Training Log Archive: OutdoorsMama

Event: Nitrogaine II
 

Event: South Coast Adventure Race
 

Estimate on time for now

Pelee Blue Racers....the three person edition. My husband Paul's first multisport/AR and Milton's 2nd AR/3rd multisport race. We had paddled once together back on Tuesday. We have not biked together for a few years (Milton would rather play hockey, golf, go for a run by himself or go to the gym with his buddies than be seen hanging out with us :) ). The boys do not do hill work and Paul only bikes. This could be interesting......

I got to sleep in until 5:45 today! Coffee (I have been caffeine free all week), oatmeal....and an egg cheese sandwich for Milton. Then it was off to Holiday Beach Conservation area for SCAR. We got our maps at 8 am. Paul didn't have his glasses so I read the instructions out loud and we tweaked some plans with bike shoes/running shoes. We talked through route choices, after our meteorologist Milton checked the wind speeds and directions (yes, plural on directions) for the day. I figured that 90 minutes for the final bike section would be safe, knowing that Milton would probably be pretty well wore out by then and that over half of it would be into the wind. On the bus for 9 am and off we set for Mt Malden.
Paul has been adamant that HE WILL NOT RUN. We can work with that. Some sort of delay caused us to start at 10:10 and then we were off to CP1. Paul then said he could jog a little (?!?) so we did some light jogging on the grass. Well, I walked fast and Paul and Milton jogged a bit (I walk fast). Then up The Steep Side of Mt Malden to CP2 (that's a Strava segment, for the Strava fans out there) and down the other side on trails to CP3. Somewhere between CP2 and CP3, Paul started limping. A cramp? Something got pulled? What the heck? He popped a gel (we had a e-capped before starting) and he slowly hobbled on. There were lots of walkers, but we were near the back of the walkers now. And Paul wasn't sure if he could continue on foot (of course my trekking poles were in my vehicle at the finish line....)

Bikes were next (we all changed from running shoes to bike shoes, as the boys' bike shoes aren't really trekking-friendly, especially in the gravelly hill conditions of Mt Malden). A short ride south on Matchette to Titcombe, across from the Ojibway nature centre. Paul felt fine biking and Milton hung onto my back wheel like a pro.

Trekking was next. We had been in the Ojibway Nature Preserve together once before, maybe 10 years ago. I knew there were Massasauga Rattlers in there....but I figured by the time we got there, they would all be in hiding. We had chosen the eastern bike drop and did the CP to the north first, with Paul hobbling along. Then we did the two southern CPs and Paul seemed to be moving a bit better. Milton was raring to go and we kept reminding him to slow down so we could keep his high-viz helmet in sight through the tall miscanthus grasses. We all kept our bike shoes on as it was good traction in there. By the end, Paul was moving better (whew!)....must've been a cramp.

Then bikes again on a dead end street that turned into single track. I missed the turn to CP7 and had to circle 3/4 of the pond, but then at least I knew where to exit on a bike trail that was heading in the right direction. This was unknown territory for us....we had no idea these trails were in here. I had my wits about me and saw the sharp right turn to the bike path along Turkey Creek (still new territory to us). Jigged and jogged and ended up under the hydro line, bouncing along to CP8. Milton had no fear so bombed through here, but my mental scars from pinch flatting at Gravel Grovel last fall were still a nagging fear in the back of my mind. Paul's Slate bike (a lefty....one front shock) was made for this! Paul saw the correct and obvious transition to a paved bike trail to the north, but I had to investigate the dirt path to the south (again, obviously we had no knowledge of this area). The Brunet Park area was an unknown as well, and the clue "main bike path" correctly lead us to CP9. Back to Normandy Street, and then we headed south on Disputed Road, checking out our customer's corn and soybean crops along the way. West on Kelly, south on Snake Lane to CP10. Fun fact: there are 3 Snake Lanes in western Essex County....and a Short Snake Lane (which is beside this Snake Lane). Canard Drive to the part of Malden Road we were allowed to bike on, and into the TA.

The canoeing was straight forward. We opted to go north first, then back south. Milton took a lot of rest breaks on the paddle, eating and drinking. Even though he turned 18 this week, I still worried about his hydration and fuelling, and regularly prompted him to eat and drink and e-cap. We had opted to use 2 kayak paddles and a canoe paddle in the stern, figuring that would be better if we had got into twisty-turny channels. We should've put the third kayak paddle in the bag, as once it was confirmed we were paddling in River Canard, the odds of "twisty-turny" paddling were pretty slim. We would've made better time with a third double blade paddle. Oh well, live and learn. We didn't tip (I was worried.....Milton is pretty tall and couldn't get comfortable with a half-kneeling paddling position, so every time he wiggled, the boat rocked (and this teenager wiggles a lot!)) Maybe I should bring my kayak here some time for some exploring!

Back to bikes. Luckily during the race briefing we were told that there was a pedestrian passage on the River Canard bridge (it was closed for construction), as Paul and I were dreading riding even a short distance on the four laned road south from River Canard. We opted to ride just to the 3rd concession, then dropped down to North Sideroad then south again on the 6th. Yes, it was a crop tour for Paul and I. Milton was starting to struggle on the bike, due to a sore backside (we'd ridden about 15 miles by then, which was about 12 miles longer than his bike commute to the golf course). Don't worry....we didn't drop him! Then came a section of soon-to-be Greenway rail trail, which is more like an ATV trail with obstacles right now. Downed trees meant we were on and off our bikes several times, which was a welcome relief for Milton. I offered to raise the sest on my bike and let him ride it instead (I have some padding on my bike seat!) but he stubbornly refused (no idea where he gets that from). We made our way down to Texas Road, which I knew was a dead end. I wondered if we would have a hike-a-bike over the creek, but no, there was a perfectly civilized stretch of gravel single track and a fine bridge to cross.

TA to trek....Milton put running shoes on but Paul and I left our bike shoes on. The boys didn't want to put pants on (Paul had calf sleeves on and Milton conceded to wearing crew socks, rather than his usual ankle socks. I had packed knee-high gaitors for both of them, but to no avail). We wanted to leave here at 4:30, so only had a big hour for this section. We headed west back along the road allowance for Texas Road, and dropped into the woods, heading for J. I realized I had left my clue sheet on my bike. D'oh! There were supposed to be ATV trails in here.....we tip toed across a log jam to J, then back to the west side of the water, heading to F. There. Was. No. Trail. I can't believe the boys put up with the chest high growth of knarly vegetation and the mess of logs/downed trees we struggled through. The poison ivy was pretty thick.....who will get it first? We caught up with a team that was also looking for F, and they kindly told us what the clue was. As usual, "hadn't gone far enough" was the case for both of us. They crossed over to the north side of the water and moved faster than we did. Once we found F we crossed over to head to B, and then for the first time, found an ATV trail. Hallelujah! No wonder that other team was moving so well! During the nasty bush whack to F, I was figuring that we'd only get 2 controls in here. But things were looking up now! Took a rough bearing to B, bush whacked, and came out a bit south of it. The map showed the clearing we were in, which gave us the clue that we were too far south. Feeling more confident now, we headed for I which was along the woods. Other teams were looking for it, and seeing the hydro lines along Walker Road to the east helped give me some perspective as to now close we were to I (i.e. I knew we had to keep going east, when other teams thought they should go back west). Punched it, then headed south and out to Walker Road.

Back to bikes, and we left the TA with exactly 90 minutes to finish, as planned. Milton finally caved in and put some chamois cream on, and was a changed man! We held a nice pace line, not pushing hard, as we had enough time to finish without risking a last minute bonk by Milton...south on the 9th, jig-jogged east a tiny bit then south again into the wind. West on South Side Road, then south into the wind on the 6th, holding a pace line like we'd practiced all spring. Into the park and across the finish line! We had about a half an hour to spare, which was just fine with me.

No one bonked, no one got heat exhaustion, no one got mad. Paul even said he would do it again! I was very happy that we did this together, and in a few years when Paul and I are stuck in our easy chairs, hopefully the three of us can look back at the race and share a few smiles. Like about the moment when I saw a snake swimming towards us in River Canard and told Milton, who promptly just about jumped into the back of the canoe to get further away from it.

It was a good day.

C • Great Story! 2

I left Holiday Beach just after 7 pm and headed over to Silver Lake. I got there about 45 minutes before the start, which gave me enough time to change my clothes, top up my Camelbak and add some other food and drink items to my pack, find the "start" symbol on the map, get my lights ready and pick which one would be my first control. It was a warm night, but long pants and a long sleeved shirt were wise choices for this piece of MI woods.

Lights....I had my reactive Petzl Nao, but decided to look like a dufus and wear my bike helmet with my Serfas bike light strapped to the top (I suppose I could figure out how to fit it to a head strap, someday).

I headed for 38 first (like a lot of people) but I opted to try and drop in on it from the road, intending to use the 2-track junction as one of the ways of judging how far along the road I needed to go. I missed the 2-track and saw the sign for the bike trail crossing further up (not realizing it was the bike trail, and thinking it was signage for the 2-track (insert symbol for face palm)), so dropped into the woods too far to the north. Some folks who had stuck to the trail to the east also dropped into the woods too far to the north as well, so we fumbled our way south until we found 38.

#52--came in from the point on the trail to the north where the trail curves north
#58--south to 2-track, followed 2-track until I could see the marsh (thanks, moonlight), then followed the west shore. Read the clue and checked the map again and headed inland a tiny bit and there it was.
#76--headed west to the indistinct trail, and met Joe, who was heading to 32. He opted to join me. We forged westward and got a "big pointer" :)
#54--bushwhacked our way south to the mountain bike trail, and headed east. A T intersection helped confirm our place on the map so we went back west on the bike trail. I was thinking about shooting off the "end" of the bike trail (as it turned south) and skirting the edge of the marsh, but Joe thought it would be better to follow the bike trail around and then come up on the control from the south. He then set off to continue his 8 hour adventure, and I skirted the marsh to the north, aiming off a bit so as to not miss the bike trail.
#32--glanced to my left at the right time and saw the indistinct trail to the north, and climbed the hill to the control. For a "hill top" control, it wasn't as obvious as I thought it should be.....someone is getting tired.....
#74--shot off the trail as it turned east, followed the shore of the marsh to the 2nd (!) reentrant. Upon exiting back to the trail, I took a moment on a log to plan my next moves. About now, a Quarter Nitrogaine was starting to sound good (2 hour limit).
#86--I did consider dropping in on it from the north, but opted for the long walk around on the trails and road. I probably would have been OK coming in from the north, as there wasn't really a good point on the trail to the south from which to attack. This was one of the 2 controls that I fumbled around on moreso than the others, ending up too far to the east down in the depression. Obviously I had to go up, and there it was.
#48--straight forward, but the vines/raspberries just about did me in. And if I picked a rough way down to the control, I picked a worse way back up to the trail. 43 and 31 were on my to-do list, but what about 56? Should I go for it? I decided to skip it, thinking that if I got bogged down in vines again, it may not be worth it from a points/time perspective.
#43--dropped down from the trail junction, and overshot the control. In hindsight, I should've kept going and gone for 51 (I was probably almost half way between 43 and the trail to the south). Back tracked and found the control. I wanted a less-steep way out of there and found one. Well, maybe a bit less steep.
#31--what's this? A XC ski trail! It wasn't on the map but when I looked up, #31 was right there.
I made my way back to the road and jogged the downhills (I had walked/stumbled the rest of the course). I finished kind of early, so probably would've been fine for 56, or even 51.

Surprisingly, I was hungry for a hot dog. Then I put my air mattress on the grass, the mosquito net over my head, and caught about 3 hours of blissful sleep in the moonlight.

15 sec intervals then 30 sec intervals then 1 minute intervals, interspaced with 5 minute standing climb. The instructor kept saying "you should be out of your comfort zone". Yeah, I''m not stretched out in a hammock reading a book, so I am def out of my comfort zone ;)

Since Paul and Milton and I have committed to being in a canoe together on Saturday at SCAR, I really thought we should get in it once before the race. The three of us have never been in a boat together. I have canoed twice with Milton (Logs, Rocks and Steel, GYB), and a very, very few times with Paul (camping/fishing trips, and not recently). And Paul accused me of making the rental tandem kayak go crooked when we were in Florida earlier this year. So how bad could it be? Milton and Paul weigh about the same, so Milton got the bow, Paul the stern and me the middle. Lake Erie was too rough so we went to Cedar Creek. I am absolutely terrified of dumping in there (gross gross gross). We didn't dump. Milton will be a big sail at the front of the boat if it is windy. We successfully paddled upstream, turned around, downstream, docked briefly at the scout camp for a seating revision (fail), then downstream a bit more and back to the dock. Whew....no one went swimming!

Assorted journeys by 3 speed around town. 1) now I know that when there are gusty winds, I should wear bike shorts under my dress so I can keep both hands on the handlebars. 2) I cannot carry a backpack full of groceries and carry 2 large bags of groceries from my handlebars....totally not a wise thing to do. 3) it is hard to find a Detroit Free Press before 7 am on a Sunday, but who's worried?