Training Log Archive: argIn the 7 days ending Sep 27, 2009:
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Saturday Sep 26, 2009 #
Paddling race 55:27 [4] 10.0 km (5:33 / km)
Run race 1:19:40 [4]
biking race 1:32:48 [4]
Run race 37:00 [4]
Orienteering race 45:40 [4]
Hah! Ok, you asked for it (in response to FB's comment "Awesome Report").
Dawn broke early for ARG as he was awakened by an irritating chirping from his cell phone alarm at 0500 (note that his Polar watch recently shorted out after paddling his surfski in the waves and his aged Suunto also suffered the same fate and can only be used as a paper weight on an expired watch warranty).
It was MOMAR Race Day, Sep 26, 2009 in Cumberland BC. Well, actually, I was on a side spur off Mt Washington having spent a night under the stars and a 40 minute drive from the race start. I tucked into my brekkie: two veggie samosa's, some yogurt and granola and a water bottle mixed with Ultima (shameless product plug). I packed up my sleeping bag, scratched here and there, brushed my teeth and then jumped into the loser cruiser to make my way off the mountain and into Comox to grab a java then drop off my bike at the Number 6 Mine Park for 0700.
The coffee was great - big size and freshly brewed. I got to the bike drop off at 0659hrs and was surprised to see how many racers were already there and flexing their racing muscles. Intimidation was the key and it was working. There were new out of the box full suspension 29-ers with carbon this and that, full on hard tails with titanium thing-a-mah-jigs and helium-inflated tires. I pulled out my trusty Brody hard tail cross country scandium machine that last had a tune up oh so long ago: my front deraillieur couldn't shift into the granny gear and my tires had seen better AR days. My rear derailleur hanger was bent too. The Bento box was the newest addition to the bike and that was purchased for the Swedish Airborne Expedition Race.
Lots of racers milling about and I was connecting with Gary, Brent, Jeff, Norm et al.
Got to the race start area on the lake and unloaded my newest piece of AR Racing gear in the quiver, my Think Evo surfski (that's why I don't have a new bike - I bought a new boat). The water was perfect for the 'ski. Bart and I compared boats - same make and model, but his was the 2009/10 edition with handles, weed deflector and longer skeg.
More milling about, more friends to talk to and catch up with. Maps were handed out and it looked to be a great race with a paddle start, then trek, then transition to bike, then a short urban trek, then bike, then orienteering course.
Two courses - an enduro of ~ 50 km and and short course of 30 km. The race was max'd out - Bryan Tasaka had filled his entries for his tenth anniversary of MOMAR.
The paddle went ok - I placed myself away from the middle of the start line and was near Roger in another 'ski. With the countdown of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...the race was on.
This was the first race in the boat and I didn't know if I could hold my own against the more established/experieneced 'ski paddlers. With my first few 'get up to speed' paddle dippings, I was distancing myself from the pack and into the lead with Bart (Think Evo) and John (Fenn). They pulled away from me so I settled in behind a double 'ski and kept that position until the end (Norm and Graham who had tucked in behind a furiously paddling double 'yak pair that kept a very fast cadence for this leg).
From here, I gallantly let Norm and Graham hit the first CP as I had drafted them, then watch them out run me in the first kilometer or so on the road before the true trail running. From here, it was up. And up. And more up. Gary Robbins caught up with me at the first major trail intersection and then the other fleet footed fastees loped past. I haven't run much at all and my goal was to survive the trek/run. Luckily my lungs were ok from all the interval, hill and anerobic work I had done on my road bike. My strength appeared to be keeping a good pace to gain elevation, but once it dropped off the stronger runners spanked me. We had gathererd in a clump just prior to CP3 due to a slight navigation bobble and Jeremy (who is a local and knows the trails) then led us to the CP. From there, I watched as the group out paced me down the trails to CP4 and beyond. I was content to set my own pace and protect my knees.
I got to the bike transition in ok shape and figured I would pick off a few spots. At least that was my plan. I launched onto the trail and was making ground towad a mens pair, but as soon as it become up hill and I had to power up, I would try to drop in to my granny gear using my foot to guide the chain onto the gear as the front derailleur wasn't shifting it down all the way. Once in gear, I would then power up and my rear derailleur would jam. I'd get off the bike, fix the problem and then repeat. I finally figured it out , ie stay out of the granny gear and ride the middle ring. Duh.
There was some great flowing single track (SteamDonkey, Bucket of Blood, Buggered Pig etc) and fireroad in this section and the bike worked wonders. I road a few skinnys and ladders and had some fun. By this time, I was on my own and didn't have any idea as to where I was in relation to my nearest competitors.
Rode back to the original bike transition in town, then had an urban run to do. Boring. Why? is all I ask...why? We hit three local businesses (well okay, it brought the race into town and was good for the sponsors) as CP's and then back to the bike to make our way back to the race start/finish area. While in town, I passed a homeless man twice and he was yelling out encouragement for me....I stopped and offered him a protein bar and some gels and he just laughed and said there was no way he'd eat that 'shite.' Gotta love it.
Note: my backpack bladder had a leak in it and essentially it was all but out of liquid by the first ten minutes of the trek. I was feeling the effects of limited hydration by the time I got on the bike, and tried to make up for it via bike water bottles. I even considered taking off my Sleepmonsters.ca jersey and wringing out the damp/soaked back of the jersey into my mouth where my frikkin' electrolyte had leaked but even I was grossed to do that.
By the time I got to the finish area, I was slow. I received my orienteering map from Carl and looked at it. I'm not a great orienteerer kinda guy, but I can get by. At this point though, nothing made sense to me. I was looking at the map and trying to orient it to north. I was so out of it...the water was to my left, I mean, a large lake and I was still tyring to figure it out. It took me at least five minutes to make the decision that I should have some water before I started this discipline. I made a lot of mistakes and it showed. I figured I should have been able to do the course in 30 - 35 minutes, but it took me 45. Holy doodle.
Anyway, 42 minutes off the lead time put me in tenth over all and 6th male solo. I think I should stick to macramé while sipping a decent scotch.
Dawn broke early for ARG as he was awakened by an irritating chirping from his cell phone alarm at 0500 (note that his Polar watch recently shorted out after paddling his surfski in the waves and his aged Suunto also suffered the same fate and can only be used as a paper weight on an expired watch warranty).
It was MOMAR Race Day, Sep 26, 2009 in Cumberland BC. Well, actually, I was on a side spur off Mt Washington having spent a night under the stars and a 40 minute drive from the race start. I tucked into my brekkie: two veggie samosa's, some yogurt and granola and a water bottle mixed with Ultima (shameless product plug). I packed up my sleeping bag, scratched here and there, brushed my teeth and then jumped into the loser cruiser to make my way off the mountain and into Comox to grab a java then drop off my bike at the Number 6 Mine Park for 0700.
The coffee was great - big size and freshly brewed. I got to the bike drop off at 0659hrs and was surprised to see how many racers were already there and flexing their racing muscles. Intimidation was the key and it was working. There were new out of the box full suspension 29-ers with carbon this and that, full on hard tails with titanium thing-a-mah-jigs and helium-inflated tires. I pulled out my trusty Brody hard tail cross country scandium machine that last had a tune up oh so long ago: my front deraillieur couldn't shift into the granny gear and my tires had seen better AR days. My rear derailleur hanger was bent too. The Bento box was the newest addition to the bike and that was purchased for the Swedish Airborne Expedition Race.
Lots of racers milling about and I was connecting with Gary, Brent, Jeff, Norm et al.
Got to the race start area on the lake and unloaded my newest piece of AR Racing gear in the quiver, my Think Evo surfski (that's why I don't have a new bike - I bought a new boat). The water was perfect for the 'ski. Bart and I compared boats - same make and model, but his was the 2009/10 edition with handles, weed deflector and longer skeg.
More milling about, more friends to talk to and catch up with. Maps were handed out and it looked to be a great race with a paddle start, then trek, then transition to bike, then a short urban trek, then bike, then orienteering course.
Two courses - an enduro of ~ 50 km and and short course of 30 km. The race was max'd out - Bryan Tasaka had filled his entries for his tenth anniversary of MOMAR.
The paddle went ok - I placed myself away from the middle of the start line and was near Roger in another 'ski. With the countdown of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...the race was on.
This was the first race in the boat and I didn't know if I could hold my own against the more established/experieneced 'ski paddlers. With my first few 'get up to speed' paddle dippings, I was distancing myself from the pack and into the lead with Bart (Think Evo) and John (Fenn). They pulled away from me so I settled in behind a double 'ski and kept that position until the end (Norm and Graham who had tucked in behind a furiously paddling double 'yak pair that kept a very fast cadence for this leg).
From here, I gallantly let Norm and Graham hit the first CP as I had drafted them, then watch them out run me in the first kilometer or so on the road before the true trail running. From here, it was up. And up. And more up. Gary Robbins caught up with me at the first major trail intersection and then the other fleet footed fastees loped past. I haven't run much at all and my goal was to survive the trek/run. Luckily my lungs were ok from all the interval, hill and anerobic work I had done on my road bike. My strength appeared to be keeping a good pace to gain elevation, but once it dropped off the stronger runners spanked me. We had gathererd in a clump just prior to CP3 due to a slight navigation bobble and Jeremy (who is a local and knows the trails) then led us to the CP. From there, I watched as the group out paced me down the trails to CP4 and beyond. I was content to set my own pace and protect my knees.
I got to the bike transition in ok shape and figured I would pick off a few spots. At least that was my plan. I launched onto the trail and was making ground towad a mens pair, but as soon as it become up hill and I had to power up, I would try to drop in to my granny gear using my foot to guide the chain onto the gear as the front derailleur wasn't shifting it down all the way. Once in gear, I would then power up and my rear derailleur would jam. I'd get off the bike, fix the problem and then repeat. I finally figured it out , ie stay out of the granny gear and ride the middle ring. Duh.
There was some great flowing single track (SteamDonkey, Bucket of Blood, Buggered Pig etc) and fireroad in this section and the bike worked wonders. I road a few skinnys and ladders and had some fun. By this time, I was on my own and didn't have any idea as to where I was in relation to my nearest competitors.
Rode back to the original bike transition in town, then had an urban run to do. Boring. Why? is all I ask...why? We hit three local businesses (well okay, it brought the race into town and was good for the sponsors) as CP's and then back to the bike to make our way back to the race start/finish area. While in town, I passed a homeless man twice and he was yelling out encouragement for me....I stopped and offered him a protein bar and some gels and he just laughed and said there was no way he'd eat that 'shite.' Gotta love it.
Note: my backpack bladder had a leak in it and essentially it was all but out of liquid by the first ten minutes of the trek. I was feeling the effects of limited hydration by the time I got on the bike, and tried to make up for it via bike water bottles. I even considered taking off my Sleepmonsters.ca jersey and wringing out the damp/soaked back of the jersey into my mouth where my frikkin' electrolyte had leaked but even I was grossed to do that.
By the time I got to the finish area, I was slow. I received my orienteering map from Carl and looked at it. I'm not a great orienteerer kinda guy, but I can get by. At this point though, nothing made sense to me. I was looking at the map and trying to orient it to north. I was so out of it...the water was to my left, I mean, a large lake and I was still tyring to figure it out. It took me at least five minutes to make the decision that I should have some water before I started this discipline. I made a lot of mistakes and it showed. I figured I should have been able to do the course in 30 - 35 minutes, but it took me 45. Holy doodle.
Anyway, 42 minutes off the lead time put me in tenth over all and 6th male solo. I think I should stick to macramé while sipping a decent scotch.
Wednesday Sep 23, 2009 #
Run 55:02 [3]
Easy trail run around and up Mt Doug
Soccer 1:15:00 [2]
Training with the GU13's 'teachin' old skool
Monday Sep 21, 2009 #
Soccer 48:51 [3]