Training Log Archive: abiperk

Wiss trails with Val, combo trek/run, light pack. Stupid humid.

C • 9.4mph! 4

Tweaked my groin on Thursday - trying to shake it out.

A milestone worth recording. Got home from New England tonight and took the dogs for a short hike -- Z ran/walked the whole woods loop for the first time.

A bit of a bust.

Loop in the hills. We have two bikes with us, but both are set up for me to ride. Sent Brent's mountain bike back to Philly with my dad after Saturday's race and unfortunately left the multi-tool in the bento. So, he rode my mountain bike and I had Z on the back of the surly. Ten miles in we stopped at a gas station and borrowed an allen key to make his ride more comfortable. I was working hard with the extra weight on the back - legs were pretty shot by the end.

#Endlessmountains2018 :)

This section of the race has been sponsored by Brent's sister and niece, who spent the morning with Z so that we could get some efficient time in the woods!

Event: Maine Summer Adventure Race
 

Maine Summer AR with Brent and Pete Spagnoli. Brent spent the past two weeks at the Solo School in Conway, NH for a WFR course, and we all converged on Jefferson, ME the night before the race for a big reunion dinner with my dad and Z, Cliff and Kate, and both of their families.

We were second divisionally, third or fourth overall. Good race strategically, one unfortunate nav issue. Once we saw the Rev3 lineup (Jeff Woods, Dave Lamb, and Jenny Johnson in her return to AR after six years away), we were pretty sure we'd be racing for second place.

Prologue --

Short two-point memory-o. We took an early trail to the first point that was a bit less efficient, but corrected with a bushwhack to CP2. Swift transition onto the bikes - I think 4th team out of TA.

C • Jenny 2

Quick rolling road ride to the boat put-in. Two mandatory CPs along the way.

Scenic lake paddle in fast sea kayaks. Brent and I were in the double, with Pete in the single. We alternated between towing him and having us stick to our wake. I was working hard and the towing was rough, especially without using the rutter, but once we settled into a pace and rhythm, we moved well.

We thought this would be the crux of the race from a strategy perspective. There were 8 points over 13 miles, including three at the southern end of the lake. We didn't think the full course was clearable (over 60 miles in 8 hours), so we took a card from Alpine Shop's 2014 Nationals playbook and decided to skip the southern 3 points, hoping we'd be able to clear everything else. We returned to TA with a three-person male team - first teams off the water.

C • thx 2

The first 32 miles were more rolling roads (and about 2k of teeth-chattering tire-rutted gravel) followed by ~2 miles on the trails in Hidden Valley, leading us back to the start/finish/TA. Some teams might have liked more trails on the course, but I enjoyed the smooth roads and scenic Maine countryside. Apparently there aren't many areas for mountain biking in the area, and the two miles that we did on Hidden Valley trails were enough to make me realize that I wouldn't have wanted much more of them. We arrived at TA within a few minutes of our time estimate and transitioned quickly to the final orienteering section -- we had just over three hours left on the clock.

The final section included 15 points on foot, spread over roughly 10 miles. We estimated that it would take about 3 hours and thought that if we ran it cleanly, we could potentially clear it. We learned later that RD's Cliff and Kate also estimated 3 hours. It turned out to be much slower.

It was close to 90 degrees and humid by this point, so while we knew it might not have been the best use of our time, we decided to do the loop counter-clockwise, heading first toward the Swim checkpoint (conveniently, on the pond right behind the cabin where we'd spent the night before the race). We made good time getting to the dock, where we dropped our packs, picked up PFD's, and jumped into the water to the cheers of a fantastic crew of volunteers. The point was plotted on an island 200+ meters from the shoreline, and we swam efficiently there and back. A SCUBA instructor, a longtime competitive swimmer, and a former triathlete -- the point was designed for us.

From there, we continued north to CP22 just off a marsh. We found the flag smoothly but the punch and code was missing. A quick call to Cliff confirmed we were in the right place, so we continued on, no real time lost. Next up was CP23, the furthest point from TA and the most remote. It was plotted on a 10-foot knoll in a relatively featureless area, save for a sizeable waterway that cut across the course, east to west (ish).

We attacked-- and reattacked and reattacked and reattacked. We spent close to an hour looking for this point, and never found it. We probably should have moved on earlier, but we got stubborn and then we got demoralized, and then other teams started searching... and finally, we gave up and continued on without it. Turned out that no one got the point. Brent and Kate spent about an hour after the race talking about it and trying to work through what happened. I think we ultimately just weren't far enough north, but there were dozens of unmapped trails on the topo, and it was near-impossible to figure out what was what. Everyone agreed that a park map for the section would have helped.

By that point, we had 90 minutes left on the clock and weren't quite sure where we were on that map. Brent navigated smoothly to what we thought was the next point, and sure enough there was a flag there. Except that the coding didn't line up. We reasoned that maybe it was just a typo (AB instead of AR) so we punched and continued on -- it ended up being a point from the three-hour course, in roughly the same area. Our fault for making assumptions.

With an hour to go, we were pushing the pace but not totally trusting the map and the trails. We managed to nab a few more points on our way back toward the finish, but didn't make it to the southern-most points. Our final CP was on the west side of a small pond, with a trail ringing it. We arrived at the SE corner with 7 minutes on the clock and took off at a near-sprint. We nabbed the point and were within 300 meters of the finish line when Pete nicked his toe on a rock and went flying. We looked back as he was sprawled out across the trail, but a second later he jumped up with a huge smile on his face. "I'm okay, guys! Let's go!"

We gunned it to the finish, coming in at 4:57pm. Three minutes to spare.

We ended up with 23 checkpoints, second to Rev3, with 27, in the premiere division and either 3rd or 4th overall (we were announced as 4th but that was because they forgot to credit #22 without the punch. Not sure if that changed the placement). Rev3 went clockwise on the foot section and left 7 points out there.

Overall, a great first race by Strong Machine, and a lot of fun strategy decisions to keep us on our toes. Eagerly awaiting the second edition next summer!

I was also pleased with my own fitness, going into Itera. The pace felt comfortable and sustainable the whole day, and I was able to kick up a few gears the final hour, when we needed to boogie.

C • O section 3

Loop around Eagle Lake and Jordan Pond on Acadia carriage roads (beautiful network of wide crushed gravel paths, restricted to foot, bike, and horse traffic). Rental bike for my dad, Z with me. My dad is a strong hiker but not much of a biker, so we slowed a fair bit on the rollers, but it was a great ride -- other than the fact that the woman at the bike shop told us it was a 10 mile loop...

Summit and descent on the Cadillac Mountain North Ridge Trail with my dad, Z on my back. More technical than we were anticipating, and challenging with 40 pounds of kid, pack, and gear. A couple short stops to pick blueberries.

Wandering around Portland with a heavy pack and Z on my shoulders.

Chasing the sunset on the Presumpscot River Trail with Strongmachine and Kateness and their pup. Nice shakeout after 9 hours on the road today. So happy to be in Maine!

To Headhouse Square with Z on the back, moderate pack. Nice riding through the park and along the river -- crazy biker/foot traffic along the SRT extension and then the usual city stop-and-go river to river.

Home from the Farmers Market, heavy pack, Z sleeping on the back. Similarly trafficked getting back to MLK but a nice ride afterward.

Hot and windy, first 15 miles on roads, the rest on gravel. Moderate pack. I'd intended to go longer, but I was wiped.

You know you're getting your money's worth when the battery in the odometer sensor dies.

Surface roads out to North Wales, where I discovered a new (to me) circuit of dirt bike paths, then to GA to pick up Z and home on Green Ribbon and Forbidden. Heavy pack, and first 19+ miles with empty toddler seat, the balance with her singing songs from the back of the bike.

C • Playlist 4

Rain foiled our plans for a ride to the zoo. Tomorrow, I'm going to bed early.

Had plans for a long ride this afternoon but Z came home sick at 10am, so it turned into another late basement session. Didn't have the energy for anything long, but B and I set the goal to get to a combined 600 kilometers on the erg before Itera, so I figured I'd chip away. 407 kilometers and counting.

C • Snap! 4

Trail loop with Ali, light pack.

Traded Ali for podcasts and ran to the Covered Bridge on the orange trail - less elevation, but more technical.

From Covered Bridge, up into Chestnut Hill for an errand, then back into the park and along orange and white trails south to Rittenhousetown and my car. Pack was empty by that point -- ran out of water somewhere around Devil's Pool.

Post-bedtime Netflix binge.

Dropped Z off at GA and then continued on with an empty seat on the back up and over Fort Washington State Park to Plymouth Meeting, and then out to Valley Forge and back on the towpath, ending at REI to meet B to figure out some last minute gear purchases for Itera.

Felt the extra weight of the bike seat at times, but lucky for me, the winds on the towpath were uncharacteristically mild.

Our conversation, on the way to camp:

Z: Mommy, look, rainbow flags!

Me: Those flags are about human rights, and treating everyone in the world nicely.

Z: Me and my family and my friends?

Me: Yep, all those people, and all the people you don't know, too.

...

Zoe: Mommy, no talking, just biking.

Hamstrings, quads, and glutes, plus right shoulder adjustment.

Also got results of metabolic efficiency testing. Showed deficiencies in carnitine, various B's, and CoQ10, and evidence that I'd benefit from a probiotic.

Mix of trails, roads, and gravel. Hot and humid.

C • Stuff 6

Right shoulder starting to feel better.

5 min interval @ 15%, 2 min recovery.

Quick paddle until the doorbell rang - Cliff and Kate from Strong Machine are in town for the night!

C • strong machine 2

To Spruce Street Harbor with B, Z, Cliff, and Kate. Heavy pack.

Home from Spruce Street Harbor with the crowd.

To the National Constitution Center for a talk, light pack.

Home from the NCC. Fourth of July + Regatta = So.Many.People. At one point, I got stuck behind a crawling golf cart in the middle of Kelly Drive. Seriously?

Last month, my asthma doc suggested swapping Advair for Breo, because insurance companies are starting to privilege the latter (1 x day vs 2 x day = better compliance). I've been using it for the past few weeks and have noticed breathing more strained, lung capacity diminished. He gave me permission to switch back if it wasn't a good fit, so yesterday morning I went back to the Advair. Three doses later, already breathing more comfortably.

Upper body pretty beat up after our marathon day of technical riding yesterday (and maybe from the fall, too).