Training Log Archive: richf

Single tracking a new 2013 epic FSR 29 that was massively discounted alongside the new 2014s.

Rib cage sore. Feels like I've been a punching bag, presumably from sprinting in soccer as I'm using work rate to compensate for lack of first step. I made the same runs full tilt (for me) every 2 minutes or so for an entire game to wear down some guys on the other side. Ugly but very effective by the end.

Soccer plus,some warm up jogging
Feeling flat in the first half but holding up well in second so able to use work rate to grind some defenders down.

Mtb from the house
Can confirm chain skip fully related to torque load
must not have been pushing it in pre race check ride

between work and a work dinner at the office gym

trails with kirby

splits from the weekend arrive by email some notes added to Sunday.

Was thinking some form of active recovery and stretch but with solo parent wife is traveling responsibility and an 11 hour split shift work day schedule won't allow. That sentence is an ultra concise illustration of my situation.

The question at hand now is whether to try to translate the newfound base fitness to competitive levels after a decade of competitive retirement or shoot for some balanced middle ground, a target I have never been good at hitting. Tough call at 45. No complaints though as these are clearly first world problems and it was a good time this weekend.

Event: VentureQuest Adventure Race
 

start and first control group

first bike loop

second control group

2nd bike leg

final group plus the transition runs

paddle board

post race comments-

First off super well organized race. Not sure how much this is state of the world today (my last outing 10 years back) or how much of it is attributable to EX2 but a fun course, a really smoothly run affair, and great people on a beautiful day. My only complaint would be no post race beer.

Finished 11 of 59 on the elite course. Overall 1.2x winner time/one hour ten min behind. Maybe 30 minutes of error/mechanicals and the rest fitness. To be fair probably more on fitness as no one runs these totally clean. splits above are approximate.

Start-CP 1 was 5 of 7 optional controls. 1.4x top split. Since this represented my first AR in a decade and Paul's second and we had no familiarity with the park whatsoever we went out slower by design, almost cruise control. Did have two short O events as tune ups but really that's not much to work with. One bobble corrected soon enough but not spiking. Post race I note not a single elite participant chose our routing. Admittedly we picked so as to minimize possibility of disaster but 0 out of 58 and 1.4X suggests we need to look at the map again.

CP1-2 Bike loop with some optional hike a bike short cut available. 1.2 X top split which was a swing and a miss given our team. Seem to have lost a lot in between b2 and b3. Must have been an opportunity there we didn't exploit. Besides that my chain skip, which had been subdued after recent repairs, showed up with a vengeance in every single high torque situation. Several drops and some sucking also thrown in for good measure. Frustrating for Paul who literally took to riding logs off trail to pass the time while waiting for me. For the record fun trail design and enjoyable riding when we are rolling.

CP 2-3 was 4 of 6 optional. We chose same as top teams. Really surprising in retrospect that we were dead even with the winning teams moving through those common optional controls purple-blue-red-green. That's not where I thought we'd be competitive. We dropped a bunch of time getting to the general zone though CP2-purple so clearly we weren't pushing it on the longer road/trail run as much as everyone else or maybe we were lounging too much in the pits. Also we overshot Cp3 by virtue of running right through an open land "road" we had intended to use as a catching feature and then as a highway. A map update might be in order but we could have seen the miss from the terrain and a run along shore would have been much better choice.

CP 3-4 straightforward paddling on a lake 1.1X.

CP 4-5 more bike. Perhaps the funniest moment of truth when getting the splits and seeing 1.3X. Unbelievable. Thought for sure despite my starting to cramp we had improved on this lap based on my figuring out gearing choices with less chain skip and knowing some trail shortcut but ... not so much. Could be partially explained by one potential disaster averted when I noticed my rear brake lever suddenly moving the whole way to the bars. Pull over and discover I again threw the same brake pad insert I had lost a week ago for want of a retention pin (which I never replaced). Faced with having one brake I opted to run back down the trail and search while Paul mocks me and suggests I spend too much time on the brakes anyway. FOUND THE PAD! Reinsert and re-engaged without further incident. Another fun loop but this is a combined clown result on the bike legs where we should have been killing it comparatively. There were easily 10-15 minutes/lap available for us if I had a couple more weeks to regain form long lost and no mechs.

CP 5-6 on foot. 1.1x. All spikes and I was able to dig way back into the memory banks to remember how to run right at the edge of full cramping up. Better than I would have guessed here and last leg 20 minutes of trail on par with top groups. A real surprise we are finishing strong and apparently performed more as a "running" team for the day.

CP6-finish paddleboard uneventful except for the final run up the hill. For grins there we pushed the solo just ahead, John Miller who we had seen off and on all day, to pick it up to a full run. After beating him back to the finish Paul can't find the control for many seconds while at the finish tent allowing John to catch up. When Paul does see the box John snipes him from behind with a reach through. Well done sir!