Training Archive: Leanimal

In the 7 days ending 2007-09-29:

activity

time

miles

climb

Adventure Racing

10:30:00

Road Riding

2:30:00

Yoga

1:15:00

Trail Running

55:00

Total

15:10:00

[csv]

10:30

0:00

» now

Saturday Sep 29

	Event: Frontier Adventure Challenge Canadian Champs
	Adventure Racing 10:30:00 [4]

	I don't know our exact time for this but it was somewhere around 10 and a half. The race was the final Frontier race of the year at Bon Echo Provincial Park. I teamed up with La Femme and DogRunner again to try to defend our women's title and see how we could fare against the boys again. We started at 3:45 am by getting campground maps handed to us with a choice of getting either CPA or CPB before running to the canoe dock to paddle to the other side of the lake (maybe 50 metres) where we would dump our canoes and start the trekking leg. I suppose this was meant to spread us out a bit but I am not sure how well that worked. We opted for CPB and counted 7 windows on a boathouse before running to pick up a boat. We were the first ones there so off we went to try to find a dock on the other side of the lake...only we couldn't really see it in the dark. Eventually La Femme spotted the dock and we pulled our canoe up just before Phatty and the boys arrived. The dock was small so I was happy to get there first to avoid a traffic jam. Up a set of stairs we went and at the top we headed into the bush on our bearing with Team Salomon Suunto and SRS. This was a good sign - now if we could just hold our own in the bush and get out on the other side with these teams I would be happy. It seemed that we were all taking the same approach but with slightly different bearings so in a few minutes SRS was off on our left and Salomon Suunto was on our right. The bush was relatively fast and despite La Femme's headlamp being about as bright as mini turtle light and her losing her shoe in a mud puddle, the trek was pretty good. We came out a little left of where I wanted and had to back away from a cliff and head back right to get down to the "road" we were aiming for. Apparently the road does not exist and after waking a confused woman at her cottage she kindly told us that the trail in front of her cottage would lead us to where we were headed. That was after I explained in a sweet voice that we were lost and in a scavenger hunt.... Beowolf was with us at this point and the 6 of us ran the trail to CP2 which was at a dam. Not too far back from the leaders, SRS and Salomon Suunto. The six of us continued to run down a road, discussing amongst us whether we were going to swim across a lake to CP3 on a peninsula or bushwhack around. I was looking for a distinct turn in the road and once I thought I saw it I knew we had to head into the bush at the next turn. (I didn't however notice another road on my map that would have indicated where to turn as well and I usually highlight offshoots just so I can see them at night). This was critical as we went into the bush with Salomon Suunto and Beowolf continued on down the road. Both of our teams were on a similar bearing and hit the lake together. We could see the lights of the CP staff across the lake but they didn't seem to be where we were expecting. As we made our way around the lake we realized that we had run too far south on the road and therefore hit the lake way too far south and had to make our way back and around. As we approached the CP SRS came up behind us and it sounded like they did the same thing - oops. So Adrenaline Rush had jumped ahead of us all and we were sitting in 3rd leaving CP3 with Salomon Suunto again. All of us made our way criss-crossing in the bush to a road that led us to CP4/TA1 the canoe put in. We managed to get out before Salomon Suunto and when the river proved to be really low we had an advantage in weight and were able to get down to the lakes quickly. Once we discovered a large bubble in the bottom of our boat I knew that our paddle was not going to be quick. We struggled ot keep the boat moving smoothly and by the end of the 18km or so paddle we had been passed by SRS, Salomon Suunto and the Treehuggers. I was not happy! But as Dog Runner pointed out we were going to focus on the mountain bike and planned to pick up some spots there. We had a fast TA and were on the bikes before the Treehuggers and Beowolf and not far behind Salomon Suunto. It took the legs a little while to warm up but once we got into a rhythm and passed around some gels we were good to go. We arrived at CP6 just before Beowolf and headed out onto the ATV trails with them hot on our heels. Not too far in we came to a trail junction and I made the mistake of going left (this may have been critical in beating Beowolf however because they made the same mistake and passed us). Not long after this I noticed some elevation on our right and with a quick glance at the map knew we could only be in one spot, and I didn't want to be there so we turned around and continue northwest to CP6a. We had to make some more decisions at other trail junctions but we got to the turnoff for 6A (an out-and-back) and on the way in bumped into Salomon Suunto and Adrenaline Rush. We ran around a bit looking for 6a and on our way out saw Beowolf and Treehuggers not far behind. Now it was time to move..... The riding was great with lots of rocks and roots and steep hills under the power line. We passed Adrenaline Rush on this section as they had forgotten to get CP7 and had to go back. I was nervous with some of my decisions at the trail junctions but our direction seemed okay and when we saw a major ATV trail I knew we were fine so we picked up the pace to CP8 and then hammered to CP9 and the final paddle home. As we raced to TA we were cheered on by the female TA staff who were happy to see the ladies racing so close to the top. Shuffling across a bridge to the boats we picked a nice narrow canoe with a keel so we couldn't complain about the boat. As we pulled out we saw Beowolf in TA and encouraged each other to give it all we had for 7km. We could see the boat in front of us and although we didn't know if it was SRS or Salomon Suunto we could see that we were closing the gap over the course of the lake. It was too far to make up but if we could keep up the pace we could stay away from Beowolf behind us..... So we approached the dock, ignored the kind gentelman's request for help in loading up the canoe and ran through the campground to the finish. Here we found out we were only 1 or 2 minutes behind SRS. I guess they decided to help the man load their canoe and then took the long way to the finish. They were a little surprised to see us so close behind and it was fun to be there. Beowolf, Adrenaline Rush, and the Treehuggers all showed up not long after. It was a great race for us and of course I have been over the maps a dozen times to see where we could have made some time up but all in all I am very happy and my teammates were stellar as always. Geoff designed a great course and it was a beautiful day to finish off the season!!!

	C • The Bobkittens Rule!! 4
Tuesday Sep 25
	Trail Running 55:00 [2]

	Boy was it hot out. I had to postpone my run with Bash so that by the time we went it was midday - perfect for maximum sun and heat! ugghh both of us were feeling sluggish today. A combination of factors but we gave in and walked after 55 minutes. We have to save all of our energy for this weekend anyway......
	Yoga 1:15:00 [1]

	Tuesday night class..and not so much power as really relaxing yoga but I am too lazy to add another activity. People were super chatty at the beginning of class and then someone's cell phone went off in final relaxation - unacceptable!

	C • Where did you go? 2
Sunday Sep 23
	Road Riding 2:30:00 [3]

	Phatty and I rode from Orillia along Ridge Road toward Barrie. The temperature was perfect and there were very few cars on the road. We saw a few other riders including one man riding up to Haliburton. The legs felt surprisingly good after yesterday. Great fall day!

Training Archive: Leanimal

Saturday Sep 29

Tuesday Sep 25

Sunday Sep 23