Training Log Archive: Bash

Event: Storm the Trent
 

STORM the Trent, 15th Anniversary edition
Warsaw, ON
Trek Elite course, Solo

Coming to Storm feels like coming home - so many friendly faces and so much enthusiasm!

The weather forecast was perfect for toughening us up: high of 11C and 80-90% chance of rain every hour of the day. As always, it was worse looking out the window than it was to be outside. I debated clothing choices and was very happy with a polypro base layer under a Goretex jacket. There were a few moments when I was too warm but mostly I was comfortable, and I only felt cold after the race was over.

We started with a 4+ km paddle on the Indian River, out and back from Warsaw. This was shortened from the original 10 km paddle with a foot navigation section in the middle, probably because of the wet, chilly weather. Too bad because I learned today that training is a waste of time. The last time I held a kayak paddle (not counting a handful of winter sessions on our erg) was seven months ago, and it was by *far* my best discipline. It felt comfortable and I was able to hold a consistent pace for almost half an hour without feeling taxed. Mine was the 4th boat off the water, just behind the Long Sault Longshots. More importantly, I finished ahead of 'Bent. :)

However, I lost all advantage with a slow TA. Part of it was out of my control and part of it was just silliness. The first boats off the water had to be carried to the far end of the row, which was more awkward for me with a kayak than for two teammates carrying a canoe. My gear bag wasn't near my boat anymore, and I had to change shoes because I need to bend my feet to steer my kayak toe pedals so I couldn't paddle in stiff-soled bike shoes, as many people did. To top it off, I started out of the transition without a bike helmet, which Phatty Jr. thankfully noticed! I was wearing a hat so my head didn't feel bare. Oops, back to the gear bag!

We rode a few kilometers up the road to a bike drop CP where we accessed a trail into Warsaw Caves Conservation Area. This meant a little more time on our feet compared to the original plan. Warsaw Caves and its trails mostly consisted of wet, slippery slabs of rock - an excellent test for the Pearl Izumi bike/trek shoes I use for AR. They failed. I've been using different versions of this shoe for 9 years without significant problems. My #1 goal for this race was not to injure myself and there were some close calls on this trek - but luckily also some good saves. I'm curious to know how my new Salomon Speedcross Pros would have done; Phatty says they're excellent on wet rock.

At each CP in this section, there was a map with a CP marked for a later trek section. As an orienteer, I figured that would play to my strengths but my glasses were so wet and fogged up that I had trouble seeing the rocks on the trail, let alone the maps. It all worked out eventually. I picked up my bike and headed back to the place where we'd left the marked bike route on the changed race course. (Turns out this wasn't required - oh well.)

I rode to CP3 on a mix of gravel roads, pavement and ATV trail, arriving around the 3.5 hour mark. This was where we used the CPs we'd drawn on our supplemental maps earlier. As I ran in, Double_Downon11 was running out so I knew he was doing well in first place with Mr. & Mrs. Wokitoki only a few minutes behind. Thanks to the out-and-back running, I realized I was in a head-to-head battle with Una Hall for the female solo lead. I think she is faster but my much-cursed Pearl Izumi bike shoes saved the day. I ran into CP3 a minute or two behind her, jumped on my bike and left immediately. The next short trail running section at CP4, Brookwood Wildlife Area, revealed that she was only a few minutes back so I had another quick transition. Yay, bike shoes. (They were fine on regular trails that didn't consist of rocky ledges.) For the next 2 hours, I imagined she was right behind me, which was accurate since she eventually finished 6 minutes back.

At CP5, we started a 10 km stretch of mucky, rocky snowmobile trail. I haven't done much biking this year so it took a little while to wrap my mind around the change in riding style. By the end, I was riding stuff that would have seemed crazy at the start. In addition to riding, we had to keep track of our location on the map and watch for two CPs along the route. I mostly used my bike computer for this, with a little help from the compass. That allowed me to focus on riding rather than watching the map all the time. My bike and I were slathered in mud by the time I emerged onto a gravel road. My front derailleur was almost non-functional.

Perfect timing since we only had 4 more km of riding back to Warsaw, including some fast pavement. Great to see that Double_Downon11 took the overall win - huge congratulations on a successful year to date! 'Bent was 2nd solo, 1st Masters, which was impressive since he can't run properly yet. I was 4th solo, 1st Female. Lots of friends were on the podium so it was fun to cheer at the awards ceremony. Big thanks to Storm, Browner and the great group of staff and volunteers. It's a ton of work but STT is always well organized and fun.



We had a bit of post-race excitement, both good and bad. As soon as we put our surfski on the van roof, a gust of wind flung it off; the back end hit me and I tried to catch it as the bow landed on my racing kayak, still on the ground. Ugh! It looks like everything is OK but it's hard to tell; I have red paint marks on my boat. Thanks to FB and Willderness for helping us with our second attempt! Then we went to Peterborough for a brief visit with Phatty Jr., Kim and their kids. So nice to catch up with them.

Tested bike map holder and other final bike adjustments and gear for Storm. Let's hope I don't have to do a repair on the trail this time. (Bike computer distance)

Short run around Palgrave West in my Pearl Izumi bike/trek shoes. They're not ridiculously heavy but they sure make me appreciate my Speedcross.

Took Mom to a Piano Guys concert - fantastic! So cool to see people of all ages enjoying piano/cello because of TPG's Youtube popularity. They played music ranging from Vivaldi to Disney to Taylor Swift to U2 to Mozart with talent and humour. They're touring Canada until May 20 - probably not many tickets left but since they use video in the show, even bad seats would be OK.
http://thepianoguys.com/events/

C3 Boot Camp

Short lunchtime ride in Palgrave East. Tested bike computer, sun/reading glasses and bike/trek shoes for Storm The Trent. Wanted to put on the bike map holder too but ran out of time. Next ride! (Bike computer distance)

Last-minute Monday evening Hockley Loop with Mrs. Tiny. We practised with our poles and (later on) our lights. Most of the ice storm damage has been cleared although the trail is still officially closed in the northeast forest where the *tches are. Good pace, cool weather, great to catch up!

@Americans: Pack your valuable U.S. dollars and come up north to join us!
http://www.theglobeandmail.com//opinion/dear-ameri...

If you need further convincing...
Twenty-three people have been shot by toddlers in the U.S. since the start of 2016 — exactly 23 more than have been shot by Muslim terrorists over the same period.
https://mic.com/articles/142348/in-2016-toddlers-h...

Ontario Orienteering Championships
Long Distance
Mono Cliffs Provincial Park

Chilly morning for mid-May with a mix of sun, cloud, rain and hail. Luckily, the last two waited till I was done!

Although Mono Cliffs isn't far away, I don't get there often since Hockley Valley is closer and hillier. It's scenic, varied and quiet so I will try to get back here before too long. We parked in the main lot today, which is a 22-minute drive from our house but I'd never been there before.

We got started late due to communication problems caused by poor cell coverage. It was worth the wait. Because Mono has an extensive trail network, I expected some long legs on trail but I spent about 90% of my race off trail. Very cool! Lots of different features and vegetation. It always stayed interesting. I had been expecting more scrambling on rocky terrain but there wasn't much of that. Instead I had several long runs on bumpy, abandoned farm fields. There was a time when my ankle couldn't have handled that, so yay.

I lost 25 seconds (according to GPS) on a control that had the wrong number on it - not bad compared to some other people. I continued running when I saw "227" but I was sure it was in the right place so I came back and punched it anyway. Then I saw the tiny ballpoint "213" - phew! I lost another 20 seconds when I passed below #9 and had to backtrack a little.

Otherwise, it was about as perfect a Long Distance race as I've ever had on a standard orienteering course. Typically, I count my mistakes in minutes, not seconds. Although it seems that the Long *should* be my strongest event because of my endurance sports, I've traditionally lost focus partway through and wrecked my race by doing stupid things. It undoubtedly helped that I was running my age group today so the course was shorter and didn't give me time to fall apart.

Because the Ontario Champs have traditionally been held on Thanksgiving weekend when I've been unable to attend for family reasons, I haven't competed very often. Since it's only my 2nd year in a 10-year age group, I thought it would be fun to push hard and see if I could earn an Ontario championship or two. Mom sent me an encouraging text on her way to church this morning: "Hope you have a threesome!" !!! :)) And now I do.



Many thanks to the Stars - a small club that took on a big job (with much-appreciated help from Ian Sidders) and gave us all a terrific weekend.