Training Log Archive: KFish

Legs feel pretty good

BIKE 4: 1:42, 11.8 (1/1 cp)
After the demoralizing trek we had to come out the same we went into the TA, which meant up the rocky several km long two track we had come in on. To our surprise it was more ride-able (maybe 50%?) than we thought it would be when we came down, and we reached the road much faster than expected. From there it was roads back to the TA/ start/finish area with some fun hills to bomb down.

TREK 4: 0:46, 1.7 (1/1cp)
Finally back at our gear bins we were able to dump some extra gear, grab mood boosting snacks (pringles!) and head out. Grabbed 1 cp on the way to the paddle.

PADDLE 2: 1:52, 2.9 (3/5 cp)
Started out slowly down an unmapped creek to take peeks at several locations for a cp labeled only as "Swamp". It became clear we didnt have a good idea of where we were in relation to the swamp, so eventually we gave up and headed for the lake where we could get our position. Headed to the end to pick up a CP by the dam, and then made our way back up the lake hitting 2 more cp. It became clear that this was also slower than we expected, so we decided to skip the swamp cp and another one upstream on the creek. Sucks skipping points but we were hoping to maximize points in the last few hours of the race and the last bike seemed more promising.

TREK 5: 0:34, 1.6 (1/1 cp)
Back to the TA a slightly different way to grab one more CP. Also scouted a few of the upcoming bike trails on the way back.

BIKE 5: 1:24, 5.1 (5/7 cp)
We knew where to hop on the trail from our trek scouting just before, and found the first 2 cps no problem. Then syd got super confused with the trails (she wasnt the only one, several other teams making similar choices!) and eventually we decided to go all the way back to the last cp and start over. Problem is, we apparently made a different turn choice and ended up on a different than expected trail. This became very stressful because we had no clue where we were and only about 40 minutes left on the clock. We decided to keep heading north and downhill and worst case we'd get to the lake and be able to find the finish. Ended up riding along a cliff face and which point syd suspected she knew where we were, which was confirmed when we came across another team at cp 44. These points were supposed to be done in order, and we had missed 2 in between, so we punched and skipped the 2 we had missed (rules were very clear on this, but apparently many teams didnt see it so they negated this rule and scored everything. Which means we could have easily punched 1 of the 2 we skipped as we were very close, but it was out of order so we skipped entirely.). Then very carefully made our way back to the finish and finished with about 15 min to spare. We find a way to make the end of every race unnecessarily stressful.

Overall I am super impressed with how we did both as a team, and me as an individual. 2 low hours out of 24 makes me very happy, and I even believe I could eliminate those with a little bit better planning. I kept up on electrolytes and food very well through the first 21 hours of racing before ignoring the watch beeps. Physical fitness wise I felt great the entire time, although I was definitely ready to be off my feet by the end of the long trek. The team was always supportive of each other and kept moving through each of our low points.

We ended with 43/50 cps (including TAs) and I believe in 5th/20, with the top 3 being big name teams that cleared the course (kudos!). Not bad for my first 24 hour :). While we have a few minor complaints about the race (unhelpful control descriptions, changed rules at the end) overall we thought it was very well and professionally organized and would definitely consider going back - the nav and terrain were great, the volunteers and organizers were great, as was the competition!

Event: No Sleep 24hr AR (USARA)
 

Let's start by saying I was incredibly nervous about this race, mostly because of the projected forcast (89F and full sun), which similar conditions in a couple 12 hour races last year had left me feeling terrible.

Also because of the length. This was my first 24 hour race, with my next closest 21 hr a year and a half ago - but that one is in my backyard, places and people I was familiar with, so it didnt feel "real". I should know better since I have learned a lot about my abilities since then.

Started off with the pre-race meeting the night before with some general rules and announcements, followed by 46 checkpoints and 3 TAs to plot!! While we have plotted before, we figured Barbara and Andy were more familiar with it and had a system, so we let them work on plotting while we read through the flow and tried to start some general strategy. It was hard with only 1 big map, so we couldnt really get a feel for much until the points were plotted. After plotting we cross checked with WWS, figuring it was better for both of us than risk a mistake.

After plotting it was getting rather late, so with a late morning start (9 am) we decided to only plan the big bike portions, and then wait until morning to tackle the foot and paddle sections. This worked pretty well and left us plenty of time to rearrange gear and food in the morning since we were hitting the TA with our bins much later into the race than we had originally packed for.


BIKE 1: 1:14, 12.5 mi (2/2 cp)
Followed a pick up truck out of the camping area, negating the half hour we had spent analyzing three decent looking options to get out and on our way. Oh well. Set off at a very steady easy pace, and I'm pretty sure by the time we were out of the camp loop we were in dead last. Hit the 2 bike checkpoints without much issue, except stopping to look at a pond before the right pond since neither were on the map.

TREK 1: 1:34, 4.6 mi (4/4 cp)
Kept the pace at a fast walk to keep from going out too fast. It was already decently warm, but once we got in the woods it actually didn't feel too bad. No big struggles on this section, just took it nice and easy, utilizing bearings and pace counting. I did almost step on what turned out to be a rather large dead snapping turtle, letting out a bit of yelp. Got into some stinging nettles, but they weren't terrible through my tights.

BIKE 2: 1:32, 8.8 mi, (2/2 cp)
Most of this bike was paved or gravel road, and wasnt too bad. Took a few minutes to figure out some of the trail/forest road maps, but we werent the only ones that were a little confused, and I think we actually passed a few teams that werent quite headed the right way to one of the Cps. Left our bikes at the start of a rather muddy nasty horse trail, which I think was the right choice cuz it was also about half a mile down hill to get the point. Could have continued on the trail instead of making it an out and back, but I think syd made a smart choice on this one given trail riding is not our teams strength!

PADDLE 1: 2:37, 6.3 mi, (6/6 cp)
Got to TA 2 and could choose to go out on boats or plot ropes points and head on that section. We were initially thinking ropes, but all the teams that had beat us into the TA (4 or 5) had headed to ropes, and several more in TA at the same time (~3) were also headed on ropes, so it seemed like there was a big potential for back ups, so we changed our minds and set out on the water. Task 1 was to haul the banana boats a quarter mile uphill to the top of hte dam, and then 100 ft down a very steep part to the lake, which Andy chivalrously volunteered us men for, while the women got the packs. It was actually probably easier to carry 2 boats than one for balance, but even still we needed to stop and rest a few times.

We were only the second boat on the water and passed the team that started a few minutes ahead of us when they choose a poor attack for the 3rd cp. The paddle was pretty nice - a small lake than turned into a stream with only a few points we had to haul our boats through. The points were a ways off the water, meaning getting out and trekking up the hill to get most of them, which I wasn't a huge fan of, especially with a network of trails surrounding the lake that made trekking to them even more attractive, but it was clarified in the briefing that they were "intended to be paddle points". I was the runner for this section so as soon as we all saw the point I went to get it, and I was feeling awesome through here!


TREK 2 (ROPES): 2:32, 5.5mi, (5/5 cp)
This was the first section where I started to feel a little worn, but I attribute it to being in the direct sun for most of the paddle. I was still able to keep a good walking pace, but my mind was a little fuzzy. I had also slowed down drinking water because the replacement water at the TA was terrible tasting! We got a little mixed up with the trails on the way to the ropes, but found it no problem. So many "wild climbers" and such beautiful terrain for climbing! Got to the top rope first and were informed only 1 person had to do it. Syd was the logical choice, so we all worked on getting our harnesses on and ready while she scrambled up. She claims it was "Really tough, especially in trekking shoes" but it only took her about 3 minutes. Then we had to walk around to the top for the first repel, which was super fun down a crevice. We all repeled in less time than another team member took to do the top rope, so I think its a good thing only syd had to do it! Then another short trek to an ascent and another repel. The ascent was fun and very easy as it was up a slanted rock face, so no sling necessary. The second repel was over a lip and then a free rope, which was also super fun, and the belayer at the bottom told me I had picked the best line over the lip! Then a trek back to the TA.

BIKE 3: 2:01, 7.7mi (2/2 cp)
The first half was up a two track to some single track. Syd handled the nav really well even when it got confusing. Found the first CP without too much trouble after just slightly over shooting it, and then took one wrong turn. We didnt make it very far, but all the distance we had made was through a nasty muddy horse trail, so going back through that kind stunk (literally!). Quickly righted and got out to the road, which we took to a cool look out tower. Syd and I went up the tower to take a peak at the sunset, which was pretty. Then it was a fairly steep decent down a very rocky beat up two track to TA3. It was just starting to get dark, but we wanted to get to the TA before dealing with lights, which made the last little bit a little hairy, but we made it.

TREK 3: 5:53, 11.6mi (6/10 cp)
I had dubbed this section the crux of the race from the time we got the maps, and predicted a 2 mph pace acounting for the hilly terrian and night nav, despite the fact that it was mostly following a trail on a big loop. We were doing well on time and had cleared the course so far, so we made the call to go for the long loop to hit everything instead of the short loop, which would leave 2 cps out there but save a lot of distance.

Unfortunately we were moving pretty slowly from the get go, overshooting the first CP by a ways, and I was starting to feel pretty bad - a combination of feeling very overheated (i think it was actually more humid at night), and having an upset stomach (I think the bad tasting water didnt help). I handed off the punch card and tried to nurse myself back to health by drinking an ensure, sitting while the others searched for cps and sipping water. We found that a packet of gatorade really helped negate the flavor of the water even though it made very weak gatorade, so I was able to start drinking more. In addition syd squirted water on my head which really helped cool me down. I slowly perked up, for a total down time of about 2 hours.

The nav on this section continued to be tricky, we would find the feature but struggle to find the flag. In a few instances we needed better communication with the clue (top or bottom or east or west of feature) which would have helped. We decided to skip a point on the way out figuring it wasnt too far out of the way on the way back if we were moving well. We also decided to skip the middle point which was over a mile round trip along a giant spine. (turns out it was missing, and they just ignored it for everyone with clock on during the scoring, so it was a lucky choice to not go for it). The last 2 cps were out and backs from the TA. We spent almost an hour on the first one and eventually called it. It was supposed to be behind a boulder in a crevice. However there were hundreds of locations that fit that description, and no other good features to identify our location along the cliffs. We also weren't sure which side of the creek we should be on, as there were cliffs on both sides and the point was plotted basically on the creek. Turned out to be a giant waste of time and demoralizing. So much so that we decided to skip the last out and back. In the end we only got 6/10 points and did the long loop, when we could have gotten 6/10 in a lot less distance (assuming we found htem all) had we known.Andy also started to have IT band problems, but has an incredible drive to push through pain and keep a great pace.

Overall, this trek section is where our race started to unravel - not in terms of derailing the entire race, but definitely as far as performing as well as we wanted to (i.e. clearing the course). In the end it was indeed the crux of the race and tripped up several of the top teams to some extent, so we shouldn't feel too bad about it.

Rest day (packing day)

Setting 2 points for the Adventure Challenge.

Kensington lake loop after helping Michelle with the Adventure Challenge. Still got turned around and the middle of the trail is somewhat overgrown.

This hardly counts as exercise, first half was downhill next to Sydney running.

Dirt roads with W4J, Syd, an Richard, and boy was it FAST. Practiced pace lines and attacking hills. While it was somewhat painful it was also great training and definitely opened my eyes to our potential. We'll have to address the feasibility with application to long races though.