Training Log Archive: mayer22

Small Ocourse from Yates Place. Attacked early for the first CP but realized it pretty much right away and adjusted. Had trouble with the second CP. A combination of the unmapped trails and just missing a mapped road. Realized we were on the wrong road but had to move slowly to track ourselves and eventually find the right trail back up to the control. Lost a few minutes for sure. Should have taken the unmapped trail we tried to avoid as it just led directly to the CP.

Took it slow to the next CP to track ourselves along the unmapped trail. Then moved quicker through the terrain and the mapped road to the last CP and the TA.

Chose to get the 3 optional CPs on the bike with a short trek to each of them on our way back to the finish. First control was not much of a problem. Found a trail that took us most of the way.

When we stopped for the second and third controls we found a road that looked like it might take us to one of them. It took us to the right spur and ended in a clearing. There was a streamer from the race hanging in the clearing but no control. Everyway out of the clearing was through thick forest. Mark and I both left the clearing heading further down the spur where we thought the control might be (Turns out it was plotted 100m further down). We weren't 100% confident we were in the right spot but it seemed right. We continued down what seemed to be the spur but until it dropped off. We didn't see the control but it was pretty thick as mentioned.

We decided to get the other control and try to reattack from the bottom. We did that. Our attack was sidehilling up a steep heavily vegetated slope. Apparently (and not surprisingly) we weren't able to hold our bearing and didn't climb the slope as fast as we should have. We started coming across terrain features that just didn't make sense though even assuming we did just as expected we might have. We traveled for a little bit further and then decided to bail north back to the road continuing to see a lot of terrain we didn't think made sense even assuming we had done what we did.

We climbed back up the road basically to the bikes and decided to reattack the control from the hilltop. We did this and ended up right back at the clearing. Turns out the clearing was a bit too early but I was just assuming our bearing was a bit off. We should have tried checking past the clearing again.

At this point we assumed the control must have been gone and left on the road back to our bikes. Fortunately we heard CP0 schwacking their way into the same CP. We told them our story and asked if we could follow them (and help them) to see if we could find it. They didn't have luck either and wandered a bit around the spur/clearing looking for the CP as well. At that point we decided to leave. They searched a bit more, got the other CP and also tried another reattack, all without any luck.

RDs said it was just further down the spur. Must have just been too thick for us to see the first time. Would have been good if we had tried again on our second visit for good measure. Don't feel two bad about leaving considering what we did, the information available, and the additional effort from CP0. As we walked back to the bikes Mark scared a Rattlesnake off the trail

After this it was pretty much a straightforward ride back to the finish with 2 CPs along the way in Badin OHV park just off the gravel road.

Trekking during bike. Primarily for the point we couldn't find.

Event: Uwharrie 18 Hour Adventure Race
 

Uwharrie 18hr w/Mark as TanZ Navigation

Weather was good, not too hot. Mostly night race with clear skies but no moon. Course looked like it might be short but we didn't know exactly how long the orienteering course was going to be.

We got a small lead over CP0 during the prologue. The lead remained small until the OCourse when we were able to pull away a little bit more. We had major issues with one CP which seemed like it might have been missing. After CP0 arrived and had trouble too we dropped it and finished.

Prologue run

Prologue swim
Mark and I were able to swim out front of everybody and get a little bit of a lead that we would be able to maintain the rest of the race.

Mountain Bike Ride through Badin Loke OHV area. First trail we got to was a horse trail that was chewed up and rocky. It was an out and back anyway so we dropped the bikes and ran.

After getting back on the bikes misremembered the map and took us around a bit to the next trail. We also tried to get to 4 more efficiently but missed the trail we needed and/or drew it on the map wrong. Still kept our 5 min lead over CP0.

Tried to save some time and effort going from 6 to 7 by schwacking down the mountain. Started clear but got thick towards the bottom and we couldn't get back to the trail. Definitely didn't save time and probably lost another 5 minutes.

Came into the paddle TA still 5 mins in front of CP0

Trekking during MTB ride

Straightforward paddle. 3 small out and back sections and then finished across the river/reservoir. Some motorboats to contend with but not a big deal. CP0 was about 5-10min back on each of the out and backs.

Long Orienteering Course set by CoC. Good map but contour lines were thin and light which made reading them as it got dark harder. We were able to get a good bit in before dark which made a big difference. We moved quickly in the daylight to get in as much as we could. Strategy after dark was much more conservative (sometimes maybe a bit too much). I made one small error and thought we got to the point early. Lost maybe 2 min. Otherwise a clean course.

We did see CP0 as we made a looped back across one part of the course. They were still about 5-10 min back.

Paddle back across the river/reservoir to our bikes in the dark. Navigation was easy so no problems.

After reassembling our gear. Getting everything we needed out of our gear drop and leaving everything we could we rode to the final TA at Yates Place. Straightforward ride.

Warmup/Cooldown

No legs

Family O-Meet at the BROC O-event at Heritage/Rising Silo.

Rain held off for the actual event. Girls had fun looking for "trolls." We mostly did the beginner loop with 2 extra controls. Nut worked on some navigating. E started in the pack but walked most of the rest of the way. Several of the controls were off trail in high grass and sometimes PI so I carried them in and out of that to the punch.

Nut and I cleared some of the controls on the N north side that we hadn't visited during our family loop. Used the car to drive to certain sections.

Pandapas w/Zitch/Skip

First ride since Nov and first non-race ride in almost a year. First ride at Pandapas in almost 2 years.

This was serving as a test ride for my MTB and good wakeup ride for me. Was excited for the great trail conditions until the half inch of rain we got last night. Fortunately, the trails weren't soggy just damp but I avoided the worst parts. Temps were cool but very humid. PC on Gap felt very overgrown because of all the moisture on the foliage. Clean bike was a mess afterward.

Everything
Almost 7 weeks since the last time I lifted. Noticed a significant lack of strength. Had to drop some weight on some lifts.

Old Farm. Solo. Getting hot.

Family walk. Played in the creek a lot.