Training Log Archive: JanetT

We rented full suspension mountain bikes from Thunder Mountain Bikes on 89A and rode up to the north along Soldiers Pass Rd to a bike park with "easy", medium, and hard trails to practice on before you hit the other trails. It was warm enough by the time we left the bike shop that I wore a short sleeved shirt under my windbreaker with the sleeves pushed up to the elbows. Mid 60s, anyway, when we finished. And sunny. ;-)

The "easy" rated trail in the bike park had some steeper downhills and bumps but could be ridden at an easy level (jumps were available to those interested, which is not me). I also tried the Vortex Tech Flow trail.

We rode around there for a bit then headed farther up Soldiers Pass (SP) Rd past the trailhead and on the trail to Devil's Kitchen, a giant sinkhole in the red rocks. From there Glen wanted to ride down Adobe Jack trail, while I headed back to the SP trailhead and the bike/bump track park. I had barely gotten to the top of the trails when Glen texted he was down at 89a and Soldiers Pass and on the way back to the bump park. We did a few more rides there and then headed back to the bike shop to drop off the bikes.

Then we had ice cream at Rocky Rd again. This time they had the English Toffee flavor so that's what I had. Dulce de Leche is also very, very good.

And then a walk when we got back to the hotel to check out Oak Creek where it adjoins the hotel/resort property, and south on 89A to look at signs we'd noticed along the sidewalk, which were mostly about all the movie stars who came to Sedona, the cowboy artists and other artists who lived here, and how it got its name.

Dinner tonight was a few blocks from the hotel, with a view of the rocks east of Oak Creek.

Drove up to Sedona from Happy Valley north of Phoenix, and stopped for a hike to the so-called Birthing Cave, a side trip off off the Long Canyon Trail. There was some up and down on the first part of the trail between the Mescal TH and the Long Canyon TH; we returned via the road. The trails were mostly a bit of loose sand over red sandstone with some areas of bigger rocks; largely an easy hike.

Track got funky when we got up into the cave and I forgot to turn my watch off, so there's several extra minutes and a bit of extra distance there. Supposedly a mile each way from the Long Canyon trailhead; but we added a bit at the beginning and end. Not sure what the actual distance was, but it was probably close to 6 km, with some climb near the cave, on slippery rock surfaces. (Track shows us above the cliff and also wandering off-trail to the south, below the cave, but we didn't do that.) Watch logged 6.5 km and 270m of climb, but that was climbing up the cliff face and back. :-D

Another sunny day; temps in the low to mid 60s. Long sleeves.

Picazzo's pizza and salad (and beer) for supper followed by Bourbon Pecan ice cream from Rocky Rd Ice Cream (Glen had Dulce de Leche).

I couldn't get up to the indentation from which this photo was (probably) taken.

We checked out of our Tucson AirBnB this morning and drove up to the west side of Phoenix for orienteering hosted by GPHXO. Buckeye Hills map starting from County Circle, at Buckeye Hills Regional Park; 1:10000. Temp was near 60 when we arrived so I put sunscreen on my arms and wore short sleeves. 73 when we left. And sunny, of course. :-)

On offer were a 1.5 or 3 hour score O, or a short or long regular point-to-point course...I chose the short course, billed at 4.9km. Did pretty well, though it was still hard for me to run through this terrain because of rockiness underfoot, my fear of falling, and general lack of fitness.

...except for #2, where I stupidly stayed in the wash, which was less rocky than the surrounding higher land, thinking I'd see the reentrant junction. I didn't even pace count, which would have stopped me much earlier. Dumb mistakes. I eventually popped put of the wash and realized I was northwest and near the foot of a good size hill I should have been 300m north of, so I stayed high and headed back. 10+ minutes lost there.

The rest went well, and I am proud of my bearing to #5 which put me maybe 30' north of the flag. Finally saw other runners at #8 and 9, and it was mostly roads in from there. Nice way to end the week, in un-pokey desert terrain (there were some pokey plants but few and far between enough that you could avoid them).

Buckeye Hills Short - Splits

SWSW day 7 at Greasewood Park, a small desert park just west of I-10 and downtown off Speedway Blvd, very convenient to our lodging. Mapped specs are 1:5000, 4' contours, which Cristina said were hand developed in the 80s by city surveyors/engineers. I'd say they are pretty accurate. Some of the controls were co-located with permanent orienteering markers consisting of 8-10" square concrete posts about a foot or so tall with faded orange paint.

Intended as a mass start race with the fastest folks getting the handicap of an extra control off at an angle from the main flow of people (if there was a clothespin you were supposed to take it and go to a side control), we missed the mass start due to a tire issue on our car that we wanted to get checked out.

We arrived shortly before the mass start was to happen, and started about 25 minutes after the mass start. I managed to pass a few people before finishing. Temps were in the mid to upper 50s by that point, I think.

Approx. 4km straight line if you just did controls 1-15, an additional kilometer or so with the 7 handicap controls.

Rather than run down the wash to #1 (which was more direct and probably would have been faster) I chose to climb above the cliff and drop down at the end; there was a use trail almost all the way. Navigationally easy but not as direct as staying in the wash. To #2 I stayed in the desert for awhile before going out to the road and heading back S to the control. I passed Nancy Lindemann on the road shoulder shortly before I cut back in.

Fine to 3-4-5-6-7-8-9.

To #10 (a long leg, about 700m straight line), instead of taking the straighter route climbing to the second big trail, going past #12, and then angling over through the desert; my brain saw #11, not far from a roadway and I navigated close to there instead before realizing I had to do #10 first, then double back. More distance but an easier navigation route (Greg F from GrizO went that way), as once I climbed to the parking lot/road between 9 and 11 it was practically all road running and mostly downhill. In the circle for #11 I cut in too early on a trail that wasn't the mapped one, for a few seconds lost.

I was just behind a woman in a red COC shirt at 11; I took a straighter line up the hill to #12 and got ahead of her. Greg Lennon (he and Kathleen had also started late, I think after us) passed me on the way downhill to #13, and Kathleen on the approach to #14. Hit the wash S of #15 and then the last bit was easy. Still a few folks hanging around but many had left before we got back.

Had sandwiches from Baggin's Gourmet Sandwiches for lunch for a change from PBJ. ;-) Dinner is TBD.

EDIT: dinner was salmon at Ermano's on 4th Avenue. Quite good.

C • Contours 1

Walked over to the Univ of Arizona campus, Highland Quad, from our AirBnB, for today's campus sprints. Forgot to stop my watch but adjusted time/distance. Temps in the 40s, sunny.

Sprint B, 3.1 km, training run on the Univ of Arizona campus. [The shorter course was 2.8 km, with 24 controls.] It felt a bit warmer in the sun so I took off one layer of shirt but kept the long sleeves...still felt cold in the building shadows. There were O flags but no codes (that matched) or epunch boxes. I just waved to the flags as I went by or lightly touched them.

Now that I'm reviewing the course, and comparing it with the other one, I see I "mispunched" #12. :-( I saw the bag at Course A's #15 and turned around there. No wonder my subsequent route choice looked different. If there had been codes/boxes I probably would have checked and noticed I wasn't where I was supposed to be. Oh well.

Good route choices, I think, to all but two other controls. From #9-10 I looked at using the underpass/canopy area east of where the flag was but couldn't get through, so I went around the north side of the building and down a ramp (which was the optimum route) but was confused at the bottom and backed out all the way around on the west and went down the stairs. Then I tried to exit using the canopied section I thought was passable but hit a dead end, and eventually went back out and up the ramp.

#12 -- I could see a flag as I approached and just went to it and turned to go to the next one but then my exit canopy wasn't there...a bit confusing but no matter, I just kept going.

Then my only other booboo was at 17 when I wasn't sure exactly where the control was and went down a ramp I didn't need to and had to back out (I could touch the flag from below but didn't).

Fun training event...thanks Cristina, Melissa, and crew!

Back to the house after.

Spent a few hours at the Tucson Botanical Gardens. Near 60 (according to the car thermometer but it didn't feel that warm.

Back to El Berraco for fish again tonight.

UA Sprint B - Splits

Today's activity was in the foothills of the Santa Rita mountains south of Tucson, on the Cave Creek map, about 5-6 miles beyond where we were for the Javelina Hustle. More hills, a bit less grass and catclaw (that's what those short bitey scratchy things were at the Hustle). New map, mostly from lidar with some field-checking of fences etc. 1:10000, 5m contours. 20 controls out there for a total of 550pts for anyone sweeping the course. -10 pts/minute for overtime. Temp was around 50F with sun, and there was a good breeze (20-30mph) which occasionally sent up dust swirls especially around the parking area.

I went out with the intention to only stay out about 90 minutes and see what I could get in that time. The controls west and south of the start location were in the less steep part so that's where I headed. I did 35 and 36 in the "stream beds" (ie rocky washes) then headed SE to 23 and 41 (which had been highlighted by the course setter as a beautiful area) then, when faced with a choice of climbing 8 contours to a peak (and taking more than my self-proscribed 90 minutes), or heading back toward finish in the mostly flat grasslands, I took the easy way out, and just got one more, #37 near the wash just south of the road back to finish, for a total of 150 pts.

Six competitors swept all the controls, followed by Glen with all but a 10-pointer. I'm near the bottom but ahead of a few people.

We had volunteered to help...me with finish/download, and Glen with control pickup, so I got to sit around for awhile after I finished, and greet a few of the folks who finished after me.

We didn't get any of the predicted rain at the meet site, but hit showers as we approached Tucson, where it's been showering ever since; the temp dropped to 40 while we ate dinner (Trident Grill east of the UA campus on Speedway; I had a western BLT which added avocado and cream cheese(!); Glen had a burger).

Had tacos for dinner from Seis Kitchen in downtown, which we brought back to our AirBnB.

Meander at Whitewater Draw wildlife reserve in SE Arizona, mostly to look at the thousands of sandhill cranes stopping off there. Also saw snow geese (and possibly a few Ross's geese), juvenile male and adult female vermilion flycatchers, coots, common moorhens, sparrows, northern shovelers and maybe mallards.

Mid 60s and sunny, but quite breezy so we wore windbreakers.

AOWN note: saw a roadkill javelina on the way back to Tucson from the Javelina Hustle yesterday. At Catalina SP today we saw a very bright red bird (and likely its mate as well) flitting around the picnic area; Glen heard someone mention vermilion flycatcher. I'm sad I didn't manage to get a photo. We've also been seeing a number of mourning cloak butterflies.

To start of the Cholla Chaser back at Catalina St Park. Near 60 and sunny; a bit breezy.

The description:

Mass-start event (everyone starts at the same time). This is a handicapped race in which all participants get the same map, but the number of controls you are required to visit is determined by your age and gender. Course lengths will vary from 3km-6km depending on how much of the box you do and how efficiently you do it!

Everyone will visit the same first control to enter “The Box”. Then, visit the number of controls indicated by your age and gender in the handy chart below. Revisit the the first control to exit The Box and follow the rest of the course in order, which will be the same for all competitors.

I needed to visit two controls in the box (next year and hereafter only one). After following the stream of people into #1, I headed to A and D and then back to #1.

Of the 7 controls in the box, I neglected to notice one (G) that was closer than the second control I visited. That would have saved me some time/distance as well as the need to spend time in a sandy wash. I did notice an irritation on the back of my left heel, minor yesterday, was becoming more noticeable and would likely be a blister when I finished, but tried to ignore it. It turned out when I took my shoes off that not only was there a wrinkle on the inside of my shoe liner but a thorny seed from yesterday's event stuck in the wrinkle. I can't find what the seed was but it looks like a 1/2"-long thin black needle with two tiny barbs on one end to hang on to your socks and shoes with.

Fine back to #1 which we revisited after the box, and #2 which was up a reentrant (I climbed up to the ridge which was less choked with sharp rocks), but then misread the "open" area near #3 and checked out a reentrant farther north before correcting. Phil B caught up to me here and watched me take a brief tumble (no damage) before passing me as we headed out to a trail to go to 4 (and eventually 5 and in). Lots of people passed me on the trail between 3 and 4.

Took me overall a bit longer than the last Cholla Chaser we did two years ago, but still good navigating and great to be somewhere where short sleeves don't feel uncomfortable. :-D

Culinary notes:

Thursday we were still in the Phoenix area but staying in Chandler south of the city so had dinner near there at Helluva Brewing Co. My choice was a cheesesteak wannabe, "TRI-TIP SANDWICH: thin sliced angus beef, caramelized onion, smoked gouda, creamy horseradish, sesame hoagie roll, au jus". Mine had a different kind of bread (and I skipped the horseradish).

Friday night: Since we were staying in a motel on Oracle north of the river that night, we has tacos from Tacos del Rancho...not bad, but not like the ones we get at our hometown Mexican restaurant (which may be less authentic, but boy are they tasty). Fish taco was tasty (battered fish bits on a small flour tortilla shell); they had a toppings bar with loads of salsa and onions and the like as well as guac and sour cream and queso. My bean taco was refried beans and I know they're very popular in these parts but I'd rather have whole beans given a choice.

Saturday: Magpie Pizza on 4th Ave (we've been there before; good pizza but slow service).

Sunday: Tacos at C&M's with fixings from Seis Kitchen. The veggies were delicious! I added a bit of queso.

Monday: Dinner at El Berraco fish restaurant in a building shaped like part of a submarine, with Phil and Margi B. Very nice...good food, good company and great conversation though except for a few topics it was mostly Phil + Glen, and Margi + me. I had the orange salmon which had a mango ceviche on top; but might have enjoyed El Fishi taco (Margi had it) with battered fish and coleslow piled on a tortilla. Margi buttered up our server. ;-)

Climb and distance from someone else's log; time is an estimate. It might have taken me longer, to climb up to the ridge line from parking. This hike included a barbed wire fence crossing, but fortunately there was a metal gate to pass through rather than the wire.

SWSW Javelina Hustle Short, 5km, 90m climb on the Greaterville 1:10000 map. Temp in the upper 50s when we started, probably low 70s when we finished. Glen did the Middle and the handicap was such that he finished just ahead of me (we came into the Go control close together).

The Middle course did all that the Short did, plus added the runner's choice of one of two windows with 5 additional controls...an entry control, three optional-order controls, and an exit control before heading back to the same central point (#6 on the Short) and continuing on. The last three controls on all courses were on a line-O; we were given the control number but not a description.

No navigation issues because there was always someone else around; and on the first 6 there was always someone within sight ahead going into it. Bob Fink of DVOA was either in front of me but within sight, or behind, or going about the same pace; we punched the Go control together and he ran in a bit faster than me. ;-)

Nice course. Terrain was mostly broad hillsides with spurs/reentrants, a lot like Laramie terrain, but with more vicious vegetation especially after last year's monsoons. A yellow and white map, with the white/trees in the reentrants; two barbed wire crossing points. I could avoid most of it, but the higher terrain especially between my #7 and #9 controls was grassland with thorny weeds (spikes reminiscent of greenbriar but a more erect growth pattern), which in areas were mostly unavoidable.

Javelin Hustle Short - Splits

Event: Southwest Spring Week (SWSW)
 

Map and route on Livelox

SWSW day 1 classic Brown at Catalina State Park (1:10000, 5 m) from the picnic area we usually start at (we figured this is our fifth trip to Tucson). Warm enough when we started for short sleeves; car thermometer said it was 77 when we left the park.
EDIT to add stats: 3.5 km, 90m climb.

Tucson has had a bunch of rain so vegetation was much more of an issue than in previous years, with morning glory vines (not a problem on my routes), tall grasses obscuring subtle contour details and prickly pear cacti, and amaranth aka pigweed, a weed with many scratchy seeds on its branches--thickest in the streambed south of the park road--which I did my best to avoid where I could. I wore long pants and gaiters and added duct tape around my ankles so the socks didn't pick up a multitude of seeds. When I finished I had mostly the pointy grass seeds and just one amaranth seed, I think.

I was on the correct trail headed toward #2, but when I saw the stairs on the trail headed up/down the spur I didn't recall them from previous visits and thought I was headed up the spur with the archeological remains which was put of bounds, so I turned around and investigated other trails before heading back the same way and going up the stairs I should have gone up to start with. Spent an extra 5:30 on that misadventure.

Mostly straight to #3, finding the "knoll" less distinct than it might have been because of the grasses, but it was a small pile of disturbed soil that I was happy to see because it was inside the circle. George Minarek was punching about the same time and I followed him down a trail toward #4 until he stopped to talk to Leslie who was down in the reentrant perhaps fighting the vegetation. I kept on moving; saw him here and there to the next couple of controls.

From #8 (#103) I thought I was headed down the correct spur to #125, but apparently wasn't so I had to cross over another reentrant but could see where the flag was relative to a saguaro and then found it pretty easily. EDIT: after looking at the map more closely...North lines aren't parallel to the edge of the map and I didn't use a bearing there, just went SE when I needed to go SSE. Oh well.

Rick B and Marie-Josee P passed me leaving that control and I basically followed them to the finish, the last bit of which was a mistake because they blasted through green to the road rather than staying on the trail to the side trail, but it was fine. ;-)

Brown - Splits

The kinglet (?) from yesterday's hike (and a few other photos if you click on the picture.)