Training Log Archive: JanetT

Needle Vista Sprints, results

Intense focus needed to avoid cactus! Needle Vista area in Tonto National Forest near the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. I did "sprint 2" first, the longer one, thinking I wouldn't have time to do the shorter course (but I eventually did, before course closing time).

Course 2 headed N from the parking area, crossing under the highway through a culvert (and returned through a different culvert for another major wash). 2.6 km and some climb. Temps in the low-mid 50s for both courses. Another lovely sunny day.

I took it pretty slow, learning which cacti I really needed to avoid (had a piece of the cane/buckhorn cholla stuck to my shoe early on but managed to avoid most other scratchy things the rest of the course). I was a drainage ditch beyond 3 (not all were mapped; just the major ones were used for any control points) but recovered okay. Didn't see anyone else (most folks probably did course 1 first) until I was almost to number 5, a cliff in a narrow wash. I hesitated to find the best way between an ocotillo and a palo verde and a couple of guys working together caught up there.

Next control involved cutting over or contouring around a hill then finding the right wash to get pointed in the direction of the proper boulder. I thought I was headed to the right 5m boulder but the pair of guys were headed down from the one I was headed for towards another one (off to my right) and saved me from climbing too high.

8 was at the end of an area of elongated bare rock which had a teddy bear cholla nearby running a nursery so I picked my way carefully around it so I didn't get "stuck" playing with them. ;-) No troubles with the rest. And I had enough time to do the shorter course before they started control pickup.

Because the sprint 1 was made by the mapper for tomorrow's NRE I figured I'd better go out there. I had 45 minutes before the courses closed and Glen had made it around in less than 30 minutes so I figured I could do ~45 if I did more jogging than I've been doing. Lungs feeling a bit better today and I was "warmed up" from the earlier course, so I was able to jog the trails and push a bit. No navigation problems; the desert was more open (fewer cacti close together) with more trails to use.

I did turn the wrong way under the power line to 2 but realized I needed a reentrant that was *not* near a power pole and corrected.

Afterward we headed farther up the road and atopped to look at Canyon Lake and the ducks swimming/fishing there. Not sure what they all were but there were a number that weren't coots and mallards. :-)

U of Arizona campus sprint training, with a 1.54 km corridor to follow (all other map info removed) to the first control. Fun variation. Total: 4.1 km

Between the cold air and my chest cold I couldn't get much air in the lungs but that meant I had more time to look at the map to choose routes in detailed areas.

Temp in upper 40s, a bit on the brisk side but nice out of the breeze and in the sun (start/finish location...near the building where Cristina and Melissa first met).

Practice event designed to have us quickly find a start triangle and orient the map using only features, to head off towards one or two controls. Go from the finish circle on that map snippet to the start of the next. Regroup, then flip to the next map snippet, find the triangle and orient the map, and repeat.

Track/time doesn't include about 100m or so from the first start to the first control, or about 50 seconds to get there. Partnered with Eileen, since we were both moving at about the same pokey pace (she due to a hamstring strain, me due to continued chest congestion). Didn't find the flag/tape at one location, and moved a piece of tape we thought was mis-placed, in the line of rocks, closer to the end and under the tree canopy (as shown on the map).

Trivia (multiple choice) O in historic Bisbee, home of the Copper Queen mine (which you could tour if interested). Fun, two hour limit. Many staircases, not all of them indicated on the aerial photo we used as our map. Thanks to Mark Parson for organizing and coming up with the questions. Upper 40s and mostly sunny.

After I dropped my marking pen (no backup) I started to take photos at controls to jog my memory when I finished. May post them later (or a link).

Some memorables:

Bumper sticker on a car (presumably a local's): BZB We're here because we're not all there

On Laundry Hill Rd, an old fashioned laundry tub in a parking lot

All the staircases! They run a race here every October that climbs 1034 steps of various staircases.

Houses practically on top of each other except for the steep hillside they are on

Old Bisbee Brewing's Sterling Saison in Brewery Gulch

C • Bumper Stickers 3

After a restless night with lots of coughing and nose dripping/wiping (half the time I slept in a semi-upright position), and more nose dripping this morning, I decided not to do the mass-start event at Catalina today. I've had the privilege of running through the rocks and saguaros and prickly pears here before, so I wasn't missing much (except for the fun of finding control points). Instead I went in search of a Safeway to purchase our third box of tissues this trip.... Maybe it'll stop soon?

We'll take a day off from training tomorrow and figure out some sightseeing to do.

To the start of the NRE classic

Brown NRE at Box Canyon, Coronado State Forest south of Tucson. 4.27 km, 190m climb

Temps yesterday got into the low 60s but it was more overcast today with threats of sprinkles so didn't make it out of the 50s. Chest cold continues to bother especially on any climbs.

Started a few minutes behind Eileen and didn't really expect to see her out there (once she was out of sight for the climb to #1), but she had a mistake at 3 (I saw her coming from the opposite direction as I left it), I overran 4, then I saw her at 5 (the cliff) where she got ahead again. Certainly didn't expect to see her coming down the reentrant to #8 when I was coming up, but we both missed it by a little bit (and I think either mapping or control placement is a bit off there) and eventually spied it in a flatter area of the reentrant on a lone tree rather than on the side of a spur in a forested area.

I think she spent more time on errors than I did; she only had a couple minutes on me for the course. I would have been happy heading back toward the finish after #5 but plugged away. 6 crossings of barbed wire fences, some easier than others (most I went under; one between 5&6 seemed to be gathered and was easy to get through).

Hoarse from coughing at the finsh and I could barely talk, but my voice has come back a bit since. Hope this cold clears up soon!!!

C • Tough when you're sick! 2

2018-02-18 Box Canyon - Brown - Splits