Training Log Archive: glewis

We took a long bushwhack over to 49 after getting 50. It was a nice trail climb up to 51, where we passed TrailVets and saw Rib again, who had moved quicker on trails while we bushwhacked earlier. We had finished the western half of the map, and moved on roads over to the eastern portion. Their were more trails, but we had a warning in the course notes about the excess of unmapped nonsense around 54 and 55. We caught back up to Rib at 53 after getting 52, and worked over to 54 very carefully. We had seen some crude trail maps in the woods, which told us that our map didn't match with what would be on the ground. After getting 54 we found the trail tough to follow over to 55. Back and forth with Rib we went, turning around and looking for blue blazes before Tom finally found a trail bordering an old rock wall, marked with reflective markers and blue blazes. It was tough to follow and was moving rather north, but we liked it at the time. It eventually turned hard east, and we followed that for a ways, passing Rootstock.

The trail that we were on ended, and we combined brains with Rib again. Tim felt like we had gone too far (not sure in which direction though) and I felt like we might not be north enough. We each looked in different directions...and we never saw them again! We spent 90 minutes looking way too far north and east of the control, hunting for the sounds of waterfalls and looking for the massive swamp to our north. We eventually realized that we were nearly passed the swamp, and after a series of frustrating fits and starts decided to head back to a known trail and most likely skip this point. This is where Tom had his MVP moment. He felt like a junction that we entered on 90 minutes prior was close to the CP - we followed a small stream that got bigger and bigger, and boom! We were super excited to then realize exactly where we were on the map - we entered the CP area on the wrong trail! From there we began moving quickly but smartly, sticking to trails and finding CPs efficiently.

Our main issue here were our stomachs - we were all essentially out of food. I personally was out for 2+ ours, but it sounds like Scott was much more than that. I also had an issue with my GI tract starting near 57. I never go to the bathroom (like that...) during a race, but this was the first of 3 "visits" in the morning. After 58 we hit a road section and tried to run as much as possible. Our time estimates had us leaving TA by 6AM to comfortably make it back on time, and we were going to cut it close. I was feeling a little more energy than the rest so I took the passport and tried to lead with some purposeful pace. Our last two points were 46 at a waterfall and 48 at a radio tower. The tower was much easier to find during the day. The trek back from there was just over 1km long, where Tom let us know that he was probably going to bail on us and ride right back to the finish. We hustled as best as possible into TA around 6:30AM.

Leg 9 - MTB
We devoured all of the food that we could see before riding out of TA just after 6:45. I learned after the race that I planned a sub-optimal route from here, adding an extra 2km to the ride. We were moving terribly slow despite our influx of calories, so it magnified this error. It took about 45 minutes to arrive at the first pocket of points, on a series of ATV and MTB trails. This riding was really tough, and zapped loads of energy from us as well as tons of time. I had expected it to take only 30 minutes, but it was closer to 80. With this time crunch, we resolved to get our butts into gear and push as hard as we could to clear the course. There were 3 more points at the Kate Furbish trail system (from our opening trek) that we needed to get. I had a feeling that we might need to drop one, so I took a conservative approach that made us double back at one point. From there, we hammered home as hard as possible. I was feeling great, so I tried to ride in front and act as a rabbit for the rest of the team - this clearly didn't work, as I got too far ahead by the time I got to the finish, just over time... Our official finish time was 45 seconds late, meaning that we dropped one CP as a penalty but not a spot in the rankings. There are about 100 places to recover 45 seconds in a race that long, and I can think of loads just from the last hour. Analyzing my own moves is my specialty, but I don't think it's worth it in this case.

We ended up 4th overall behind Rib and UNE/AE. Lots of fun, a beautiful course! I had a wonderful time with my terrific teammates - thanks Kit, Evan, and Scott (and Tom too!). Thanks also to Matt, Cliff, and Kate for a unique look at Maine! Already looking forward to the next one!!

Event: Maine Summer Adventure Race
 

Maine Summer AR - Strong Machine AR with Evan, Kit, and Scott. Tom was racing as a solo and we had loosely talked about racing with him. I've really enjoyed racing with him more and more, but we decided to start separately and join up if things played out the right way.

I drove up the day before by myself, and it was a terrible idea. I had done this in 2019 and I now remember why I hated it. The drive took 10 hours and included the worst rain that I've ever driven in along with more lightning that I wished. I stayed at Craig's place in Cape Elizabeth, and filled up my water bladders and bottles when I arrived before heading off to some decent sleep. I put the water in the freezer - I liked the ice by not the condensation. I also had forgotten a key piece to one of my bladders and couldn't use it during the race. I woke up early and got myself ready before finding out that one of my 2 remaining bladders was full of mold in the mouthpiece. I decided to use it for the paddle without the mouthpiece. It worked but was annoying.

I arrived at P-3 Park in Brunswick at 7:15, which was a touch later than I was hoping. I wasn't quite able to get all of my gear set before getting into the check-in line. A big positive of the location was the restaurant just across the street - I was able to get two hot and delicious breakfast sandwiches very quickly. We got our maps just after 8 and set up behind Evan's van. The course was a tad complex with lots of small legs and many pockets of points. We had discussed skipping the two furthest paddle points but planned to make a decision when we got to an inflection point. I felt like I had enough time to gameplan before the race despite the huge number of maps, but in retrospect I wish I had gone through the course more closely to catch some opportunities for creativity and time-saving.

Prologue
The race began with a quiz from Squiggly Lines. A great idea, but lots of teams struggled with it. One challenge required counting contour lines, but the different pictures ended up having different numbers of lines, so you could only get it correct if you happened to use the correct picture. Tom seemed to be the first one done, where we had ours checked 6+ times before getting it correct. I felt like we had blown a few minutes, but we later realized that Rootstock, Rib, and UNE/AE all struggled more than we did.

Leg 1 - MTB
A quick ride took us to Neptune Woods and a "Line-O", where we had to follow a marked route on our maps to find 4 flags hung in the woods. The trails were super fun and flowy; we had a great time on this small section. We saw Tom a few minutes ahead of us, and Rib/Rootstock a few minutes back. A quick road ride and we arrived at our first TA only 45 minutes into the race.

Leg 2 - Trek
Super quick TA and we were out - didn't see any teams while we were there. Only Tom's bike was present, so we were happy with our placement through the opening leg. I took the lead on the maps again with Scott following along as we went 8, 6 then 5. We saw Rootstock as we were leaving 5. We took trails around to 7, where Rootstock and Misguided had pulled ahead while taking a direct line. We then did 9, 11, 10 before bobbling on the way to 12. There was some disagreement about the fastest way to get there - I had been more comfortable running the trails but we ended up trying to cut across. We missed something and had to get ourselves sorted out at a different junction. We were closer to 13, so we got it next before getting 12 and then 14. We saw Rootstock and Rib on the out and back before following Rib into TA, where we left just after them. We were 3 minutes back of Rootstock and 10 back of Tom. This section took us just over an hour.

Leg 3 - Bike
This was a quick transition leg to the paddle put-in through Brunswick commons. We backtracked on roads, catching and passing Rib just as we entered the woods. We also passed Misguided a few minutes later, and saw many 8hr teams coming back in the other direction.. I think we did really well in here, hitting all of the correct turns and riding quickly. We had some confusing course instructions involving a parking lot at the end of the trails; we think we did it correctly despite the parking lot being empty. We rode on a rail trail the rest of the way, picking up one CP. We were briefly caught by UNE/AE, but rode into TA just ahead of them.

Leg 4 - Kayak
We TA's quickly and got out onto the water as efficiently as possible, heading south to maximize points before committing to the full course. I again wore my sunshirt, which is becoming a favorite of mine for paddling. I stayed safe from the sun with the exception of my inner knees which poked out from underneath the thigh pads. Scott and I each paddled a solo with Kit and Evan in a double. My single was not as nice as Scott's, something that I wish I had paid attention to in TA. We pushed off just as UNE/AE and Misguided were arriving. Evan and Kit quickly had some trouble with their boats, which messed up our plan. Instead of going straight south, we stopped at 23 so they could address their mechanical. It took about 15 minutes, but Evan was able to make his rudder serviceable for the remainder of the paddle.

Scott and I were able to maintain a pretty nice speed, but it seemed like the double was struggling to keep up. We got 21 with Rib and ran into Rootstock and UNE/AE at 20 - Rootstock told us that Tom had gone north into the bay to start. We were slowing as a team here despite getting the current in our favor, so I pulled out my tow at 22, where Rib passed us after I chose a creative but slow attack (it served us so well before being left in the kayak at the end of the stage...so many years of service before going out in style!). Scott towed Kit and Evan, and I was slowly struggling to keep up. They beat me to 24 where Scott hunted for the point for a few minutes before I realized that we were in the wrong spot. The reattack worked, but it took at least 10 minutes. I used this time to discuss with Tim Buchholz the rest of the course. He had seen Rootstock take off the water, so we could pass them in points by heading north. We went over the timing of the remaining stages 2-3 times before agreeing that we would both head up for the last two points, which we did so after 25. While at 25 I had a conversation with the team about how we needed to up our efficiency on the course, specifically when punching points. It seemed like we had been losing 2 minutes with each CP, so some changed were necessary. The conversation seemed to make a difference, as we were a bit more focused and quick moving forward.

The paddle up was a bit tough for me, and I was falling further and further behind. We got 26 and then 27 where we could see UNE/AE leaving - we estimated that they were 25 minutes ahead by the end of the stage. We were paddling quicker than Rib and putting some ground on them, but I was slowing considerably and costing the team some time. I'm not sure if it was heat, fatigue, dehydration, or something else. I was lethargic, but also suffering from some seriously numb shoulders. The team switched me onto the tow for the last 20 minutes, which made a world of difference. We pulled into the TA at 5:15. The TA wasn't our quickest, but it all felt necessary. Rib left a few minutes ahead of us, which would give us someone to chase.

Leg 5 - Bike
This was a major transition stage, with no real options for route choice and only 2 points. The leg was beautiful but very quick, riding through coastal towns and taking in some wonderful views. We ended up passing Rib before CP 30 while seeing handful of short course teams along the way. Our destination was Popham Beach, a beautiful little coastal village. We arrived just before 7PM, about 90 minutes after leaving.

Leg 6 - Trek
This leg had a two interesting features. One was that we had to leave by 9:30PM to avoid forfeiting all of the points obtained on the leg. The second was that one of the points could only be obtained by sandbar around lowtide, which was advertised to be from 7-9. We were pretty proud of ourselves for timing this so well - we TA'd quickly and set out onto the sandbar first. This section was full of beautiful views - we saw Course Designer Matt and his wife Erin taking them in from Fox Island. After travelling back across the sandbar we "coasteered" around the south and east side of the town. We passed Tom going the other direction - he was dealing with some cramps and slowing down. We hit the rest of the points right with Rib - most were in and around some really neat features of the old Fort Baldwin. We finished after about an hour. I got some good food from my pack and refilled by water but made the mistake of putting my pack into some wet sand, which later transferred to my lower back and caused me some pain. Before leaving we got some info from the volunteer on a course change which would allow us to take a short road section (that was originally marked off-limits) instead of a long ride around on trails.

Leg 7 - Bike
We again started this section just after Rib. It began getting dark as we worked towards CP 39, where we passed Tom on an out and back. CP40 was Evan's time to shine, where one team member had to shuck and eat an oyster before moving on. This whole process took less than a minute - we definitely made up some time here. We rode up to CP41 at Robinson Rock, where we caught the last vestiges of the sunset with a beautiful view before descending out on our bikes. We had passed Rib here, as they dropped bike to come in on foot. We saw Tom again at CP42 (I told him to wait for us in TA) before heading in on roads. We passed the TrailVets here too. This leg hadn't been too long, but we were excited to be in TA and getting ready for the big trek. It was just after 10 when we arrived. I had feeling great throughout the race, but was still excited for my chick sandwich and to refill my hoagies. We ate well, refilled waters, and planned our route. Tom had waited for us and had a different order in mind, so I happily went along with his plan.

Leg 8 - Trek
After one false start of wandering through an orchard, we popped back out into TA (again, right with Rib) and headed into the correct trail system right around 10:30. We bounced back and forth with Rib for a bit, always seeing their headlamps near the CPs as we approached or coming from behind as we left. We saw UNE/AE a few times as we caught up to and passed them, but then didn't see them again. The team (especially Tom and Scott) did really well with 44 and 45, but especially 48, which was the toughest point out there. We hit that last bit right around midnight.

Super sweaty walk with Evan around the neighborhood.

Struble Trail with Rebekah and Evan. Evan was super happy about the whole thing so we added in some additional offshoots to make it much longer. I took it very easy except for one hard effort on a steep hill. My bike wasn't shifting correctly as a result of Sunday's fall, but I think I've found the problem.