Training Log Archive: britty327

Event: The Breakdown Adventure Race
 

Breakdown w/Dusty and Dave. Drove down together after Dave got out of class. Got maps at prerace mtg. After discovering a shortcut to CP2 via a power line road, we decided to skip CP1, saving an 8k trek. RDs felt the course was unclearable, and it was the most out of the way point of the race. Dusty and Dave were both having issues getting new tires to seal, so we messed around with those before bed. We were excited for lots of hills and gorgeous weather and scenery. My GPS tracker didn't record for some reason, so distances etc are approximate.

Trek 1- CPs 1-18 0600-1215, 14mi
Jogged out of the Lower Twin Campground heading towards the mountain. Most teams were choosing to skip CP1, but we did see some headlamps heading off in the opposite direction. Found our power line road and took it to the ridgeline. Slight bobble on 2, and the teams who bushwacked off road caught back up with us. Spent most of the race around Alpine Shop and the Canadians, with USMES trading places with us early on. Once off-trail, we picked off points quickly. Dave was spot on. At CP14, we attacked up the reentrant we thought it should be in. No luck. Canada was nearby, saying they'd been looking 45min. We went back to our known point (the trail end) and reattacked. Eventually saw it lying on the ground on the high side of a dead tree in the original reentrant. Cost ~30min. We had a long downhill to the zipline over Russell Fork then a road run back into Breaks. My stomach had been iffy before the race started, and it wasn't any happier on the road in the sun. Suck it up. Once in the park, we took on the mean climb up to the TA, which included some waterfalls and a fast flowing creek crossing. Canada was the only team in TA.

Swim- CP19, 1215-1245
CP19 was your choice of a short swim or long trek. Dave immediately volunteered to hop in. Was ~100m to a boat, where he had to punch and record coords for CP20. Loaded up our packs for the next 24hrs and noticed Dave's tire was flat. Luckily, the bead was intact, and I was able to hit it with CO2. Held the rest of the race.

Bike 1- CPs 20&21, 15mi
The CPs were located in the mtb trails in Breaks. This was our only real wasted time of the race nav wise, as the trails are messy and full of switchbacks. In hindsight, Dave said it would have been easier to grab them on foot. The trails were super fun to ride though. Once we dumped out to the road, we headed to Haysi. 2 major climbs and some glorious downhills. I was feeling strong on the bike and was able to tow throughout the daytime.

Trek 2- 6 CPs, 500m
Haysi Urban-O. The residents here always come up and support this race, so Shawn and Dallas brought it to them this year. Such friendly folks. The tour of Haysi took about 5min, but we transitioned here for a ridiculous amount of time. Dave ate a whole slice of pizza, which he immediately regretted when we started climbing again :)

Bike 2- CPs 22-25, 25mi
More hilly road riding with some glimpses of the lake. Nice scenery. Alpine caught us towards the end, and we TA'd together.

Paddle 1- CPs 26-30, 7mi
Happy to get on the water with lots of daylight left, and I took the map for this section. Front seat typically navs for us. The only bad thing about this area is the waterway are SOOO polluted! As we passed the spur CP27 was located on, we didn't see it, so we decided to grab it on the way back. All the other points were visible from the water. At CP30, we beached the boat and headed up to LegX.

Trek 3- Cps 42-44, 2k
LegX. Did this section with the Canadians. Learned they had not found CP14 or 27. Also, their wives were doing this race together as a 2 female team for their first overnight race alone. Awesome! Dave nailed these CPs. When we got back to the boat, I asked Dave for the passport. Mild panic ensued as we couldn't find it, and he punched the last CP. We traded PFDs for packs and started back up the giant hill to retrace our steps. Less than a min in, I was checking my pockets and found it zipped into a random one. I don't remember him giving it to me, and he doesn't remember handing it off. Crazy. Hopefully this isn't becoming a trend for me! We burned some time here, but we were still in the game. No worries.

Paddle 2- CP31, 8mi
We continued along the reservoir to the furthest CP before heading back to TA. At CP27, Alpine had the same idea as us and was searching the woods for it. Everything was thick rhodo, and the CP was nowhere to be seen. We both agreed to leave it and paddled home. At the TA, it was confirmed that a CP was missing, but the staff had not known which one it was.

Bike 3- CPs 32-41, 19mi, and LegY- CPs 45-47, 2k, 2200-0600
We put on dry clothes and warmed up with Ramen and hot cocoa as we prepared to take on the final leg. We had no idea how gnarly it was going to be, but we knew we had plenty of time to do it. This leg was a deal breaker for a lot of teams because not only was it difficult to estimate how long it would take, but it was almost impossible to bail out once you gained the ridge. You were committed to riding the full loop. Alpine started in front of us, and we knew we weren't going to outbike them. This was, after all, their #dreamteam :) We agreed to just keep racing our race and see what happened. Dave realized he lost his headlamp at some point. Since he needed to see the map, I gave him the Stella off my bike. Had to rig it up through the vents since he didn't have a helmet mount. Turns out his headlamp was in his PFD all along. Oh the gear woes! From the map, we knew it was some sort of road up to and about halfway along the ridge. Turned out to be awesome gravel, so the whole climb was rideable. Once the road ran out, the trail was sketchy at best. Lots of hike-a-bike, both up and downhill. Short hikes to CPs, with one of them being a steep 400' drop in elevation and back up. These points had to be gorgeous in daylight. Spent a long time searching for CP41 before giving up. Turned out to be stolen. Stopped for the short trek of LegY on the way to the finish. Finished with 6 hours to spare, but no one was able to clear it, so we ended up 2nd OA behind Alpine by about an hour. It was great squaring off against them, and you really won't find better ppl to race with or against.

I wore heel lifts in my Lone Peaks. Heels/Achilles were perfect during and after the race, so hopefully this is my magic shoe formula. At least till my feet change again! Also wore new Salomon calf sleeves. Love them. Not a scratch on me and good compression. My new calf protection (cat protection?) of choice.

Another awesome race from the guys at 361Adventures. If you need more hills in your life, The Breakdown is for you.

C • Woo hoo! 4

WU- JJs, dynamic, inchworm w/pushups, 2x(10 pullup, 10 swings), 2x(12 lunge, 20 banded GMs), clean WU

5min AMRAP
8 Power Clean (115)
10 Ring Pushup
Rest 2min
5min AMRAP
8 Power Clean (105)
10 Ring Pushup
Rest 1min
5min AMRAP
8 Power Clean (105)
10 Ring Pushup
8 Rounds + 16
Ass kicker.

Solo around Lorton before the rain comes in for the week. Didn't realize Giles Run was so long...fun find.

Ice cream hike the back way through the woods

WU- Row 20cal, Samson, kickbacks, 2x(8 down dog, 10 pullup), 2x(10 OHS, 30 banded GMs)

Back Squat 5x5@80% of 1RM (160)
35, 85, 125, 160x5x5

12min AMRAP
Run 200m
40 DoubleUnders
10 HSPU (1abmat)
3+run
Worked on HSPU kip. Getting better but destroys the surgically repaired shoulder. Probably why I've never messed with kipping :)

Bull Run Trail

To PW Forest. Took some ST home and explored more side trails. Windy. (That's what the community calls you.)