Training Log Archive: revy

Mind Over Mountain Cumberland with James. It was a rather windy morning so the paddle route got changed to a two lap course that avoided heading far down the lake. We had a fairly uneventful start (James said he had a little jostling which I didn't notice) and were quickly paddling in space. By the first buoy we had settled into 4th behind a solo surf ski, a racing double and a team on an outrigger. Had another solo (Angus) with us and Norm/Wendy were right behind in their SRS double. I didn't mind the two laps as it meant the paddle was broken up into more chunks mentally. Wind picked up during the time we were out there - not a fun day for the tippy boats. I felt like we had an advantage on the leg back to the beach (wind essentially broadside) as we could just paddle and not worry about balance. We finished a couple minutes behind the front group and a minute in front of anyone else. We easily won the unofficial stock kayak category:) Felt pretty good considering this was the second paddle of the year. Obviously some similar muscles used on the SUP. Looks like our splits were pretty even too except for the second lap into the wind).

C • Congrats! 1

Had a decent transition (wearing our running shoes in the boat which were then wet but that seemed OK). Managed to screw up the first marked section though as we turned into the campground too soon - should have scouted it better ahead of time. Lost a couple minutes here and were neck and neck with Frontrunners (Norm/Wendy). Marked course to CP2 which was steeper than I expected. Passed one of the leading teams and also got passed by Gary and another team of two. (Mooseknucklers?). My back was feeling OK and I thought we were moving well but some of these guys are much better runners than I am and went by like we were standing still. There were two route options to CP 3 and we took the slightly shorter but twistier option (this was way more scenic than the other one as well - if you are a fast runner the other way was a better choice). CP3 wasn't quite mapped correctly - reading the clue would have helped as it was hole 9 on the disc golf course. We didn't lose too much time looking for it as the MooseKnucklers had already found it so their route out helped us. The map is not detailed enough (nor is it accurate enough) to navigate precisely from. In some situations being a good orienteer can be a detriment as you can overthink things...

CP 4/5 were trail running through the Cumberland Community Forest We had caught up to Gary but then he went right at the wrong spot and we didn't see him again.. No issues to CP4 - got passed by Clay Ward who was moving faster than us and appeared to be local as he was not looking at his map. I decided to follow his route to 5 as I thought he might have some better insight on the trails but in retrospect my original plan via Space Nugget would have been better given it would have saved us the trek up to the top of the gravel pit. There were definitely a handful of racers in front of us which surprised me given that our route overall was very clean and only saw Clay pass us... didn't know where they had passed us.

CP 6-13 was choose your own adventure orienteering on a new map. We short cut through the woods in a couple spots. I think this helped in one spot - not so sure in another. Saw FR at one point and again I was confused how they got in front of us. MooseKnucklers caught us midway through and we had a little head to head competition all the way to the TA.

I was slow in the TA - putting on my shoes is still a chore. Bike course was self navigation to the next two CPs. As we had ridden the exact same route yesterday these were straightforward (essentially to the top of Bear Buns). Mooseknuckles left the TA right after us but one of their team members was a slower rider and we dropped them. Found out at CP 14 that we were 5th (3 solos and one team ahead of us). Then some fun riding across to the next trekking section. It was not a great course for good technical riders as many of the trails were slow and twisty. It seemed like we were about ten minutes behind the leaders at this point.

The second trek was another choose your own adventure section. We saw FR on one out and back section, then caught up to them on the last CP at the summit. At this CP we had a surprise extra control which was 267m away on a bearing of 110 degrees grid north. I had a thumb compass so wasted some time sorting out whether to add or substract the 18 degrees of declination. We then bushwhacked through the old cutblock (rather unpleasant) for what seemed like more than 267m until we found the CP at the radio tower. FR did this way faster than we did. Should have guessed from the bearing that it was at the building and ran around on the trail but didn't want to miss it in the woods (which thinking about afterwards seemed like a way too hard challenge for most teams). Kind of a random control as if we had stumbled onto the flag earlier we would have had an advantage knowing where it was already (and if we had done the trek CPs in a different order we would have avoided an out and back section). Anyway we made it back to the TA a few minutes behind FR - they left as we were getting ready.

The last ride was through the Eastern Block but again on winding old school trails. I was feeling tired leaving the TA and had to eat and drink a bit - then towards the end James started lagging behind (overall though it was impressive how evenly matched our speeds were). We also spent a minute looking at the map when our pink flagging disappeared and all we could see was blue flagging (which was for the sport course). We were fine - just a lack of flagging. At the final CP we discovered that we were actually in second overall - I guess the three solo racers got lost looking for one control on the trek. Would have been nice to know this in the TA but I just presumed we were still in 5th. Maybe could have raced the last bike with slightly more intensity? In the end we finished 2nd overall five minutes behind Frontrunners. Given that Norm has probably done the most MOMAR races out of anyone I thought this was fitting for the 40th race and 20th year of MOMAR. The solo guys came in 10-20 minutes after us.

As it turns out though two days later we found out that we had in fact been given the overall win as FR (and Gary) missed CP 4 punching CP 4 on the Sport Course instead and were dropped down the standings. It was a slightly shorter route with less climbing - not sure how much time it would have saved - a few minutes at least. This certainly explained my confusion on the first trek about how teams were in front of us. Not quite the same as winning the event at the time but we will take it...

MOMAR bike and GPS track

Cumberland mountain biking - up to Lost Wood, Blockhead and Bear Buns. Fun stuff though sad to see that even more logging is going to be happening (near Tea Pot). it seems almost all the lower trails are in logged areas (other than the community forest).

My biggest concern for MOMAR with regards to my back is the paddle so took advantage of bringing our own boat to go for a test paddle today and test things out. Great to do so as it turned out that being in the front was much better in terms of foot position for me. Actually felt quite decent as long as I changed position periodically. Nice that I can straighten my legs completely in the boat. Ended up paddling longer than planned - nice weather and nice water conditions. Casual paddle meant we could enjoy the views down the lake too. Boat felt good - have a Passat so should be competitive with respect to boat speed.

The girls paddled on the SUPs James and Wakana have. At the end they took the kayak our for a short spin and I took the SUP out. My back does not like that movement at all.

C • Your back etc 4

Late afternoon run with James (and the girls on their bikes). We did some exploring in the Eastern Block zone which I do not know very well. Ran the Rapture loop (minus a section where we took a short cut on a trail that was missing on TF). Great running trail though might be a bit tight for riding as constantly winding with poor visibility. Felt good running - even had a moment after 45 minute where I almost felt like I was running normally:)

Spent the night in Vancouver and had a nice visit with Anthony. A few shopping stops today, a kayak to pick up, a ferry ride to Nanaimo and finally a ride on the Abyss trail. I've only ridden this trail once 10 years ago in BC Bike race. Really fun with interesting rock features and good flow. The climb up Humilty was really nice too - technical but almost everything was manageable and nice grade. Ninja's had some old school sections then climbed up This Bud's 4 You to meet James and Wakana who arrived late. Amazing timing as we met at my suggested meeting spot exactly at the same time. Smartphones and GPS enabled apps make life so simple as I dropped a pin and texted it to them. FInished by retracing our steps on Abyss. Funny that we only noticed the actual abyss on the way back (a crack in the rock formed during an earthquake). It is certainly deep...

Back pain is still there but power seems to be getting closer to normal. Not very smooth on the technical sections yet.

We've got the week off (though Courtney was on call over the weekend) with plans to be in Cumberland for MOMAR this weekend. Not sure yet if I will be racing (I'm doing it with James) but figured I was good enough to at least be active on the holiday. Unfortunately today I woke up with sore lymph glands in the groin which is a precursor to my episodic rigors. Felt crummy for an hour after waking up but then felt better so still headed out for our planned ride. COurtney and I headed north from Sean and Juliann's place. We've never gone this direction due to some dirt sections and one steeper gravel section with a road slump. These were no problem with the new bikes... Very nice roads and cool to explore somewhere "new" that is so close to other rides we've done.

After and hour and half I started feeling very weak and struggled home. Spent the next hour shivering on the couch... I have had these episodes worked up and they don't appear to be anything serious but they do seem to be getting more frequent.

Jordan River trail to the end and then continued on the rough route which eventually became very indistinct and popped us out onto Westside Road. Continued along the road to the Jordan FSR and did the Jordan Falls loop before returning on the west side of the river. Lots of technical trails today. Back is definitely noticeable and full stride is not possible but managed to run so again progress.

Run/hike checking out some controls for the event in two weeks. Managed to run slowly on the road which was a positive. Once I was in the woods was mainly hiking. Not very springy jumping up and over trees. Going under trees was challenging as bending over if still very limited.