Training Log Archive: AnvilIn the 2 days ending Aug 18, 2013:
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Sunday Aug 18, 2013 #
6 AM
Running - Trail 1:00:00 [3] 6.0 km (10:00 / km)
WT Leg 4: Trek
After our quickest transition of the race, we were off, determined to quickly gap the other team. It all seemed well, whenever we looked back we never got sight of them. A bit of a panic when we briefly lost the trail in an area of open rock and they were suddenly in view, but at that point it also seemed clear they were not trying to catch us.
Then we just settled in for a slog to the finish - it seemed to take forever to reach the highway, but we finally got there. That final section of road seemed to stretch off into infinity, but finally, there was the finish line.
Couldn't be happier with the result, the team and the race. Bender and Katie Mac were great team members. Probably the worst thing about the team was that Hammer couldn't join us.
I wouldn't want to do another 24 hour AR soon (mainly just that I hate the level of preparation required), but will definitely be back for 2014.
Kudos to Bash and Getawaystix for an excellent event. Also the race volunteers, every CP was ultra friendly and fun, each with a unique theme. Though the free beer and cheer squad wasn't a planned part of CP3 it was pretty funny, also shout out to 'Bents more sophisticated cheese and crackers and also CP7, where they brought the SI box to the boat so you didn't have to get out and also supplying us with hot tea - exactly what you need at 3am.
After our quickest transition of the race, we were off, determined to quickly gap the other team. It all seemed well, whenever we looked back we never got sight of them. A bit of a panic when we briefly lost the trail in an area of open rock and they were suddenly in view, but at that point it also seemed clear they were not trying to catch us.
Then we just settled in for a slog to the finish - it seemed to take forever to reach the highway, but we finally got there. That final section of road seemed to stretch off into infinity, but finally, there was the finish line.
Couldn't be happier with the result, the team and the race. Bender and Katie Mac were great team members. Probably the worst thing about the team was that Hammer couldn't join us.
I wouldn't want to do another 24 hour AR soon (mainly just that I hate the level of preparation required), but will definitely be back for 2014.
Kudos to Bash and Getawaystix for an excellent event. Also the race volunteers, every CP was ultra friendly and fun, each with a unique theme. Though the free beer and cheer squad wasn't a planned part of CP3 it was pretty funny, also shout out to 'Bents more sophisticated cheese and crackers and also CP7, where they brought the SI box to the boat so you didn't have to get out and also supplying us with hot tea - exactly what you need at 3am.
Saturday Aug 17, 2013 #
Event: Wilderness Traverse
8 AM
Cycling 6:55:00 [3] 80.0 km (11.6 kph)
WT: Leg 1, MTB.
The leg I was most concerned about, never having biked that far before and knowing how rough some of the Canadian Shield trails can be.
Bonus was that the leg started with exactly the 15km route Hammer and I had taken to Upper Marsh Lake a month or so ago, and I felt much more confident after that.
Long slog along the Hydrocut started to take it's toll, had a low point about 3 hours in when concentration started to fade and had a few near misses on some of the rougher rocky sections of the trail. Ramped up the food intake and came out of it OK.
We pushed a little coming off the Hydrocut in an attempt to make a gap on some other teams who we were playing leap frog with a bit (also in the hope that they'd miss the turn off - which turned out to be impossible) and we paid for it soon after as we all ran out of water. The next hour got pretty dire for us all, but we were saved by a decently flowing river to stop, refill and in my case, sit down in and cool off.
Had lower back issues from about 40km, but really intensified in the last 15km. To remedy I biked slightly faster than the team, then hopped off and walked any incline and then catch back up at the top. Have to say I've never been so happy to see Hammer at the end.
Team worked well together. Katie Mac was pretty worried having only biked in the relatively sedate DV and had a few problems and falls early - more due to feeling pressure from teams behind her, but you could actually see her skill level increase over the 7 hours. Bender seemed to cruise through no problem. Zero mechanical problems bar a chain coming loose at one point was a godsend.
The leg I was most concerned about, never having biked that far before and knowing how rough some of the Canadian Shield trails can be.
Bonus was that the leg started with exactly the 15km route Hammer and I had taken to Upper Marsh Lake a month or so ago, and I felt much more confident after that.
Long slog along the Hydrocut started to take it's toll, had a low point about 3 hours in when concentration started to fade and had a few near misses on some of the rougher rocky sections of the trail. Ramped up the food intake and came out of it OK.
We pushed a little coming off the Hydrocut in an attempt to make a gap on some other teams who we were playing leap frog with a bit (also in the hope that they'd miss the turn off - which turned out to be impossible) and we paid for it soon after as we all ran out of water. The next hour got pretty dire for us all, but we were saved by a decently flowing river to stop, refill and in my case, sit down in and cool off.
Had lower back issues from about 40km, but really intensified in the last 15km. To remedy I biked slightly faster than the team, then hopped off and walked any incline and then catch back up at the top. Have to say I've never been so happy to see Hammer at the end.
Team worked well together. Katie Mac was pretty worried having only biked in the relatively sedate DV and had a few problems and falls early - more due to feeling pressure from teams behind her, but you could actually see her skill level increase over the 7 hours. Bender seemed to cruise through no problem. Zero mechanical problems bar a chain coming loose at one point was a godsend.
3 PM
Orienteering 6:00:00 [3] 30.0 km (12:00 / km)
WT Leg 2: Trek
Not really a lot to say about this one, just that it went very well. Bender wisely chose the longer, road route to CP #4 instead of trying to navigate to a trail end (which turned out impossible to find) and we were rewarded with climbing the ladder to 6th place and free beer.
Potentially scarey bearing leg on the way to CP #5 went perfectly, with us landing about 50m away from the northern tip of Beads Lake.
The one time my nav skills were needed was trying to locate the trail that would lead us to TA #2. We crossed Wilson Lake at a narrow section near a Hunt Camp and took a trail leading out of it which we hoped/presumed would lead to the road. It started to turn in a direction we didn't like with about 400m to go, so we took a safe bearing we presumed would allow us to hit the road.
After much longer than expected, there was no road and we started to descend into a valley, which we knew shouldn't be happening. Bender and I quickly determined where we were and realised we must have crossed the trail without realising it and turned, following the valley we were in towards Wilson Lake, hoping to cross the trail again. Once the lake was in sight, we still hadn't seen the trail and daylight was getting critical, we made one last ditch effort to locate it. Back up a spur to the top of the hill and finally, Bender calls out that he's found it. It's not super obvious, I imagine if it had been 10 minutes later we would have never found it. Spirits high, we jog the final 10km to TA2. It turns out a lot of the teams behind us had a lot of trouble on this final section of the trek in the dark, so we were very lucky here.
I think I enjoyed this leg the most out of all. Partially due to the comfort zone factor, but also the slower pace meant you got to appreciate the area we were in a little better (so many awesome lakes!). Still think there should be a mandatory 30 min rest zone where you get to have a relaxing swim and so some cliff jumping.
Not really a lot to say about this one, just that it went very well. Bender wisely chose the longer, road route to CP #4 instead of trying to navigate to a trail end (which turned out impossible to find) and we were rewarded with climbing the ladder to 6th place and free beer.
Potentially scarey bearing leg on the way to CP #5 went perfectly, with us landing about 50m away from the northern tip of Beads Lake.
The one time my nav skills were needed was trying to locate the trail that would lead us to TA #2. We crossed Wilson Lake at a narrow section near a Hunt Camp and took a trail leading out of it which we hoped/presumed would lead to the road. It started to turn in a direction we didn't like with about 400m to go, so we took a safe bearing we presumed would allow us to hit the road.
After much longer than expected, there was no road and we started to descend into a valley, which we knew shouldn't be happening. Bender and I quickly determined where we were and realised we must have crossed the trail without realising it and turned, following the valley we were in towards Wilson Lake, hoping to cross the trail again. Once the lake was in sight, we still hadn't seen the trail and daylight was getting critical, we made one last ditch effort to locate it. Back up a spur to the top of the hill and finally, Bender calls out that he's found it. It's not super obvious, I imagine if it had been 10 minutes later we would have never found it. Spirits high, we jog the final 10km to TA2. It turns out a lot of the teams behind us had a lot of trouble on this final section of the trek in the dark, so we were very lucky here.
I think I enjoyed this leg the most out of all. Partially due to the comfort zone factor, but also the slower pace meant you got to appreciate the area we were in a little better (so many awesome lakes!). Still think there should be a mandatory 30 min rest zone where you get to have a relaxing swim and so some cliff jumping.
9 PM
Paddle 9:00:00 [0]
WT Leg 3: Paddle.
I'm calling this intensity 0.
Since we were a team of 3, we only needed one canoe. As I had the least experience paddling and we had no stool, I was relegated to the middle. My roles included navigation (left/right, no the other right!), doling out food, replacing headlamp batteries, lighting up the shoreline trying to locate the trails to begin portages, fending off hypothermia and in the late stages, trying to keep KatieMac and Bender awake.
This stage again went pretty well. We oped for the long, easier all the way east then south route and proud to say the navigation went pretty much as planned. There was only one portage trail we never found, but the river bed was doable.
Bender dominated all the portages, especially the long 5km one.
The final slog down 9 Mile Lake was tough on the team, I really had nothing to do here as there was no way to get lost. My team mates were both struggling to stay awake and dealing with very sore shoulder muscles - my job was to keep them engaged and distracted but I didn't do very well. If I'm ever in that situation again I've got some ideas what to do.
Very happy to make it into TA3 as the sun came up. Less happy to be doing so at the same time as another team which meant we had to race to the finish.
I'm calling this intensity 0.
Since we were a team of 3, we only needed one canoe. As I had the least experience paddling and we had no stool, I was relegated to the middle. My roles included navigation (left/right, no the other right!), doling out food, replacing headlamp batteries, lighting up the shoreline trying to locate the trails to begin portages, fending off hypothermia and in the late stages, trying to keep KatieMac and Bender awake.
This stage again went pretty well. We oped for the long, easier all the way east then south route and proud to say the navigation went pretty much as planned. There was only one portage trail we never found, but the river bed was doable.
Bender dominated all the portages, especially the long 5km one.
The final slog down 9 Mile Lake was tough on the team, I really had nothing to do here as there was no way to get lost. My team mates were both struggling to stay awake and dealing with very sore shoulder muscles - my job was to keep them engaged and distracted but I didn't do very well. If I'm ever in that situation again I've got some ideas what to do.
Very happy to make it into TA3 as the sun came up. Less happy to be doing so at the same time as another team which meant we had to race to the finish.