Training Archive: O Steve!In the 7 days ending 2008-04-27:
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Sunday Apr 27 | ||
| Note | |
| Timber Wolf Adventure Race with Kari, racing with Dan and Rebecca as 2 2 person teams racing together. ocated in Winter Wi. The race was put on by The UW of Stevens Point Adventure Racing Club and was billed as an 8 hour race...The short review was that the race was interesting and the course was a good one (although I only saw half of that...more about that in a bit) and they obviously worked hard on it. They had some elements and details that could definitely be improved but it would not take to much work. I would do another one of their races.
We show up at the race start and it is 35F with 30 mph winds. Very young race field, freezing cold, we are sure they are going to cancel the canoe portion on the river...no such luck...then it begins to snow and snow hard....we get one map and no written instructions and are given an overview of the course... | ||
Saturday Apr 26 | ||
| special test 4:10 [2] | |
| ahr:116 | ||
| Timber Wolf Adventure Race with Kari, racing with Dan and Rebecca as 2 2 person teams racing together....started with a special test that I still couldnt explain if you asked me to....file it under "stupid human tricks" and I am not sure if I still understand the instructions...but like most special test it did not mean much.... | ||
| Run 22:45 [3] | |
| ahr:137 | ||
| appx 2 mile run to TA 1 down a paved road....15 words were put on signs on trees by the road in random order and you had to read them and write them down to descramble them in a sentence before moving on to an Orienteering section, we wrote them down while running and descrambled them on the run...We gave the officials the sentence verbally, of course there were many teams listening so that obviously helped them by just letting them repeat what we said......ah, special tests....the devils in the details...
we were probably in midpack or just behind midpack at this point.... | ||
| Orienteering race 1:13:00 [3] *** | |
| ahr:136 | ||
| As the field was descrambling sentences we received our O map and it took us a minute or two to figure trail intersection at the trailhead (which was drawn incorrectly) on the USGS map ...I would guess the trail inaccuracy confused the field trying to get oriented and started on the O course but as they did we found the correct trails that led close to the first conrtol by the direction it was going....we snuck down the correct trail with one other team and located the control in short order...likely moving to near the top of the field...
The other 5 CP's were located across a wide swampy creek area that required crossing...no other way...I went ona a straight bearing to CP 2 that required travel across a swampy watery area. Dan said "go for it" and quickly found myself dunked chest deep in water....not good...Dan replied "I guess we are not going that way" as I retreated. We went farther south and hopscotched on grass clumps to get across. I was sopping wet but warmed up quickly trekking through the O course but the dunking would be my undoing. Dan was taking the lead as navigator and I was backing him up and we were right on the other 5 CP's except one control that looked like it was on a hill top on the fuzzy blown up USGS map...as we searched the hilltop we noticed the Control in a deep depression next to the hill......we then noticed very faint hash mark lines indicating a depression on the map..(we were not given any control descriptions or race instructions)....probably a 5 minute error.. 5:43 of time includes running over to canoe area and transitioning... we are in the boats as the 4th and 5th teams out of a field of 30 or so teams......... | ||
| Paddling 1:28:48 [3] | |
| ahr:132 | ||
| We paddle 8 miles down the Flambeau river through high winds blowing upstream and snow squalls stinging our faces ...the temps havent budged and my right hand fingers are numb and my feet are cold...we have a good current, so we have that going for us, but I am suprised that the race directors put so many novices in canoes in that weather....we have a hard time trying to stay with Dan and Rebecca and and at the end when I tried to get out of the canoe I could barely straighten up....
....but we are the 3rd and 4th team off the river with the 1st place team in sight... I was freezing cold and damp all over and I began to shake uncontrolably... the next team down the river capsized and they barely got a throw rope to them... | ||
| Portage race 15:00 [3] | |
| ahr:135 | ||
| transition and portage the heavy canoe....
I continue to shake as I feel extremely cold....an EMT suggest that I go up to a heated van to warm up....I spend 30 minutes warming up and eating trying to get ready to back out on the course....Dan and Rebecca say to take my time and they are going to wait and I leave the van and go back to the river bank for a ferry across the river....I go back down to the river to wait in que and begin to get cold and shake all over again....Kari has to do a charades like special test and I cant focus very well and take 2 minutes to guess the word "mirror"....Dan and Rebecca ferry across the river and I cant imagine getting on a bike feeling as cold as I do...I talk to Kari and then yell across the river to Dand and Rebecca to go on....I decide to drop and crawl back to the warm van.... Kari and I are taken in the warm van to a race HQ with 2 other teams that decide to drop also including the team that flipped.....the driver EMT person is on the radio and most teams are dropping after the paddle, one team is lost on the O course and 2 teams have pulled out of the canoe and are walking the road....after about an hour the race officials decide to call the race due to weather and award result based on how far teams got and their time to the farthest CP.... when they called the race Dan and Rebecca had worked their way into first or second overall despite waiting 35 minutes for me in the van! We were declared 3rd coed team despite our dropping out, only one coed team behind us (and they were well behind us) decided not to drop out after the paddle and made it to the next TA a mile trek away...odd to drop out and come in third but that is how it turned out.... despite the cold and troubles we had a good time and got a decent 3.5 hour workout in..... | ||
Wednesday Apr 23 | ||
| Run 1:17:02 [3] | |
| ahr:137 | ||
| running single track trails...predominately the Wirth Mt bikie trails...I appreciate the soft surfaces and twist and turns...keeps it interesting.... | ||
| Note | |
| Kari and I are racing with Dan and Rebecca this Saturday in an Adventure Race in Winter Wi put on by the UW at Stevens Point Adventure Racing Club. Low key race with appx 75 or so racers...slated to be an 8 hour race....its a 2 person race but we are going to join forces and have a good time... | ||
| Hike 36:11 [1] | |
| ahr:103 | ||
| fitness walk at night around the neighborhood with Kari after she got home....nice night out... | ||
Tuesday Apr 22 | ||
| Note | |
| I was just thinking about the AR Tune Up...
...after placing our kayaks in the river we passed one team on the river and one team on the bike...no team passed us....so that meant that we were in 9th of 33/34 teams after the first O section and then moved to 7th...funny that our postion was pretty set after 45 minutes into a 4.5 hour race....and we were in the back third easily after the first control....I wonder where we moved ahead...it was likely going straight line from 5 to 6...but alot of it was also scooting along in the first transition... liked how this race mixed it up....pure speed paddle...good test and I doubt anyone had paddled this year....the O sections had straight out trail running and big climbs out of reentrants...plus a choice of running over mushy flat ground or a longer way on firm ground..The bike was mainly a bike speed section but as we proved you can still make a nav error that cost you time...The O sections were not overly difficult navigation BUT as our first section proved navigation skill still won out but novice teams where not lost and frustrated so I thight it was perfect in many ways...I also liked the choice on where to drop the bikes on the last O section....it wasnt a huge deal but added one more thing to have to anticipate and decide on.....Very nice course design and execution....it demonstrates that you can put on a gret race without alot of bells and whistles and it can be Big Fun.... | ||
Monday Apr 21 | ||
| Note | |
| I will post more later but wanted to thank Mike C. Julia, Ian and all the volunteers for the AR Tune Up. the work and effort put in to the event is really appreciated. Watching Ian hustle before the event to get things in place just reinforced all this...and I know that many people pitched in....but things like having to get the U Haul, do all the race stuff and then getting the U Haul back just reinforces the fact that so many tasks have to be completed to make it all happen....Kari and I had a Great time Sunday... | ||
| Mt Bike 31:20 [2] | |
| ahr:121 | ||
| recovery ride...sore all over today....especially my paddling muscles... | ||