Training Log Archive: glewis

Event: Sylvan Adventure Race
 

Sylvan AR with Mark and Becca. Kevin had expressed interest, but Mark and I were counting on this as a training race for Untamed, and we wanted Becca to help with USARA points. Forecast for the day showed heavy rains and mid-50s to low-60s temps. The rain held off until the final leg of the race (about 6pm), but it never really warmed up.

Bike drop at Nockamixon and check-in at Tohickon Valley Park were in a downpour. We prepped gear and maps in Mark and Becca's car and hopped on the buses shortly thereafter for a quick trip down to Nockamixon. The rain had stopped by the time the briefing began, and we started with a prologue that required the 3 of us to run separate o-legs. Becca, then myself, then Mark ran with no issues, and we were actually the first team done, but the second to leave after Rootstock. The opening section was an o-course on a USGS map, and we didn't get that map until the prologue was complete. We chose to get 11 first and then cycle back through the start area. Rootstock led us out to 11, but then chose to continue past it. I was confused at the time, but I later heard that they misread the race instructions. When we headed back past the start we had to assure the rest of the race that we knew what we were doing. We grabbed 14, 15 and 12 before looping up for M1, 8 and 6. Untamed ran past us at 6, with Joe tricking us into thinking that he hadn't found the CP yet. This happened again at CP 1 just a few minutes later. We grabbed 4, then 3, and carefully took a bearing to 3, only to be thrown off by Untamed. It took us a few minutes to realize that the boundary line was actually turning, and we ended up finding the CP simply enough, buy Lamprey had joined us in our hunt - we were with them for the next few points. We headed downhill and across the road to 2, then forded a deep section of creek before skirting the back of Haycock Mountain to get 5. Having already grabbed M1 and 8, we were able to shoot right to 7, followed by 9, 10, and 13 before the TA. Outside of the small hiccup on 1, this section was very smooth, and we were the second full course team into the TA, only 5 mins behind Untamed.

The next section was an early crux of the race. It was crafted as a massive rogaine around the lake, where teams were given 2 passports and could split up however they liked. We planned on having Becca paddle me across to the southern section while Mark ran a small northern portion. Becca would then meet up with Mark, get J (I think Mark ran the roads while Becca paddled around) and then meet me just past P. We conservatively budgeted 2 hours for this, and it probably took us closer to 2:30 before we met up. After Becca dropped me off, I had a miserable time on my o-section. It was the first time in a few years where I was feeling helpless with nav. It started with B and C. I knew I was on the right stream, but couldn't tell which trail I was on. I ended up running way past C to a parking lot, then coming back past C (which I couldn't find) to finally get B. This whole process took almost 45 minutes. After missing C, I approached slowly from a different angle and came up short. It took a group of 3 of us to find it, but right as Joel from Rootstock was approaching. He had eliminated a 25 min deficit on 2 cps - ugh. After the fact I realized that I had been on a very faint (but mapped) old road between the two distinct trails. Had I known that originally, I may have saved 30 minutes.

I got into a foot race with Joel through trails covered in shoe-sucking mud. I had a good plan to grab G, but the trails didn't line up and I ended up past H. I regrouped, heading back to G on a different trail, but passed Joe and Joel looking for H. I ended up at a road on the wrong side of G, and took a third different trail, this time with success. I found H simply, then headed to I. I ran into a racer from ERECT, who was looking for G...he joined me looking for J. The trails were a bit confusing, but I found the correct section of reentrant on my second try. I then struggled mightily with K, again having difficultly getting the trails and roads to match up on the map. I actually had resigned to not getting K, but the topography started to make sense and I spotted it right off a road. At this point, I was 1:45 in and I had run close to 7-8 miles in nasty mud. Fortunately, M, N, O, and L were all straightforward and clustered closely together. I found Joel going the wrong way around N, but it turns out that he was just returning to a canoe pick-up. I had a moment of panic heading to P, thinking I had lost my passport. After running back towards L, I found it in the wrong pocket...really not a great section for me. I got P, then found my relieved teammates waiting shortly thereafter. I had taken almost 2:30 and was absolutely gassed. I had been overheating for some time, and hadn't fueled very well. I explained to them that I would need some help to make it through the rest of the race. Our paddle to M4 and the takeout was uneventful, but I started getting cold, having just sweated profusely with a largely unzipped bike jersey.

We thought we were the 2nd full-course team into TA, but we later learned that Rootstock had beaten us there. We knew we weren't catching anyone on the bikes, so we took an extra minute to fuel, and I layered up with a raincoat. The next bike section took us through the Ride Nox trails, which I was very comfortable with. The flags were hung off trail, but I used my bike computer and compass effectively, nailing each point perfectly - this was a big boost after the foot section. The road section afterward was easy enough. We only had issues finding the actual punches at the CPs, as they were hidden from view and did not have o-flags. We used the ride to debate the merits of choosing certain orders for the final two sections. I was in favor of bike first - we were already on the bikes, and rain later in the day would make biking harder. Mark and Becca wanted to choose foot first; they felt that the weather would make that more challenging. We agreed to decide once we saw the maps. The highlight of this ride for me was twofold. I enjoyed fording a creek in these old back roads that felt a bit like central Maine and not very much like a suburb of Philadelphia. I even more enjoyed eating an applesauce pouch and a piece of hoagie all while pedaling uphill. A true accomplishment while biking.

We arrived at Tohickon Valley Park at 4:15, with just less than 4 hours left. We expected the rest of the course to be just doable if things went smoothly. We grabbed the maps and Mark agreed with me that bike was the best choice for us. We had an issue on the way to B11 with a broken chain on my bike - this made me a much more tentative rider for the rest of the race. We debated the merits of riding the roads around the B17, B18 and B19, but decided not to. This proved to be a terrible choice, as the trail that we took from B12 to B13 was terrible, costing us more than 20 minutes. We also struggled with nailing B14, and it was at that point that we talked about dropping points. This wasn't too stressful, as we were pretty positive that we were locked into 3rd place overall/coed 3. We got B16 and B15 before riding back on smooth trails. Had we found these to start, we would have most likely finished this section. We budgeted 2.5 hours for the entire foot section, we had about that left when we left the TA for the final time.

We chose a nice order and moved very efficiently here, with pretty precise nav. Mark handled the grunt work with the passport, which worked well as he was feeling much better than me at the time. We got F14, F12, F11, F9, F7, and F6 before crossing the bridge into Ralph Stover Park. We hit F4 before making our way to the cave at F5, where we passed Untamed heading back. It was just starting to drizzle at this point. We easily found F3, F1 and F2 before crossing the creek to start working back. The thunder, followed by rain, really picked up right as we exited the creek. The trip back was met with tough terrain; we slowly grabbed F8, F10, then F13, all three with NYARA in tow. We hustled back past the finish with about 20-25 minutes left, with enough time to head out for F16. It went so well that we tried for F15, but got walled off a the top of some nasty looking cliffs. We hustled back to the finish with only 5 minutes left, having gotten all by 5 cps. Turns out that no one cleared the course, so we ended up doing better than we had expected. Only 2 points behind Rootstock and 3 behind Untamed, but a full 11 clear of the next closest team.

The post race was highlighted by a delightful ice cream sandwich before scurrying home. 3rd place in this race felt nice, with a few things to work on (finetuning USGS nav) moving forward. Mark and I worked very well together - looking forward to getting back at it in July!

Run at Cheslen. Sickness on Sunday and Monday sent every ounce of hydration and nutrition out of my body, so this was to make sure that I could still move. I stuck to the purple trail to avoid any real elevation.

Had been afraid that I might have to pass on this Saturday's Sylvan, but it'll be a go!