Training Log Archive: KFish

Event: Sheltowee Extreme 12 hr AR
 

Sheltowee Xtreme 12 hr
Medical Withdrawal

We pulled in at about 9 pm Friday evening and got our maps. We were told that there was a printing problem with the grid lines, so instead of plotting UTM it was going to be copy from a master map. Turns out coming in so late probably saved us a lot of time and headache with regards to plotting. We started devising a strategy - it looked like it was going to be almost entirely biking with a few bike drops to grab points farther off trail. The N section was far more lucrative so we were planning on clearing that, hopefully leaving 3-4 hours for the paddle to the southern section, where they would transport our bikes by pontoon boat. There were a few interesting controls - 2 min video control, double punch, thank a volunteer, MS-2 pack at a far out control for the taking.

We got to bed before midnight and got up at 5:30 for a 8 am start about half an hour away. Got most of our gear ready, drove over, and finished staging bikes and bins. The pontoon boat arrived late, so the race didnt actually start until 8:40. RD seemed unhappy with boat rental place for this.

Got off to a good start with a few km bike warm up before starting a chunk of the sheltowee trace singletrack biking trail. The trail was mostly in good hsape, although we hit many downed trees blocking the way so a lot of on and off. Rocky and rooty trail, but mostly flat. Picked up 4 controls bingo style with only a few wrong turns when the trail wasnt labeled well.

From the end of the ST we made a quick stop at the grocery store for a CP and then headed off to the farthest out bike point, 30, ,which was on nice gravel roads. On the way back out we tried to pick up a trail that had been added to the map, but got freaked out by private property sides and barking dogs, so we ended up coming all the back out ot the main road and taking the longer route around. We were able to find the correct trail from the other side, so we made quick work of that control and the next one farther down the trail.

We were in high spirits at this point, about 3 hours in and thinking clearing was still possible. We dropped our bikes to do a foot section for 5 points that included a swim across a river, an AR first for us. This section was approachable by bike from the north, but it would be significantly longer bike and the same amount of foot travel - definitely worth it to carry the PFDs and do the swim instead. The water was like bath water and not even very refreshing. The trek proved very difficult. Navigation went mostly well, but we were traveling through thick rhododendron and holly and up a rocky reentrant that we kept having to climb in and out of due to getting stuck by cliffs. I had syd take over naving for one point for a quick break. Despite going mostly well, this trek ended up derailing my race because we forgot to bring electrolytes and it took longer than our anticipated 2 hours. Additionally, I disturbed some bees and ended up with 6 bee stings, ,which I think also attributed to some of my illness later on.

We biked back out and I was definitely starting to fade. I tried pounding electrolytes, and syd carried my pack for a bit. We stopped at the grocery store again, picking up some cold water and free ice cream. We were 6.5 hours in at this point. After this break we hopped back on the sheltowee trace mtb trail and headed north for about 3km to pick up the double punch. Unfortunately i took a turn for the worse and eventually told syd I need to stop and rest. This turned into about a 1 hr + long stop, a nap, and then a lot of puking. Syd was great in helping me through this. We were about as far from a road as we had been the entire day, and didnt have much option but to get back out. So we took it very slowly going a few tenths of kms at a time, with syd carrying two packs and pushing two bikes and me trudging zombie like. It took another hour and a half just to walk back out like this. We were lucky to come out at the road to find a race volunteer had just pulled in and could drive us back. Had a medic take a look at me while sydney packed up our stuff, but ultimately I just needed some cool air and sleep before I could stomach anything. Ended up skipping town and getting a hotel room, skipping the banquet.

Things that went well:
My nav was pretty good
I think our strategy was sound

Things that didnt go well:
Heat
Bee stings
forgetting electrolytes

Definitely some lessons learned in this experience, and some I hope I dont need to repeat. It is a huge bummer dropping out of the race, but I couldnt ask for a better race partner in terms of helping me through it and taking care of me.

C • No electrolytes and six bee... 5

C • Trivia 1

Miscellaneous putzing

Testing out the new hardware
(Cassette and chain, Qstarz data logger)

Looks like it thought i was in outer space or something.

C • 6*10^-4 c 1

top rope and bouldering. not overly successful

Felt like we were being lazy recently so threw in a run after climbing.

A creak in the handlebars and a gear skipping. Took the shop and ended up with a new chain and cassette and a lot of lube.