Training Log Archive: Mr Wonderful

Event: TurtleHead Paddle O
 

Super fun TurtleHead paddle o, with dear daughter.

Weekend got off to a clumsy start - I was filling out the waiver Saturday, wondering why the date on the form was wrong, then I told daughter she could sleep in since the race wasn't until Sunday. Not sure how I goofed that up!

I wasn't feeling great upon arrival, so planning time got scrunched to "go west, get them all, go east, get them? awesome". We hustled down and even caught some of the briefing.

Daughter graciously agreed to indulge me by waiting for me to do the foot section. I grabbed the closest one to let boats clear out, got back and we were off.

Steve did a great job scouting those islands - I had no idea there were old bathrooms on one of them, and then the next had the flag down in a cool ruin on a small hilltop.

We did well on the boat points. I wonder if we should have parked for 61 and 74 - both had a little bit more veg on the paddle so running may have been faster.

We did better on the narrow channel one.

We saw Greg's boat parked for 91, but I figured if it wasn't marked closed, there must be a way, so I took a chance on a wispier section of reeds and we were able to switch banks and get to the "like paddling on your lawn" section, which was kind of humorous.

I dropped dear daughter at the TA gazebo and headed off on foot. I closed some ground to Greg. I was closing on Rick a bit, unbeknownst to me. The toboggan / disc golf area was tough - at a glance, the prevailing up/down was not obvious. I was glad by the west most ones I'd figured out how the toboggan runs and returns were mapped, and that helped. Caught Greg fully at the 2nd to last, but he spotted the final way faster and hauled back to the TA.

Everything had gone super smoothly, so I wasn't expecting anything else when we parked and I hopped over the spur to punch 62, only I didn't find it. Waded up and down, no luck. XC shirt paddler had covered what I hadn't, Newells were coming back from obviously having gone end to end, and Gibbard was running up and down the spur - not here! I bailed. But I wish I had tied SuLe up better! She was still on the bank, but I said, "two minutes", which was closer to 12 minutes, and it was not the best tie up had it been windy and had I been gone longer.

Quick paddle back to base, beach the boat, and I sprinted for the other trek point here, bobbling only by investigating a small ditch before the correct ditch.

Approximately 4th of 31, pretty solid, quite happy. Daughter enjoyed, hopefully it's back next year! Highly recommended.

C • Wish I could share the pleasure face 6

C • #62 2

Could not catch a light + also opted to not sleep very much = not outstanding time. Weather was beautiful - cooler, and overcast enough to give nice visibility/contrast.

Warmer

Came up in a discussion (friend says his bike home is always faster than to work), so I was curious:

To Work | To House
average 3:59 | 4:25 minutes per mile
stdev 15 | 27 seconds
max 4:42 | 5:22 minutes per mile
min 3:23 | 3:35 minutes per mile

Caught a train out of the gate, but the real reason for missing an hour was legs still a bit heavy after Sunday.

Flirted with an hour, but it is a battle to dig back from that stop sign-riddled opening 12 mph through the D. Fun though!!

Things I will not mention to my wife:

Car stopped on a side street for their stop sign, but then proceeded to drive out in front of me with absolutely zero indication they were aware of my existence. 3-5 mph faster and I could have smacked the car with a hand. Should I invest in an air horn? thinking_emoji.png

Car considered right hooking me for an exit from Hines, but then thought better of it. Just some dramatic braking. Probably would have been clear had they gone for it.

No wonder the security guard who chats with me while getting ready in the parking lot said to stay safe!