special test 3:20 [3]
Im a TOUGHPERSYN!..and I got the stones to prove it!....so here is the rundown for the competition to determine the tuffest of the tuff...!
we started with a dodgeball game and I dont think I have thrown a ball for any reason in 25 years....my throwing arm was pitiful (I can only hope I didnt look like one of those old parents that threw like a girl i remember from my youth) and it hurt like hell as my arm balked at the throwing motion....with so much chaos I dont think people noticed my lack of throwing skills but it was pretty bad...
elimination from the game determined who you would team up with for the first section of the race...I got the prez.....good deal....we dash back to the central TA at JJ's house...
Run 2:32 [3]
run back to the TA with IH....
special test 5:35 [3]
2 special test....sit in a kiddie pool blindfolded and find 3 marbles....(ok, this kinda sucked)...and then start a fire with flint and stone.....by the time I did the kiddie pool test my partner IH had started the fire and we were off to the photo O together...
Run 15:59 [4]
Photo O...IH and I have to run to the lake street bridge and recreate 4 photos from near the bridge....we figure it out fairly quickly and run back to the TA....
transitions 6:59 [3]
get maps...highlight the controls (hard to see on the map) and transition to the bike.....
Mt Bike (road) 15:55 [3]
Bike over to Hidden Falls on other side of the river via the Ford Street Bridge...took me a minute of two while I was rolling to figure out where I was on the map and where I was going but no mistakes....moving well....
transitions 2:00 [3]
bike to run transition...
Run 27:18 [4]
...navigate to the big reentrant leading to hidden falls and then run the creek up to the falls....MC and JB and Waima catch me on this section and we apparently pass by the flagging signaling the end of the creek run so we all climb up the waterfall and out the top choosing to take the road back down to the TA where we then run 4 hill repeats on the hill out of Hidden falls and the river bottoms....I take a conservative approach to the hill repeats and like others take the time to study the map as I hike part of the hill.....
transitions 2:11 [3]
boy this changing shoes is getting old......transition back to bike....
Mt Bike (road) 16:35 [4]
navigate over to pike island using a up and over route using the HWY 5 bridge.....MC/JB and I are confused a bit coming down into the gorge looking for Pike island....I must say I was dissapointed I couldnt figure this out immediately...but even in familiar areas you can find yourself confused if you dont stay in the map...SR also passes us on this section....
transitions 2:00 [3]
transition to run...
trail running 14:31 [3]
navigate to a point on Pike Island and then run to other flag across a very muddy mushy section...we then choose to run the short loop on Pike Island (there was a long, middle, short loop choice)....
transitions 1:32 [3]
run to bike...Im getting good at switching shoes....
Mt Bike 4:58 [3]
bike trail to O area on west side of river..the entire field is navigating well....we are not making any major mistakes and we are not catching anyone....
transitions 2:22 [3]
yep...I am changing shoes again....
Orienteering 23:15 [3]
I Orienteer this section with MC and JB...we crawl through the wrong culvert (like most in the field) and then locate the right one...toughest part of the day was crawling through the 30 meter culvert on hands and knees on rocky concrete with legs threatening to cramp...we make short work of this section that also included a fun climb up a small water fall.....most have trails that lead to the control but we do bushwhack back to the bike trail that leads back to the bikes...still dont make up any ground which means everyone is navigating very well...
transitions 2:00 [3]
yep...another shoe change.....O to bike.....
Mt Bike (road) 30:00 [3]
bike to CP located in the neighbor hood park depression near the river....with darkness falling MC and JB (who I had split from to take a different route to this CP) and I had trouble locating the flagging tape....but after giving up I found it on the way back to my bike....
bike back to the finish with no bobbles for an off the clock challenge....
Run 2:00 [4]
off the clock run with medicine ball to see how many "repeats" you can do in 2 minutes....I get in "almost" 8...SR wins this challenge with 12....
I finish the Toughpersyn in 2:59:20 with a HR average of 136...not including the 2:00 medicine ball run at the end...
thanks to JJ and MAJ for a great workout and good time....Very sore this morning.....damn that culvert crawl.....