Training Log Archive: abiperk

With an hour less on our race clock, we knew we had to be super dialed in if we had any chance of maintaining our lead. While the field was a fair bit smaller than usual - none of the Canadian snowbunnies made the trip! - there were some strong teams there, so we had our work cut out for us.

We spent a long time Saturday night looking at various possibilities and landed on what we thought was the optimal route for the day, balancing distance, terrain, and point values.

Temps on Sunday were right around freezing (with real-feel in the teens all day). I was a little more cautious with clothing - fleece tights and rain pants on the bottom; midweight smartwool, fleece vest, and rain jacket on top. I probably could have done without the vest, but I was never uncomfortably warm. Just felt a bit bulky.

We got to the start/finish just a few minutes before our 9am start time and well after the rest of the teams started, so we had no idea what anyone else was doing, but we got the impression from the RDs that most teams were sticking to the east side of the map. Our plan was to start with a pocket of four points to the north. This stretch would have the most overland navigation of the day, and we knew it would be the crux of our race. We had about 1.5 kilometers on roads before heading into the woods, and I was relieved that my lungs felt relatively normal. Usually after asthma issues, it takes them a couple days to recover.

We hit the first two points pretty cleanly and saw that Untamed New England (JayXC and teammate) were taking the same general route as we were. On the way to the third point, we got sucked into some nasty swamps, which slowed us considerably. There had been a light snow overnight, which created a nice crunch in the woods, but also meant that the swamps had a thin layer of ice that we broke through with every step, into shin-deep water. Much less comfortable when it was 30 degrees out than 60. It was the low point of the day, but things turned around quickly when we got to the control and realized that we'd gained about 45 minutes on UNE and were just 10 minutes behind them.

We hit the next point, on the eastern edge of a beaver dam, 6 minutes behind, and noticed that their footprints were heading along the edge of the lake. We decided to cross over the dam (got a little bit wet but nothing worse than the earlier icy swamps) and then make our way to the NW quadrant. We passed UNE somewhere during that stretch and then spent the next few hours traveling with them or criss-crossing each other.

We were pretty sure they needed 60 points (two additional CPs, given what was available and within reach) to beat us, and so we weren't surprised when, with about two hours to go, we all hit a road junction together and they continued down while we turned east. We had thought about trying for a couple points further south but weren't confident that we'd be able to get our two final planned CPs and make it back before the cutoff. We got to our attack for the first of the two and looked at the clock - we had exactly an hour left. We gave ourselves a 21-minute time limit to find it and ran into the woods. We hit the checkpoint in 13 minutes and decided to continue on for the last one, rather than taking the conservative option and turning back for the road.

Brent nailed the final CP and we hit the road to the south with 35 minutes on the clock, 2.5 kilometers from the finish. We coasted in with ten minutes to spare -- definitely one of the best days of racing we've had.

In the end UNE got the same number of points for Day 2, but with our cushion from Day 1 we came away with the win. Overall, a great weekend of adventure-ing.

Official race report: https://rootstockracing.wordpress.com/2017/03/01/s...

C • race report 6

Event: CNYO Snowgaine 2017
 

2017 Snowgaine with Brent and John Courain. We look forward to this race all year and I love doing it with these guys.

The race was based out of East Pharsalia, NY. There were 50 checkpoints in total, each with varying point values, and we had two days to get as many points as we could. The RDs told us that they'd worked hard to make this year's course unclearable, and they succeeded.

We had about 25 minutes with the maps before the start so quickly added up the point values in each of the four quadrants and decided on a Day 1 route that would take us south and east, then sweeping back up north and west to the finish, with a couple bailout options.

It was 60 degrees when the race started, with very little snow on the ground, but there was a storm predicted to roll in around 12pm, sending temps plunging about 30 degrees through the afternoon. We all took a bit of a risk and went super light on clothing (I wore t-shirt and tights to start, with an ultralight rain jacket in my pack), figuring that we'd always be close enough to civilization that if something went wrong, we'd be able to get it sorted out. It was true, but there were also a few dodgy moments toward the end of the day.

We moved super efficiently for the first six hours. Brent's nav was spot-on, our strategy and decisions were working out really well, and our pace was strong, running as much as we could, including long stretches off-trail through the woods. We also spent hours trudging through endless marshes and swamps. I was in up to my waist twice, which was ok in terms of air temperature, but the water was all snow- and ice-melt, so super cold.

The Snowgaine has a unique system where, in addition to punching at each CP, you also have to sign an intention sheet indicating what time you arrived and where you're planning to go next. It's mostly a safety mechanism, in case a team doesn't make it back to the finish, but it adds a fun element of strategy and gamesmanship because you can get a sense of the route other teams are taking. With our plan for the day, though, we didn't see any other teams and were getting to most of the CPs before anyone else, so we had no idea what others were doing.

At 1pm, a strong thunderstorm rolled through, close enough that we could feel the electricity in the woods. Pretty scary, especially when we were in and around so much water. It passed relatively quickly and for the rest of the day it alternated between soaking rains and showers.

With two hours left on the clock, we paused to reassess our route. We were heading north on the easternmost side of the map, and still had a couple northeastern CPs to collect before making our way west to the finish. Brent did the math and thought we could make it back okay. I wasn't so confident that we could cover that much distance, but we decided to go for it. We hit the first CP cleanly, but the area was much messier than the map indicated and travel was slow. We then made a push for one more but somehow got pulled west instead of north and popped out of the woods far from where we thought we were.

Sometime during last bushwhack, my lungs started to seize up and by the time we got to the road, I was in the middle of a full asthma attack - I think due to the dramatic temperature shifts and being wet all day. Not sure whether an extra shirt would have made a difference, but in hindsight it was foolish not to have brought one. I took my inhaler (first time I've had to use my emergency inhaler in several years), which did its job in stabilizing my breathing, but I was still gasping and wheezing into the finish.

We also realized at that point why we'd had some discrepancy about our ability to get back to the finish. Brent had his map folded in such a way that the finish was just out of sight, and it turned out that he thought it was about 3k further east than it actually was. By that point we had roughly 15 minutes to cover 5+ kilometers, so we knew that we'd be late coming in. We were all pretty demoralized when we got to the finish 20 minutes late, and it took me a solid 45 minutes of sitting next to the radiator with 3 jackets (thanks, JayXC!) on before I warmed up.

We were surprised to learn (unofficially - they won't share scores mid-race, but it's what we gleaned from talking to people) that we were leading on points at the end of Day 1, but we had a 1-hour penalty going into Day 2, and I wasn't sure how my lungs would hold up on Sunday, especially with temps below freezing.

C • That's a lot of climb! 4

Wiss with Val - taking advantage of the weather.

Shakeout around GA - a mix of trails and paved paths.

Easy spin.

Monster walks, foam rolling.

10 min w/u, 15 min push, 20 min EZ. Shorts and t-shirt again.