William Rocks the Madison Ironman

Although a series of injuries scuttled a lot of his training regimen, William still toed up to the start line and did a killer job at the Ford Ironman Wisconsin.  There were a total of 322 in his division and 2912 competitors overall.  Here are the numbers:

William Eddy

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
453	30	COLUMBIA HEIGHTS MN USA	Student

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
1:35:32	5:38:44	4:33:42	12:07:31	647	111

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	2.4 mi. (1:35:32)	2:30/100m	2161	269
BIKE SPLIT 1	40 mi. (1:58:14)	20.30 mph
BIKE SPLIT 2	43 mi. (2:07:34)	20.22 mph
BIKE SPLIT 3	29 mi. (1:32:56)	18.72 mph
TOTAL BIKE	112 mi. (5:38:44)	19.84 mph	667	113
RUN SPLIT 1	6.35 mi. (1:04:15)	10:07/mile
RUN SPLIT 2	6.65 mi. (1:09:41)	10:28/mile
RUN SPLIT 3	6.23 mi. (1:00:20)	9:41/mile
RUN SPLIT 4	6.97 mi. (1:19:26)	11:23/mile
TOTAL RUN	26.2 mi. (4:33:42)	10:26/mile	647	111
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				12:21
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				7:12

MNOC Adventure-O 2010

Sometimes, getting to the race with an intact team is half the battle.  At least you see it that way from a "before the race" perspective.  The 2010 Adventure-O, hosted by the Minnesota Orienteering Club (MNOC) seemed to be one of those races.  Coordinating training, getting crushed by rain when you do get a chance to train, and personnel swaps add to the excitement.  From an "after the race" perspective, that was all trivial.

MNOC puts on excellent events.  The group, composed of map geeks with a penchant for going deep in the woods, places a premium on navigation vs. outright physical prowess.  They don't mind getting dirty, and certainly don't mind it when you get dirty.  This years event was held at Savannah Portage State Park, near McGregor, MN.  The course was set and vetted by two members with a lot of Adventure Race and Orienteering experience, Jerritt Johnston and Ian Harding.  Special thanks to Pete Curtis for the photos he took and provided for our blog.

The TMMAR team was composed of Will Eddy, Clark Flowers, Suzanne Pfeifer, and Peter Wentzel.  The format:  short O-course, transition to bike for a medium length Bike-O, transition to kayak for four controls on big Sandy Lake, transition to bike for a longer Bike-O, and a final O section on foot.  The race was given a 7.5 hour time limit.  The weather was warmer than expected, highs in the mid 80's and a nice strong wind was expected to kick up.

We started out with a sprint for controls 1-4, right at 9:30 AM.  Clark and Pete sharing the nav, with Will and Suzanne following close behind.  Suzanne volunteered to be towed during the runs, admitting that running wasn't her strongest suit.  PROPS to Suzanne.  While the MNOC regulars sprinted the course with TMMAR practicing a fast follow, Suzanne volunteered to hook herself to a bungie cord while Will attempted to pull her over logs, rocks, stumps, holes and pits, so the team could get in front of traffic on the bike section.  Not for the faint of heart.  All went well until Will caught a root and twisted his ankle.  This caused a minor change in pace, but we pressed on and finished the first O section, a little over a mile, in good position.

We transitioned well to bike and headed down the trail, looking for control 5 and 6.  You knew it was going to be fun when there were already teams doing some head scratching as we left the first road and entered the XC trail system.  Jerritt had warned us all, "Take it easy on the trails, especially the downhills, as there are a lot of hidden obstacles." So, we didn't bomb the first downhill, or the second, or the third, but that was getting a bit old....  We followed a group bobble (control confusion, map error, group think) and dismounted to find the first bike control in an area I thought was way too early.  But, we did it non-the-less.  Remounting and recalibrating, we cruised through a rutty section where Pete almost bit it, and secured the first bike control.  We navigated the maze of trails, growing increasingly frustrated with having to dismount to cross trees and go slow through thick grass because, "you just don't know" what lies beneath.  Pressing on, we witness a fellow racer find what lurked beneath.  A quick stop to critique the triple flip (and ensure all his parts still worked) and we left with a new appreciation for "the junk below the weeds..."

We emerged from the woods, unscathed and did a quick road ride to the paddle put in.  A quick transition and we are floating... and eating.  Most of us had not been keeping up with our fuel and took a quick break to shove food in our mouth before pointing down course and trying to catch the five teams in front of us while seeking controls 7-10.  Pete and Will in one boat, Clark and Suzanne in the other.  Luckily, the forecast wind had not picked up yet and we followed a mild chop south to a sheltered bay where the controls were located. Pete, not being the smoothest motivator, responded to the other boats reminder that Will and he couldn't get too far in front, with a reminder to the other boat that they can't get too far behind.  They didn't.  You would have to go back nearly two years for TMMAR to have such a good paddle leg.  We were setting a good pace coming off the first control when we ran into a bay full of grass.  It looked to us that the whole bay was grass (we missed the channel) so we picked a thin spot, pointed in the right direction and let her rip.  We looked like a cross between the Swedish Chef and the Tasmanian Devil tossing a salad.  Grass, moss, fish, frogs, and unknown entities went flying in the air as we attempted to maintain pace through the obstacle.  Coming out the far side, we saw that we made some serious time on the other teams.  We hit the next control and did a U-turn, this time, it was more of a slap chop scenario.  Equally effective.  We passed a couple teams!  Dig deep team.  We quickly grabbed the last two controls and headed back to the transition point.  The wind on the main lake had really picked up.  Teams were struggling to get to the sheltered bay as we surfed the downwind waves back to dry land.  We returned as the 2nd team to exit the water, passing 4 teams on the leg.

Off we go on the bike, in search of controls 11-16, catching up on food and arriving back at the XC trails with two other teams who pushed hard to catch us.  Pete did a quick map swap and the other teams went ahead.  Will put forth a huge effort int his next section.  We tow when we run, we tow when we bike, and we tow when we paddle, only when necessary, but such is AR.  Suzanne, an accomplished racer, came out of retirement for this event and admitted that she would need help on occasion.  Towing is a team exercise.  You rotate, you collaborate, you communicate and you get it done.  Unless you forget to bring your towing equipment....  So the team had one tow rig, and will agreed to be the tow on the bicycle.  Again, Suzanne gets props.  Most people don't like to tow or be towed on anything but asphalt.  Suzanne, held on through thick and thin.

We progressed down the trail, watching for key intersections and more obstacles.  There were plenty of the later, and just enough of the former.  The first half of this bike O saw plenty of logs, one tricky intersection, a crazy bridge, and a chest deep beaver lake that we carried our bikes across.  Jerritt and Ian at their best.  The second half made the race.  Coming in to an intersection, it was clear that a lot of traffic went right, which was actually straight ahead.  There was a hidden trail entrance that require a turn of approximately 135 degrees, which TMMAR took.  A smile crossed our faces once we confirmed we were on the right path, some others were not....  Making the turn was half the battle.  What followed was multiple dismounts, some voluntarily, others... not quite as graceful.  Nobody got hurt, a few got laughed at, but the course was competed with TMMAR in 3rd place.

Final transition to the run went well.  On to controls 17-24.  We knew Orion was less than 10 minutes in front of us.  A bobble on their part and maybe we could capture 2nd.  We set off at a jog and found the first control with no issues.  Getting in and out of the next control was problematic.  Not from a navigation point of view, but the terrain between the controls was thick.  A lot of trees down, then bog hopping, and then more trees.  The flies were horrible. We got out of the thick stuff, grabbed the next control and moved east, deciding that trails may be a quicker route after all.  We jumped on the continental divide trail (who knew?) and gained the next two controls in short order.  A quick look at the watch showed we had to change strategy. Jogging the flats and downhills while walking the uphills was not going to get us back in time.  Switch to jog the uphills and make your heart pound on everything else.  Luckily, the controls and map were dead accurate and the next three controls came quickly.  The last involving wading through a river...twice.... all of us.  I am sure some other teams opted for a drier approach, but we didn't have the luxury of looking for that route.  One final bushwhack through the woods and we are on the road home.  A good pace to the finish led to a third place overall.  The last team to sweep the course.  Congrats to WEDALI and Orion for first in the 4 person and two person coed divisions.  TMMAR took 2nd in the 4 person.

Good race, good times with the friends, new and old, from MNOC.

Water Training

Clark called for a team training session for July 5th.  16 miles of road riding, followed by 8 miles of single track, followed by a run, then 16 miles of road riding back to the start.  Of course, he called the training session in June, when the weather was an unknown.  He also modified our route, since he knew that the river bottoms were nothing but sand.  So, off we went at 10 AM this morning.  Cloudy muggy weather.  As we crossed the Minnesota River, we looked back at the river bottoms and commented that they might even be flooded.  Looking ahead, we saw an elderly gentleman enter a puddle across the paved trail.  The puddle seemed to go for quite a distance....  We ended up going through close to half a mile of water, some of it over the wheels, but with a gentle flow, some of it less deep, but moving quickly.  All rideable and fun.  There was a section that was over knee deep and too swift to ride, so we shouldered the bikes and waded through, holding each other for stability.  On the far side we resumed a steady pace and finished our "road" ride to Murphy Hanrahan.  Some fun single track and a sticky humid run later, we set out on our ride home to a nice clap of thunder.  Three miles in and a steady rain was falling.  Thirty seconds later and the sky was falling.  We were all trying to negotiate traffic, spraying water, road grit, puddles, lakes, etc., but all we were thinking of was how to get back to the river bridge.  Alternate routes???   15-20 extra miles.....  I think I hit a new high on my heart rate monitor on the first section.  It had the fastest flowing water.  The next section was the deepest, and still moved at a swift pace.  After those sections of fun, the third was a cake walk, gentle water just below the top of the wheel.  All are safe and sound and water logged back at Casa Flowers.

POCAR 2010

Team Midwest Mountaineering Adventure Racing traveled to Southern Indiana for the 2nd year in a row to participate in the Purdue Outing Club's Annual Adventure Race, POCAR.  Held in the Hoosier National Forest, the same rugged terrain as the previous year, we knew we were in for a good, hard race.  We were excited for our first event of 2010 and also to have our new Icebreaker clothing to keep us warm.  Icebreaker makes the best, in my opinion, merino wool athletic wear on the market.  The best looking also.  With unpredictable weather, we were thrilled to be prepared for any condition.

For the purpose of this narrative, we have relabeled the control points, CP's, numerically in the order we visited them.  Teams were given the option of visiting the controls on their current leg in any order.  The controls were named, b-28, u4, etc.  It seems easier for you to follow if we just label them numerically.  We had some GPS data logger issue early in the event, which sorted itself out on the way to CP2.  The random path around the start and CP1 doesn't depict our course, the rest is accurate though.

The competition starts with a portion of the teams gaining entry to the race HQ to begin plotting the control locations.  Teams are assigned one of three start times and given 25 minutes to get their work done.  Then it is off to the races.  We decided to take a safe attack point to the first control CP1, getting our feet wet, and headed up the main road.  We found our attack point and dove in to the woods.  We came in to the spur a little too far west, subjecting us to a climb that wasn't necessary.  So much for taking a safe attack point.

CP2 was in a location that we had difficulty with the prior year.  An area with multiple reentrants, we jumped too soon and ended up too far east this time.  Deja' vu?  We hoped, because we got things on track after this area in 2009.

Mass starts to an adventure race always create a train of teams.  Why search for a control when you can follow a team?  Although we didn't exactly put on a stellar navigation display to the first two controls, we are an experienced team with some competence.  We don't like to follow, because the team you are following is often more likely to get you lost than to the control you are looking for.  This is especially true early on, before the lead teams distance themselves.  As we meandered towards CP3, we picked up the pace, hoping to shed a few teams in the area.