. Everything was exactly where it was mapped, and was hung nice and high. We also got a nice view of the teams who were on bike first, as we saw Lamprey Systems and Jeremy Adams' team, who we knew were our top competition on the day. We grabbed all 7 of the 9 foot CPs that we planned on getting before the paddle and were on the water very quickly. We grabbed a paddle point on the opposite shore, and then made our way to P7 (at this point, only 1 hr into the race), where we saw another boat (presumably the only one on the water before us) beached, looking for F8. We decided that we should make a run for it. When we arrived at F9 (after punching P7) we were greeted by a flag without a punch. It instead showed a map which identified the true location of the flag, about 1km north on a trail that bordered the lake. We would be heading right past it, so we grabbed it shortly thereafter from our boat. Here, we toyed around with the idea of running the P6 up and across a bridge, but chose to stick to our guns and paddle there. We passed the other team (Too Many Kids?) along the long paddle and made our way rather quickly to TA3. Before we got there, we chose to take an ill-advised run to P2 after beaching our boats. It probably cost us less than 5 minutes, but it felt pretty foolish at the time. At TA3 we ran into Diana and Nicki; I was more than happy to tell them about F9, as they had given us the original idea. Here we took off on a "Memory-o" section, where we had to transfer 4 points to our brains (or our maps!) and then remember the number that we saw at each flag. We passed a good many teams here (most of whom had paddled right to the TA) and unlocked a bike lock with our jumbled numbers. We snagged the final paddle point before returning to TA. We took off on foot back to the start/finish, grabbing the last foot point along the way. We again remarked at our good fortune in getting the "real" F9 at the optimal time - it saved us 10+ minutes, and a good bit of energy.

We arrived at TA after 2:20 minutes (presumably the first team back in) and quickly TA'd to bike. We again took a counter-clockwise loop, grabbing a majority of the point on our way down to the old section of rail trail that led out of the park to one distant CP. The section was uneventful; we made one wrong turn but realized it within 200 meters. After the rail trail, we had the pleasure of riding up Reeds Road to the park entrance, a hill that makes me tired from just driving up it. We moved quickly to get 2 more CPs in the field above the lake before arriving at the dam to TA4, where we would begin a matching section. Here we were given a map with 6 foot CPs and 6 bike CPs. We would get credit for 4 of each, but only if we grabbed the corresponding point on the opposite section (i.e. we could get point for FM1 and BM1, but only if we got both, and only up to 4 pairs). We had decided to do foot first, and chose the four foot points that made the shortest loop, knowing that we were comfortable with any biking. The foot points were easy to find and rather straightforward (our knowledge of the trail system was a big help) and we quickly transitioned to bike knowing that we had plenty of time to spare. We were told that most teams had been taking about 1 hr for the bike points, which we found surprising, as we expected the teams who arrived there in the morning to have been moving a bit quicker. We proved our own theory right, as we took only 35-40 minutes for this section, including a 2-3 minute bobble on a CP that we both missed despite being hung in the center of the trail. We arrived back at the TA feeling confident that no one was going to be catching us - we had 3 more CPs to grab, and just under 90 minutes to do so.

Our plan was to continue hammering home, but I was also keeping a watchful eye on Kevin, who was getting rather crampy and was clearly not at his top. The last 3 CPs were rather simple, and we turned up Chalfont Road to ride to the finish line with just under 1 hour remaining. I did my best to will Kevin to keep hammering; I wanted to finish fast, and I truly had no idea what was happening for the teams whose events ran in reverse order. We were greeted by Rebekah, Kristin and Noah on the way up the final hill, and we rode into the finish, having used 5:05 of the race time. Riding into the finish line with a full passport and an empty finishing area (being the first team back) is a feeling that will never get old. We enjoyed watching the rest of the teams come in. My prognostication was pretty spot-on, as an exhausted looking Lamprey was the only other team to clear the course (albeit in 5:55) and Jeremy's team finished 3rd, having only missed two points.

The race was nearly flawless for us, and the course was terrific. It felt great to come in with only one expectation (first overall or bust) and to meet it. It also was some good training for redlining while depleted, as we both carried limited water and minimal calories. I'm looking forward to taking that experience with me into longer races. As for hammering more sprint races, it might be time to start designing some races, as well as finding some new people to introduce to the sport through these events. Athletically, I'm ready to focus on bigger events; I'm not done with sprint AR by any means, but this event felt like a crowning achievement for this category.

Ride at Marsh Creek. Felt a bit sluggish after some rough nutrition choices yesterday.

Run at Marsh Creek after bike. Pushed hard but felt a bit doughy.

First day back at the gym in many months. Started easy on the Arc. Ramped it up towards the end - it kicked my butt.

Wet ride at Marsh Creek in prep for the edge. Took a trail map and map board to explore trails

Camp Fall 5 miler. Planned on running at a 7:30 pace. Was a 7:15 pace up the first hill, and realized that I was going at about a 6:40 once it flattened out. Decided to ride it out as long as I could. With the hills, I average about 7 min/mile, which is much faster than expected. last mile was a bit short. Rather "boring" in that I didn't pass anyone, and I was only passed by Pete MacNamee, who had started the race about 1 minute late. I did have some work to do in the first 3-4 miles in holding off a runner who was 10ish seconds behind.

Overall - it felt great, and I celebrated with loads of bacon.

Light run at Cheslen. Kept it simple and walked up hills due to 5 miler at camp in the morning.

Event: DVOA White Clay Creek
 

Green Course at White Clay Creek. Went rather well - GPS map looked good with only one control (9) that I had trouble with; I just didn't understand the clue and happened to walk by it twice. Only one control required backtrack to trails. No reattacks needed.

White - Splits

Green - Splits