Training Log Archive: glewis

Event: Maine Summer Adventure Race
 

Early start for this race - we pulled out of Craig's garage at 4AM. Got to the bike drop down the road from Dodge Point Preserve right at 5, and were parked at the check-in with time to spare around 5:40. We got ourselves ready, and had some extra time before registration and maps at 6. When we finally got the maps, we were a bit surprised by the course flow - I thought I had it pegged, but they did a great job of doing something unexpected. Being Craig's first race, I took a cautious approach with our plan for the day. However, there wasn't too much optionality early on. The non-mandatory paddle points seemed obvious, so we planned to get all of the paddles and then go from there.

A 45 minute bus ride to Boothbay Harbor was met with the news that the 8AM race start was being delayed until 9. By the time the second bus of racers arrived and were outfitted into kayaks, it was after 9:30 when we started. We settled in around 10 boats backed from Untamed New England, knowing that paddling was going to be our weakness on the day. We had planned a nice portage early on to cut about a km off of the paddle distance, but I got cold feet when I saw that no one else was at all interested in it. After the race, a quick scan of Google Maps told me that we would have been okay taking it, as it actually coincided with a public boat launch. The fear of finding private property was just too great at the time.

When we arrived at CP 1, we were in 3rd place, having passed a number of boats. A quick pee break put us in around 4th place, with a few teams having elected to skip the next mandatory point. We picked up CP A with ease, managing to stay dry while the teams in front of us got very wet. We navigated well to the inlet for CPs B and C, merging with a bunch of short-course teams on the way. The paddle was lovely, but it was getting warm, and I always do a terrible job of eating and drinking on the paddle. It is hard to do both with moving, and I have to pee enough as is. When we arrived to the inlet, I jumped out and grabbed B no problem, using a series of unmapped trails to get me there. I should have just trusted the mountain instead of looking for trails on the way down, because I made a silly mistake of arriving at the shoreline on the wrong side of the inlet. 3-5 minutes of going in the wrong direction and subsequent backtracking got me to an anxious Craig in the kayak. We quickly paddled across and I ran out to get C. No real issues, but I found a faster trail that I can down than I had gone up. We boarded back up and headed for the TA, happy with the paddle but ready to be done!

As we approached the take-out, I spotted the 3 white hats of Rootstock leaving the TA - it was nice to know that we weren't far behind. We had spent 3 hours on the water. A quick TA got us out on the first foot section fast. Craig had been dealing with a hip injury for a month (and actually hadn't been running at all in the lead up to the race), so I was pretty pleased when he gave me the nod that said "let's stop trekking and start moving." We found CPs 2 and 3 easily, and ran into Rootstock as we approached D. They were much more surprised to see us than we were! We punched D ahead of them, and then went separate ways to finish the short section. In the end, I liked our route choice, but the order was lacking. We worked well with the two maps to find the next two points (E, then F), but struggled with G, mistaking one stone wall for another. It only cost us a few minutes, but we had gone way downhill and into the marsh. We converged with two other teams (Untamed male and NH Trail Vets) while making a mockery of CP 4. We tried to track south to find it, but got thrown off by a series of shallow reentrants. I eventually checked the compass to realize that I was going north instead of south. While the cloudy skies turned to downpour, we found our way and punched the point before heading off on a 4km run to the next TA. We quickly scooted past NHTV and made good progress. The River Link trail was well marked but very raw, making for some rooty, rocky and muddy sections. In the end, we emerged at a road and had a short run to TA. We were shocked to find ourselves in 3rd place, but understanding that we had most likely taken the 4km section quicker than any other team would have.

We got the map for the next foot-o section - it looked very doable, and it had 6 points, a sizable chunk of the 25 point race. We attacked clockwise, making a good adjustment after using the wrong spur for CP M. L and K were smooth, but J proved to be frustrating as we bushwacked to it much too far north. By the time we realized that we were in the wrong spot, we had spent 5 minutes scouring a beach for the CP. J and H were easy enough, and it was a quick downhill run back to TA. Craig had some foot cramps to deal with, but I kept us moving while he worked them out. When we arrived at TA, we had spent just over 1 hour on the section, and were out to the bikes, still in third place behind Rootstock and Untamed, 20 and 25 minutes ahead of us.

A quick transition to bikes got us moving on roads towards the next few CPs. We made good time, only struggling for a few minutes with the correct location of the fish ladder for CP 5. At CP 6 there was an optional point on a mountain bike trail behind Oxbow Brewery. We made it to that point and back with no problem. I realized later that I had forgotten to unlock my fork, which caused for a less than smooth ride. Leaving the brewery, there were three things that had become clearly apparent. First, we had plenty of time to clear the course (I had been suspecting this for a while). Second, we were entrenched in third place. Third, Craig was struggling with the length of the race. I found myself waiting at the tops of each hill, offering whatever encouragement I could. After CP 7 in a neat old cemetary, we were relieved to be headed to TA. When we finally arrived at HVNC, Cliff told us that we were 20 and 30 minuted behind Rootstock and UNE, meaning that we made great time on the bikes after all.

Craig grabbed some nutrition while I checked out the supplemental map - 4 points right on trail. There was an option to take this section on foot, but it was a clear bike section to me. We went north to CP O, where we ran into UNE punching there last CP and heading back to finish. We grabbed CP P shortly thereafter, and then easily rode south, past the finish to the final two points. We saw Rootstock heading for home just before grabbing R and moving onto Q. I considered taking the road back from Q, but the supplementary map made the trails so simple that I couldn't refuse. We arrived back to the finish with 58 minutes left, having moved quickly on the final section. We finished 3rd overall, and were the final team to clear the course. We lavished in the tacos post-race.

Overall, this race was a highlight of the year. I had zero expectations for Craig (first or last, and I wouldn't have been surprised), but he did amazingly well. He bounced back from a few low-points, and was strong all day. He suggestions with the nav for a few of the trickier foot points was a big help. It was also nice to finish in a clear third place - it felt like we really separated ourselves from the rest of the pack. A little bit of fine-tuning in a few areas and we would have given Untamed and Rootstock a better run for their money.