Wild 24---Counting Down

What a difference a few days can make. This week TMMAR has been recovering physically from last weeks 24hr race. All in all not too bad:


Sore Muscles
Intense tendinitis
Few Scrapes and bruises
Chaffing

Not bad considering the final tally came in and we traveled (about):

6 miles in a blow up raft
12+ miles in a canoe
24+ miles running/orienteering
45 miles on mountain bikes


Now we prepare for Biwabic. The Wild Adventure 24hr race. This races looks a like a combination of Ya-Mule joining TMMAR for the four person and an 'unknown' joining William for the 2-person mixed.


Should be a great race. Start time: 3pm on Friday. Finish....tbd.

Desmodium cuspidatum

I think this is what the hell is attached to every article of clothing from this weekends race.

Desmodium cuspidatum

Stick-tights or beggar's-ticks (Desmodium cuspidatum) produces slender legume fruits that break into small, one-seeded joints covered with tiny barbed hairs. Technically, this special kind of legume fruit is called a loment. The individual joints are so flat that they are exceedingly difficult to remove from your socks. Like little flat ticks, you must individually pull off each one. This can be exasperating when your socks are covered with them. Several species of this remarkable hitchhiking herb are native to the midwestern and eastern United States.

How the hell to do you remove them?

23.29 46 0 5

Those were the final numbers for the Thunder Rolls 24 Hour Race this past weekend. A Team of 5 us (3 person coed + 2 person open) captured 46 CP’s with no "0" misses (errors) in 23 hours and 29 minutes.

We don’t have final standings yet but we believe the 3 person team took 6th and the 2 person team won that division.

A huge “THANK YOU” to Megan C who graciously decided to join the team with a little less than a day’s notice. Not only did Megan join the team she was a rock star on the course (way to go “Cheeks Too”).

Buzz Kill phrase for the race “Take an Azimuth” which basically meant did not find the CP where we originally thought it should be so we needed to back track, reassess and attack from a different point. Effective but none the less it meant we wasted time.

The course was solid and well planned. Quick Summary:
· Midnight rolling start
· 5 mile downhill sprint to TA/CP1
· Inflate rafts and out for 3CP’s
· Back to TA and hit the woods orienteering
· Back to TA and on to Canoes
· Stop at remote TA and Orienteer
· Tyrolean Traverse
· Back to remote TA (awesome baked beans)
· Canoe for a few more CP’s than back to the base TA
· Pick up mountain bikes and head out for 40 miles of gravel road riding
· Remote drop for the last 3 CP’s. Hills, Downed Trees, Creek beds, TOUGH!
· Pick up Bikes for a 6 miles sprint/race to the finish.
· Pizza, Cold Fat Tire Beer and a chance to kick back



I’ll post more later. Time to get back to the day job!

48 hours and counting……

Finally. The Thunder Rolls 24HR race begins at midnight on Friday. This is going to be a great race but we have one significant problem…..our female (Jess) ended up tearing a calf muscle last week and is out of commission. So this week has been spent calling, posting and basically begging female athletes across the Midwest to join our team……yeah you can imagine the luck we have been getting “excuse me, you have run a few marathons and/or tri’s right? What do you say about competing in this Adventure Race? Well, it starts at midnight (keep in mind we have to drive 6 hours to get there), you’ll be running with four strange (I do mean strange) guys for nearly 24 straight hours, you can expect mountain biking, running (through dense woods with poison ivy and other stinging stuff), canoeing, some Tyrolean traverses, and some swamp crossing/swimming. Oh yeah, we also want to finish in the top three.

Needless to say it looks like we are going with four pairs of X and Y chromosomes (no female).

Should be a great race.

Nocturnal Training

I just tested my new bike light and headlamp on an night time ride……incredible. Riding at night brings a whole new perspective. From a tunnel vision like blackness only being broken by an intense hallow beam to the damp smells of the trails and frequent glowing eyes of deer off in a field. I am hooked. This is a great way to ride. No one else on the trail. Stars overhead. And oh yeah….don’t forget the clear glasses……millions of bugs seem to be attracted to the headlamp. And at 20MPH your eyes don’t stand a chance.

TMMAR Takes 1st at MNOC

TMMAR takes first place at MNOC's ROGAINE (Rugged Outdoor Group Activity Involving Navigation and Endurance) event last weekend. Peter and William competed in the two person male division.

Training on the Road

I am in Lake Forest California this week on business which makes it tough on training. If I am lucky i can get a one or two evening runs in during the week. I typically stay to the streets but this time I wanted to venture out and see if I could take advantage of the local hills/mountains. I was directed to a neighboring park where I ran into a ranger who blocked my access.....because there was a rumor of Mountain Lions being seen.

http://video.knbc.com/player/?id=283503

Check out this video of the dude who decided it might be fun to pet the 'kittens'. I don't think this is the same interview as I saw on the news last night but this guy thinks he is part "Cat" because he is a Leo. Something tells me he might have smoked a little too much herb in his life.

Anyway, thanks to "Ralph", a local runner who introduced me to another trail that provided some good, safe running.