Training Log Archive: KFish

I think its time for a little R&R. Going to take training easy for a few weeks. 3 races in 5 weeks was a little too much given the level of training I have put in this year.

Event: Fig XVI
 

FIG XVI Adventure Race

We had done this race 2 years ago and found it extremely tough - rugged terrain, tough bike nav. We wanted redemption so we signed up again. Unfortunately, I was nursing a slight foot injury from Dogman, and we both got sick with colds the week before, so we decided we'd be better off going out with the goal of having fun instead of doing our absolute best. This was our first AR of the year! We've focused on A meets and Rogaines (and most of our planned races ended up getting canceled :( ).

We got the maps the night before and had 16 points to plot. Plotting went pretty well and we measured everything out to make a strategy. We had some idea what to expect from the biking, so we didnt get lured into a false sense of being able to clear it, so we made a strategy to maximize foot points since that tends to be our forte. We set some time goals and options, and then headed to bed.

Prologue Trek - 1 mi, 12 min.
Downhill run in the dark from the start cabin to the lake. No CPs so it was a mad dash.

Leg 1 - Paddle - 3.1 mi, 53 min
They comment every year that the paddle for this race is a struggle because of the lack of nearby water. This year they devised a "Token Paddle" with 4 CPs along the edge of the lake and a moving CP (on a boat) that you needed to visit in between each of the other 4. With this being the first leg, so litterally 54 teams on the water at once, it was crazy hectic at the put in and on the water. There was a little waiting in line at CPs, but not too bad. Finding the moving boat wasn't too hard (it had a flashing light), but getting close enough to it to ring the bell was interesting when other boats are coming from every direction! I thought they made the most out of the small lake and actually had a lot of fun. I'm not sure how the guys in the moving CP boat didn't get rammed over! We did see one team take a tumble... BRR

Leg 2 - Trek - 6.6 mi, 2:02
Linear trek from the paddle to the bike drop, piking up 2 cps along the way. The nav was mostly trivial, just following a trail system. We got mixed in with a group of 3-4 other teams that were all moving about the same speed. We tried to trot a few times, but we mostly ended up getting in coughing fits from our colds, so we decided we were better off at a fast walk. Normally we probably would have tried losing the other teams and sneaking into CPs. We did gain a little ground when the front half blew by the second CP. We mostly warmed up during this trek.

Leg 3 - Bike - 35.3 mi, 4:40.
The bike turned out to be the crux of the race, as we expected. There were four option points before heading to the next TA. We had decided before the race to just pick up the one that looked easiest and then head to the trek. The first part of the leg was on a road mapped "prohibited". We had been told that this road was now open for us to use, but the condition was unknown. We were a little apprehensive about that, knowing what roads can be here, but when we got there it was beautifully paved and fast riding. We were really cold, especially our hands, with the brisk wind. Eventually we turned onto a dirt road that was hard packed and still quite nice. Then for the last 1k it deteriorated into the muddy mess ATV trail we have come to expect from this race. Still 1k of that was not too bad, and I was able to ride almost all of it, which was a vast improvement over last time we were here. We got CP 10 and addressed our options. The best plan would have been to backtrack and head to the trek, which was also our original plan. We had a quick discussion, and syd proclaimed she was having a lot of fun on the messy bike ride, and wanted to continue another 4 km to #9. I made sure she was ok with that meaning shortening our trek and possibly losing a few points, and she said shed rather have fun, so on we went. The ATV trail got worse (muddier, deeper puddles, rockier, and uphill), but we were both able to ride a majority of it, which was redemption in itself compared to 2 years ago. We came back the same way, and the way down was 20 minutes faster, didnt realize how much of a hill we had gone up! We got back to our time point 50 minutes behind schedule, so we knew we would have to shorten our trek. Angel and Barbara passed on the bike to the Trek, and had picked up the same number of bike points.

Leg 4 - Trek - 7.4 mi, 2:40
By the time we got there, we thought we had time for 3 points ( had originally planned all 6, or at least 5). We headed out at a fast walk and got the first point no problem. The second point caused us some consternation, so after not finding it we sat down to discuss our options. I was getting stressed about time, but syd thought we could hit one more point. I told her I was fine with trying for it, so we headed off, still at a fast walk. Once we climbed the big hill we realized time was getting tight, so we started jogging for the first time all race. We got 16 at exactly our bail time, and saw Barbara and Angel heading out. We jogged most of the way back to the point we had skipped, and caught up to them. Luckily syd spotted the point from the trail in this direction, so we didnt lose any time. We passed Barbara and Angel, but helped them out with the CP. The 3.7 mi trip back took us 20 min less than the trip out had, so we were again feeling ok about time for the last bike. [NOTE: GPS tracks did not match on the out and back portion even though we took the exact trail - I think the deep ravines got the satellites]

Leg 5 - Bike - 10.5 mi, 1:15.
This was a straightforward, generally downhill bike back to the finish. We had 1:30, which was our cushioned estimate, so we were pushing but not that hard. Unfortunately on the first real uphill syds chain popped off, and in a way that it tangled with itself, so it took us a few minutes to sort that out. That was enough for Barbara and Angel to pass us for the last time (they did offer help, which was nice!). Her chain popped one more time, so she decided to finish out the race without shifting! The big downhill was extremely cold, so we stopped to put on coats <2 mi from the finish, LOL!

Overall pretty happy with the race. We set out to have fun, and that we did. Sure, we could have done a little better, but given the circumstances we did pretty well and had fun doing it. And proved to ourselves that we've improved since 2 years ago. 361 puts on great races that tend to emphasize the adventure, especially on the bike legs they put together. The weather was chilly starting in the low 40s and getting to the mid 50s by the afternoon, but the sun kept us warm enough most of the race. We did a bad job eating for the first couple hours, but got better as the race went on and didnt really have too much energy problems. And I got through the whole race without unwanted bodily functions from either end, and even ate at the banquet after! That's another win for me. I hope we can put together a more balanced AR/O/Rogaine schedule next year because I do miss AR :).

Wore tights, bike shorts, long sleeve, and Rain jacket for the paddle and end bike (was glad to have it). More water resistant gloves would have been nice. Foot and knee held up really well, despite the problems I had at dogman 2 weeks ago, and being able to tell they werent 100% in the days leading up the race

PS. Thanks to angel for hosting us at her cabin, and for the #burritoasbigasmyhead. And Barbara for dinner Friday :). Good to see SMOC buds

C • Glad you guys made it and h... 1

Shake out spin before FIG. New wheel seems ok.

Pretty lame trainer ride. Finally recovering from a cold that was the aftermath of stomach bug and dogman.