2014 Rev3 Shenandoah Epic Adventure Race - Race Report

Friday

Drive to Luray

Dinner at Gennaro's Italian Restaurant

Check-in and Pre-Race Meeting.  Floor plotting/planning.  Once Drew sees how UTM tool is used, is off to the races.  Hagberg and Diggy plotting and double checking OCP points. Jason on big picture, matching maps, overall layout.

Hotel

Late Night Packing

Bed by 10:30 PM

Saturday Pre Race

Rise at 6:00 AM

Breakfast and Head to Downriver Canoe Company at edge of Shenandoah River State Park

Unpack and Assemble Gear

Last Minute Packing

Check-In

Hop on Buses at 8 AM

Drive to Put-In

Last Minute Plotting and Overall Race Strategy

Launch to River

Saturday Race - Paddle

Gun Fires at 10 AM

Steady Canoe / Paddle.  Kayak paddles work great.  Regular hydration on 20.

CP 1, CP 2

Final Rapid CP3, Cross River

Transition to Trek  2/3 of teams ahead, 1/3 behind.

Saturday Race - First Trek up, along and down the Massanutten Ridge

Trek up Indian Grave Trail to CP4.  Early race enthusiasm challenging to contain now that we're on foot. JRS is ready to get to business.

OCP8 - didn't see the correct number of bumps in the hillside as seen on topo.  Overshot a bit.  Jason blazes good trail through the shiggy.  All are happy to discover a 4x4 track back to the top.

CP9, CP10

Down Trail to Downriver Canoe Company CP11, Out Of H20

Saturday Race - Transition, Challenges and MTB Course in Shenandoah River State Park

CH1 - Cork Retrieval and Bucket Fill from River

Attempt to Filter H20 from Shenandoah.  Takes too long, abandon effort.  Wager that we have enough H20 to get to campground on other side of ridge.

CH2 - Square Puzzle

Transistion to Bike

CP12

CP13 Whoops, wrong trail. Make sure all important areas of map are completely visible! Drew making gentle comparisons between Memphis and Shenandoah MTBing, feeling gased. Decision Time Split Up for OCP14 or Stick as Team.

OCP14 - "Zipline x 2".  Turning Point for Drew.  Team in tact for long haul. Race High.

CP15

Back to Downriver Canoe Company CP16

Saturday Race - Transition to Trek in Shenandoah River State Park

CP17 (ran into Glen), OCP19, OCP20

Back to Downriver Canoe Company CP21 for transition and final resupply.

Saturday/Sunday Race - Bike - Head up and over ridge to "other side"

CP22, Bike-A-Hike Up Sherman Gap Trail, CP23

Whole Foods worker with a heavy hand on the spices gives Smitty's gullet a run for it's money.

Bike-A-Hike Down Sherman Gap Trail (Pink).  The nicest looking trail (on the map) you ever saw.  Complete rock garden from top to nearly the bottom.

Hooked up with Glen.  Drew saves his maps.

Head to Group Campground CP24, No Water

Head to Lower Campground - No Water

Treat Water from Creek with Iodine tablets, no Chlorine. Glen provides helpful beta on road to CP25.

Bike to OCP25 - Never ending road

Sun coming up.  Road bird hallucinations

Head to Group Campground CP35

Sunday Race - Transition to Trek

CP36

Negotiation about bagging another OCP

OCP45

Hustle back to Group Campground CP49

Sunday Race - Transition to Bike - Heading back over the mountain.

Find Horse Trail up to Shawl Gap.  Jesse low point.  One foot in front of the other.

2 mi Up and Over along Massanutten Trail to Sherman Gap

Down Sherman Gap Trail - Wee!

Bike to Finish with almost an hour to spare.

Sunday Race - Finish Area, Hotel and Home

Brownies, Burgers, Dogs, ChefBoyRD Ravaoli, Cornbread muffins, Peanut Butter

Crash by car for 20 mins before awards ceremony.  Starts early just see winners announced

Crash at car again. Throw together quick shade shelter

Pack up car and head to Hotel

Go to WalMart to get beverages

Sleep for 14 straight hours.

Up at 5:30 AM, home by 7:30 AM, Shower and head to work.

Post Race observations - Jesse

Drew comments that Jesse was missing a screw from his MTB cleat.  Possibly why he crashed his bike ~ 8 times while stopping.  Comical now that he never once looked at the bottom of his shoe during the race to see what the problem was.

Jason proves once again to be excellent strategist, trail blazer and lead dog.

Drew proves navigational prowess and has character defining moment at OCP14

More excellent evidence of mind over matter and that there's gas in the tank long after the dial shows 'E'.

Post Race observations - Drew AKA Diggs, AKA Diggy AKA The Beard

So, my thoughts on the race...
Fun.
Hard, but doable.
If we had all been able to train as optimally as we intended I think we could have kicked even more ass than we did.
Thin brakes on my bike were a quick and immediate confidence drainer.  This has already been rectified with some new, quality pads. I think we definitely lost some quality time while you guys were waiting on me to catch up on several occasions.
CP14 was a definitive moment for sure, and even if I hadn't made the decision to charge up for it I liked that we didn't hem and haw on the decision to meet at 15 and handled it in a realistic and definitive manner. Being registered as a soloist helped since we didn't have to worry about splitting up. In the future I'd like to be better prepared with fully functioning equipment and more time in the saddle.
The water situation was a big miss. I think we did a great job staying hydrated but not having our own purified stockpile cost us time. Having the purifying tabs, plus the life straw as a final resort, kept us in the fight though, so not a total loss.
I'll say it again, but why the hell did everyone look so miserable out there? I was really happy to be on a team with positive attitudes and the ability to pull each other's spirits up when needed.
On that note, I really like the team dynamic. Smart, strong, strategizing, and capable are all good descriptors. Adding a solid fourth member would be awesome.
I liked the verbal hydration and refueling reminders, and I liked that everyone took an active role in making sure their teammates were taking care of their bodies.
No. More. Whole Foods sammiches. Nuff said.
I liked the pizza as a good source, at least up until the very end.
I thought we did an OK job at the transitions but think we definitely got bogged down for too long at the van stops. I think we can measurably improve on this for sure.
I should have asked about ditching the dry bag after the paddling section, it would have been nice to dump that from my bag.
All in all I was happy with my racing gear. Pack worked well, shoes well, head lamp well. I liked the zip tie on the bike helmet solution, but wasted some time looking for the extra ties and then tightening them down just right to get the right beam angle. A set of prepared ties in my pack would cut down on that time spent.
Hmm, I think that's all I got for now. Overall it was an amazing experience that I enjoyed the hell out of. I'm proud of our accomplishment and was glad I had the opportunity to complete it with some great guys. Looking forward to the next one!

Post Race observations - Jason AKA Smitty AKA Togo

Adventure Race Training - 4 weeks out and "Stop and Go"

Being just under 4 weeks to your big race can be quite daunting.  There is a limited amount of time to make major strides in your physical fitness.  Probably 2 weeks of core training time that will have significance on your race day strength and endurance.


I'll post a few key "cram" workouts in a future post but there is definitely a decent list of areas that can be improved over this time.  If you've heard about about the internationally renowned "Stop and Go" transition exercise and just want a quick workout, skip to the bottom.

1. Acclimation to weighted race pack, new race shoes, and bike saddle.
2. Transition skills, both on trail/en route and in a parking lot style transition area.
3. Iron out refueling strategy.
4. Tighten up Map skills


1. Gear Acclimation
Race gear acclimation is straight forward.  Don your weighted pack & new race shoes and head out for an hour+ fast hike.  (3 - 4 weeks out is a great time to pick up a new pair of race shoes).  Get out on your mountain bike with a weighted pack.   Aspire to do this at least 3 times a week for the next 3 weeks.  Your body will thank you for the effort as you will have tough hide in all the right places come race day.

2. Transition Skills
Triathletes think of transitioning as the 4th discipline of triathlon in addition to swim/bike/run.  For Adventure Racers, transitioning can be loosely defined as any activity that breaks up your travel momentum or mode of operation.  In some cases we change modes of locomotion altogether such as going from a paddle section to a bike section.  In other cases, transitioning can be as simple as stopping to refill water containers or stopping to check navigation.  In either case, racers lose momentum and have to regain it again on the other side of the transition.  Practicing transition skills will give you as much bang for your buck at this point as your physical workouts (do both :o).  It doesn't matter if you are the most fit person in the race.  You may still lose if you get stuck sitting down every time you stop.

3. Refueling
Now is the time to figure out what sits well with your stomach.  Don't bank on just carrying a lot of [brand]bars and Gels. I have a friend that can never eat cliff bars again due to a single race 4 years ago.  Try out different foods during your workouts over the next couple of weeks.  Come race time, most of your eating and drinking will be done while moving.  My strategy will be to figure out some real foods to carry and consume during the race that will provide a slower and steadier release of energy than bars/gus.

4. Map Skills 
 Feeling shaky about plotting UTM points, discerning up/down/ridges/valleys/spurs/draws getting a sense of the terrain from topo maps?  Now is the time to work that out.  It's so much easier to get familiar with it now than trying to work it out when you're dead tired at 3am.

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The Stop and Go - Transition Exercise
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1. Load up your race pack with weight and toss in a spare pair of shoes and socks.
2. Strap on your race kicks and head out the door for an hour walk.
3. Every 15 minutes or so, find a dry place to transition and start a timer on your watch (or just note the time)
    A. Remove your pack. (Pay attention to this process since you'll do it dozens of times throughout the race.  Will you loosen all of your straps or just some of them?)
    B. Remove your spare shoes and socks from your pack
    C. Sit down and change shoes and socks. (Be sure to clean off feet and empty shoes of any debris. You'll be putting the old footwear back on later so think about how you'll want to find them on the next transition.  Laces open?  Socks right side out?)
    D.  Repack your backpack with the old shoes & socks.
    E.  Strap your backpack on and adjust as needed.
    F.  Confirm your intended direction of travel, next way point and get moving again.
    G. Check the time/timer.
4.  After each transition, while still on the move, analyze how that transition went.  Did it take longer than you'd have expected?  Was it easy to get off/on your pack?  Was unpacking/packing your backpack smooth?  The new socks probably feel great!

February News for team Kaizen

This February has been a bit of a variety show for Team Kaizen.

Jason had an epic week at work and had some really cool home projects come to fruition including getting the back porch finished and finally deciding upon and bringing home a snazy new car.

Drew completed the winter Memphis race series season, managing to hold onto 9th place in his division over the series AND posting a respectable 10k time the day after running a cold trail 25k.

Jesse has continued to run his daily mile started in late November and saw a good result in the Richmond Love Rox half-marathon.

Today I checked the calendar and there's only

60 days left  !!!

(http://days.to/until/26-april)

until the Rev3 Shenandoah Epic 26 hour Adventure Race!!!

That breaks down into:

6 weeks of useful training time

1. 2 - 2 week build blocks w/ recovery week.
2. Possibly only 3 or 4 epic workouts

Anyone freaking out yet? :o)

A week OFF? Not exactly...

After a week out in Pagosa Springs, CO skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, hiking, running, shoveling, hot springing, playing chess and solving puzzles with a gang of good friends... This week was a bit of a bust catching up in the office and catching up on sleep.  Time to get back in serious training mode and get to work!

Adventure Race Training - Build Phase 2

The first phase of preparation for the Shenandoah Epic 36 Hr Adventure Race is coming to a close this weekend.  So far so good.  I've been sticking to plan so far pretty well and paid particular honor to recovery this week.  It was much needed to let the muscles and minor aches and pains that had been building up subside.

It's been CCCCCold here in Richmond.  Most outdoor training looks like this:

By the way.  If you have the opportunity to get hold of a P90x - Plyometrics DVD *cough* CLICK HERE *cough*.  Do it on a Cardio day.  They don't call it the mother of all P90x workouts for nothing!  It's very doable and is just flat out a badass workout.

Below are the rough strokes of the next 4 weeks.  Exercise descriptions can be found at the bottom of this post.  The "big picture" of this training plan can be found here.

		Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun	Weekly Notes
01/27	02/02	50 min cardio	rest	Ride 45 min Heavy Push Plankathon	Row 30 min Heavy Pull Core	rest	1 hr bike 3 hr trek	rest	Build 2-1
02/03	02/09	50 min cardio	rest	Ride 45 min Heavy Push Plankathon	Row 35 min Heavy Pull Core	rest	2 hr bike 2 hr trek	rest	Build 2-2
02/10	02/16	50 min cardio	rest	Ride 45 min Heavy Push Plankathon	Row 40 min Heavy Pull Core	rest	4 hr night ops	rest	Build 2-3
02/17	02/23	2 mi rec jog Long stretch	rest	Swim 1 hr	5 mi rec jog	rest	Nav Review	Half M	Recovery 2 Love Rox Half Marathon

Lift Heavy

• Using a combination of free weights and fitness machines
• Performing 3 sets each exercise at a weight suitable for 6 - 8 reps per set
• Starting with largest muscle groups first, moving to smaller muscle groups
• Supreme focus on correct form.  If you can't get an extra rep using proper form, then leave it. This is not the time to risk injury or form bad habits.

Push Days I
Warm up with 10 min push-ups, arm circles, medicine ball tosses, etc...
Focus on muscles that push away from the body.
Bench Press
Fly Machine or DB Flies
DB Shoulder Press
Dips
Triceps Extensions
Legs - Squat Rack (warm up with 20 reps, bare bar)
Legs - Leg Extensions
Legs - Calf Raises
Plankathon - 30s front, 30s rside, 30s front, 30s lside, 30s front (no rest)

Push Days II - (to be done 2nd 1/2 of base training, or anytime you need a change)
Warm up with 10 mins activity to get the blood flowing
Incline Bench Press
Straight Arm DB Pullover
Decline Bench Press
Cable Crossovers
Dips
Alternating Front and Lateral Straight Arm DB Raises (side & front = 1 rep)
Rope Grip Cable Tricep Push Downs
Legs - Goblet Squats
Legs - Lunge Matrix
Abs - 6" Straight Leg Wide-Togethers with Quick Heel Touch on Ground.
Abs - Knees up Crunches
Plankathon

Pull Days I
Warm up with 10 min Sisyphus, elliptical, calisthenics, etc...
Back Extensions
DB Back Flies
DB Lawnmower pull
Pullups or Lat Pulldowns
Seated Rows
DB Curls
Legs - Front and Lateral Lunges (unweighted)
Legs - Hamstring Curls
Abs - Legs in air crunches
Abs - Reverse crunches
Abs - Oblique V-ups
Abs - Leg Climbers

Pull Days II - (to be done 2nd 1/2 of base training, or anytime you need a change)
Wide Grip Pull-ups
Close Grip Pull-ups
Reverse Grip Pull-ups
V Grip Cable Pull down
Seated Cable Row
Back Extensions
Barbell Bicep Curls
DB Preacher Curls
Concentration Curls
Abs - Bicycles (20 each way)
Abs - In & Outs
Abs - Sit-up, Rotate and Touch Opposite Hand to Foot or Leg
Abs - Oblique V-ups

Riding
This can be riding anything that has an actual bicycle style saddle.  Spin bike, Exercise bike, road bike, mountain bike, unicycle.  Just get those legs spinning for the designated time.

Walking with Pack
Put some heavy stuff in a pack and just get walking at a brisk but not uncomfortable pace.  This is more about time spent on feet rather than distance.  Walk on varied terrain, soft and hard, up and down. I've wrapped a 30 lb kettle bell in a few old towels and stuck it in my pack.  Water bottles are another option.  3.2 mph or between 17 and 18 min / mile seems to be my sweet spot for pace.  In a shorter Adventure Race, much time spent on feet will be jogging. In a 26 hr race brisk walking is the way to victory.

Adventure Race Preparation - EXTREME DISC GOLF

One of my adventure mates, Jason Smith, came up with this most awesome form of exercise while thinking up creative ways to prepare for an Adventure Race.  The idea is to play a round of disc golf but instead of walking around slowly, taking long looks into your bag for the perfect disc, sipping brewskies or medicating your glaucoma while waxing philosophically about "The System" or "The Man", you run your arse off and maintain continuous movement throughout the course.  There are exercise penalties that must be paid for every shot over Par on each hole as well as for any time waiting for other players to catch up.  Here are some instructions for this excellent game.

Step 1. Get yourself a Disc Golf Disc

Step 2. Go to a Disc Golf Course (It's FREE!) - Best done in off hours to avoid crowds (daybreak is best). 

Step 3. Similar to regular golf, you throw from a tee box or marked area and count up your throws to get to the basket at the far end of each hole. The less throws it takes, the better.

Step 4. Jog to where the disc landed and play your next shot quickly.  Don't wait for other players to throw but do watch out so they don't nail you. 

Step 5. Repeat until your disc is in the basket.  Keep track of your shot count on each hole.

Step 6. Immediately pay the piper by performing 10 reps of push-ups/sit-ups/jump squats (pick one) for each shot you had to take over Par.  (6 shots on a par 3?  Sorry bub, that's 30 push-ups.)

Step 7.  Assume the plank position and hold it until all members of your party are in the basket and have paid their penalty.  Everyone hurries along because if someone is sandbagging, everyone pays just like in real AR.

Step 8. Repeat for 18 holes.

Step 9. Be careful when pushing open doors for the rest of the day so you don't accidentally face plant on one that doesn't open for your wet noodle arms.

This is an excellent element to add into any Adventure Race Training session.  It keeps you working and concentrating.  Really good at disc golf? you'll be doing lots of plank while waiting for others to catch up and pay their penalties.  Suck at disc golf? you'll be doing lots of exercises while others hold plank and wish you'd be done faster :o).

+1 Navigation Bonus - Bring along a map of the course and stay in touch with where you are on paper and in the field.

+1 Strength Bonus - Wear a weighted pack or carry something heavy along with you

+1 Character Bonus - Inclement weather!
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Adventure Race Preparation - Creative Hill Training

I often need to be efficient with my workout time because of the two young kids and wife that thankfully still love to hang out with their man.  One of my bigger challenges is getting in sufficient Hill Workouts on short time.

Richmond Virginia where I currently reside has by most standards pretty flat terrain.  We've got the Shenandoah Mountains to the West but they're a 2 hr drive that makes them an all day affair.

Adventure Racing often requires biking and hiking over some pretty serious terrain with elevation gain in Spades.  That will certainly be the case with the upcoming Rev3 Shenandoah Epic 26 hr Adventure Race which we know is centered amongst some pretty respectable ridges of the Shenandoah Mountains.

You need to get a bit creative around Richmond to get in a good hill workout but where there's a will there's a way!  Repeats on stairs with a heavy burden is plenty to wear you out but why stop there?  Here's one of the ways to get it done.

Below are a couple of shots from this past weekend's training run.  Jason and James, his 17yro Taiwanese exchange student/guest, met me down at Gillies Creek Park in Southeastern Richmond.  It's a cool park with a new BMX bike course and solid Disc Golf course.  For a warmup, we grabbed some discs and played 18 holes of *booming voice* EXTREME DISC GOLF.   For an extra challenge, Jason and I carried a 35lb training backpack for 9 holes each.

Next, we snagged another 25lb kettle bell and the 80lb heavy bag fondly known as "Chuck" out of my trunk and trekked a 1/2 mile over to the base of Libby Hill Park. Each of us had one of the heavy burdens and hiked the 157 stairs up to the fountain.  At the top, we'd pass our piece to the man on our left and head back down again. After 3 rounds of this, James politely bowed out and Jason and I did a couple of minutes of unweighted box jumps up onto the benches around the fountain.  With legs sufficiently fried, we made our way back down for the last stair challenge.  I trudged all three burdens up the stairs while Jason ran an unweighted stair run up/down/up seeing who would finish first.  When done, we were both smoked to satisfaction. 

After the stairs, we still had some time left on the clock so decided to play another 18 holes of *booming voice* EXTREME DISC GOLF (sorry, can't resist) but this time without the pack.  The other players were cool with us playing through and very helpful in a couple of spots when we couldn't quite figure out where the course went next.

Back at the cars, Jason unveiled the last element of his plan for the day which was to go check out Poe's Pub, a popular local and enjoy a Guinness for our troubles.  Let the record show that James dutifully enjoyed his hot water with lemon and that I definitely want to come back and try out their food selection.

Note: 2.5 hours of training for the day.  Only ~23 hours more to go!