Training Log Archive: Jerkface

Event: Ellicottville Adventure Run and Hike
 

Ellicottville Rogaine.

Map has been upgraded to a 1:15 000 orienteering quality map. Contour lines are at 5 meters which means some areas of the ski slopes are very busy. Some of the boulder fields get confusing at this scale, but if I read the clues they were helpful. Would any of us miss a 4.0 meter high boulder 20 meters off a trail?

Race registration and start were at the Holiday Valley Training Center. We were sharing the building with Ski Patrol training. Registration opened at 9am, the first map was distributed at 10:45 with a race start of 11:00. Luckily E-punch was in use.

Map #1: 24 controls totaling 890 points. Control break down 3@10, 3 @20, 4@30, 6@40, 4@50 and 4@60.

Then there was a map exchange and download at the top of Holiday Valley. There we saw Map #2 for the first time.

Map #2: 20 controls totaling 710 points. Control break down 3@10, 3@20, 3@30, 5@40, 3@50 and 3@60. The finish was back at the start.

Only having 15 minutes to plan at route and having no clue what the second map looked like was frustrating. I figured that if my hip would let me run I should be able to clear map #1 in 3.5 hours and then move on to map #2.

Map #1 order: 1, 2, 11, 12, 5, 22, 16, 18, 19, 24, 10, 6, 17, 13, 20, 9, 14, 23, 8, 7, 4, 21, 15, 3, map exchange.

I found out quickly that my hip wasn't going to let me run. I haven't been considering it an injury but it is keeping me from training and running in races. I was still able to move quickly and drop anyone I met with the exception of R.N. I was satisfied with my pace until I started cramping on the way from 24 to 10. Not sure if it was diet or lack of training. Hamstring and quad cramps would come on with no warning. Long breaks helped with the cramps, but then maybe I pushed to hard after the breaks and the cramps returned.

I cleared map #1 in about 4:30. Far longer than I had planned and now I was regretting clearing it. I found out later that I was the only person to clear map #1.

Mass start-1: (2:29) Short leg straight up ski slope. Was within a meter of fpb all the way. This was steep enough to limit me to a slow walk, but my hip started throbbing instantly.
1-2(3:22) Still with fpb. We dropped to low on the slope and had to climb again to punch the control. Started to see racers scattered around looking for controls.
2-11(4:56) The real climbing now started. Didn’t bother trying to lose fpb. Slopes were too steep and visibility too great. I did continue to talk to him the entire time. This bothers some races, but he seemed fine. As I approached the control there giant man(Chris L.) running at me. Not sure where he came from, but I felt small!
11-12(7:28) Fpb disappeared as did the giant. The climbing seemed like it would never end. This was the first control that wasn’t obvious, even though it was within a meter of a trail. Unfortunately I had to descend to get it, which meant I instantly had to start climbing again.
12-5(9:22) Started passing the train that had East from the start. I was wondering if they were smarting than me because they skipped 10 pointers near the start. Navigation was still very basic as I traveled the service roads and slopes of HV. Caught up to Clean and Paul as they punched 5.
5-22 (9:28) Decided to take a breather and follow Paul back up the ski hill. He stayed in the woods which gave lots of trees to assist in the climbing. His extra 60 pounds meant he had to work way harder than me. The top a the hill was confusing. Fresh bulldozing left me wondering which trails were mapped and which weren’t. Suddenly heard large numbers of racers approaching 22. I stayed with Paul till we punched, but was worried since we picked up the team of Betrus-DePew. They were clearly in good shape and endorsed my policy of talking to everyone they met. At this point they were only 10 points behind me as they had skipped #1.
22-16 (13:49) No trails, lots of vegetation and lots of descending. I slowly dropped Paul, but Betrus-DePew kept contact for a good 10 minutes. I tried to stay in control. Control was on a 1.0 meter cliff, looked more like a boulder. B-P, some how didn’t see me punch. Since I now had a gap I pushed as hard as my hip would let me.
16-18 (11:16) Pushed much harder than I should have. I could still hear B-P talking. I attacked off the last vegetation boundary, which gave me all of the climbing at once.
18-19 (10:52) As I left 18 I could see someone climbing away from me. Since their heading was the same as me, I decided to catch them. I pushed much harder than I should have as this hill felt steeper than the ski slopes. I caught Russell just before the top of the hill. At this point I was 2 controls(50 points) ahead of Russell.
19-24 (14:08) First time I made any significant errors. The streams in this area were indistinct. I always had map contact, I just didn’t trust myself. I found having Russell next to me to be a slight distraction. After we punched, we separated even though we were going to the same control.
24-10 (14:47) I took the most direct route that stayed on public land. Was over 30 meters of climbing. When I reached the top my legs stopped working. Hamstring cramps were brutal. I walked straight legged as I tried to work out the cramps.
10-6 (10:54) Since I could barely move I stayed on trails until I was within the circle of #6. Saw Sherpes and Erinlobster on my way. I stopped to poise for one of Sherpes famous pictures.
6-17 (12:17) I still used trails till the last possible attack point. I started to hear other racers again, but never saw anyone.
17-13 (11:38) Downhill and out onto a gravel road. Suddenly I had contact with multiple racers and teams. Betrus-DePew had caught back up to me. I sighed, cursed my legs, but didn’t know they had skipped #6 and #17.
13-20 (11:11) Note: LOOK at the clue! Why was I worried about missing a 4.0 meter boulder? Saw Russell leaving 20, I cursed my legs again, but didn’t know he had skipped #17.
20-9 (8:50) I tired to catch Russell. The 10 meters of straight climb, kept my legs cramping the entire time. I walked past the control, but luckily turned to see it before it was out of sight.
9-14 (9:57) Still stayed on trails till the last possible attack point. This method was costing me time, as B-P were in sight again.
14-23 (11:13) The map lies!! Not really, but an indistinct trail through a boulder field on a 1:15 000 map is not fun. I found Russell wandering through the boulders. He punched first, and quickly pulled away, as I just couldn’t move. Russell could still run, and I could shuffle at times.
23-8 (19:27) Legs and now brain were toast. I let Russell distract me again and had to relocate to get control. How did 600m take me 19:27? Jon Hunter appears to be the fastest on this leg, he went 8-23(16:02) but it was his 4th control. In this area the light green acted as dark green and the dark green was like a gated community with razor wire and guard towers.
8-7 (16:51) Road, then trail, then easy control. I thought about skipping the rest of map #1, as I was within 50m of the map exchange.
7-4 (7:07) I was suddenly all alone. Seems like most skipped this corner of the map. Everything was green with no runnable forests.
4-21 (13:58) I tried to stay on trails. Had to use a streambed for the last 400m. Vegetation was catching my legs, and giving me eternal leg cramps.
21-15 (16:01) I fell like I took the longest possible route. Map was all green. I wanted to cry, then nap!
15-3 (18:30) Long climb to the top of HV and around the snow making reservoirs. Suddenly hundreds of people were staring at me. Apparently riding the lift to the top of the mountain is the thing to do. At this point I could move 20-30 meters, before I would cramp again. I must have looked horrible as people would turn around and walk the other way when they saw me coming. I met one of the 3 hour competitors and helped him find the control.
3-map exchange. I punched #3 at 3:29:51 and reached the exchange a few minutes later. I started calling to Doug well before I could see him. We were both a little concerned that I really couldn’t walk or bend over. I stayed there for a long time. I didn’t want to give up, but didn’t want to force Jackie and Doug to come into the woods and get me. I decided to stumble my way to a few more points.


Map #2 order: 13, 9, 18, 10, finish.

Nothing special with map #2. Same area, but there were many high point controls near the map exchange. With the cramps I was having I should have planned something more conservative. I only finished the first of my two planned loops and barely made it down the ski slope to the finish. Running downhill with cramps puts tons of strain on your heels.

3-13 (23:13) I almost gave up on this control because the flagging was 20m upstream from the control. Luckily I decided to stay in the streambed.
13-9 (16:16) Same route I took to control #21 on map #1. Just turned off a few meters earlier.
9-18 (8:38) I had walked past this control when I was using map #1. I was starting to doubt if I could make it back before the time cut.
18-10 (19:10) LOOK at the clue!! 3.0m rootstock and I was being careful. This was larger than my house.
10-Finish (19:47) Back to the top of the mountain. More people pointing at me. This time I was bleeding quite a bit as well. I had time to pick up #1, but I didn’t want to risk cramping and not making it in.


If I had been able to run I don't think I could have cleared both maps. Too many controls involved large elevation changes with thick vegetation.

As normally Buffalo Orienteering put on an amazing event!

Results should be posted soon.

Open Men:
1st 1060 me
2nd 1030 R.N.
3rd 990 fpb

Betrus-DePew came in with 1010. I knew they would be dangerous if I couldn't drop them.

C • Map #1 5

Event: ROC - Cobbs Hill NOW Meet
 

Scatter-O
Order: 166, 194, 176, 193, 178, 188, 189, 187, 182, 183, 181, 191, 180, 186, 164, 184, 155, 190, 169, 156, 174, 171, 173, Finish, Download, 185, Finish, Download.

Legs are still under 100%. Mainly the muscles that connect into the hip. With important races the next two weekends I kept it very slow. Jogged the flats and walked hills or anything that looked slick. Skipped the sprint because I knew I would want to run. Should have done a real cool down!

Would have won very easily except I forgot(?) to grab my third to last control.
My guess is it cost about 6 minutes. I finished, talked, downloaded and then convinced myself to go back out in the rain.

I don't like races this short, but the small area was used effectively.

Scatter-O 25 - Splits

Event: Storm the 'Scarpment
 

Event: Dirt Floor 8 Hour Rogaine
 

Event: BFLO - Delaware Park
 

Event: Laurentian Rogaine
 

Event: ROC - Genesee Country Village and Museum Regular Meet