Adventure Race Camp - Day 3

Day 3 arrived and we had a practice 5 hour adventure race on the schedule followed by some other little things. We were getting kicked out of our hotel and decided to just head home instead of staying another day and mtn biking. I think we were all ready to sleep in our own beds again and I was dead tired and didn't think I would be able to mtn bike on Sunday anyway. So we packed up and checked out. Crossed our fingers that Tim's truck would start, it did, and headed over to pura vida adventures to meet Joe. After our prerace briefing we got our map and headed to the race site. We decided to do the mtn bike part first and I would hold the map, and Tim would have the passport.

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Getting way behind so I'll have to cut this short...
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we did really good on the bike, we started to crack a bit in the heat on the way back to transition, but still made a good time. My legs were not going good and the heat was not helping at all so I knew we wouldn't be doing much running on the trekking part and we probably wouldn't be able to get all 4 targets.
Long story short, we made a huge error at the start, but luckily we recognized it in time and decided to skip #1 and go for #2 and #4 and if we had time #3, made it to 2 ok, #4 was at the top of stone mtn and I just about died getting up there, the way down was cramping time, but when we got back to the road we had 30 minutes to get back, luckily we were able to run the flats and downhills and made it back with plenty of time to spare.

We then had lunch and a short debriefing about what we did wrong and right.

All and all a great trip. I would highly recommend Pura Vida to anyone interested in learning about adventure racing.

Adventure Race Camp Day 2

My plan for this morning was to not set an alarm and if I got up early I would go mtn bike on some easy trails and if I slept in then I would just sleep in. Well I got up at 5:05, so once again banana, some water and out the door.
It was still a bit dark, so I put on the rose lenses for my glasses to help me see and started out towards the forest again. Found a trail I "thought" I could handle and headed up. Well, I ended up pushing the bike half the time and when I got to the top of the trail, it said it was a "medium" difficulty. Luckily the trail I came out on was marked easy. I headed up a bit more then turned around and headed back down.

At the bottom I found the exercise trail again so did a loop on that, then coasted back to the hotel. When I got back to the entrance I went to take my helmet off and it wasn't there. My first thought was it fell off, but then I realized I had never put it on. Went in for a quick shower then breakfast and a talk with the hotel staff to see if we could get rooms. Luckily someone cancelled and the room Tim and Michael were in was going to be available through Friday and we were able to get another double, but had to switch rooms, so Eric and I moved our stuff into Tim and Michael's room and headed to camp.
On tap for today is rappelling in the morning followed by navigation after lunch. We were warned that for the navigation we might want to wear long pants since we would be going through some thick brush. We asked what he was wearing and he was like just shorts and since we didn't really bring long pants we would all be wearing shorts. The rappelling was really cool. After some safety instruction we did one quick one then we were to learn a self rescue which meant stopping half way down, pretending that something was stuck in the ATC, create a foot hold, step into it, cleat the ATC then continue down, all while hanging 35 feet in the air. How much fun is that?
We asked what ATC stood for and Joe told us Air Traffic Controller. I thought he was messin with us, but a quick search later found that he was being straight. We ended up going 5 or 6 times each, then headed back for lunch. Today's lunch was at another local place which had mexican and american food. I got a big ass burrito and woofed it down. There we found out that for navigation we were going to the mountain and hiking, on the way we got a map and learned we would be hiking close to 3 miles. I wasn't expecting that much and had I known I would not have gone out mtn biking that morning, but off we went.
We started down the trail and I hear this high pitched scream and Michael comes running to the back. I look up ahead and see a big snake headed into the woods.
The first part wasn't bad, I was leading with Tim navigating. I was thinking this is going to get a lot worse very soon, but for now I'll just enjoy the ride. Eventually we went off trail and the real fun began. We went straight up a steep hill and started getting into the thorny bushes. Wasn't long before my legs were covered in scratches. But we made it to the top and found the first target. At this point Tim took over the front and Michael was navigating. This was almost all off trail and took forever and we had to go up about 1200 feet over a 1 mile trek. let's just say it was more than painful and my legs were done when we got to the top. "luckily" the next part was all downhill, once again all of trail, but not as bad. Until I got stung by something. It felt like fire ants were all over my ankle. I was told it was probably prickly Nettles and it would go away soon. I have non idea what it was, but I suspect a wasp or some such creature since now that the rash has finally dyed down I can see a sting site. Finally we made it down to the road and Joe hitchhiked back to the car to come get us. Another tough day and I was beat, we headed back for pizza and beer, but first we had to go pick up Tim's truck and get some Bourbon for Tim and Eric. Tomorrow we had a 5 hour simulated adventure race so there would be no morning workout.

Adventure Race Camp Day 1

After yesterdays fiasco with the hotel room, I got up early, scarfed down a banana and some water waited a bit, then headed out for a run. I had emailed Joe earlier about an easy trail run for the morning since we were doing kayak and classroom I thought I could handle an hour. He said there was an exercise trail about 3 miles from the hotel that was flat and ran along the river. Never really found out how to get there so I figured I would just run 30 minutes then turn around and come back. Started out downhill from the hotel and saw a sign for the Pisgah forest and followed it. The next sign I see is.

First thought I had was oops, wrong way, but then I was like this is supposed to be an adventure so why not, and I only had 20 or so minutes to go till I turned around so it can't be that bad. Anyway I kept going and while it was uphill, it was just a slight uphill and the scenery was keeping my distracted enough that it didn't matter. After a mile I see a trail off to the left paralleling the river I have been following so I decide to take it.

After a few minutes on the trail I see the sign for the exercise trail, amazing... So I follow that a while taking it easy and taking pictures. When I arrive at the English Chapel I'm at 34 minutes and decide to turn back so I can get breakfast #2 in before camp starts.
Turn around and it takes me 26 minutes to get back, I guess it was a bit more of an uphill than I thought, but I was moving much faster and the temp was a brisk 63 so feeling really good.
After the run had breakfast at the hotel, eggs, sausage, and biscuits. Then headed off to camp. Tim when to get the truck and meet us out front, but he comes walking back in and the truck would not start, so we had to take Michael's car. Met Joe from Pura Vida Adventures at his office which was just around the corner from the hotel and right next to the Indie Coffee shop. Started with some admin/paper work, camp itinerary and then some kayak classroom instruction. next we packed up the van and headed out to the lake for some on the water learning. We learned to do a boat rescue where you after purposefully roll over, then get out and then push the kayak onto someone Else's kayak upside down to get the water out and flip it over. Then you have to get back in with out filling it back up with water.
Then we learned a self rescue with a bilge pump and floaty. This was more of a challenge especially for me. I could get the kayak over ok, but then every time just before I got in, I would flip it over again. I think it took me 6 tries to finally get it. Next there was some basic paddle instruction and we headed to the waterfall.
I was amazed that we only went about a mile but the water was much colder and cleaner near the falls. We hiked up to the top and I swam out to the middle almost to where the water was landing. I felt like I was in my endless pool because the closer I got the harder it was to keep moving forward.
After a few minutes we paddled back, then headed back to the office for lunch and some rappelling instruction so we could head directly to the rock in the morning.
Got back to the hotel and Tim called AAA to come look at the truck after it still wouldn't start when we got back. We headed off to a local place to eat and he waited for the tow truck.

At the restaurant it was taking more than 45 minutes to get our dinner so I talked with the manager and got our appetizer and drinks taken off the check. When the food finally arrived, it was really good or I was really hungry, or both. And this ends day 1, I really needed this.

Adventure Race Camp - Prelude

Earlier in the year we signed up for Adventure Race Camp, Tim, Michael, Eric and I. We had originally planed to do the Black Beard Adventure Race and asked Joe at Pura Vida Adventures to tailor the camp to that race. It would include Kayaking, Rappelling, Mountain biking, and trekking. We had received a special rate with the Holiday Inn Express that was about a half mile from his office. He had sent the itinerary a few weeks ahead of time and it was setup like this.
Thursday day 1 - Admin stuff and kayak instruction in class, followed by a trip to the lake / river to put our skills to the test and learn on the water, then back to the class room for some more instruction.
Friday day 2 - Rappelling in the morning, then navigation class after lunch
Saturday day 3 - Mtn bike instruction and training and maintenance.

Since day 1 was just kayaking and class I decided to get my weights in and do a swim workout on Wednesday before leaving. Tuesday I had done a 5 mile run and Monday I did some mtn biking, can't remember when my last day off was, but I'm sure it was when I was sick. I was feeling really good after my forced week off so didn't really think about the extra workouts and really the camp on paper didn't seem that hard. We even booked an extra night so we could go out Sunday and ride after camp was over. Michael was driving himself and Tim, Eric and I were car pooling. Left around 4 and made 2 stops for food and gas on the way. At about 9, Michael calls us from the hotel and tells me they don't have our reservation. We get the confirmation number and are told that they were canceled due to an "issue" with the credit card. They could not tell us what the issue was just that the first night did not go through and when that happens, they cancel the reservation. Also it was not them that canceled it so they knew nothing about it. They at least had two rooms for Wednesday and Thursday. They bumped us up to suites because that's all they had, then tried to charge us more but Michael spoke up in a calm manner that Tim, Eric, nor I were capable of and we ended up with the original rate. One of the rooms was a King and the other two queens. Michael was a little too eager to sleep in the king with Tim, but Tim was ok with it so that was our room assignments.


Tim and Michael's love nest.

Scary, isn't it?

Impossible Panther Race Report

This was a 6 hour adventure race in the uwharrie national forest. The race was to start at 1:30 and run until 7:30 so lodging was not required, although it probably would have been a good idea to have something for after as I didn't get home until after 11pm and with a 5am wake up, 4 - 5 hours in the car and the 6 hours of race I was exhausted.

note: I started this entry with the above a week ago and then my daughter got the flu and gave it to me so I am just getting back to this now.

got to the race site at 11:30, checked in and got our map and passport. Mapped out the checkpoints and decided to canoe first, then head to the rappelling section, then come back for the orienteering course. We had some time to relax and prepare before the race briefing at 1. They informed us that the rappelling was only open till 6, that there would be 2 ropes and that at least two members had to do it to get full points. Answered some questions and told us that the O course map would be handed out just before the start. We moved the canoe into position and got our canoe gear ready to go. At 1:30 we got the O course map and race number and were ready to go.
After the gun went off we headed down towards the water with the canoe on a hiking trail that said it was about .25 miles. Started off on the canoe with me in the back, Eric up front and Tim in the middle on map duty. We had 3 paddles but really only 2 could paddle and the canoe was smaller then I expected or that we had at the Flying frog so we were taking in water the whole time and when we hit a big wake from the water skiers we would almost sink. Remember next year, kayaks would be a better choice. We made our first of many mistakes in the canoe and went to the wrong Island, and wasted about 15 minutes searching for the target and even more time as we went about a mile out of our way. We managed to figure out our mistake and headed to the correct Island where the target was waiting for us. Tim was now in front and Eric in the middle as we went to the next of 3 targets, found those easily and then Eric took over the back and I got a break on the way back in.
When we got out of the water we started heading back up to transition with the canoe and missed our turn, we got to carry the canoe and extra bit and added some more missed time, not the best of starts, but we got all three water targets and were on our way to the rappelling section.
We planned to hit one of the mtn bike targets on the way but after a series of missed turns and then when we got to where we thought it was, we couldn't find the target, we back tracked to the road and tried to come in from the other side of the trail. No luck from that side either and now it was time to head to Rappel before it was too late. Got to the rap station and there was a line. We were told there would be two lines running and that it wouldn't take that long, but when we got there the lady said it would be about an hour. luckily she changed the requirement from two members to only 1 member had to do it to get full points so we say and waited.
After Eric went, the plan was to head back and try to get as many orienteering pts as we could before the end. The road back to camp was long and very hilly, by the time we got to transition we had about 30 minutes left.
Found the first target ok, the second target no luck, we looked for an easy one and thought number 8 would not be too hard since it was by a re entrance and a building, but once we got there we had 5 minutes to find it and... no luck. So we hauled ass back and made it in with 30 seconds to spare.
It was a bit frustrating not to find the targets, but we are still gaining experience and learned some valuable lessons from this one. All in all the race was well run and we had a awesome time. Only complaint was with the rappelling section only having the one rope going.

chase run race report

ok so this wasn't really a real race, but it sure felt like one. The idea is that there are a group of crazy runners at 6am on a tuesday morning that all decide they want to torture themselves and get together to do so. Each runner gives the pace they think they can run this 4.75 mile out and back route. Someone does the calculations to get start times for each pace so that we all end at the same time, if we were to actually stick to that pace. There was a 1.5 mile warmup and 1.5 mile cooldown as well. I am still recovering from hip bursitis so I wasn't ready for 8 miles especially with a 5 mile tempo in the middle, so I parked near the start of the tempo part and ran back towards the group until we met, then back to the start for my warmup. This was a very good idea as when we were done, I was done.
I was running an 8:45 pace, I figured this was doable, but was still not sure since I hadn't done a 5 mile tempo in months. Luckily Cindy was also doing 8:45 so i had someone to share the pain. Our coach says to push each other and to not chit chat. There was one guy ahead of us at 9 min pace or a 1:11 min head start. I'm ready to get going because I see all the speed people waiting around and don't want to get caught.
finally we get going. We start off on a slight downhill and with all the adrenaline at the 1/4 mile mark we are doing a 7:50 pace, Cindy's like "I thought it felt fast" I was like "You are a step a head of me and every time I pull even you speed up", Cindy's like "I thought you were speeding up and pulling a frank", I was like "yeah right, you are pulling a Vivian". This slows us down a bit and now we can chit chat. If you are reading this coach, ignore that last sentence ;-). We hit the 1 mile mark right on 8:45, it feel hard, and we have just started. I try to relax into the pace and just not think about it. We continue to talk and run and when we hit mile two we did 8:40, this is good as the next mile starts with a short but steep hill up to the damn dam, then a flat to coach's parents and the turn around. I see her dad is the marker and once we do around him I tell him to back up about 20 yards. I look down and see this mile we are slacking and at 9:10 pace so I pick up the pace to around 8:30 till we get back to the short hill and Cindy says something like "if you keep this pace up I'm letting you go" I told her I had to surge to get the pace back where it should be. This is the last thing I say that can be considered a real sentence. I remember saying something like, I have to say this now while my brain can still speak with logic, we then pass our coach who is still on the out part and the 3 mile mark at an 8:46 pace. I think that we still have a 3 second cushion to work with and if we can just do a 8:50 for mile 4 we will make it to the end on pace. I tell Cindy we only have 1.75 miles to go and Cindy replies with f$%k, that word will make several repeat appearances over the next 1.75 miles. After about 5 minutes I realize Cindy is no longer talking. I am thinking to myself, please leave me, please leave me so I can slow down. But since she is not talking and only speaking in expletives, I know she is in pain. I try to keep steady and not say anything that will stop us because I am ready to stop and puke, or die or both. We do mile 4 in 8:39, This was a little surprising but since I wasn't looking at my watch as much and just concentrating on keeping the pace I guess it snuck up on me. And I have to give my partner a lot of credit, just a year ago she would have stopped and or slowed but she kept up and didn't quit, even though I know she was hurting. I think she was counting as I kept hearing numbers in my head, but mostly she was just running solidly beside me.
About this time i start hearing footsteps behind us. Everytime I turn and look, nothing, nada, no one, but i keep hearing the footsteps. We pass the 1/4 mile to go sign and the guy that started after us goes by. I say Come on cindy, she says something and we pick up the pace to try to keep him in sight. We go over the last bridge and I thought the end was a 100 yards away so I start picking up the pace again, but then I see it is not over in 100, but more like 250, so I slowed a bit until I really saw the end. I didn't want to get passed again so I had to keep going. Finally the end. stopped the watch at 40:59, or an 8:41 pace. No sooner than I looked at my time then the rest started coming. Everyone looked like I felt, it was hard, but it was supposed to be hard, so mission accomplished. This is one of those workouts I will look back at and know it made a difference. Not only physically, but mentally. We will do this again at the end of June and I'm looking forward to it already. the chance to push yourself to the limit and realize that not only can you survive, but you will get better and faster is worth the pain.

Come on out and join us, you won't be disappointed :-)

woodlake tri race report

Morning started out at 4:45 with the alarm blasting, got up made breakfast and had a half cup of coffee. packed up the car and got dressed for the race and was out the door at 6:15. Google maps said I had a 1.5 hour drive, but it was only 55 miles so I was suspicious. The first part of the drive was as I remember from last year, it's just when you get close and the major roads get fewer that it gets a little confusing. So I come up to the turn off hwy 27 onto some back road that is supposed to take me to one of the roads that the bike course is on and make my turn. I see a sign that says "no outlet" that's not good, but I'm only supposed to go 3 miles so it's worth the risk. about 1 mile more and I see "pavement ends ahead" also not good. then when the pavement ends there is a sign for a business, I think it's a tire recycling center, but in the morning in a rush I can't be sure what it was, anyway time to turn around. Pull out the IPhone and reroute, it uses google maps, so it wants to send me back down the dirt road through the plant, I don't think so. I make my way back to 27 and start looking for a road south, I mean I'm only 5 miles away can't be that hard. after a couple more dirt roads I find the one I need and am back on track. There were more than a few people lost, I guess they were using google maps also, because I saw a few people making wrong turns and I pointed the right way to them, and they ended up following me, had a whole convoy by the time I got to woodlake.
I was still early so I got a good spot on the racks, no numbers here, first come first serve. picked up the race pack and went to body marking. the two ladies there were quite entertaining. the put my race number on my arm and my leg, the one on my arm was wrong so she crossed out the 0 and put a 2 at the end, she said want anymore? I was like they usually put your age on the back of your leg so you can see who you are racing against. They laughed and said, not here we don't. Then added well maybe on the good looking ones. that just seemed to crack them up even more. I later relayed this story to some women at my rack and they thought it was funny also, I guess i was having a bad hair day ;-). After getting all set up I still had an hour to kill, so I hit the picnic benches to relax for a while before warmup.
Did my warmup run and was feeling good, had a hard time making the decision as to wearing the wetsuit or not as a bunch of people were saying how warm the water was. I finally decided not to and headed down to do my warmup swim. Got in the water and changed my mind. Went and got the wetsuit and put it on just in time for the first wave's 5 min warning. Since I was in the last wave I still had 13 minutes to go. Swam out and over so I was out of the way and did some warming up. Felt really good in the wetsuit, glad I went and put it on.

so on to the race, finally...

Swim: 9:54, Started off to the left with a good line on the far buoy and a nice flag pole to site on. Hit the first 200 hard and was clear of the bunch, but in another 50 we were at the first turn and ran into the 2nd wave. Had to pick my way through 6 or 7 swimmers, and was in the clear again. The next turn was about 50 or so more, but a lot less congested and headed back towards the shore. never really found anyone to draft off, but the wetsuit was working well and didn't think I needed it. No foot cramps or major issues, sited well and felt strong the whole way.

T1: 2:06, had some issues getting the strap to pull down the zipper, but once I got it, the wetsuit came off easy and the rest of the transition was smooth.

bike: 53:57, not in as good a bike shape as I was last year at this time due to early season marathon training so my goal was to come close to last years time and hope my improved run would pull it off for me. Started up the first hill and my legs were just not into it. I think I was still sore from Thursday tough workout, especially the hip flexors so climbing was tough. After the turn around, they started to come around and I tried to really push the 2nd half back. When I rolled in I was only 30 seconds off last years time so I was quite happy and but my low back was hurting a little so I was a little worried as well.

T2: 2:03, could not run well right off the bike so I hobbled to the rack and started to changed the shoes, I had a hard time getting my left shoe on correctly, the back kept getting stuck, so this took longer than I wanted, but at least all the bending over helped loosen my back up.

Run: 27:27, Last year I did a 25:12 on this run course and I was hoping to break 25. It is advertised as 3 miles, but my GPS puts it at 2.85, so under 25 is definitely in my reach. Started off with upper 8 min/ mile pace and felt a little stiff, but knew it would come to me. After a half mile things started feeling good and I picked up the pace a bit. a quarter mile later my stomach said stop running or else. So I stopped and walked and started looking in the woods for a secluded spot just in case. Luckily the feeling went away after a minute and a half and I was able to run again. Even with the 1:30 walk I was at 9:45 pace. Mile two was going real well, I was running 8:15 pace and legs were telling me I could do more if I wanted. I was a bit concerned about my GI issues so I kept it where it was, but right at the end of the mile they came back and worse. This time I had to walk for 2 - 3 minutes and was really in danger of going, but once again it finally went away. I started running again right at 2 miles and it was right at 10 min pace, so even with the extended walk break mile 2 was still 10:20 pace. This time when I started running I only had .85 to go and I knew my time was screwed so I didn't push anymore and just ran a 8:40 pace. This felt too easy and I just got into a depressed mode as I knew I could have had an awesome run time if only...

I'm still waiting for that race where I can have all three go right, but for now it's time to put this one behind me and start preparing for the 6 hour adventure race coming up on the 6th of June.