Training Log Archive: Bash

Event: GUATS Logs Rocks and Steel
 

EDIT: Yahooo!!!! So glad I didn't let the Garmin tech support person talk me into blowing away all my data by installing the latest Forerunner 310XT software update. As a last ditch effort, I re-installed the Garmin ANT agent and that *finally* did the trick.

Grrr, after hours of messing around with software and a tech support call to confirm my suspicion, my Garmin Forerunner file seems to be corrupt and the only info I can retrieve is total distance and time. Oh, and I can look at my map on a 2 cm high screen. Frankenjack, I hope you're posting yours then I can link to the route even if I can't get my pace in different parts of the race. Boo. Now it's time for a Garmin software update which will wipe out all my data.

Logs Rocks and Steel

With the Frost Centre closed, this multi-sport race needed a new venue. When Getawaystix and I were scouting for Wilderness Traverse last year, we did an exploratory bike ride on the Torrance Barrens and thought it would provide fantastic terrain for LR&S. Nearby YMCA Camp Pine Crest would be an excellent host site. Coincidentally, PhattyJR and 2-Min are getting married at the camp next weekend so 'Bent and I will be heading north again in just a few days! :)



I shared a friendly cabin with WandAR, Frankenjack, Mom-of-Frankenjack and a female team (Kim & Sarah) the night before. FJ and I reviewed the course maps and, as always, he had a few insights. I really wish I'd tested my new magic sleeping pills beforehand but I didn't want to take a chance so I lay awake for a long time feeling frustrated and tired - argghh. The alarm went off at 5:15 a.m. and Frankenjack was off within minutes to reserve the prime location on the bike rack. I gulped down a Frappucino to kickstart my brain then headed into the darkness to set up my gear in the TA and get breakfast.

We had a great turn-out this year - 50 racers (solos and teams) on the Championship course, and over 200 racers on the shorter Pine Crest course. Shortly before the 8 a.m. start for our course, we lined up on the water. The paddle course would be two 7 km loops that included 3 X 300 meter portages.

For a race like this, part of my preparation is visualizing what may happen. I expected to be one of the faster paddlers so for once, I elbowed my way up front at the start. However, I knew I'd get passed on the bike section by a few guys who were faster bikers than paddlers, so I was prepared to feel OK about that - and take up the chase if passed by women! :)

After the paddle, I figured I'd be alone most of the time on the long, remote race course, so I'd have to stay focused and push my pace without other racers to inspire me. There were only two of us in the Masters Female category - Coach LD and myself. We know each other well, and I knew we'd be close on the paddle but one of the things she coaches is mountain biking so I expected her to be faster there. My hope was to catch her on the 17 km run at the end and I even told her I'd been visualizing the catch. :) (Our little Caledon community is friendly but also very competitive!)

It mostly went as expected. Frankenjack took off on the paddle, finishing almost 15 minutes ahead of Bender and PDobos. We had calm water and beautiful sunshine so it was a gorgeous way to start the day.


(Photo Credit: Simpy - This was actually the short course start.)

I lost time on one of the portages when a team in a canoe turned sideways and blocked my access to shore completely as they considered how to get out but otherwise things went fine - although it was hard to see where I was going with the Eclipse on my head. After 1 hr 35 min, Coach LD, Leanimal and I hit the final dock in that order within 60 seconds of one another, just a few minutes behind Bender, then climbed out of our kayaks and ran 300 m to the transition. Lee and Coach made a quicker transition and started the bike with a 2-minute lead.

We started biking on a paved road that turned to gravel that turned to rocky snowmobile trail with a bit of muck before we emerged onto the amazing, rocky Torrance Barrens.



The eventual race winner, professional mountain biker Eric Batty, passed me on the pavement at lightning speed, clearly on a mission. FB cruised past on the snowmobile trail. A short time later, I passed a fellow with his bike upside down, making colourful comments about his back wheel falling off. I looked down to choose a safe line around him and somehow failed to realize it was FB. A short time later, FB and PDobos *both* went by, which confused the heck out of me since I thought they were both ahead. (PDobos had made a wrong turn.) We stayed close together on the single track for a few minutes, then I heard them call out, "Black bear! Black bear, Barb!" Holy crap. I slammed on the brakes and asked, "Where?" From a disturbingly short distance through the bush, PDobos repeated calmly, as if talking to a 2-year-old. "Here!!" Then he repeated what he'd said before, and this time I heard it: "Left Here!" Oh.



It was incredible riding on rocky Canadian Shield with little snippets of connector trail. Compared to most AR courses, there was a lot less muck and a lot more rideable terrain if you chose your line carefully and hammered up steep bits as needed. We had a break on some hilly roads then back onto the trails. Awesome fun and I look forward to doing some of it with 'Bent again next weekend. There aren't many adventure races where I'd go back and repeat the bike section just for kicks but this was like Ontario's answer to Moab. I've posted a few pics in this log entry from our scouting expedition last year since I didn't carry a camera this time. Really beautiful.



It was quiet out there but I pushed as if I could catch another racer. In reality, this only happened when a couple of people ahead of me (including PDobos) had bike troubles. About 35 km into the ride, I passed an aid station where they said, "Woo hoo! First female!" "No... I am behind Leanne and Sian." "No, you're not. They made a wrong turn." Oh NO. It's nice to be in the lead but nobody wants to get there that way. At least now it didn't take as much effort for it to feel like a race! I kept expecting to see one or both of them coming around a bend behind me.





They still hadn't appeared when I left the bike/run transition but I fully expected to see Leanimal powering up behind me at some point over the next 17 km. I didn't push as hard as I did on the bike because I felt my position between Leanimal and Coach LD was secure now since Coach hasn't been doing long runs. Thanks to all the big races this year, I felt pretty good 5 hours in, other than wishing I'd refreshed my sunscreen at the TA. As a desperate measure, I slathered some SPF lip balm on my face which apparently looked so attractive that people thought something was horribly wrong with me!



The run started with some hilly, technical trails near the camp, then a thigh-deep wade across a channel to a marked 1 km out-and-back bushwhack. Eric Batty flew toward me early in the bushwhack and I crossed my fingers that I wouldn't see Frankenjack behind him - but about 10 minutes later, he came bounding through the woods in 2nd place. Although I'd studied the maps last night, there were a couple of times when I pulled out my map on the run to be 100% sure that I was doing the right thing, especially where the run and bike courses overlapped. Due to the open terrain, we had to be attentive all day to follow the markings and it helped to know what was coming up when. Unfortunately, last fall we didn't test the course in the layout that was eventually selected so I knew what the terrain was like but I didn't know the route. As it turned out, I was always on the right course (as far as I know!) and saw all the arrows and signs at the appropriate time, but there were a couple of times on the run when I lacked confidence.

The run was dumbbell-shaped - two loops connected by the out-and-back trail and bushwhack section. It went through some cool, rocky terrain on the Torrance Barrens. As I approached the out-and-back section for the return trip, Mrs. Gally and her partner trotted by, doing the loop in the wrong direction. I was worried that I'd made an error and by the time I confirmed I was OK, it was too late to tell them they were going backwards. Oh well, a loop is a loop regardless of which direction you do it in. As I started the return trip on the out-and-back section, I was surprised to meet Leanimal. That meant she was about 5 km back instead of breathing down my neck, as I'd assumed. That bike detour must have been *huge*. I had about 6 km left to run at that point and I met Coach LD five minutes later. Seeing the two of them got me back into a racing frame of mind and I had a decent run back to the finish, not counting two nasty falls on rock that left me with a last-minute bashed knee, a painful bruise on my quad and a hematoma on my forearm the size of an orange - sigh.

The finish chute went across a boardwalk and bridge (behind me in this pic), finishing on the beautiful dock at the camp waterfront where a lot of friends were hanging out and cold chocolate milk was waiting. Nice!



Phatty and Weeanimal were waiting, and after Leanimal finished, we hung out for awhile in the sun. Such a cutie! (They *both* are.)





Coach LD crossed the finish line with a big smile.



Thanks to Frankenjack and FB for supplying me beer for the post-race festivities. Frankenjack placed 2nd this year and was a gracious runner-up.



Bender seemed surprised to be 3rd!



I'd laughed at the idea of coming into this event as the "defending" champion but I ended up winning - although nobody wants to win because a faster racer went off course, so I'm not super excited. It is kind of cool that only three solo women finished the championship course of the six who started, and we are all friends and neighbours who have spent many evenings together around a dinner table.





Leanimal won the Open Female category in spite of her extra-long Tour de Torrance!



When the detailed results came out, I had more to be happy about... I was closer to the winning time than I've ever been in this event, and (Bender, this is a compliment - really!) the difference between him (3rd open male) and me was only 35 minutes after seven hours of racing. Hammering in short races without nav isn't my forte and he's a speedy boy, so that made me smile. Aside from that, I'm pleased that I felt good till the end. Hope I can hang onto that for my 50-miler in December.

Thanks to Getawaystix and all the volunteers for your hard work in putting on a great event!

P.S. My Garmin 310XT is refusing to relinquish its data to the computer, which has never happened before. Hmm.

Results are here.
http://www.logsrocksandsteel.com/home.php

Off to Logs Rocks and Steel. Perfect weather forecast, awesome new 83 km paddle/bike/run race course in the wilds of Muskoka, tough competition against Coach LD (and maybe others?) in the Masters Female division. Looking forward to an excellent weekend!

Yoga is annoying. ;)

I was trying to remember what my husband is supposed to give me for our 15th anniversary. I know it's not silver, gold or diamonds - way too early for that. Well, it seems that he may have given me a cold imported from Israel - just in time for racing this Saturday. The gift that keeps on giving! ColdFX, here I come.

Niggling doubts about boat choice for Logs Rocks & Steel. This is the event that sent me to New Zealand... wouldn't it be wrong to leave my NZ racing kayak at home? Also, it's soooo much lighter - although it can't be used with 'Bent's portage rack so it's more awkward. I went to Island Lake just before dinner planning to paddle and practise my entry/exit in slightly deeper water, which is difficult with the small cockpit. (Serious racers like Frankenjack are lowered into these boats by their support crew, who hold them under the armpits.)

The park staff informed me that the lake closes early after Labour Day so I had to rush. As suspected, my speed was identical in the two boats - although it's hard to compare when it was windy both days in different ways, and I didn't paddle as far today. I *think* my preference has shifted to the Eclipse but I'll try some more portaging tomorrow to be sure. I did lots of portage lifts of the heavier one today - probably could log it as strength training if I was really desperate to meet some training goal. :)

On a totally unrelated note, I had to fight off a strange and embarrassing urge to go road biking. Yikes.

Happy 15th anniversary, Richard! :)

Someone at The Globe and Mail website is bored.
Headline: "Hang the Queen by end of week, Tories tell embassies"

When you mouse over, you get... "Ottawa orders all its foreign missions to display portrait of Canada's head of state." Wonder how long that will stay up before someone complains...?

If I eventually get stronger, I'll have to send flowers to Jon Stewart to recognize his major contribution.

Took 'Bent's WaveMaster racing sea kayak to Island Lake to test it for Logs Rocks and Steel. It may be slightly slower than my racing kayak but the cockpit is larger which makes it easier in races where I need to get in and out a few times. It's also a little heavier but comes equipped with the 'BentRacingPortageRackTM, which was a big factor for me in last year's LR&S. I'm not 100% decided but I'll probably take 'Bent's boat. It's less fragile too - I don't want to bang up my NZ kayak too soon.

Lots of wind and waves early in the paddle - sorry I hadn't put on the skirt. If I'd fallen in, the water is shallow enough that I would have been fine but the beach has been closed due to e. Coli so I really did *not* want to flip. For most of the time, the major challenge was weaving around fishermen who were everywhere and casting their lines a long distance.

End-of-Summer Report Card on 2011 training goals

About half my training hours this year have been logged in races and that's without any long expeditions. That's a lot of racing! Instead of a nice, orderly progression of training, I always seem to be recovering or tapering. I don't think that's bad over a relatively short period. The racing has built fitness but recovery times have been short and I haven't had many chances to do specific hard workouts, e.g. hill training. After Logs Rocks and Steel, the races will spread out and I can add back the missing ingredients.

After some doubts in the spring, my first love still seems to be overnight and multi-day racing - single or multi-sport. It's not easy to make those races happen but I'll keep trying. In the meantime, I'm setting some parallel goals in the ultrarunning world starting with my first mountain 50-miler in December. Non-technical trail running is probably my weakest discipline in adventure racing (if portaging is excluded!) and it can only help my AR if I work on running.

THE GOOD
Two 24-hour rogaines:
Did Eco-Endurance Challenge with Crash and CNYO Rogaine with JayXC. Good fun in spite of weather challenges in both events, and happy with results too. After admiring an enticing map snippet, I’m considering the U.S. Rogaining Champs in November after all. Anyone else planning to go?
50 km trail race and maybe a 50-miler:
Tentatively targeting Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc in 2013, thanks to Mrs. Gally’s brilliant plan. Several of us are aiming for the Death Race in August 2012 to earn 3 UTMB points. I'm doing Run for the Toad 50K again on Oct. 1 and the North Face Endurance Challenge Championship 50-miler in San Francisco on Dec. 3 (2 UTMB points - I need 5 points to enter). I like having concrete goals that build on one another and it will be fun to improve running fitness right before ski season. Like Dee and M&M, I see ultrarunning as compatible with adventure racing so I'll continue to train multi-sport.
Running 2+ hrs/week:
A little behind but this doesn’t include running during races. The autumn will bring my average up.
Expedition adventure race(s):
Did parts of the 4-day APEX event in Switzerland but didn't race it due to teammate illness. 3rd Coed in 48-hr Equinox Traverse in Pennsylvania with JayXC and Sony.
Quality training, any discipline 1+ sessions/week:
Started the year well, fell off the bandwagon when racing started but have been getting back into it.
Total annual training 550+ hrs:
At 460 hours after 8 months.
Make an effort to train/race with more people more often:
Yup! Thanks to the "more people" who have made this possible. I've enjoyed your company.

THE BAD
Strength training 1+ hrs/week:
Tiny called me on this after my last report card because this "goal" has been listed under "The Ugly" for a few years. (Thanks, Tiny - that's why I do this in public.) That kicked off some introspection and discussion with other folks, and I now have a better idea of what I'm trying to achieve and why, and what compromises are acceptable, e.g. doing a run with less energy because of strength training earlier in the day. For now, I'm only promoting this goal to "The Bad" on the report card.

THE UGLY
Get 7+ hours of sleep on most nights:
Occasionally. But I've got a lead on some really great sleeping pills! (Kidding!!)

February mini-goals:
Get my kayak roll back:
Did a pool clinic then lost access to the clean body of water where I hoped to practise. Boo. Officially postponing this goal till 2012 unless an earlier whitewater opportunity comes up. I love paddling and wish there were more good places to do it close by. :(
Get a bike computer with cadence and work on increasing
Yup, on Princess.
Use HRM more:
On again, off again.

July mini-goal:
Increase running cadence:
Consciously trying to do it but haven't measured anything yet. Need to geek out a little more on this.

Sad news from the Racing The Planet series... Ultrarunners in the 100 km Kimberley Ultramarathon in West Australia severely burned after a bushfire traps them in a gorge.