rogaining 13:00:00 [1]
shoes: Pegasus 08/06
Big Muddy IV rogaine in Antelope, Oregon, with Barb. Awesome performance, got 53 of 56 controls, 3rd overall.
At the Swiss 6-Day in Zermatt last July, there was a free day in the middle and I had in mind to take a hike up to the hut at the very base of the Matterhorn. And Barb Bryant was looking for someplace to hike, so we ended up joining up. A couple hours up, very fine scenery on a perfect day, an hour or so down, and good company. But what I think was really going on was that she was checking me out as a possible rogaine partner. At some later time there was mention of that possibility and then at some later point, I'm not quite sure how it transpired, I had made a commitment to do the Big Muddy Rogaine in Oregon with her on Memorial Day weekend. And not 100% sure that was a good idea, because the body isn't as young as it used to be but 24 hours is still 24 hours. And then certainly less than 100% sure when I zapped my left hamstring in a fall at the North Americans in October. And then way less than 100% sure when I zapped it again in North Carolina in March.
As it happened, we were planning a general strategy meeting for that weekend, and we had that anyway despite the fact that I could barely walk. "Strategy" in the sense of what kind of pace we might go at (fast walking, very little running seemed favored by both), how often to stop along the course (as seldom and for as short a tine as possible, again favored by both), how often to go back to the hash house (never, by both), and how serious/competitive to be (moderately serious, but more emphasis on enjoying it, again by both). So easy agreement on those things was a good sign. Though there was the question of whether I would be healed by then. Good enough to at least walk, I said, so the plan was still on.
So sometime in mid-April we signed up and bought plane tickets, and then I zapped the hamstring again the second day of the HVO meet (my sterling A meet record this year is 2 days DNF, 1 day finished but very slow, and 6 days at the event but DNS).
Now with tickets already paid for, training went to plan B, virtually no running, certainly no running in the woods, but lots of walking. And keep the fingers crossed. And as it turned out, my hamstring was ok at the start of the rogaine, and ok at the end, despite any numbers of falls in the rocky terrain, especially at night.
There was the usual procedure for a rogaine, get the maps 2 hours in advance to plan the route. I'm used to having my partner do that (Fred would tell me what order to go in, then let me find them, his work done). This time we spent maybe 45 independently looking at possibilities, then compared notes. We had similar notions about what might make a good route, and pretty quickly put together a plan to get about 3/4 of the controls, which I thought might well be all we would have time for. We could make plans for rest depending on how we were doing. Which was fine, except it didn’t allow for the possibility that we might be able to get them all. That never crossed my mind. But you never know….
Race report will be on Sunday’s entry, along with the map.