Training Log Archive: FrankTheTank

Reflections on Seventy48:

When they first advertised that Seventy48 was going to happen last fall I was ready to sign up and get training. I guess my motivation was that it was a new challenge that was within my grasp but would also stretch me at the same time. I love the R2AK and have been a big fan ever since it started. It really takes a “race” like either one of these to get all these people organized into a single goal and objective, but it’s not really about the race, it’s about the adventure. I’m not ready for the prime time of R2AK yet, but certainly knew I could tackle Seventy48. It’s been several years since I have competed in an AR and I really miss those days of adventure and comradery. I’m done with competitive running and orienteering due to a non-recoverable knee injury so I was looking for a new physical challenge to tackle. This race seemed to really fit the bill. I’m not a kayaker and had very minimal background in paddling before I started training for this race. Previously I would always struggle through the paddling portions of AR’s and look forward to the trekking and mtn. biking portions of those races. In fact, I had never done a specific paddling only race prior to the Seventy48. So what did it take to get where I needed to be to complete the race? First I needed to recruit an experienced team-mate or two for the race (we originally wanted to paddle a triple kayak). I’m not a huge fan of big solo adventures both from the risk standpoint and the fact that suffering is more palatable with a team. Second, I needed to learn how to paddle, or at least get better at it. Third, I needed to get comfortable on the water in all kinds weather and conditions. I think Glenn and I did our first paddle on January 1st 2018 and that marked the beginning of the five-month training journey. I borrowed Matt’s single kayak for training and tried to fit in any paddling time between balancing two jobs and family responsibilities. Glenn and I tried to get together and paddle when we could and we did two training sessions of the race course prior to the race: 1) Kingston to Port Hadlock and 2) Start to Southworth. We tried to paddle Eagle Harbor to Kingston on two different occasions but it didn’t work out. Leading up to the race I felt pretty good about the training that I did but I was wishing we had one more 30ish mile paddle in before race day. We also did not get a chance to paddle our race boat very much prior to race day so I was concerned about that also but the boat performed well and we both thought our feet were more comfortable in it then in the Necky. I was probably the most anxious before this race than perhaps any other race that I’ve done. I think this was due to a few different factors. One was that I have a healthy respect for the water and know that Puget Sound can sometimes get pretty unfriendly to small kayaks with wind, fog, vessel traffic, etc. Another, was the fact that I hadn’t done a long endurance race in a couple of years and I was questioning my preparation for the event. It turns out that the physical exertion was probably not as bad as other endurance races that I’ve done. Granted, Glenn and I weren’t killing ourselves to get a super-fast time, just a respectable finish. I knew mentally it would be challenging and I think I was pretty well prepared for that aspect of it. What did I take away from the experience? I had some really great times during training getting out on the water and enjoying the beauty of Puget Sound and seeing all of the wildlife. The winter paddles were some of the best and I have to admit that we live in a pretty cool place. I’ve missed a lot of that perspective by not taking advantage of getting out on the water more. I also think it’s pretty cool to be able to say that I made it from Tacoma to Port Townsend on Puget Sound all under human power. It wouldn’t have happened without the “race” so I’m thankful to the organizers for the idea and following through with the organization and implementation. The human spirit is capable of amazing accomplishments. It’s important to always have dreams/goals/aspirations and to have the courage to challenge yourself to step outside the comfort zone to pursue those dreams. Finally, I’d like to thank my wife and family for supporting me in this crazy goal of mine. Thanks also to Glenn and his family for their support doing boat transport, training shuttles etc. Thanks to Barry for loaning us the race boat and Matt for loaning me his training boat.

C • What a great time. We kick... 2

Second half of the seventy48: During our break at Fay Bainbridge we changed into dry clothes and cooked up some mountain house and made some coffee. It felt great to stand up on dry land and get into dry clothes and get a hot meal. I didn't really get a chance to eat a meal before the race start so I was pretty reading to get some good calories in by the time we stopped. We ate and shared a campfire with another team and chatted with them a bit. We caught a short nap down by the beach (the evening view was amazing). Then we got packed up and geared up and set out on the second half of the race. I was fortunate enough to borrow Glenn's spare wetsuit so I didn't have to put my cold soaked wetsuit back on for the second half. We had a pretty smooth crossing over to Jefferson Point. We crossed behind a fishing trawler type boat headed into Agate Pass and I got water down my shirt from the boat wake but I was warmed up by then. After we rounded Jefferson is was a slow grind against the current past Kingston. At the marker at Apple cove point we checked the current and it was still flowing against us to our disappointment but we still kept charging. It was fun watching the horizon get brighter as we kept on paddling north. We bumped into the Anacortes rowers at one point who were still having a grand old time rowing away. We hit some weird seas (pyramid waves) around Eglon and I think it was due to the tides changing from flood to ebb. When we got up to Point no Point Glenn needed a quick nap so we pulled ashore for a break. I saw the Shawcrofts here and warmed up a bit by a beach fire built by one of the rescue boat staff. We pulled out of point no point with a good ebb pushing us and smooth water for the big crossing across to Marrowstone Island. We knew from a previous training run here that it was better to stay out and cut direct over to Marrowstone than to try and cut across to Mats Mats which is what we tried on the training run. We had a gorgeous morning going up to the canal. It was in this stretch where we saw a big group of otters at play. We caught back up to the Anacortes rowers at south end of the canal who took the line further west. We still had the current pushing us through the canal which was nice and then super calm glass all the way to the finish. The final six miles to the finish seemed to last forever but the bell and "Take a Number" dispenser eventually came into sight. We finished 22nd overall at 0940 and I think we were one of the first few non-performance (touring) kayaks. I was very happy to complete the race and grateful to have Glenn's expertise out on the water.

Event: Seventy48
 

Event: Seventy 48
 

First half of the seventy48 race. Glenn and I were a couple of rows back at the starting line and I was a little nervous with all of the rowing craft behind us, but the start went pretty smoothly for us and we did not get run over. We got off to a pretty good clip but still felt comfortable to take advantage of the daylight. We got by the Pt. Defiance ferry just before it was leaving to make it to the check in at the Owens Beach boat. There wasn't much wind until we went by Sanford point and then we got some head wind, but it still wasn't as strong as during our previous training run on this stretch. The wind let up again just before Southworth and we stopped at Southworth see the fan club and to get on Night Ops gear. Water was glass paddling over to Blake just as it was starting to get dark but then we hit more head wind just before Blake. We did not need to stop at Blake and continued on around the Zephyr told us we were in ~25th place. Karl and another SUP dude ("red blinky light guy") were with us going by Blake. Crossing from Blake to BI was interesting. We had some decent chop to fight through and it was dark now. We had to slow down for a tug towing a oil barge out of Manchester who lit us up a few times with his spot-lights. Rounding Restoration Point was interesting in the dark as we had to course correct for some rocks that were hard to see. Once we rounded the point we used the Eagle Harbor channel marker (red light) for our bearing across and this was some of the roughest water we faced, but no ferries to worry about at the time. It did eventually calm down but there were occasionally some persistent rollers coming from the North. It was a grind all the way up BI and this was the only section we didn't paddle prior to the race. At one point I remember seeing some things that I though were old pilings but it turned out they were birds (geese I think). We made it to Fay Bainbridge at around 1240am for a much needed break.

One final quick paddle in LB before the big race.