Training Log Archive: phatty

Still sick after a week...3.5 year olds are abundant with this stuff.

Sadly, it was only 8k but it was a tough effort up to Col des Sauts and back. The downhill to Pre Vernet has gotten particularly treacherous as the rock is like ice when it's wet. Thankfully, it stopped raining and made for a glorious weather run.

To and from an orienteering race in Meythet.

Good to get on a map again and although I butchered the first 2 CPs, it ended up going OK. The green stuff on the map really is not advisable to run through...so many thorn cuts now!

Up to Col de Contribandier and back in the early AM.

Just west of Aix les Bain for an AM run to discover the area around Yenne.

I had to give the borrowed road bike back to its owner so I was relegated to MTB in order to keep training a little for the Marathona des Dolomites. My legs are still feeling tired...as it the rest of my body. Need to get some more sleep and not follow adventure races online until late at night.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/450295166

C • Good 3

Lunch time run along the river in the warm sun.

Happy Father's Day to me! This was a big effort with so much elevation and trying to keep up with a colleague of mine. It was a great day out so why not go for it? Big climbs up to Flumet from the south, Col des Aravis, Col de Croix Frie, Col de Marais, and then a sufferfest up the backside of Col de Forclaz. I was pretty %^&'d up by that last climb.

C • Wow 10

Up at the crack for a huff and puff up the Semnoz, down to Col de Leshaux, St. Jorioz, and back again. Perfect weather.

First thing in the AM before the heat kicks in - up and down Pre Vernet. PERFECT temperature!

Raid O'Bivwac - Semnoz + 2 days + 1,000+ participants + 1:15,000 map with unreal detail + 8 different racecourses + overnight bivwac where all gear must be carried = epic event that's in it's 33rd edition.

I teamed up with Joseph (a guy from work) and we took on the 'B' racecourse; roughly 35k over the two days. The 'A' was 40k but he wasn't too interested and I was cool with the choice. Day 1 began under the HOT sun at the base of the ski fields and we climbed up to the top to spread the teams out. Once there, and gasping for air(!), we received our CP coordinates that we then had to plot on our maps. Joseph's pen wasn't working so he used mine as there wasn't time to plot across two maps. So, we plotted on his and I learned as best as I could where we were headed (and subsequently plotting on mine on the move) by looking over his shoulder onto his map. It was certainly not a great system as there was SO much detail on those maps. The only comparison I have would be o-maps of the Gatineau.

We bobbled 3 of the first 4 CPs. Given that there was so much detail and the land itself was incredibly technical, I looked to use attack points...but there really weren't many 'obvious' features to use. I'm so impressed with the quickest teams who seemed to move through there with no issue. As it was, we were among several teams combing small pieces of land again and again, finally finding each CP in a very indiscernible feature. In time, we got into a better rhythm and even had a few 'spikes'. The heat really started to get to me near the end and despite going through 3L, I was dehydrated. By the finish, we learned that we were 12th out of about 18-20 teams...humbling but the quality of orienteers over here is stellar. The first mixed team (of two national level athletes) clocked in at 2h45m...WTF?

Part of the planning of the race is getting as light as gear as possible as you have to carry it all for the duration of the 2 days. We now had to camp overnight and between us, we filled up around 20L packs each...sweet! Out tent was comical as it was so bloody small but had to fit the two of us. Thankfully, it was a warm night and sans mosquitos, so our heads remained outside of the tent. The camp at large was quite impressive to see as there were 1,000+ people all hanging out for a night. As one could imagine, line ups for water, physio, and toilets were a little long.

Day 2 went much cleaner; which makes sense given that we were moving as quickly as the previous day. The CPs were still very technically placed and there were so many route options. We kept seeing the same people throughout the day, which meant to us that we were a lot more consistent than on Day 1. We bumped into Lee and Wee nearing the end, who were out for an adventure in the woods (eg. what was supposed to be a quest for CPs turned into a quest for sparkly rocks and flowers...surprise, surprise) and crossed the finish line, again in 12th place.

A great event with a heap of nav challenge in a beautiful locale.

C • Mountain Marathon 7