Training Log Archive: LeanimalIn the 7 days ending Apr 30, 2011:
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Saturday Apr 30, 2011 #
Adventure Racing 7:50:00 [5]
Great race with Relentless and Leemer up in Huntsville for the FAC spring race. More detes to come but the short version is that we took the overall team win, just 18 minutes behind Getawaystix at the finish. The two of us were the only ones to clear the entire course and finish in the 8 hour time limit.
I had raced and volunteered here a number of times before so I was interested to see where they were going to have us go during the race. I have to say that I didn't think we would return to so many of the same locations, but we did. The race started with a fast run up to the top of the ski hill via a trail and of course this is my worst nightmare. I was thankful to have Leamer to hang on to and Relentless to push me as we made our way up to CP1. We quickly returned to the start/finish/TA area and I was glad that we wore our PFDs so that all we had to do was grab our paddles and boat and we were off. We got on the water behind Getawaystix and two teams but quickly passed the one team and settled in behind Raidpulse for the rest of the paddle. The second next CP was on an "elevated piece of land" just 100m or so from a takeout. Not exactly a great control description but we managed to find it without too much running around and were back in the water behind Getawaystix and Raidpulse once again. Raidpulse is being featured on CBC in August so they had a film crew with them the entire race. This meant that we got to suck the fumes of the boat following them on the water but also got to take advantage of some of their draft for a bit as well.
We paddled really well and I was extremely grateful for the cushy seat that Relentless brought for me. The lake was like glass and by the end of the advanced paddle we beached at the same time as Raidpulse. Despite the brilliant sunshine and warm temps though I was cold by the end of the paddle from the water dripping off of Leamer's paddle onto me. Thankfully Relentless had a nice windproof jacket in our TA bag that I could borrow. This is probably the first time I didn't put extra clothing in the bag. That will teach me.
Onto the bikes we were heading east along Hwy#60 and then on to Harp Lake road to go north toward the Dyer Memorial. There was a trail marked on the map that looked like it would cut off about 3km of riding but with so much rain and it being an unknown we decided to take the road since it was a known for us. Turns out this was a smart decision as Kinetic Konnection took the trail and ended up coming out the other side 2 hours later - ouch! We rode well here, passing regular course teams on the way, and eventually getting ahead of Raidpulse. My front derailleur was being stubborn so it was nice to get a big push from Relentless on the hills when it wouldn't drop down.
At CP5 we dropped our bikes and to save time decided to trek to CP6 and 7 in our bike shoes. I thought this would be a problem since my shoes are pretty stiff but in the end it wasn't a big deal. We followed trails for a bit and then went into the bush. We went in a bit early and had to head back north but eventually we saw the feature we were looking for and found the CP just before Raidpulse and a few other teams that were around. We basically had to go by CP7 on the way to 6 (????) so we headed right back and grabbed 7 and left before we saw anyone else. We had to cross a narrow but deep river here and wow was that water ever cold. Leamer pulled me out the first time and the second time I actually snuck in front of him to get out first (what a great teammate I am) so he had to stay in the water for a few extra seconds.
Back on our bikes we headed north on a trail to CP8. Somewhat muddy but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We went from CP8 north still to the advanced bike/trek portion. I knew that Raidpulse wouldn't be too far behind and I really wanted to get in the bush before we saw them. I also knew that we would have to nail this section to really get a jump on them. Once again we left our bike shoes on and headed in to get 3 advanced CPs. At this point we were 25 minutes behind Getawaystix. In this section we moved steadily in the bush and were careful with our location. We hit all three without having to look around too much at all. The problem is that the control descriptions were pretty vague. "Near a creek intersection on an elevated piece of land". To me that doesn't pinpoint the location very well. There were no "east side of creek" or "100m southeast of creek intersection" but I have to say we were pretty lucky. We ran into Geawaystix who was going the opposite direction that we were and he said he had a bit of trouble finding the "island in the middle of a marshy area" so he let us know that it was hanging in a group of trees. By the end of this section we were only 10 minutes behind Getawaystix so we were happy with that.
At this point Relentless let me know that we had just under two hours left for the race. I hadn't even thought about our timing since we were the first team behind Getawaystix and of course we were going to finish. Yikes. So we pushed on the ride back (which was just doing the ride in reverse) and we arrived back at Hidden Valley with just under an hour to do the final 3 CPs. For those who have raced there before, these CPs were in the area of the Deerhurst Trails. We didn't get that crappy cartoon map but I still knew that it could be difficult to find the CPs especially with the vague descriptions that we had been given. I tried to keep a close eye on the features and not get too caught up with the trails.
We found CP#10 quickly but had to skirt around the golf course to 11. We knew we were in the vicinity but with time ticking away it was getting stressful knowing that we had to search around. There were a lot of teams around so I just asked people if they had found #11. Everyone was happy to tell us where it was and we jumped in to get it and headed over to 12. We were close to 12 and asked teams again who looked like they were running away from a CP. Once again we were told where it was since it wasn't at a trail intersection like the description had said. I knew how to get back from here so we booked it along trails to the road and back to Hidden Valley with 10 minutes to spare. Relentless kept giving us time updates so I knew we were going to make it but it was pretty close nonetheless.
It was a great race for us but I have to admit I think it was a bit long for the majority of the teams. Even those who did the regular course had a very long day and most were unable to finish. This is not exactly what you want when there are so many new faces in the crowd. At the awards it was mentioned that the course was designed so that it was probably not going to be completed in full by anyone. I think that should have been made clear to everyone at the start since new teams would likely just keep going. I know that I didn't even think about not finishing the entire course and not until Relentless mentioned that we had 2 hours left did I realize we would be cutting it close (maybe I should wear a watch). I'm not sure this course was tested in full or that an experienced racer checked over the course instructions to ensure that the descriptions were accurate and detailed enough. I'll give feedback on this though as it is nice to have people volunteer to set courses.
Great fun racing with two new teammates and Leamer and I even managed to chat about babies on the paddle.
Weeanimal was there to meet me at the finish line which was a highlight and she even had her own first this weekend by rolling over for the very first time.
Long race and we had to push hard to finish in time. Beautiful day and lots of new faces in the crowd. I hope they all keep coming back.
I had raced and volunteered here a number of times before so I was interested to see where they were going to have us go during the race. I have to say that I didn't think we would return to so many of the same locations, but we did. The race started with a fast run up to the top of the ski hill via a trail and of course this is my worst nightmare. I was thankful to have Leamer to hang on to and Relentless to push me as we made our way up to CP1. We quickly returned to the start/finish/TA area and I was glad that we wore our PFDs so that all we had to do was grab our paddles and boat and we were off. We got on the water behind Getawaystix and two teams but quickly passed the one team and settled in behind Raidpulse for the rest of the paddle. The second next CP was on an "elevated piece of land" just 100m or so from a takeout. Not exactly a great control description but we managed to find it without too much running around and were back in the water behind Getawaystix and Raidpulse once again. Raidpulse is being featured on CBC in August so they had a film crew with them the entire race. This meant that we got to suck the fumes of the boat following them on the water but also got to take advantage of some of their draft for a bit as well.
We paddled really well and I was extremely grateful for the cushy seat that Relentless brought for me. The lake was like glass and by the end of the advanced paddle we beached at the same time as Raidpulse. Despite the brilliant sunshine and warm temps though I was cold by the end of the paddle from the water dripping off of Leamer's paddle onto me. Thankfully Relentless had a nice windproof jacket in our TA bag that I could borrow. This is probably the first time I didn't put extra clothing in the bag. That will teach me.
Onto the bikes we were heading east along Hwy#60 and then on to Harp Lake road to go north toward the Dyer Memorial. There was a trail marked on the map that looked like it would cut off about 3km of riding but with so much rain and it being an unknown we decided to take the road since it was a known for us. Turns out this was a smart decision as Kinetic Konnection took the trail and ended up coming out the other side 2 hours later - ouch! We rode well here, passing regular course teams on the way, and eventually getting ahead of Raidpulse. My front derailleur was being stubborn so it was nice to get a big push from Relentless on the hills when it wouldn't drop down.
At CP5 we dropped our bikes and to save time decided to trek to CP6 and 7 in our bike shoes. I thought this would be a problem since my shoes are pretty stiff but in the end it wasn't a big deal. We followed trails for a bit and then went into the bush. We went in a bit early and had to head back north but eventually we saw the feature we were looking for and found the CP just before Raidpulse and a few other teams that were around. We basically had to go by CP7 on the way to 6 (????) so we headed right back and grabbed 7 and left before we saw anyone else. We had to cross a narrow but deep river here and wow was that water ever cold. Leamer pulled me out the first time and the second time I actually snuck in front of him to get out first (what a great teammate I am) so he had to stay in the water for a few extra seconds.
Back on our bikes we headed north on a trail to CP8. Somewhat muddy but not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We went from CP8 north still to the advanced bike/trek portion. I knew that Raidpulse wouldn't be too far behind and I really wanted to get in the bush before we saw them. I also knew that we would have to nail this section to really get a jump on them. Once again we left our bike shoes on and headed in to get 3 advanced CPs. At this point we were 25 minutes behind Getawaystix. In this section we moved steadily in the bush and were careful with our location. We hit all three without having to look around too much at all. The problem is that the control descriptions were pretty vague. "Near a creek intersection on an elevated piece of land". To me that doesn't pinpoint the location very well. There were no "east side of creek" or "100m southeast of creek intersection" but I have to say we were pretty lucky. We ran into Geawaystix who was going the opposite direction that we were and he said he had a bit of trouble finding the "island in the middle of a marshy area" so he let us know that it was hanging in a group of trees. By the end of this section we were only 10 minutes behind Getawaystix so we were happy with that.
At this point Relentless let me know that we had just under two hours left for the race. I hadn't even thought about our timing since we were the first team behind Getawaystix and of course we were going to finish. Yikes. So we pushed on the ride back (which was just doing the ride in reverse) and we arrived back at Hidden Valley with just under an hour to do the final 3 CPs. For those who have raced there before, these CPs were in the area of the Deerhurst Trails. We didn't get that crappy cartoon map but I still knew that it could be difficult to find the CPs especially with the vague descriptions that we had been given. I tried to keep a close eye on the features and not get too caught up with the trails.
We found CP#10 quickly but had to skirt around the golf course to 11. We knew we were in the vicinity but with time ticking away it was getting stressful knowing that we had to search around. There were a lot of teams around so I just asked people if they had found #11. Everyone was happy to tell us where it was and we jumped in to get it and headed over to 12. We were close to 12 and asked teams again who looked like they were running away from a CP. Once again we were told where it was since it wasn't at a trail intersection like the description had said. I knew how to get back from here so we booked it along trails to the road and back to Hidden Valley with 10 minutes to spare. Relentless kept giving us time updates so I knew we were going to make it but it was pretty close nonetheless.
It was a great race for us but I have to admit I think it was a bit long for the majority of the teams. Even those who did the regular course had a very long day and most were unable to finish. This is not exactly what you want when there are so many new faces in the crowd. At the awards it was mentioned that the course was designed so that it was probably not going to be completed in full by anyone. I think that should have been made clear to everyone at the start since new teams would likely just keep going. I know that I didn't even think about not finishing the entire course and not until Relentless mentioned that we had 2 hours left did I realize we would be cutting it close (maybe I should wear a watch). I'm not sure this course was tested in full or that an experienced racer checked over the course instructions to ensure that the descriptions were accurate and detailed enough. I'll give feedback on this though as it is nice to have people volunteer to set courses.
Great fun racing with two new teammates and Leamer and I even managed to chat about babies on the paddle.
Weeanimal was there to meet me at the finish line which was a highlight and she even had her own first this weekend by rolling over for the very first time.
Long race and we had to push hard to finish in time. Beautiful day and lots of new faces in the crowd. I hope they all keep coming back.
Thursday Apr 28, 2011 #
Yoga 30:00 [1]
No 2 hour morning nap for Weeanimal today. She was a bear. Teething? Not sure.
Wednesday Apr 27, 2011 #
Road Running 1:20:00 [3]
Great road run with Weeanimal this morning just before a huge storm cloud dumped a tonne of fat raindrops on us. I felt pretty good so at an hour I just kept going for a bit more. Weeanimal slept for a bit but then just took in the scenery.
Tuesday Apr 26, 2011 #
Strength training 20:00 [2]
Redcord
Monday Apr 25, 2011 #
Road Running 1:00:00 [2]
Great morning run with Coach LD, KD, Tavman and Weeanimal. We took advantage of the morning sunshine and toured around town with a stop at the park for some slide riding. Weeanimal spent a bit too much time in her cloth diaper and was soaked by the time we got home. She was still smiling though.