Training Log Archive: abiperk

USARA Nationals as Rootstock Racing with Brent and Brian. eighth place.

We had a challenging race from a physical perspective. Whatever issues I've got going on with my legs were far worse in Kentucky than at NAARS, and it reduced us to a crawl for most of the riding (and there was a lot of it). Brent towed where he could and Brian pushed me up some of the ascents, and we made the best of it, but it was pretty demoralizing, and I let it get into my head more than I would have liked.

Going into the race, we would have been pretty happy with an eighth place finish, and we have the utmost respect for the teams that were in front of us (and behind us), but we came out a bit disappointed by what could have been if everything had clicked. Still, what kept us in eighth amidst a really strong field of racers was a well-executed race plan, including really efficient TAs and precision in terms of gear/food/race strategy, and for that we felt pretty good.

PROLOGUE -- Foot-o

There were five CPs on the map with varied point values, and you had to get 10 points (not CPs, but punches totaling 10 points). At first, we planned to go for a 4 and a 6, but after the first point we shifted gears and ended up doing 4, 4, and 2. We bobbled the two-pointer just a bit and ran back with Joe B, Jeff, and Michelle. GOALS was coming in at the same time after nabbing the 4 and 6, and they're a fair bit speedier than we are, so we concluded it was a good move. Ran down to TA1 for the first paddle.

PADDLE -- Blazing Paddles

A nice, swift paddle on the Cumberland River. There were a few points along the way but it was pretty straightforward. We moved well and made up ground on several teams. We forgot to punch out for the Blazing Paddle time so we don't know exactly how quick it was relative to everyone else, but we were happy coming off the water.

BIKE -- King of the Mountain

We ran back up to amphitheater with GOALS to pick up our bikes. A quick transition, but as soon as we started pedaling, I knew I was in for a rough day. I don't know if it's the nutritional stuff or something else, but the second we started climbing, I experienced a deep, radiating stinging/soreness/stabbing pain that spread from my achilles up through my quads, and sometimes up into my arms and shoulders. I knew we were going to be on our bikes for most of the next 10 hours, so I tried to just put my head down and pedal. It sort of worked.

TREK -- Orienteering

A short foot loop with a lot of off-trail travel and elevation. The woods were super slick and muddy - a prelude of what was to come later. We didn't know where we stood in the rankings but we were criss-crossing with Alpine Shop, Bushwhacker, and WEDALI throughout, so we knew we must have been doing okay. Brent's nav was pretty precise and we moved well through the section.

BIKE -- Off-road park

A road ride to a strip-mined area that had been converted into an off-road ATV park. RD Stephanie Ross assured us that it would have been a ton of fun if it were dry, but warned us to expect a slog in those conditions. It was. We rode 119 out and across the bridge to pick up CP9 and then into the park. We dropped our bikes and ran for CP10 and made up some time on a couple teams, then onto CP11 and the rest of the points in order. It was a neat area and I loved the Kentucky history-ness of it, but I definitely wasn't enjoying myself. We were around a bunch of teams in here - there were a lot more trails than were mapped so people would take off in different directions and all end up back at the next point together. It reminded me of sections of Untamed NE that we've done. Brent towed me for big chunks of this. Most of the time, the line wasn't actually taut, but it definitely helped to keep us together and keep me moving.

The ride ended at a water treatment plant for a small lake paddle. AAS was leaving as we pulled in and GOALS had just gotten off the water. It was the first time we'd seen them since the river and we were stoked that they were having such a stellar race. I was freezing by this point, but Jim assured me that the lake was warm. We got in about 6:15pm and transitioned quickly, hoping that we could be off the water before dark.

PADDLE -- LAKE

A BEAUTIFUL evening on the lake. Jim was right - the air was warm and forgiving, and the rain had stopped. I was almost tempted to take off my rain jacket. We set off with several boats in sight and moved really well on the water. We were able to see what was happening all over the lake, and it was fun to cross paths with so many friends. This may have been my favorite section of the whole race.

We got back into TA just as the sun was setting and pulled out our headlamps. We had already decided not to stop at the chuckwagon, and as much as Stephanie tried to convince me to have a cup of coffee, we held strong, packed up our gear, and headed out for the final ride. We're usually a team that's using every last second to try to clear a course at Nationals, so we couldn't quite believe that we would be heading out on the final section before midnight.

I started to recover a bit on the ride back and my legs loosened up. Spinning uphill actually felt pretty good, but we were still moving slowly. By this point, Brent was starting to struggle from the earlier towing, and we ended up walking a fair bit of the climb up to the ridgeline. WEDALI caught up to us at CP21 but we headed down the power line first and somehow managed to hold them off until TA.

TREK - Final orienteering

We got back to the lodge, racked our bikes, and got rid of most of our food and gear for the final foot. I left my pack in TA and carried a whistle and most of my food in my pockets. Brent had my space blanket (the only mandatory gear that I wasn't wearing) in his pack. We attacked the points clockwise, starting with 22. We saw AAS coming out of the woods somewhere around there, and they told us they'd struggled quite a bit on that upper section and suggested that we take a different route, but we were committed at that point, so we went for it. We found 22 easily but got bogged down in 23. We spent probably 60-90 minutes there, walking back and forth between the knoll and the reentrants. We fought our way through the rhododendron with a couple other teams (CP Zero and WEDALI, at least), and walked by the point at least half a dozen times before Brent finally caught the reflector in his headlamp.

From there, we found a beautiful creek that took us down several hundred feet. We managed to avoid most of the thick nastiness this way and moved well, but ended up drifting about half a kilometer above the point. We ran down the road and up a trail and hit CP24 after about 15 minutes of poking around.

The rest of the loop went smoothly. I was able to repay Brent for his help earlier and take his pack for the last few hours, and we pushed hard through the finish. We were pretty sure we'd given up several spots with the bobble at 23, so we were pleasantly surprised to see that we finished the section in about the same position that we'd started it, and it was fantastic to be done before the sun came up.

C • Legs 9

C • lake paddle 2

C • on being disappointed 2

Event: USARA Nationals
 

Legs felt better again.

Massaging out IT bands and calves.

Running around on meet day (in non-running shoes). Legs felt good.

Easy shakeout. Legs felt less good.

Foam roller