Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Travel day to Houston.

I had planned to run with a local group I met the last time I was here...but my flight was delayed by three hours.

Actually, my flight left the gate on time. But then as we were accelerating down the runway to take off (at ~90 knots / ~100 mph, the pilot said later), the plane braked really hard and fishtailed a bit, and we stopped. A serious OMG-WTF moment. I don't "love" flying, and I really thought I was going to vomit / hyperventilate for about the next 10 minutes.

It turned out a warning light had indicated an open cargo door. We taxied over to a weird area of the airport and sat for a while while they found a gate for us. Then we deplaned while they checked the cargo door sensor, put fans on the brakes to cool them, and changed out two tires.

We eventually reloaded and were ready to go...but it was ground crew shift-change time and no one had been sent over to our gate, since it was an unplanned re-departure.

Once we finally got off the ground, the flight was uneventful (thankfully), but we circled for a while in Houston due to weather.

Ay caramba.

C • That...... 7

Rest day with a massage therapy session and a movie (Brittany Runs a Marathon -- really funny).

Event: RMOC Camp Tahosa
 

We were short-handed on volunteers and there wasn't anyone to take over at registration (I think because most people were taking longer than usual on their courses), so I didn't get started until 2:30 pm. (Starts technically close at 2:00 pm and courses close at 4:00 pm...)

Given my limited time and how tough Doug reported the terrain to be (he set all 34 controls yesterday and this morning), I decided to do Brown instead of Red.

I probably could have finished if I hadn't spent 34 minutes looking for #1... After that, all I could muster was a slow, defeated trudge, and I skipped a few controls in order to get back by 4:00 pm.

I'm now 0-for-2 at Camp Tahosa.

Doug seemed somewhat exhausted after all the course setting work, so I agreed to my most disliked volunteer task: control pickup. :-P

But it was only a few controls -- four easy ones and a fifth one that was a little more difficult to get to (steep rocks, thick forest).

This was a really long day -- I arrived at noon and left at 6:30 pm. At least the weather & scenery were nice.

Camp Tahosa follow-up work:

- Membership renwals -- data entry & email confirmations.
- Data entry for volunteer list.
- QA'd names & results in OE2010.
- Uploaded overall results to RMOC database.
- Uploaded splits to Attackpoint; sent splits to JP for RG2.
- Sent out two entry fee invoices via PayPal.
- Completed the meet report & mailed checks to Sverre.
- Posted photos & results link to RMOC's Facebook page.

Brown - Splits

Golden Hell Week #5 of 5 -- Chimney Gulch / Lookout Mountain.

After almost aborting the Mt. Galbraith run last night, I spent all day feeling excited about doing this one and finishing the virtual race.

I started work earlier than usual this morning so I could leave at 3pm and have plenty of daylight.

Then, at 2:30 pm, I got a 3pm meeting request from my manager titled "update" -- and one of my three co-workers was not on the meeting request. Uh oh... Sure enough, she had been laid off, very unexpectedly, just before our meeting.* That really sucked and put a big damper on my mood.

But I went anyway... It was a beautiful afternoon and I finished just as it was getting dark (no headlamp needed this time).

I spent the entire last hour of the run thinking about what I would have for dinner from the food truck at Mountain Toad (where all the Hell Week routes start & finish). I walked up to the window to order and...they were OUT OF FOOD. (Well, out of everything except chicken tacos, and I'm a vegetarian.) So lame. I was so hungry and disappointed that I literally almost cried. :-P

(*If anyone wants to hire a super-smart Rice grad with a BA in economics, a masters degree in public health, and SAS programming experience...let me know so I can give you her contact info!)

Heading up the Lookout Mountain trail:

Prep work for tomorrow's RMOC meet at Camp Tahosa:

- Bought snacks & water.
- Sent out final reminder / update email.
- Data entry for annual waivers.
- Updated August membership expirations.
- Sent reminders about September membership expirations.
- Miscellaneous email follow-ups -- meet equipment coordination, course notes, pre-registration discrepancies, etc.
- Created OE2010 files for Classes & Entries.
- Created start cards.
- Loaded car (table, water, etc.).

Golden Hell Week #4 of 5 -- Nightbird Gulch / Mt. Galbraith.

When I got to the loop section of the trail, dusk was settling in and I seriously considered bailing (and DNF'ing), since this is the rockiest of the five trails and I knew it would be dark (and dangerous) on my way down.

But then I took off my sunglasses and realized it wasn't quite as dark yet as I thought. :-P

I still had to do the last 1.5 miles of the trail in the total dark, but I didn't kill myself; I just had one trip / slide very near the end that resulted in a skinned knee -- which I'll take any day over a sprained ankle.

One more to go -- Lookout Mountain (slightly shorter than Mt. Galbraith, but with more elevation gain...).

Looking towards Golden from the front side of Mt. Galbraith:

C • illusion 16

Golden Hell Week #2 of 5 -- North Table Mountain / Lichen Peak.

Run / walk combo with perfect weather conditions (overcast & 70°F).

Golden Hell Week #3 of 5 -- South Table Mountain / Castle Rock.

It was totally dark as I neared the top, but my Petzl headlamp rocks.

I enjoyed the beer-brewing smells wafting over from the Coors plant...

I have completed three of the five routes for Golden Hell Week, but only 42% of the total mileage and 46% of the total climb. I have the two hardest ones left: Lookout Mountain and Mount Galbraith. Ay caramba...

Golden Hell Week #1 of 5 -- Apex.

I got a really late start after work, so it was totally dark by the time I got to the top. My headlamp worked great on the way back down, but I had to keep pushing away thoughts of bears and mountain lions...

After dodging zillions of mountain bikers on the way up, I had the trail to myself on the way down -- clear sky, big moon, and pleasant creek, frog & cricket noises.