Training Log Archive: carbonIn the 7 days ending Jul 24, 2011:
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Sunday Jul 24, 2011 #
Racing 24:00:00 [3]
Raid the North Extreme 2011 started way before we gathered on the start line on July 24 in the community of Meadow Creek. The race started for me in January as I signed up for a coached program to bring me into top shape for the event. In the months leading up to the event I would put in anywhere from 17-25hrs of training per week, focusing on running, biking, kayaking and strength work. I wanted to minimize the gap between me and my stronger male teammates and I also wanted to attempt a good finish and contribute more to the team than I have in the past. Having RTNX come to our area of the country felt like a great opportunity to draw upon our team’s strengths and the team’s mountain experience; and not to mention the potential for a wonderful race course through some of Canada’s most beautiful terrain.
On July 22 the members of Team Wild Rose (Bart Jarmula, James Heilman, Mike Brown and Veronica Jarlehag) met up in Nelson, B.C. for the mandatory gear and skills check. The check took place in a local park and a bike shop and ran smoothly for the team. After a great dinner at a local restaurant the opening ceremony and map distribution took place. The opening presentation was among the lowest key I have seen in a big event like this with very little hype, however the main reason behind the meeting was to distribute the course maps and in that the meeting was a success. I would have liked to see a little more information about the course’s technical aspects and some heads up about the terrain so that teams could have been a little better prepared for what they would be heading into, whether in this meeting or the meeting that followed the following night. Bart and James withdrew to their hotel room shortly after the meeting to plot the course and Mike and I ran a few last minute errands to pick up supplies.
The following morning when Bart and James had finished the map plotting we made final arrangements to our gear and headed up to Kaslo where we would spend the night before race start. This was a curious last minute move from the race organization. As the start would not take place from Kaslo, most of us felt like the relocation was unnecessary and that we could have been bussed straight from Nelson to race start, and I was really not happy about the camping arrangements before a week long expedition race. Our team checked into the local hotel to ensure that we got a got night’s sleep. I’m very glad that we did as I heard of teams not sleeping well in the camp ground.
The morning of the race we boarded a number of busses and headed one hour north of Kaslo to the community of Meadow Creek. Once we arrived at the start line there was nothing left to do but to get the bike and line up for the start. I felt great! Less nervous than usual, less psyched out by other teams than usual and I felt well rested and very eager to go.
This is what I had been training for and now it was time to see if the training had paid off.
Bike and Trek
The start of the race had us mountain bike up the forest road right behind the Meadow Creek community centre. We saw a 1000m elevation gain in only 15km and the road took us about 2.5hrs to complete. We had a strong ride despite a wrong turn early on and the heavier packs that included some trekking gear. We arrived at the top in second place, only 1 minute behind Wilderness Traverse. It was a hot day and we were feeling the effects of the heat as we were switching into our trekking gear. I dumped a bunch of water on my head which made a big difference.
The trek started on some easy terrain along a ridge, allowing us to run. Shortly we started dropping down the mountain through the bush all the way to the valley bottom. At times the bush got a little thick but nothing too bad. Once at the valley bottom we started what would be a very long and at times heinous bushwhack in thick alder and devil’s club. Little did I know that this was nothing compared to what would come our way later in the race. We pushed steadily and eventually came upon a trail that we used for a little while. Some teams had found this trail down at the valley bottom and had been able to quickly make way up the valley. Too bad that we didn’t catch it from the start as well. We hiked with Yoga Slackers and Custom Cellular for a while. It was fun chatting with Andrew Fairhurst for a bit about his last season organizing Full Moon In June and his experience at XPD a couple of years ago. I felt encouraged to move quickly with these teams around, but my teammates fell behind a little so I stopped and waited. Bart had started to feel unwell. He was having some GI issues that we needed to manage. We slowed down a little and took a few breaks, but he seemed to be getting worse. The tight bushwhack made for very hard work and it didn’t help him much. When we finally came up in the sub alpine we moved a bit better and we picked our route up the mountain side to the pass between Brennan Mountain and Whitewater Mountain and CP2. It seemed like teams picked many different ways up this route. We passed Team Atmosphere/MOMAR at some point before reaching the CP in 5th place.
On July 22 the members of Team Wild Rose (Bart Jarmula, James Heilman, Mike Brown and Veronica Jarlehag) met up in Nelson, B.C. for the mandatory gear and skills check. The check took place in a local park and a bike shop and ran smoothly for the team. After a great dinner at a local restaurant the opening ceremony and map distribution took place. The opening presentation was among the lowest key I have seen in a big event like this with very little hype, however the main reason behind the meeting was to distribute the course maps and in that the meeting was a success. I would have liked to see a little more information about the course’s technical aspects and some heads up about the terrain so that teams could have been a little better prepared for what they would be heading into, whether in this meeting or the meeting that followed the following night. Bart and James withdrew to their hotel room shortly after the meeting to plot the course and Mike and I ran a few last minute errands to pick up supplies.
The following morning when Bart and James had finished the map plotting we made final arrangements to our gear and headed up to Kaslo where we would spend the night before race start. This was a curious last minute move from the race organization. As the start would not take place from Kaslo, most of us felt like the relocation was unnecessary and that we could have been bussed straight from Nelson to race start, and I was really not happy about the camping arrangements before a week long expedition race. Our team checked into the local hotel to ensure that we got a got night’s sleep. I’m very glad that we did as I heard of teams not sleeping well in the camp ground.
The morning of the race we boarded a number of busses and headed one hour north of Kaslo to the community of Meadow Creek. Once we arrived at the start line there was nothing left to do but to get the bike and line up for the start. I felt great! Less nervous than usual, less psyched out by other teams than usual and I felt well rested and very eager to go.
This is what I had been training for and now it was time to see if the training had paid off.
Bike and Trek
The start of the race had us mountain bike up the forest road right behind the Meadow Creek community centre. We saw a 1000m elevation gain in only 15km and the road took us about 2.5hrs to complete. We had a strong ride despite a wrong turn early on and the heavier packs that included some trekking gear. We arrived at the top in second place, only 1 minute behind Wilderness Traverse. It was a hot day and we were feeling the effects of the heat as we were switching into our trekking gear. I dumped a bunch of water on my head which made a big difference.
The trek started on some easy terrain along a ridge, allowing us to run. Shortly we started dropping down the mountain through the bush all the way to the valley bottom. At times the bush got a little thick but nothing too bad. Once at the valley bottom we started what would be a very long and at times heinous bushwhack in thick alder and devil’s club. Little did I know that this was nothing compared to what would come our way later in the race. We pushed steadily and eventually came upon a trail that we used for a little while. Some teams had found this trail down at the valley bottom and had been able to quickly make way up the valley. Too bad that we didn’t catch it from the start as well. We hiked with Yoga Slackers and Custom Cellular for a while. It was fun chatting with Andrew Fairhurst for a bit about his last season organizing Full Moon In June and his experience at XPD a couple of years ago. I felt encouraged to move quickly with these teams around, but my teammates fell behind a little so I stopped and waited. Bart had started to feel unwell. He was having some GI issues that we needed to manage. We slowed down a little and took a few breaks, but he seemed to be getting worse. The tight bushwhack made for very hard work and it didn’t help him much. When we finally came up in the sub alpine we moved a bit better and we picked our route up the mountain side to the pass between Brennan Mountain and Whitewater Mountain and CP2. It seemed like teams picked many different ways up this route. We passed Team Atmosphere/MOMAR at some point before reaching the CP in 5th place.
Thursday Jul 21, 2011 #
4 PM
Running 30:00 [3]
A little run along the lake in Nelson to warm up the legs for some rolling and stretching. Taking it easy for the rest of the day. Tomorrow will be gear checkin and shuttling of our car to Red Mountain.
Monday Jul 18, 2011 #
7 PM
Mountain Biking 1:20:00 [3]
MTB in the city with a few hill repeats.
9 PM
Running 35:00 [3]
A run bricked with the bike ride. Nice and humid out....almost like Toronto weather....