Training Log Archive: FoxShadow

Ran around Calhoun and Harriet and a bit more with Matt Harvieux and Kelly after checking out the projects he has going on at his uptown place. Route here: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3691505 I miss uptown and need to move back.

More setting at Sand Dunes, things are looking good now. After quite a bit of frustration with finding good CP's, I now see that there are some good areas in that park. I hope everyone is able to enjoy the event despite all the prickly ash and a map that has seen quite a bit of vegetation change due to logging activity.

Check out the MNOC group's (Community tab) 7 day training average, we are the highest group with 10 or more (actually, 6) active members in the entire world right now. We are so awesome.

C • cool 14

Loop around the lake to work out some soreness from the Tune-up. Felt awful for the first 10 minutes, then felt OK then good after that.

Event: MNOC - River Bend Nature Center
 

What a great Tune-up race. The best value in AR, well done Mike and MNOC! Andrei and I had a decent race filled with more good than bad. We had a good first O-section thanks to Andrei's good map reading. We lost two minutes at #2 but made up for half of it by cutting across the field directly from 3 to 4.

Our boat TA was super fast, allowing us to pass Wedali there. Our paddle was also fast allowing us to come out of the water with the same lead with which we started. Then we blew up, heading out to 7 without punching 6. We had to pedal all the way back. Then when we got back to 7 we were not sure which way to go. I figured we took the trail south because there was so much police help there allowing us to cross. Andrei caught that mistake right away thankfully. We had a great race from there out, a small bobble going into #9 and on the way to #21, but not much. Unfortunately for us Wedali was their usual sqeaky clean so we didn't make up any time on them, and perhaps lost a few additional minutes across the second half of the race.

It was good to race with another skilled navigator, made racing much less stressful for me. Good work Andrei! If Andrei gets 20% faster on the bike he will be an AR animal -- he did a good job on the paddle.

C • New team 4

A nice quick exercise bike workout/cool down/TV watching session after the treadmill workout.

First session of setting at Sand Dunes. Still a lot of work to be done.

Intervals on the treadmill. A few half mile efforts at 9mph separated by either 7 or 8 mph constant effort. Felt good after taking much of the week to rest.

Rest day

Rest day

Meet with Reed for a lap at Mammoth in Chan. Great evening. Is spring in MN always this awesome or am I becoming generally happier as I age?

C • biking in Chan 3

Fun big group loop around leb, X and out. Those woods are brilliant to ride during sunset, I love the horizontal light through the trees and shimmering of the many lakes in there.

Mike set a great course with REAL O FLAGS! Hats off for getting those out there. I nabbed 10 of the 12 CP's and felt pretty good about it. Some people got more I hear, good show. Damn was I thirsty after this one, I need to carry a hip holster!

Event: MNOC - William O'Brien State Park
 

Hopped on the CX bike for a ride from the MOBIZ palace to the O-meet. Biz had two flats on his Tri-bike which held us back a bit, but we laid down a fast and efficient peloton to make it nearly on time. Nav was a bit tricky from Mpls to St. Paul, but we didn't have as much trouble as I had on the red course that was to follow.

Posted Route Gadget but will not save route. Hmm, I entered my name and course and visited every control. I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong... Need to leave, will have to update my log later.

C • route gadget 8

Great ride home. I got a little bonky at the end, low blood sugars were making me a bit dizzy. But you know Burger Jones cured that with a quickness!

Trail Mix 50k/4 relay. Pete Curtis, Molly, Biz, Kelly, and three of my non-O friends combined to make two teams at the Trail Mix. What a day! Sunny and 55 for the race, it could not have been better running weather. Biz scorched the course in under 52 minutes, Kelly came in 90 seconds later, pete a few minutes after her, and me a few minutes after Pete. Must be a fast group when I average under 7:30's on a hilly 8 mile course and come in last place! I felt OK, can't say I felt good but I didn't expect to as I've only logged a few runs this year outside of O-training. Fun day at Hyland!

BTW, saw Dylan Wiek out there doing the 50k, he finished it in 4:19. Congrats on a monster effort go to Dylan.

Headed out to lebanon to accompany Andrei in his first single track experience. He did great. Seemed to be getting used to the eggbeater clipless system. We did two intermediate loops with a break inbetween, it was great to get a ride in before the rain came!

Fun Cake-O course set my Mike. I never knew the full glory of Propect Park until I ran this course. The grand houses, amazing old Oaks, awesome hills that dictate the fun curvy roads made this an exploration I didn't want to do at race pace. I spent more time looking at architecture than my map. Thanks Ellen and Mike for a great time!

Short lap at the farm to loosen up the sore legs. Still enjoying the fact spring is here. Lebanon just opened, sweet!

The RAGNAROK 105. 105 miles. Gravel. More hills than you can count. Wind. One checkpoint at the halfway point. Lots of dudes that ride everyday and have $5,000 bikes, and some fast hippies.

Doing a race this hard this early had me pretty intimidated. 100 people showed up (it's capped at 100) bright and early on Saturday to give it a shot. It was sunny, 42 degrees and getting warmer to start. I was told by the veterans that I was being spoiled. I didn't feel spoiled, I was cold. I didn't want to bring the tights and jacket that I knew I'd take off in an hour for the rest of day.

As things got underway behind the pace car, the pace was slow and easy and my legs were happy about it, a nice easy warm-up for the first 3-4 miles. I settled in with Dan Dittmer, Chad Milner, Andrew Kroese and my buddy Brandon Manske. Then we headed straight up a big hill, straight down, then back up. The pace was not too bad, I could handle it. At the bottom of the second hill I told Andrew "pace is doable, but damn I could use my Mtn. bike on those downhills." We were bombing the downhills at 30-40+ in a group. Not something I want to be doing on gravel, on a cx bike. Dan, Chad and Andrew were on Mtn. bikes. Heavier on the way up, more stable on the way down. Only problem was, both my water bottles flew off my rear saddle mounted bottle rack on the downhills. That holder held on very tight, but not tight enough for the washboard ripples on the downhills. I was down to 20 ounces for the next 50 miles.

More than one rider offered their water (andrew and dan) and even had a stranger hand me a bottle (turned out to be the host of the Almanzo 100, a race I'm doing next month). I didn't take it. It was my problem to deal with, not his.

As the field began to separate, I became happy about my decision not to mount my Mtn. bike. After the 35th mile and the 15th huge hill, the uphills became tougher and I became more comfortable floating on the tops of the rolling gravel. It was a very strange sensation "floating" on the gravel. That really is what happens at speed. I looked down more than a few times to see if I had a flat. But that's just what going fast over gravel feels like.

The checkpoint was at mile 55. Where Kelly was doing a 2 hour run and then setting up some gatorade, ibuprofen and chuckwagon sandwiches on the trunk. At mile 40 I was starting to feel it in my legs on the uphills. We were going pretty good. At the top of KOM (king of the mountain) CP 10 or so, I crested the hill in 8th place. Out of 100 riders. We were riding fast. I was in a group of 10 or so, my buddies mentioned above and 6 or so other dudes. Most of them stronger than I, but I was not sure how many dudes were ahead of us so I pushed it to the top of the hill to see if I could grab some KOM points. I was told I was 8th, not even close to getting KOM points, but still, in the top 10? I'll take it.

We came into the halfway CP in our friendly group of 4 in about 13-16th place after getting dropped by the other 6 in our group when a lead rider flatted, fixed, caught up to us, then pulled through us, taking our whole group with him except for Chad Milner, who we held back with. He was the only one of us paying attention to the map, and was also our friend. We had an unspoken agreement to stick together, and so we did.

I felt "OK" coming into the halfway mark. Legs unquestionably weakened by the mornings effort, but damn, we were running just 7 minutes behind Charlie Fry (frei?), and the rest of the lead group. Of course they were. I felt I could finish. Who we were told was a group of 7 that was being strung out into a group of 3-4 at the tops of the hills.

After pounding a cold gatorade, a full water bottle, 3 vitamin I's, a half of a 5 hour energy, and a half chuckwagon, I was off, with my comrades.

Within 10 minutes, I felt really strong. I was not expecting it. I figured I was slowing down a lot after 55 miles due to conditioning, but it must have been dehydration and maybe lack of caffeine. I found myself having to hold back over the next 15 miles. No use drafting for people other than by buddies.

Chad was hitting the wall. We talked it through and decided to stick with him. We have all been there, he was just having a bad day. Usually he is a beast on the bike. One of the fastest Triathletes in the state, regularly finishing in the top 10 in the elite class. My offer to carry his pack was refuted with "nah, nothing in it anyway, it's not the problem". Today was not his day. After 15 miles, we got passed by a good size group. Then a guy wearing a Jimmy John's delivery T-shirt with flat pedals. Whoa. Then a guy on a Pugsley. Wow. (FYI, we were still running 20th, so these weirdly outfitted dudes could really mash!)

By this time it was 12:15. Time to call Kelly and get on the way to curling. She was able to locate the 75 mile mark and wait there. We hit it at 12:40, feeling really great, honestly. I felt strong and knew I could finish at a good pace. This was largely because of the pedestrian pace we were running from mile marker 65-75. I had few regrets about leaving though, the curling game was very important and I knew I did all that I could do.

The guys ended up finishing in two more hours. 23rd, 24th, and 25th place. A great effort by the home team. A gutty effort by Chad. And the usual powerful and effortless ride by Andrew Kroese and Dan Dittmer, two of the most fit riders I know.

C • thank you 7

Left the Ragnarok with just 2 minutes to spare. We were on pace to arrive at the curling club right on time. Only problem was we needed some gas. So I pulled over to fuel up quickly. The pump was OUT OF GAS! There was no sign to warn me of this. I then ran into the bathroom and asked Kelly if she would put mid-grade in there. By the time I came out, there was still no gas in my tank. Finally found some at one pump, totally the wrong grade, but we were on our way, 15 minutes late. Thanks for the signs guys. Enjoy your cigarettes and early death.

Arrived to play Pete Stolt in the Semi-finals, probably the best team in the league. Too bad we couldn't leave this game until the finals. But as we had been saying all tournament: this was our year. I shook my subs hand and starting curling in the second end. (my team started on time without me, as is customary in curling to keep the other team from waiting).

We played lights out. Flipped the switch on them, shut it down in eight ends. BOOM.

On to the next one. 6PM. I was exhausted. Although I had a foot long turkey and bacon at 1:30, it was 4:30 now. So I was headed for a victory Chipotle.

St. Paul Curling Club "A" flight Championships. Was this really our year? We had sweatshirts made before we EVER PLAYED A GAME that say "2010 League Champs". Has any team in the history of the game ever called their shot like this? If they did, did karma get the best of them and ensure the miracle didn't come to fruition?

With these sweatshirts on our back, we took to the ice.

Down one after the I lost the toss for the 6th time in a row these playoffs. Down two in the third and taking one in the second and giving up two in the third.

Then Josh starting making everything, Brian went on a streak where he missed all of his first shots followed immediately by ridiculous miracle second shots, and Tom and I started operating like gifted surgeons on a blood soaked battlefield.

Throwing home all tied up, with hammer, we had the house covered in red.
Their skip, who had played really well all night, had one last shot to put one in before Tom threw his last rock. He missed.

Tom's last rock was never thrown. Instead hands were shaking and trophies were raised. Our names forever etched in the club's trophy case.




What a day. One last thing to do after the game. Check checkpointracker again to see what's up at the Land Between the Lakes Challenge. WEDALI had been running within 10 minutes of either side of Bushwacker and Alpine Shop for the last 12 hours. Mostly, it seemed, on the trailing end, running third place. Trash talking superstar athlete laden Technu Extreme running fourth place, within one mistake's distance behind.

Now in third on the boat, let's take a look here to see if they could hold the superstars off for a medal. Molly texted me friday morning. Puking all night the night before, with food poisoning. Running on empty getting herself flown down to the race alone.

Paddling results are in: WEDALI first off the paddle going into the last trekking section with Bushwacker ONE MINUTE back. Alpine Shop, TWO MINUTES back. I wonder if WEDALI will flip the switch on this last trekking section? What do you think?

You may say that I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. BOOM.

Put 14 minutes in to Bushwacker and Alpine shop. (they must have run together after WEDALI pulled another Clark Kent TA? what a race by Bushwacker BTW. These boys are for real this year, as I predicted after getting passed by Frederick at CP 20 of the Gateway Grunt, and getting smoked by them at the Snowgaine).

But they still have 45 minutes on the bike. Will 14 minutes be enough?!?
Will they have anything there when they dig deep to find it? Damn right they will.

WEDALI FIRST PLACE AT LBL. Redemption.

Light spin to test my tune of my bike, and to get used to the new saddle I just put on before tomorrow.

I've been training for a 105 mile gravel road tour off the tallest hills in South Eastern Minnesota for about a month. Gun is at 7:30AM out of Colvill Park in Red Wing. But with curling semi-finals at 2:30PM of the same Saturday, there's no way I can finish.

But there is only one thing to do when you need two bodies to be in each of the two world's you'd like to be in:

Do both. Get the as much of the best of both worlds as possible. So that is the plan for Saturday. Wake up at 5. Race until 1PM. Ask Kelly to pick me up off course and drive me straight to the game.

Quarter final game of the A flight champs. We played a team of older players who really had a great touch. Always threw the right weight. We were down one with hammer throwing home in the 8th. Judy, a very very good curler of about 65 years of age, wanted to either win or lose because she was tired. We scored one to send it to extra ends. Without hammer, it would take a miracle against this squad. But given that we made sweatshirts for years ago, did anything think a miracle was not on it's way? It was.

Semi-finals set for Saturday at 2:30 PM. But wait, don't I have the Ragnarok 105 on Saturday?!! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! A brutal decision ahead of me.

Setting/Resetting for tonight OTNT.

Had a GREAT time running the courses with everyone at OTNT today. I think I enjoyed watching everyone run at least as much as I enjoy participating myself. I'll host another one out there this summer when we can run until 9PM or later. I think people need more time to get out there. That and we'll do it on a dry night.

I think it is worth the drive though, I hope all of you who ran did as well. We had a good enough turn-out even though I got 4 late cancellations. Good work all! Andrei, Mike, Molly, Kelly, Julia, Jeff, Reed and Meghan made it a great eight out there.

If anyone would like the maps to get out for a run, I will send them--the tapes are still up.

C • Sorry 12

C • Sorry 1

Riding to and from the O-Meet in Burnsville. Started at MoBiz Palace in uptown and rode the greenway east to the river, crossed the Hwy 55 bridge at Fort Snelling, then found a bike trail for much but not all of the way to Terrace Oaks. A nice day for a ride.

Had a decent run at Terracle Oaks. My legs were really heavy as I had been riding pretty hard the week prior. After bombing the first control, I ran clean from there. My frist time at the park, it was fun to run a 100% new map.

warm up with biz before heading out on course

Event: MNOC - Terrace Oaks Park
 

Event: Badger Orienteering ROGAINE
 

Red - Splits

Rode the full trail at the Farm with Dan Reese, great great ride. We had to go first thing this morning to avoid the rain. Glad we did, it started raining on the way home.

BTW, this trail is not listed on the MORC site because it is not officially sanctioned by MORC. I understand some of the land it uses is not park land and the owners have agreed to let us ride on it but not develop/improve it and/or tell others about it. Therefore it's more or less an underground trail system. But it's one of the best in the state and I'm happy to show people how to ride it if you are interested (it's unsigned, so although you can find most of it without a guide, to ride it all took me at least 10 rides to master).

C • yeah, I rode it a few years... 3

Set another course at the Farm, looks pretty good! I'm excited for next Tuesday. Should be good, perhaps a bit long but I'll pre-run it again and it looks like Biz is going to pre-run it this weekend so we'll be dialed in for Tuesday. Hmm, I hope my Sand Dunes courses turn out... : )

I am a Purple Pen Brown Belt, at least now, so that will help the Sand Dunes setting.

Rest day