Training Log Archive: glewis

Taking more opportunities to travel on the bike, so I rode to camp and met Rebekah and the boys there. Temps were pleasant for late morning. Beautiful ride with plenty of semi-familiar ups and downs.

Peppy walk from home pushing Evan in the stroller.

Ran from home to Boot Road Park, just down the street, where the paved trail is almost exactly 1km. A series of .5km intervals in oppressive heat.

Sweaty ride from home down around the creek and back up the other side. Even though it wasn't the longest ride, my legs just didn't have much longevity today. Maybe it was the humidity, but I'm thinking it's still a recovery issue from EM and MSAR. Still, a fun ride.

Hard morning run at Harmony Hill. So much humidity...

It seems my GPS is doing it's yearly routine where it stops recording speed and distance accurately in the summer. I think it's the full canopy? My speed seemed pretty off on my watch, even when factoring in the humidity. When I'd run through a more open area, the pace on the watch would jump down 60-90 seconds per mile. Seems strange, but I can't find any real issues with the gps track to account for an issue with the overall distance/pace though.

Scouting for the Uncontainable AR at Nottingham County Park. My first time there - a really neat place! Time both on and off the bike, all while sweating more than should be possible.

The cat woke me up early today, so I enjoyed another beat-the-heat run. 5-10 degrees cooler than yesterday, just as much humidity though. A little more distance that I ready for with my legs, so I took it easy. Back felt great again.

Up early, so I tried to beat the heat. It wasn't that bad, but the humidity was terrible. Seemed to hit a sweaty wall after only 20 minutes. I felt like I was running harder and faster, but the watch seemed to disagree. I forgot to even think about my back after the first minute or two.

Event: DVOA Hibernia County Park
 

My back got really tight on Monday afternoon, and I've been nursing it heavily since then. Tonight's sprint-o at Hibernia was a test - it felt alright, but a bit unnatural to run at first. As usual, the back loosened up the warmer it got, so it was nearly pain-free by the end.

Course 1 was slightly longer with a bit more route choice. I absolutely blew #4, attempting to shave seconds by going straight and getting pulled off line while dodging spider webs. I had to reorient from the trail - probably lost at least 3 minutes there. Otherwise, the course was smooth. I took the running easy for this.

Course 2 was essentially a white course, with no route options. I ran faster, much more so by the end, and felt pretty good. As I remind myself every few months, I need to be running faster and much more often.

Fun evening of sprints, avoiding the worst of the heat and humidity (there was still plenty).

Course 1 - Splits

Course 2 - Splits

Stage 4 - Trek (+ packraft)
Before we left TA (and while I was dealing with my issues), Matt and Tom had taken a longer look at the maps for the rest of the race and correctly realized that we were way behind the clock and wouldn't have time to finish the full course. We knew that the best choice was the skip the packraft, so we left boats in TA and resolved to finish the trek and do the packraft if time permitted at the end. Rootstock and Untamed were in TA with us and seemed to be planning similar strategies, although Rootstock looked to have taken their boats with them.

We ran as much as I could stand, but as soon as we hit our first real climb I was worse than I had been all day. I asked for help with my pack, which Matt graciously agreed to. When I took it back, I slowed down immediately, so he agreed to carry it to the top of the hill. The top of the hill offered no relief for me - so Matt continued with the pack. We got back onto and then off of trails, heading for CP35 when I began to get incredibly lightheaded and couldn't focus my vision. I asked the team for a few minutes to recoup - I laid down in the woods and tried to lower my heartrate and my body temperature. It took about 10 minutes until we were ready to move again - Matt and Amanda took turns carrying my pack here. I slowly started to feel better as we moved more. I was able to eat more food with the help of ginger chews. Conversation with Matt seemed to distract me from the pain that I was in. As I ate more I finally felt more comfortable taking back my pack, and from there I was drinking more consistently. It was definitely a team effort, but I was able to get back to point where we were moving quickly, but I was still unable to run. The highlight of the leg was absolutely nailing a bushwhack from 38 to 39, using all of our skills collectively to get us right to the CP. From there, we were able to skirt the swamp itself and keep our feet dry, probably moving quicker than the teams who cut straight through. We ran in TT after leaving this CP - they were finishing up their loop as well, having done the entire packraft section thereby nearly guaranteeing themselves the victory. After one more CP we headed back to TA (with a light jog thrown in). Prior to the leg, Matt had suggested that Tom nav the section, and wheat a great decision that was. He was an absolute rockstar, staying calm, focused and found while keeping us moving forward. Being able to give myself a full mental break was crucial to recovery.

We were greeted enthusiastically by Cliff telling us that we had killed the section. It's funny how the mind works; having taken just that small break made me feel like we were now hours behind, when in fact it gave us just the reset that we needed to keep moving quickly across the course. We were also greeted with some hot soup courtesy of the volunteers, which was terrific for getting me a bit further back into the less-sad feelings. We chatted with Rootstock and Untamed for a few moments here and learned that both had dropped points on the trek, which meant that we just had to maintain our steady forward progress to secure 2nd place. Our TA was purposeful and efficient; we left on bikes feeling good.

Stage 5 - Bike
We had a big climb out of TA on bikes, and I tried my best to ride slowly and within myself. I assured the team that I was feeling better but knew that the heat and humidity would zap me quickly, even though it was still dark out. Still, we moved quickly and made up some good ground, catching up to Rootstock near CP41, where we learned of their unfortunate overnight struggles. I think this was the last time we would see them; it sounds like they rallied well in the morning light to finish strong(er than when we saw them here).

Matt began towing me up the hills so that I could conserve energy, which was a big help as we moved forward. At least until the tow broke.
Eventually, TT passed us before CP42, which essentially locked us into 2nd place barring an incredible screw-up by someone in the top 3. Most of this ride was unremarkable, save for the mass confusion at CP43, where we came across ~5 teams hunting for the flag. I remembered a conversation from the prior day about it being picked up (it was also a flag on the paddle leg), and I was able to quickly prove to the other teams that it was missing before we moved along. We moved ahead with the new day sunlight, finally able to turn off headlights. As we neared the TA along with Untamed, we struggled to find the entrance to a trail system that seemed like a quick entrance to the park where we were going. We ended up deciding that it was located just behind an innocent looking "Keep Out" sign, from where we moved slowly forward into TA. The trails were rocky and technical; the same ones that we would soon be trekking on. Unfortunately for us, we passed TT and Untamed already on the trek, meaning that our success in finding the trail system actually slowed us down, as it would have been quicker to bike the extra 5km around on roads. Our TA was quick here - we all had an extra shot of energy knowing that we were entering the last stage of the race.

Stage 6 - Trek
This trek had a number of points packed tightly together. Matt suggested once again that Tom take the lead, while I just did some back-up. Once again he was superb on the maps, taking us smoothly from point to point, using Amanda's pace count excellently. I did some assistance when we got close to the CPs, but Tom was the rock star of the leg again. The first half of the trek went so well that we began to add in more points that we now had time for. The navigational highlights were 46 and especially 49, which we hit expertly coming downhill. 51 highlighted Glovers Wig, an awesome rock feature that seemed out of place in the Maine woods. We eventually decided to cut out 2 points that were the furthest afield, electing to give ourselves a nice buffer to get to the finish. I felt much better on this whole leg, jogging when we could as a team and having a much better mindset than the rough state I had been in the prior night. I still felt rather crummy, but I was managing the crumminess much better. We got back into TA with 90 minute to spare to make it to the finish. We got some last minute water, switched the tow on my bike to Matt's in case I needed it, and left down the road feeling great.

Stage 7 - Bike
There are always so many positives about being on the final leg of a race like this. One of my favorites is coming across so many teams on the way home. We must have seen 10 different teams during the 45 minute ride in, highlighted by the 5 teams we found at the last CP. There was one final hill to climb before the finish at Pineland. We finished a few seconds after TT, having just been passed by them in the final km. Our race was good enough for 2nd place, which felt great!

My post-race was very rough. It was incredibly hot again, and my adrenaline was wearing off, which meant that I needed lots of food and water. After loads and loads of hydration, I finally felt strong enough to get the car packed (Rebekah and the boys met me so we could drive straight home from the race).

I was so happy with how well we worked together as a team. We had a common goal and stuck to it as much as we could. We moved as fast as possible throughout, and everyone gave as much as they could at all times. A number of teams had really low moments, but my impression is that we managed our suffering well and never let it destroy our race. It was great to get the 4 of us together - I'd love to do that again! The result was wonderful too - while we weren't able to catch or beat TT, I was finally able to beat Rootstock and Untamed at an MSAR for the first time in 6 tries. Thanks to Cliff and Kate for another great edition!

Event: Maine Summer Adventure Race
 

Maine Summer AR as team Strong Machine with Matt, Tom and Amanda. 2nd overall.

As I say every year, I love MSAR. Super excited to race this edition with this group. We had a common goal of going super fast and doing our best to put pressure on Toyota Tundra and whoever else was ahead of us.

For the third edition in a row, the race was scheduled out of Pineland Farms, a beautiful property that serves as a great host. There is a wonderful orienteering map of the property, and I had a feeling that we might use it again (it was used previously in the 2019 edition). I've learned a lesson over the years that the pre-race time at MSAR ticks quicker than at most other races, so I made a point to arrive race ready and also to get myself two breakfast sandwiches from the market before we checked in. We had two sets of maps, which seemed to be the perfect quantity for this group. Matt and Tom went through one set of them while I did the same on the second. Two sets were also helpful as we were able to catch each other's inefficiencies (like Matt pointing out when I plotted a bike route that ignored a convenient bridge - whoops!). We were able to go through the whole route before the pre-race meeting, save for the last trek (I noticed that TT made a smart choice by only sending one racer to the meeting, leaving the other two to continue prepping. Definitely something to consider for the future). The course looked big but doable depending on terrain and trail conditions. The heat was also set to be a big factor, but we didn't know how much it would affect us or the other teams. We also had a good plan for handling the delegation of duties - essentially, Matt was in charge and we'd do what he told us to.

Prologue
The race began with a retrieval of maps from a Toyota Tundra. Amanda got our map, and then we paused for a minute or two to plan out a route. The idea for the prologue was incredibly cool, with a series of lettered CPs scattered around Pineland Farms on the orienteering map. We had to gather enough letters to spell two words from the designated list. I struggled to be much help here, but we ended up selecting FAST and RACE, which required 7 letters but avoided 2 CPs that were further away than others. Matt suggested that I nav this section, which we did extremely well, moving at a quick but conservative pace. The lowlight was a team miscommunication that caused my bike bottle (we didn't have to carry any gear but chose to carry water bottles) to get left in the woods halfway through. We returned to the S/F after ~45 minutes, where we mounted bikes and headed out. The nav had been really smooth with no errors >30 seconds.

Post-race analysis revealed that the optimal strategy was to spell FAST and KAYAK, which used fewer letters and covered less distance. This somehow evaded us in our preparation, but we were still happy with our choice.

Stage 1 - Bike
We moved quickly on the roads for this section, getting smoothly to CP1. After CP1, we began passing teams in the 8hr race going in the opposite direction (very confusing at first). We arrived at WP1, which contained a neat section allowing teams to split up. Tom and Amanda hopped off the bikes and got CP 4 and 5 on foot, while Matt and I rode MTB trails to get CP 2 and 3. I began with a super slow, over-the-handlebars fall just out of view of the WP... We weren't super smooth here, as we nearly missed CP 3 and rode clear past CP2 before realizing our mistake and coming back. I didn't ride these trails well, but it got much better once I took off my sunglasses and regained my depth perception - amazing how much difference that made. Matt and I returned to the WP only seconds before Tom and Amanda - we remounted and rode less than 2 km to the next TA.
Matt and I worked together on the nav throughout this leg, and it went rather well.

Stage 2 - Sea Kayak
Rootstock was still in TA when we arrived here. TT had left ~ 10 minutes prior. We moved with purpose, but also with the understanding that the paddle would take at least 4 hours in the heat of the day. Some extra sunscreen was applied, water was filled, and food was readied before we set off in our double kayaks. I paddled behind Tom while Matt paddled behind Amanda. It took me an additional few minutes once we pushed off to get my rudder and pedals situated, but we started moving well once we got away from the shore. Matt did nearly all of the nav on this leg; it was a straightforward paddle south through one body of water, through a short connecting river, and then to the south end of another, with some stops along the way for CPs. We had a few sights of TT, and passed Rootstock going in a different direction before our halfway point. Untamed was near us here, but we finished before them. Less than 2 hours in, my feet began to throb. My toes were fully numb, and my heels felt like they had nails driven into them. I had no way to ease the pain as they were locked in on the pedals for the rudder. Just over halfway through, I was able to stretch my legs for a minute and regained feeling in my toes, but the pain began immediately again after we restarted. I adjusted the pedal locations, which provided some temporary relief. Even more pressing than the foot pain was the fact that I felt myself loosing the hydration battle. During the paddle I drank 1.5L of water full of electrolytes, ate as much as I could, and took salt pills. Still, I was getting patches of lightheadedness throughout. By the time the paddle mercifully ended after nearly 5 hours, we were pretty low as a team. The speed had been good for the first half, but the lack of a tailwind on the way home combined with tired bodies made for a sluggish and slow finish. I was happy that my legs began to loosen up in TA. I tried to drink as much water as I could, but I had a feeling that I had passed a tipping point and that things would be getting worse for me. Matt gave me an extra bike bottle, which helped my hydration back on the bike. We rolled out of the TA less than an hour behind TT, and about 20 minutes behind Rootstock.

Stage 3 - "Adventure" Bike
We weren't exactly sure what would be in store for us on this stage, but we knew that it wouldn't be fast, flowy, or smooth. After a short bit on roads with ARDZ, we turned onto a trail around Nubble Pond, which quickly became a sketchy hiking trail. We pushed and carried our bikes, coming past the Dev Squad here. It felt like an eternity (it wasn't) and it was very slow moving. We were super pleased to get back onto our bikes and riding near CP13, where we began to hit some pretty significant uphills. (Post-race note: it looked like Rootstock and TT were able to come in to the north of the pond on some unmapped trails/roads and put 20+ minutes into us with that move alone) We actually missed CP14 and had to backtrack a bit to get it, probably our biggest error of the day. We had been near a Coed 2 team who was moving pretty well, and the male racer took a legit fall off of his bike, hitting his head on the rocks and sliding down the hill a bit. He assured us that he was fine and we kept riding...only to later realize that he had smashed his bike directly next to the CP :(.

The ride through 15 and up to 16 was where I started to feel a tad bit off, and it seemed like I was beginning to slip - I pounded water and food, hoping to stave off whatever was coming for me. CP16 was at the top of Hacker Hill, which at the time seemed to be the steepest hill in America. We were greeted with a nice sunrise at the top (and the yelps of disbelief of the steepness from ARDZ at the bottom). Seeing as I was teetering on the edge of blah-ness, I definitely used too much energy getting up this hill. A handful of km (and 4CPs) later we entered into a maze of sugar sand trails that must have been airlifted from Florida.

We (or maybe just I?) enjoyed this section, with some different opportunities for route choice, although it seems that the top few teams did it all the same way, save for some small differences. The riding in the bad sections was rough, but there was almost always a rideable way to get around the worst of the sand. We struggled again with a CP in here as well, just as night fell. CP24 was on a high point without a clear attack, and Matt and I had some disagreement on when to go in. It took a few tries with some great teamwork, but we got it well enough. This was also right around when I began to slip further into a hole, despite eating and drinking, having filled up water at CP 21. I seemed to be struggling with my head and stomach between hours 10 and 14 of most races lately, and this was definitely the case again. I don't have trouble riding the technical stuff when I feel like this, but my speed suffers on the flats and hills. By the time we got out of the trail system (and finally seeing some other teams for the first time in a few hours) I really needed to go the bathroom. We came through Naples, which was a pretty exciting small town, and I was convinced that I could keep my GI system in check until I got to the TA. The issue that arose was a huge hill climb that buried me further, followed by a screaming downhill (and a screaming homeowner telling us that we were guaranteed to be killed by a car). By our arrival at CP28 and TA2, Untamed had caught up to us and I was hurting on the inside and needing some relief. I had convinced myself that a port-a-potty at the TA would make me very happy...but I was let down. I tried to relieve myself, and got no relief. My body had decided that it would only be happy to remove whatever was in it, and those vaults had been sealed. Still, we TA'd with some purpose, got food and water, and set out to push as much as we could on the trek.

C • ummm, race report? 2

Paddle clinic with Portland Paddle. Rescues, strokes, etc. I had only done the rescues in a canoe in a pool ~15 years ago, so it was super helpful to do them in a kayak on open water. A few tips about paddle stroke were also super helpful; I'll need to try to work on them on the erg as they felt a bit unnatural on the water.

This is a combination of many things:

Walking to and touring the Poland Spring Museum. Noah loved this and didn't want to leave after nearly 2 hours.

Walking back to and touring the Maine State Building. Not only was this incredibly cool, but it was originally from the Chicago World's Fair, which we learned all about during our visit last summer!

A reverse of the walk with Noah from yesterday, this time reading the story along the trail and learning about Togo the dog.

C • Say hi 1

Left Craig's this morning, spent ~5 hours in Freeport, and arrived at Poland Spring late afternoon. Hike with Noah after dinner - from the Maine Inn down to the spring and bottling plant, where he (and I) are incredibly excited for a morning tour.

Ride with Craig around Cape - much shorter and less bumpy. I was going to skip it, but I don't get to ride with him much so I figured I should do it. Planned on stopping early but used the same logic to keep riding. Fun again!

Tour of Cape trails with Craig. So bumpy and techy - my poor arms, hands and bum are tired. Bike also making some horrific squeaking noises that need to be ironed out. A bit tired by the end, but super fun time!

Family walk from Craig's house to the Portland Headlight and back. A bit warm but the ocean breeze was great. Noah did wonderfully, as he has been doing for a while now. My legs were a bit more tired than I'd expected.

Shortish ride in the mild heat but non-mild humidity. Tried a few hard efforts on some climbs and was pleased, but generally didn't have the best legs. A bit blasted by the end.

Run at Harmony Hill. Weather was fine - legs were zapped.

Ride at Harmony Hill. Able to get out before the heat and most of the humidity. Trails were perfect, but there were too many people out. Legs and lungs felt great throughout, especially during the sections where I pushed as hard as I could. Great ride!

Strava app for the phone once again struggled to upload in the parking lot and responded by deleting the activity. Fortunately I had tracked on the watch as a backup.