Training Log Archive: glewis

Ride from home to KOP and back on CVT. Supposed to be during a break in the rain, but it was raining for nearly the whole ride out and started again once I got back into Exton. The rain paused my phone a few times, but I think that this is the correct time for the ride. This route ends up being a bit of fitness test; I think this was my fastest time yet despite the crap weather.

Another ride with Noah at Harmony Hill. He took some spills but kept on moving rather well.

Quick run before picking up Noah. My first time to the Myrick Center. Nice open fields.

Noah's school has changed their schedule for a few weeks, closing at 4. This throws off all of my weekday workout plans, but I'm going to try some creative things in the interim. Today we went for a bike ride at Harmony Hill. He is doing really well at riding up and down hills, and he's loving all of the riding on the flat singletrack, even on his super-basic bike.

EX2 VentureQuest with Kevin - 1st Overall

It is normally a foolish idea to drive 2:45 each direction for a 5 hour race, but 2020 is a foolish year! This was the only opportunity to get a race in together, so I jumped at Kevin's suggestion to head down to Pohick Bay Regional Park for this event. In the lead up to it we learned that the Eco bump was real, with a sold out event divided into start waves every 30 minutes. With our long drive, we selected the latest start time (10:00). This helped us get some more sleep the night prior and also would allow us to know our placement as soon as we finished. Kevin volunteered to drive down, and we arrived about 15 minutes before our 9AM check-in. We enjoyed seeing an unknown crop of racers - I find it fascinating that adventure racers rarely cross the Mason-Dixon Line. We did chat briefly with those that we recognized as we prepped for the start. We both decided to forgo bike shoes and stick with flat pedals, as speed would be key for this event. After some words from RD Andy we began right at 10. With temps in the high 50s, this was a picture perfect day for a race.

Leg 1 involved a trek to the paddle put in with a single CP on the way. We elected to carry our kayak paddles instead of borrowing single blades, and took off at a fast pace, quickly separating from the pack with a pair of solos. The nav was very simple, and we hightailed it into the paddle TA and quickly shoved off. The paddle selection was smart, as we were able to cover the ground quickly to the 2 cps on this section before heading back. We were off of the water just after 10:30; Kevin and I remarked continually how it might have been our favorite paddle ever ;). A quick TA led to a run back uphill to the main TA (didn't even bother breaking down the paddles), where we were surprised to see a solo arriving. He had been with us on the paddle but took a short (and questionably legal) bushwhack back.

Our TAs were as fast as they've ever been in this race; using flat pedals was a big help. We got out on our bikes in just about a minute and set off on a prescribed trail towards the road, where we rode a "rail trail" down to a MTB park. Our solo "friend" was right with us throughout, even making a point to call out the CPs on the MTB loop once we arrived. The problem with that was that he was clearly just following; his map was tucked away and he wasn't even pretending to look at it. I tried to lose him a couple of times, but he stopped with us, convinced that we had grown to a 3-man team. The riding in here was super flowy and simple, following a perimeter trail and grabbing 3 CPs along it. From there, we rode back towards Pohick Bay, stopping at a TA along the way to complete a trekking section.

Another lightning fast TA got us across the road to a 10 point trek. Pre-race we decided that the most efficient route was to go in numeric order from T1-T10. We took off at a fast run, and finally lost the solo on the way to the out-and-back first point. From there, we were fast and efficient, nailing points smoothly. Between 3 and 4 and again between 9 and 10 we chose a direct route through unmowed fields which proved to be the bloodiest choice. The only small mistake was overshooting 7, but we corrected immediately, only losing a minute or two. By the time we hit 11 and made it back to the TA we had begun running into teams who were just starting the section, which confirmed that we were moving very well. This was a beautiful leg, with open forest and great features. We rode back to the main TA on bikes, arriving 2:22 into the race with only an o-section remaining.

Before leaving on foot I dropped my water bladder and instead took the bottle off of my bike. With a tiny gear list for this race, my pack was essentially empty. We again decided that 1-10 was the best order for this section. No issues at all for this leg, choosing to go overland when possible, nailing all of the CPs right where we expected them to be. We crossed over the 3 hr mark just before we arrived at 10, and we took off down trails from there, punching the finish at 3:08. We had expected to be an hour ahead of everyone else, but to our surprise there would be a number of teams coming in under 4 hours, including our solo "teammate" at 3:28. Not sure if it would have been possible to go under 3; we would have needed to be perfect in ways that we couldn't have predicted (i.e. avoiding the tall grass fields) and maybe even avoided taking packs for most sections, instead just going with in-hand items.

Even though it was quick, I really enjoyed the trip down for this race. Andy did a great job setting a course that was accessible for new racers (of which there were plenty) while also being fun for experienced teams. I think that this is a perfect example of what a sprint race should be. Awesome day out racing!!