Training Log Archive: Bash

Photos and race report have now been added for Saturday's Wild B.O.A.R.

Mob Match Score-O on a chilly day at Claireville. Thought I wouldn't have much energy but it was fun - my legs felt surprisingly good after pushing hard yesterday. Cleaned the course and won a coupon for 12 beer!

The Wild B.O.A.R. - the best adventure race money can't buy and right up there with some of the best ones you *can* pay for! Goose, thank you so much for this wonderful gift to us on your birthday!

This was no ordinary adventure race. There was a 40 km regular course of 12 CPs but the winning team would be the one that earned the most points beyond the regular course.

For example, the best 3 team uniforms earned points. It was mandatory to do at least one leg of the race in your uniform. Goose had assigned the team name of "Salomon Cougars" to VO2Max and me, and we decided that the Cougars were a biker gang.



VO2Max's highest heart rate of the day came from zipping up his Dad's vintage motorcycle suit. He had biker gang clothing and tattoos underneath it for racing purposes.



Our team uniform came 2nd to Crash and Dunc, who must have been very warm in their wilderness/camo/lumberjack apparel. Leanimal and Gosling were resplendent in their princess uniforms which earned 3rd place. Hope someone got pics of the other teams.

We also got points for the best-written waiver (we all wrote our own). I liked Cindy's waiver (see below) and the rhyming "Ode to a Wild Boar" by 'Bent and Coach LD, but Goose's Dad chose our waiver which included (amongst many other signatures) the signature of the local funeral home director saying that he knew we might die and was OK with that, and he provided his contact info just in case.



We also got points for visiting up to 13 optional CPs along the course which we could visit at any time in the race. The regular course had SI timing but we had to take a photo of one teammate at each optional CP.



We also got points for getting specific photos, e.g. an aquatic bird, a wildflower we could name, a mammal, etc.







Unfortunately, VO2Max and I misinterpreted the instructions and thought that we could get points for multiple photos of each type. So we missed some photo categories and wasted some time on the race course but we got a lot of photos!

The race course was awesome fun and took us into parts of Caledon/King that we'd never seen. We started with a run through Bolton, picking up some CPs on the way to the canoe put-in at Goose's Dad's place.



VO2Max and I hit the water first and stayed in front of the pack all day. We paddled about 13 km down the Humber River, following its twisty route on the map very closely because we had to pull ashore and visit some CPs along the way. The canoe/bike TA was our first aid station - with the best aid station food *ever*. Apple slices, cheese, homemade squares... yum!

We did some bumpy trail biking, and I had a nasty back wrenching fall that hasn't had the repercussions I thought it might (phew). Then we hit the pavement for a fast ride where I desperately pedaled to stay in VO2Max's draft. We picked up a couple of CPs enroute to Cold Creek Conservation Area where we transitioned to trek. We should have picked up the one mandatory CP and left the park but we got ambitious and picked up a couple of optional CPs, then got trapped in a nasty bog bushwhack that was particularly scratchy for those of us wearing a mini-skirt!

Time was tight now and I got on VO2Max's tow for much of the run to CP10 and CP11.



It was cool to see my Forerunner recording speeds I'd never seen before! Goose handed us our bikes at CP11. The other teams had been given their bikes at CP9, so all of us were short-coursed but we got the farthest and picked up the most optional CPs. Since the rules said that we'd be disqualified if we hit the finish more than 10 minutes late, we skipped CP12 and went for the finish line, arriving 4 minutes late with half the teams still on the course.

This was definitely the best race dinner ever - homemade lasagna, salads and birthday cake for our creative, well-organized and hard-working race director, Goose!



Crash and Coach LD did a great job decorating what might have been the first boar-shaped birthday cake in history.



It was such a great party that even Cheesesteak stopped by.



On the way home, we arrived first on a single car accident scene on our gravel road and spent 30 minutes waiting for the police with an uninjured but shaken 17-year-old guy from Coach LD's school who didn't have a phone and whose parents were out of town.



Other than that, there were no mishaps today so all those well-written waivers weren't needed.

Awesome fun, Goose. Thank you and Happy Birthday! :-)

More Wild B.O.A.R. Photos!

Tapering today for the best adventure race money can't buy - the Wild B.O.A.R. (Bolton Organic Adenture Race) presented by Goose as his own birthday party. I've been assigned the most awesome teammate - VO2Max - and the team name "Salomon Cougars 1" (thanks, Goose). We are guaranteed to clean up in the Scottish/German Coed category as there are no other entrants. (Gunda and Phatty, Team Salomon Cougars 2, are in the German/Scottish Coed category, which is separate.) We're working on our team uniform (best team gets extra points) and our waiver (the best written waiver gets points too). Weather forecast is fantastic and we're looking forward to a fun day exploring Caledon. Thanks for doing this, Goose! :-)

I've been excited about the Dakota Rogaining Champs since I first saw their amazing website. It's organized by the guy who was course designer and assistant race director when Primal Quest was held in South Dakota. It will be the first-ever USOF-sanctioned rogaine at the request of the race director, who really wants to do things right. It forced us (I'm on the USOF committee) to develop a sanctioning process that we can use for future events.

Sadly, 'Bent's knee didn't recover quickly enough so I resigned myself to missing the event. But this week Attackpoint Barb (as we call Barb Bryant around here) needed to replace a partner who had dropped out, so I am going. Team Barbs - yahoo!! I've always wanted to do a rogaine with Barb, one of the best strategists in the biz, so this is doubly exciting. We'll be able to cheer on Harps and Phatty at the awards ceremony - assuming that the mountain lions don't divert any of us from our route to the finish line. (Yipes!) Looks like there will also be *huge* buffalo and speedy antelope in my race photos. Plus we'll get to see Mt. Rushmore. Looking forward to it!!

Crash asked me to join her and Skyerocket in Albion Hills with a 1:50,000 topo to do some Wilderness Traverse-type navigation training. To humour Getawaystix, I figured out how to use the declination key on my compass (I normally just do math in my head), since I know that's what he'll be teaching Crash in his nav course. It was a bluebird day and Crash did really well. We made it to our CP 2.5 km cross-country, waded across the chilly Humber River enroute, and chatted about nav strategies along the way. Having become accustomed to high quality orienteering maps, Crash's challenge will be getting used to the reduced amount of detail - and inaccurate information - on topo maps and the related adjustments to her nav strategy. She did really well out there today and so did Skyerocket!

Interesting note: We met some mountain bikers who swore they had seen a small bear just off the northeast single track - the place where I was running alone last night and setting up the orienteering course for the Cubs. Not 100% sure we trust their wildlife identification skills but there have been bears in the Palgrave area before so they could be right. So... I definitely want a few more volunteers for the Cub Scout Orienteering Night!!

Serious purging of closets and cupboards in preparation for Earth Day tomorrow. Caledon Community Services has rented a big truck and is encouraging residents to bring in donations of clothing and household items that will be sold to raise funds for local community programs.

On a related topic, does anyone need one or two single bed box boards (the part that goes under the mattress)? Two singles = 1 king. Free to a good home. Still in plastic wrap from Sleep Country. It's a long story but it turns out we don't need them and they're taking up space.

Ran the hilly northeast single track at Albion Hills before vetting control locations for next Tuesday's Cub Scout orienteering night, put on by the Caledon Navigators. I think I've planned far more than they could possibly do, but it's a Score-O so that's fine. I need a few Caledon folks to help ensure that no Cubs escape. It's Tuesday evening, Elmview picnic shelter (the one in the open area by the northeast trails), 6:45-8:15 or so. Let me know if you're in - thanks!

While listening to a CBC Radio DNTO podcast. I'm really liking podcasts for strength workouts lately. Time flies faster than TV.

Slowrunner and I rode to Inglewood to eat a chocolate chip cookie from the General Store and support the economy by visiting Caledon Hills Cycling. A tall, cute, pony-tailed cyclist guy wished us a good ride as we left the store and aimed a big smile at Slowrunner but she's too focused athletically to be distracted from her workout by men in Spandex.

Primo weather, nice to keep the legs spinning for a longer ride, and excellent to have company to keep the rail trail interesting!

And he's off! Bender has run the first 5K of the Boston Marathon in 21:47. It's very early in the race but they are currently projecting a 3:04 finish for him. Let's cheer a little harder and push him under 3 hrs!
<http://www.baa.org/2010/cf/Public/TrackingIndividu...> Bib 4596 or enter his name.

While watching the Colbert Report. Not feeling good today.