Training Log Archive: Rainbow Unicorn

I was quickly reviewing the PTrot splits from the website. If the 1st split times are correct (since I went off-course traveling w/Pete/Tom/Kelly after 12), I dropped approximately 11 minutes being off the map on CP13. Ouch.

C • Awesome 2nd half 7

Bike to/from school.

Possum Trot XIII - Knob Noster State Park, Missouri
Had a decent pace out of the gate, and found myself running w/Tom, Kelly, and Pete while trying to keep up with Everett. He was fairly quick and I wasn't totally confident or into the map at this point, so we decided to take a chance at an early skip of CPs 8 & 9. In the end, it seemed like a decent option as all of us placed fairly well in the end.
Unfortunately, as was discussed on my log already, I bombed CP 13 pretty good, spending about 10-11 minutes on an off-the-map parallel feature to the west. I probably would have realized something sooner due to the lack of inactivity around where I thought the CP was, but with skipping 8 & 9 early, I felt it was very probable that the pack hadn't caught up yet. I wasn't looking at my watch, so time was fleeting more than I had thought, and Pete, Tom, and Kelly were long gone.
Back on track, I punched 13 at approximately the same time as Buckley and Carr. We went to 14 together in a train, and I let them know my unfortunate situation. Buckley had skipped one at this point, Carr none.
We ran to the water stop as a crew of 3, and I slammed my small bottle. Carr and Buckley were eating/drinking a bit too, but I didn't feel like I wanted to dally too much and started running to CP15 at a decent pace. I started to lose Carr and Buckley on the way to 16 and 17, caught up to a guy wearing shorts (Ouch!) at CP 17, and navigated cleanly and speedily through CP 26 solo. Felt good to be solid with the nav and running fast after the hiccup earlier on.
Andrei and I met up at CP 26, but he was running slightly slower at this time, so I put a bit of distance on him to 27 and 28. Unfortunately (again), I veered too far west on my way north to 29, and actually met up with Pete looking for the same control. Andrei unknowingly snaked me here and got ahead by a minute or two. Pete and I finally got on the map and punched 29 with Buckley bearing down on us a few meters away. I put on the speedy legs to go east to 30 and to the finish for 5th place.
As mentioned in my comments, Everett definitely ran away with the overall win, but 2nd through 7th places were decided by barely over a 5-minute period in a 2-hour race. Pretty fun/competitive event to be a part of....
Hanging with the MNOC crew all weekend was choice - thanks for making it a great time! Lots of new Possum Troters that will hopefully be back next year....

Event: Possum Trot XIII Weekend
 

Kansas O-Championships at Kansas University in Lawerence, KS. Decent run effort-wise and nav-wise. Route to #4 was suspect, and I should have run through the green woods - I estimate an extra 200-300 meters by running around to the east, which could have added a good amount of seconds.
Unknowingly ran through an out of bounds graveyard and tried to jump through a hedge late in the run. Both were ill-advised route choices. Came home with a decent result of 2nd overall, the merits of which could be disputed one way or the other due to the graveyard route and the thorn that Molly pulled out of my left butt cheek that night.

C • Workin' that bootay 2

Travel to KC, MO.

Bike to/from school. Speed is distinctly slower with the snow tires on and the sketchier roads/trails.

Run around Cedar/Brownie w/Waima. Kept the pace nice and easy.

Bike to/from school. The snow made things interesting on the ride home.... Definitely a good practice with bike handling skills going through snow drifts in my road slicks. Must change to winter tire setup before school tomorrow.

Set a 1.1km sprint course at the University of Minnesota (West Bank) on my newly created O-map. My presentation beforehand went pretty well and, despite a raging blizzard outside, about 12 classmates, Pete, Darryn, and Tom set forth on the U of M Challenge. Hands were basically frozen after trying to untie twisted controls with my bare hands....

Thanks to Ian and Pete for teaching me about OCAD and for helping me put my map together! The finished product looks pretty good!

C • Who won? 3

Bike to/from school.