Training Log Archive: abiperk

Day two of Snowgaine. We swept across the map to the west and then came back around for the northern clusters. A fair bit more running today, with sizeable chunks of road/snowmobile track connecting the CP bunches, and we were moving well. We finished each section ahead of our projected time estimates and cleared a course that was a fair bit bigger than when we raced in the same area two years ago, and under much less favorable winter conditions.

Brent's nav was once again stellar, Jim never seemed to tire, and we all felt really good about our collective strategy. A nice bounce-back from the Meltdown. Brent and I agreed it was our best Snowgaine to date in terms of efficiency, pacing, and route choice. And physically, I felt much stronger on Day 2, which was a nice boost as well.

We came in at 2:41 PM and dug into steaming bowls of soup and veggie/ham-burgers. Fourth overall (3-male team, Attack from Above - thanks for the name, Bash! - was third), third coed team behind Wilderness Traverse and Milton. We should have been fourth, but Running Free accidentally missed punching a CP. They finished a couple hours ahead of us.

...and first Americans :)

C • Super-nice Canadian guys 4

Event: 19th Annual Snowgaine
 

First day of CNYO Snowgaine. I think this was my fourth time doing the race and it's one of my favorite weekends of the season every time.

Deep snow (estimated at 1-2 meter base, plus 12-18 inches of powder) made for some slow travel in sections, but overall we were really happy with how the day went. We set out to get as much of the southern half of the course as possible, with a couple bailout options. Jim Driscoll, who joined GOALS last year, was a beast, and broke snow whenever we weren't following tracks, so we made good time. We ended up clearing the best-case-scenario route we had laid out and finishing the day 13 minutes early - which never happens. A fair bit of snowmobile trail travel and some roads allowed for running here and there, but we were trekking the majority of the day. Beautiful open woods, frozen marshes, very little in the way of elevation.

After feeling superhuman-ish at the Meltdown, I came back to earth today - a combination of a daycare bug I picked up earlier in the week, some nagging hip flexor/glute tightness from two weeks ago, lack of snow training this year, and teammates who were on their game. Jim grabbed my snowshoes when we were running, which helped, and I was able to keep up with the guys most of the day. I accidentally left a quarter of my food at the car in the morning and ended up with only 300 calories left for the final few hours of the race. Brent gave me a peanut butter cup with half an hour to go, but by then I'd dug myself into too deep a hole to get out of in the time we had left. So, the final push was pretty painful.

Overall, though, super happy with Brent's nav, our collective route choice, and my awesome teammates, and pretty pleased with how I was able to move, feeling just alright most of the day.

Eight more hours of fun tomorrow.

Steady ride with 20 x 0:20 pickups

Free weights