Training Log Archive: KFish

Raccoongaine Analytics!!

	2016	2017	2018
Place	7	3	1
Controls	30	31	32
Mother/Daughter	3	2	2*
Points	990	880	1010
Distance (mi)	19.7	19.7	21.4
Climb (m)	1160	1200	1060
% of winners score	71	80	100
Pace (min/mi)	17:41	18:03	16:27
Ticks	0	~20	0

*upon closer inspection we punched a daughter thinking it was the mother, and never actually punched the mother! So 2.5

Event: Raccoongaine
 

Raccoongaine 2018 w/ Syd as Topo the Mountain. (distance adjusted to syd's watch)


2 6 hr Rogaines on 2 consecutive Sundays! Pittsburgh got 8 in of snow last tuesday, so this one had the potential to be slippery, but a few sunny 40's days melted a vast majority of it, leaving N facing hills with a few inches. Race day started at a chilly 28F, but warmed up to about 40 and was sunny all day. We decided to do this one together, because tradition dictated it, having raced together the last two years. We arrived early to help with Check-in, which meant we got to scope out the competition (and say hi to all of our MI buddies :) ). A surprising number of people recognized us (mostly Sydney...).

After helping to hand out maps we had a frantic 40 minutes to plan. We've been spoiled by hours of planning for recent races. Quickly split the map in 2 to tally points, and the N section came out slightly ahead of the East section. That, coupled with the fact that we did almost identical loops around the lake on the East map the last two years helped us decide to try out North this year. Overall, we planned an ambitious route based on 18 mile scalex distance that would clear the N except for a few 10 and 20 pointers, and most of the East section S of the lake. Our end game strategy wasn't very formulated, but we figured we could fix it on the fly. We did a really good job planning to maximize points, trying really hard to hit 40s and 50's and dropping 10's and 20's. Since we know this race is not clearable this turned out to be a really good strategy.

At 10AM we were off to 144, which required a stream crossing no matter what. First we skated down a very steep, snow covered hill, and spotted a log to make the crossing. 2 guys ahead of us got across the log (Mark and Thomas?). The log was rather slick with some snow still on it, and once I got about halfway across I lost my balance and teetered over. As I was falling I looked down to discover this was not going to be a simple get my shoes wet - I was falling into an 5 foot deep eddie pool... In 28F March weather... Before we had even punched a single flag... There was nothing for it - I plunged in, completely submerged, and was out of that water before Sydney could even blink. Somehow, my map stayed dry (as did my cell phone in a ziploc, and my bagel in another ziploc). Syd followed across the log (with no problems, obviously) and was quite frantic about what to do ("Are you all right!?, we need to go back up and change!".). I took off running towards the flag, much to her chagrin, and spent most of the next 2 hours convincing her I was 1) fine, 2) not cold, and 3) not hypothermic. (okay, my hands were pretty cold, but the other points were actually true). What a way to start a race! At least it made it easy to not worry about wet feet for the next 5:50.

Comparitively, the rest of the race was rather uneventful. Our second flag, 134 was a mother with the daughter nearby. Then we had a long road run to pick up a lot of points at 128, 138, 147. I think this road run is the only way I warmed up from my swim. Hit 147 an hour in, and we were already 1 control behind our plan. On the plus side, an hour in and we hadn't even climbed a hill!

The second hour was also pretty slow, being almost entirely off trail, and after picking up 150, 145, 139, 140 and 129 with no trouble we were 2 flags behind our plan and glanced ahead to determine we had plenty of options at the end, and we should continue our plan and maximize the 40's and 50's.

Got to 143 at 4 hours, which was almost a full hour behind our plan. This was also our first bobble of the day, but it was a pretty minor overshoot. Once we punched the flag we stopped to evaluate our plan and decided to continue on to 131 and 141 before turning back, again trying to maximize points. At 146 we had just under 90 minutes, and we set the goal of being at 106 with 45 min left, which would leave 45 min for a mostly road run back up to the finish. With that in mind we picked off 123, and then I convinced Sydney we had to go down anyway so we might as well pick up 122 (this is the first race I was the one advocating for more, somewhat risky points, instead of the other way around!). Started the trail run back and Syd decided we were skipping the down and back up to 116, which I conceded. Then once we got close and the hill didn't look that bad, she decided we should just go for it. Our perspective on hills has definitely changed now that we live here!

Continued the trail run to 106, which we hit right at 45 min left, and discovered it was our second mother control. This worried syd because it wasnt in the plan, but we couldn't say no to a free 20 points, and it was even in the right direction back. (here we saw richard, continuing the wrong direction from the finish, but looking strong). Bobbled the child control, getting sloppy and following footprints in the snow way to far up the hill, before syd spotted the flag back farther below. Had a quick pep talk about not getting sloppy and started the jog back out the trail to the road. This whole run syd was waffling on if we had time for 132, and we decided if we had 25 min we would go for it. Had closer to 35 min so it was a no brainer, and again the hill didnt seem that bad.

Then we were on the home stretch, with a couple optional 10 pointers on the way back. Syd was also waffling on these, but when we saw the powerlines were mowed 103 become obvious, and then when we had to climb the hill either way 101 was also obvious. I asked jokingly if there was anything else we could get, and we discovered 102, which was never even in the plan, was practically visible from the finish. Grabbed that and ran to the finish, with 10 min to spare!

It was weird being the one giving the pep talk, but I think we were both really good physically, just a little mentally drained after 2 races in a row. But when I feel that physically good, my mental follows :). Got more points, more flags, and more miles than the previous two years at Raccoongaine, and felt better doing it! Hill training has paid off!

Wore the same outfit as last week with a few, probably ill advised, changes. 1) what better way to break in a new pair of speedcrosses than a 20 mile race?. Had some knee problems after Nain Rouge and decided my warn out shoes were probably to blame. Seems reasonable because no knee pain this week! 2) What better way to try out a new pack for the first time than a 6 hr race? Decided MS1 was a little too much for these short races, so used my REI dividend to get a 2L Nathan and it was AWESOME! 3) Just ankle tape since the brace seemed to be more of a bother than a help - and no twisted ankles! 4) also wore my bike jacket as it was a little colder, and two pairs of light gloves, which were rendered useless immediately upon aforementioned swim.

Can't be happier with this result. We both felt actually great, ran all roads and trails, and almost spotless navigation. We actually didn't even feel like we were completely dialed in, probably because of last weeks race, but that didn't seem to be a detriment.

1st overall/53. 1010 points. 32 flags. (2/4 mother/daughter controls).

Final order: 144, 134, 128 (M), 114(D), 138, 147, 150, 145, 139, 140, 129, 127, 120, 130, 141, 126, 125, 121, 104, 105, 143, 131, 146, 123, 122, 116, 106(M), 113(D), 132, 103, 101, 102. Only ended up dropping 135, 136, 115 from our original plan.

C • you made her run up all the hills to punch in ? 9

C • script of a movie 1

C • you found a THIRD mother control 2

Legs felt ok except going uphill...

Ab torture