Training Log Archive: syd

Trek 3 (to Finish)

The volunteers were letting racers shelter in the back of the moving truck that they were using to shuttle bikes, which was fantastic because it started to pour shortly after we arrived. Kevin was beat, so he changed and then I let him sleep for 30 min or so. He finally started to feel better after he woke up and ate some food, so I talked him into hitting 2 of the CPs on the last trek that were on the way to the finish anyway. I had packed our rain pants and layers I thought we wouldn't need in our gear bag, just in case, and we ended up wearing everything. It was cold and wet, but once we started trekking we warmed up a bit. This final leg was, again, up a huge hill. We opted to take the road route, instead of the trail, which I think was a good choice. I started to get really sleepy just before dawn, but Kevin finally perked up so he took over navigation for a bit. Finished with lots of time to spare.

This was an awesome location for an AR. We had some amazing views of the finger lakes (should've brought a camera!) and the terrain was great. Our lack of fitness really showed with all the hills. Considering we stopped for at least 1.5 h for Kevin to sleep, we didn't do too poorly. The maps were nice, but we did have to add a lot to them. CPs were in the circle, but usually required a bit of searching once we got there. It was a fun race, just a little lacking in structure. Finished 8/22.

C • and here 2

Event: NYARA The Longest Day
 

NYARA Longest Day 24 hr AR

Arrived at the finish location just before 5 a.m. Saturday morning. Received maps when we checked in and had a couple of hours to prepare and plan before we boarded buses to the start. Kevin worked on getting all the gear together while I studied the maps. There were a number of corrections to make to CP locations and trails to add. As usual before the race it felt like we had too much to do in too little time, but we were prepped and had a solid plan by the time the buses arrived. Felt like the bus ride took forever, but once we arrived we just had a short trek down a gravel road to the start location.


Trek 1 (Prologue)

Prologue was a short trek with 3 CPs, packs not required. Started off in the opposite direction of most teams. Attacked the first CP, but I wasn't confident we were in the right spot, so we went back out and came in from a different direction. Turned out we just hadn't gone far enough down the creek. Silly mistake, but I didn't think about how much area the circle covers on a 1:40k map. Next 2 CPs went fine and we got back to the TA in 2nd, right behind UNE.

Paddle 1 (Hemlock Lake)

We quickly transitioned to boat and then paddled up most of the length of Hemlock Lake. There was one CP along the way that I was a little worried about locating, but we were able to see the point it was near for most of the paddle, so it was fine. The lake got a little choppy as we got farther N, but we had a nice tail wind.

(Time is for prologue and paddle, but distance is just the paddle.)

Trek 1 (Hemlock Lake to Canadice Lake)

Put in at a boat launch on the N end of Hemlock Lake and then had to trek to the next lake over. It was almost entirely on trail with one CP along the way. Trotted along a wide gravel path that followed the lake for a while and then had to climb over a massive ridge. Located the CP on the way up with no trouble, although it was a little farther up the reentrant than I was expecting. And then down the other side. Got passed by a few teams through here. We needed a few more weeks in Pittsburgh to work on our hill legs! Our strength is accurate navigation though, not speed.

Paddle 2 (Canadice Lake)

Put in at the N end of Canadice Lake and had 2 CPs to grab on our way S. This lake was smaller, so it wasn't nearly as windy as the first paddle.

Bike

Next up was the monster bike leg. The volunteers at the TA were awesome, they pointed us to our bikes (way better than searching through them all) and offered us snacks! Hopped on our bikes and the first section was a short ride up to Harriet Hollister SP for a bike-o section. Up being the key word...it was a good example of what was to come. Made it to the park for a bike-o section that was awesome!! A big network of trails we had to navigate through. The map was pretty accurate and we didn't make any errors, just a few inefficient route choices.

After we finished the bike-o we had a ~50 mile road ride to the next TA. So many monster hills.... it seemed like we were either flying downhill or pushing uphill. It was a mix of paved and dirt, with the dirt roads in good shape, but the hills were just brutal. Once the sun went down Kevin really started to struggle, he wasn't feeling great and was really tired. We ended up stopping a couple times for him to close his eyes for a few minutes and were moving so slowly. We'll need to come up with a good caffeine solution for future races. It also got cold and pretty windy. Thankfully we had packed a few extra layers so we were warm enough (barely). It started to rain around midnight (I think?). We finally made it to the last TA around 1:30 a.m., way later than our estimate.

C • Great job! 4

McKeesport to the Waterfront on the Steel Valley Trail. It was all paved except for the last mile. Less busy than the Montour trail.

C • If there's not tunnels there's bridges 3

Not the most exciting run, but convenient and there is a sidewalk most of the way.