Training Log Archive: DolfIn the 7 days ending Aug 15, 2010:
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Sunday Aug 15, 2010 #
Event: Mountain Designs ARA
Adventure race race (Mountain Designs ARA) 6:20:00 [4]
A very early start, meeting at Jacko's at 4:45.
Liz learnt a lot from Danger a couple of weeks ago on the PBGS MTB ride...
not all good. She learnt how to still be in bed at the meeting time. After a quick call from Jacko we were off to pick Liz up on the way.
Our plan to do the race as a four was out after we saw the different order of legs for mixed (Jolt/Liz) and male (Jacko/Me) teams.
Leg 1: Run
Off we went down the path with everyone else, I took the chance to get a photo opp running alongside one of the past greats of adventure racing.(sorry, that was a bit mean, I'll edit it out before submitting) :-)
As with everyone else CP 1 was a stuff up. Off to water crossing #1 then CP 2 and into the transition with plenty of other teams to change over to the MTB.
Leg 2: MTB
Not long into this leg I was very grateful for having a new much lighter bike, much easier when pushing up hill. We managed to pass quite a few teams but it was frustrating leading other teams to controls at times.
I misheard Jacko on a climb towards leg 3. Thinking he had said it was a the top of the hill we were on I changed gears, got out of the saddle and put in a big effort to reach the top quicker, turn the corner and... another hill.
My first thought was to walk it but I was able to get to the top and into transition with jelly legs.
Leg 3: Run
Started running along the track towards the 1st control of this leg while eating a bar but started coughing and choking so we walked while I finished the bar and had a drink then back to running. I had a stumble running downhill between the 1st & 2nd, came out of some thick bush very close to the corner for the 2nd, then on a longer jog to the third we were joined by another team. We got 3 then through the bush back to the track leading back to transition.
Leg 4: MTB
Pretty straight forward MTB leg, helping some teams find the 1st control. We had a small delay almost taking the wrong track back down to the river crossing but as with all our minor hiccups today we stopped, reassessed then corrected without panicking and limited our lost time. (Thanks to Tooms for passing on his O wisdom to Jacko)
Leg 5: Paddle
This was a good leg for us, getting onto the water quickly and passing a few teams, we saw a wet Tooms/Fletch/tRicky on there return leg. There was an empty canoe on left side bank half way up the river, not long after we saw a team running back along the bank to the canoe, possibly after collecting controls on foot. Not sure whether I was angry for them doing it (is it against the rules?) or for not thinking of it first. Back in transition I noticed team PPS heading off towards the river doing the rogaine leg.
Leg 6: Rogaine
We headed uphill first to collect all the controls on the transition side of the river. Loved running down some of the steeper downhill MTB tracks, hard to believe they can ride down some of those tracks at the speeds they do.
Thinking we could just wade across the river we headed over the rocks and decided it must be easier downriver. We lost a lot of time by sticking to the river bank as we headed towards the crossing instead of taking a track. We got to one point that looked safe and where we could recognise the features on the other side, and decided to cross (at a debatable, possible Tooms waist height level). Luckily we came out (after battling some riverside blackberry bushes) fairly close to the next control location. In hindsight we probably would have been quicker along the track to the main crossing. After collecting our 100 pts we got back into transition to get onto the MTB's for the MTB rogaine. We ran into dotty who was coming in ready to start the paddle.
Leg 7: MTB rogaine
We picked a clockwise loop, occasionally getting frustrated with the mapped tracks that weren't there. I don't really mind the unmapped tracks that are there, they are more like a risk/reward decision where as you shouldn't have to gamble on a route you have already marked on the map.
Pushing up a hill through the bush we passed team PPS again coming the other way, most of the way through their loop.
Another couple of small hiccups but caught and corrected early without losing too much time.
Leg 8: MTB
Simple leg back to the race HQ. As we were leaving we passed Jolt/Liz running into the TA looking good. We didn't know at what stage they were at as they had the different order being a mixed team.
One more river crossing with the bikes, It took a bit longer for the legs to start working after each crossing and I was glad this was the last one as they started to feel a bit sore rather than just fatigued.
Leg 9: Run
We were lucky to see the finish by Jen and Rowl, I thought they must have formed a team as I didn't see any flying elbows at the finish but it turns out they are both just nice.
Legs were starting to fail me but luckily Jacko didn't care so I just tried to keep up with him. On the run down the stairs to the bridge I stood on an unseen rock and strained my left achilles (I realise now that is why I am limping a day later, not just from muscle tightness).
We made a silly mistake earlier of assuming the last control was at the finish and didn't check again. When asked what we thought of the tyre control when standing in the parking lot 15mins after finishing we realised our mistake, had a quick debate about getting it then headed back out to finish properly.
Jacko's Nav was very good today, only a few quickly corrected hiccups.
Good to see Jolt and Liz come in after a good race.
Great location for a race HQ, good to have almost everyone we saw out on the course smiling and friendly.
Good Times.
Liz learnt a lot from Danger a couple of weeks ago on the PBGS MTB ride...
not all good. She learnt how to still be in bed at the meeting time. After a quick call from Jacko we were off to pick Liz up on the way.
Our plan to do the race as a four was out after we saw the different order of legs for mixed (Jolt/Liz) and male (Jacko/Me) teams.
Leg 1: Run
Off we went down the path with everyone else, I took the chance to get a photo opp running alongside one of the past greats of adventure racing.(sorry, that was a bit mean, I'll edit it out before submitting) :-)
As with everyone else CP 1 was a stuff up. Off to water crossing #1 then CP 2 and into the transition with plenty of other teams to change over to the MTB.
Leg 2: MTB
Not long into this leg I was very grateful for having a new much lighter bike, much easier when pushing up hill. We managed to pass quite a few teams but it was frustrating leading other teams to controls at times.
I misheard Jacko on a climb towards leg 3. Thinking he had said it was a the top of the hill we were on I changed gears, got out of the saddle and put in a big effort to reach the top quicker, turn the corner and... another hill.
My first thought was to walk it but I was able to get to the top and into transition with jelly legs.
Leg 3: Run
Started running along the track towards the 1st control of this leg while eating a bar but started coughing and choking so we walked while I finished the bar and had a drink then back to running. I had a stumble running downhill between the 1st & 2nd, came out of some thick bush very close to the corner for the 2nd, then on a longer jog to the third we were joined by another team. We got 3 then through the bush back to the track leading back to transition.
Leg 4: MTB
Pretty straight forward MTB leg, helping some teams find the 1st control. We had a small delay almost taking the wrong track back down to the river crossing but as with all our minor hiccups today we stopped, reassessed then corrected without panicking and limited our lost time. (Thanks to Tooms for passing on his O wisdom to Jacko)
Leg 5: Paddle
This was a good leg for us, getting onto the water quickly and passing a few teams, we saw a wet Tooms/Fletch/tRicky on there return leg. There was an empty canoe on left side bank half way up the river, not long after we saw a team running back along the bank to the canoe, possibly after collecting controls on foot. Not sure whether I was angry for them doing it (is it against the rules?) or for not thinking of it first. Back in transition I noticed team PPS heading off towards the river doing the rogaine leg.
Leg 6: Rogaine
We headed uphill first to collect all the controls on the transition side of the river. Loved running down some of the steeper downhill MTB tracks, hard to believe they can ride down some of those tracks at the speeds they do.
Thinking we could just wade across the river we headed over the rocks and decided it must be easier downriver. We lost a lot of time by sticking to the river bank as we headed towards the crossing instead of taking a track. We got to one point that looked safe and where we could recognise the features on the other side, and decided to cross (at a debatable, possible Tooms waist height level). Luckily we came out (after battling some riverside blackberry bushes) fairly close to the next control location. In hindsight we probably would have been quicker along the track to the main crossing. After collecting our 100 pts we got back into transition to get onto the MTB's for the MTB rogaine. We ran into dotty who was coming in ready to start the paddle.
Leg 7: MTB rogaine
We picked a clockwise loop, occasionally getting frustrated with the mapped tracks that weren't there. I don't really mind the unmapped tracks that are there, they are more like a risk/reward decision where as you shouldn't have to gamble on a route you have already marked on the map.
Pushing up a hill through the bush we passed team PPS again coming the other way, most of the way through their loop.
Another couple of small hiccups but caught and corrected early without losing too much time.
Leg 8: MTB
Simple leg back to the race HQ. As we were leaving we passed Jolt/Liz running into the TA looking good. We didn't know at what stage they were at as they had the different order being a mixed team.
One more river crossing with the bikes, It took a bit longer for the legs to start working after each crossing and I was glad this was the last one as they started to feel a bit sore rather than just fatigued.
Leg 9: Run
We were lucky to see the finish by Jen and Rowl, I thought they must have formed a team as I didn't see any flying elbows at the finish but it turns out they are both just nice.
Legs were starting to fail me but luckily Jacko didn't care so I just tried to keep up with him. On the run down the stairs to the bridge I stood on an unseen rock and strained my left achilles (I realise now that is why I am limping a day later, not just from muscle tightness).
We made a silly mistake earlier of assuming the last control was at the finish and didn't check again. When asked what we thought of the tyre control when standing in the parking lot 15mins after finishing we realised our mistake, had a quick debate about getting it then headed back out to finish properly.
Jacko's Nav was very good today, only a few quickly corrected hiccups.
Good to see Jolt and Liz come in after a good race.
Great location for a race HQ, good to have almost everyone we saw out on the course smiling and friendly.
Good Times.
Tuesday Aug 10, 2010 #
MTB 35:35 [3] 14.0 km (2:33 / km) +110m 2:27 / km
shoes: Giant Anthem X3
Ride up Marmion ave to Yanchep and return.
Logging as 2 separate rides as they certainly felt worlds apart. Struggled to get moving at the start of the ride and heading up into the wind made things tough. Nearly got run off the road by a truck that crossed the white line into the cyclists lane for no reason other than to prove he was a dickhead.
No off road exploring today as I had no spare tube with me.
Logging as 2 separate rides as they certainly felt worlds apart. Struggled to get moving at the start of the ride and heading up into the wind made things tough. Nearly got run off the road by a truck that crossed the white line into the cyclists lane for no reason other than to prove he was a dickhead.
No off road exploring today as I had no spare tube with me.
MTB 27:35 [4] 14.0 km (1:58 / km) +110m 1:54 / km
shoes: Giant Anthem X3
A little tailwind does wonders for your mood.
Turned at the Yanchep roundabout and decided to push the pace a bit on the return leg. Legs turned to jelly a couple of times on the climbs but felt pretty good overall and enjoyed the ride home much more than the ride out.
Turned at the Yanchep roundabout and decided to push the pace a bit on the return leg. Legs turned to jelly a couple of times on the climbs but felt pretty good overall and enjoyed the ride home much more than the ride out.