PAIN! Argh!!!

In an act of poor judgement, I followed yesterday's twenty miles of hilly running with an out and back on the Pinhoti Trail from Snake Creek Gap to Dug Gap. From the moment I got on my bike, my legs were aching, and 4.5 hours later...well, you can guess how I'm feeling right now. I strongly DO NOT recommend trying that. I can't wait to see how decrepid I'm gonna be tomorrow morning when I have to walk down the stairs.

Bear Creek Navigation Training

We headed up to the Bear Creek Campground on Friday night to camp out for the TrailBlazers Training event on Saturday. When we arrived there, there was an Old School car-camping tent set up. I assumed it was left by the TrailBlazers, to be used for sign in, but I was wrong. After setting up about 75' away, we soon learned that the tent's inhabitants were 4 obnoxiously loud teenage stoners who decided to go out into the woods and have some sort of drug-induced orgy.

There were two other TrailBlazers camped out there as well, so while we stood around a nice well-made fire, we watched two of the kids nearly blow themselves up on several occasions in an attempt to get a fire started. The ground was wet, so these geniouses decided to start burning random items they had with them to get the fire going. When that didn't work they started spraying hairspray on the wet wood and eventually threw the whole bottle in which violently exploded. They then proceeded to steal all the TP out of the bathroom and lit all that on fire. Then it was pillows, plastic bags, and some other bottles that exploded. Figuring that it wouldn't be long before they tried to burn the tires off their car, we picked up our tent and moved it WAY FAR away. Good thing too, as when they finally gave up on the fire, they all went into their tent and started making all kinds of strange, and very loud, noises. Damn annoying punks...

Despite our rowdy neighbors and the 30 degree temps, I slept pretty well in my zero degree down sleeping bag. I woke up and slowly got ready for the training. I plotted my points while still in my sleeping bag and then reluctantly headed out on foot. The first few points were pretty easy, and although maybe not 100% accurate, they were still findable. The crux of the rogaine appeared to be four points in the vicinity of the Pinhoti and Mountaintown Creek Trails. I chose a wise route and cleared this section with relative ease, except for the leg burning climb from Heady Creek up to the ridge. Once there, it was a 3/4 mile bushwhack along a VERY LONELY ridge. The pines started to thicken and I could see signs of wildlife..scrathed up ground and rootstocks that appeared to be beat down. I was really hoping that there weren't any wild boars hanging around, as they are generally fairly honery and stubborn animals that aren't very scared of humans. Instead of running away like black bears, they tend to size you up to see if its worth it or not to chase and attack....just for the hell of it. Thankfully, there were no wildlife encounters, and I really didn't see many other TrailBlazer folks, despite the fact that I started later than most of them. I managed to grab all the points in 5 hours and 24 minutes and didn't damage myself too bad other than some bruises on my legs from tripping over rhododenderons. I'm feeling pretty good about my fitness level for the Navigator Cup, so hopefully I will have good luck with the compass as well.

Guess who's 30th Birthday is tomorrow!

Hell no, NOT MINE thank goodness! (I still have 5 months to go..) My wonderful husband Chris turns 30 tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be overjoyed that I've posted that fact on my blog. We're celebrating by enjoying a nice dinner, then we're headed to the Bear Creek Campground to camp out for the TrailBlazers Training Day. I'm trying to talk him into a night ride, as its a whole new world up there at night, complete with predatory animals that could possibly eat us. He said it sounded cold, but I'll charge up the lights and pack his warm gear just in case. Perhaps I'll bring some champaign up there along with my plastic "camping" wine glasses. I've got quite a few bottles of not-so-high-quality stuff lying around from races this past year - might as well use it up and maybe there will be some folks up there to share with.

Busy Again!

After a lull at work, it now seems that I have too much to do..at least momentarily. I have to complete a quality control audit on my department this week, so that is eating up a lot of my time. Sounds exciting, eh? Yup, I'D RATHER BE MOUNTAIN BIKING...

I had a good fast run on the treadmill this morning, so I feel like I'm ready for the upcoming Navigator Cup in terms of my running. The problem is that presently there are no other competitors in my category! I'd hate to think I did all this running just to compete against myself! Usually the Womens Red Course (that's the elite course in the orienteering world) has a good number of entires, but this year...nada. Perhaps all my competitors are frightened of my new go-fast spiked orienteering shoes that Chris got me for Christmas. Hopefully I can put the smack down with those babies, and if not, at least they'll keep me from busting azz on the red clay. I may have to move to the men's division if they'll let me. Not a big deal, and certainly nothing new for me.

We've decided to camp out at Bear Creek this weekend so I'm looking forward to that as well. Any time I get to use my zero degree sleeping bag I get excited because it's so warm and poofy and well, I like being surrounded by poof. I think I'd live in a house made of down if it was possible.

Mid Winter Heat Wave

We went for a road ride today up at White..legs were a bit tired from yesterday but the weather was beautiful.

Ride Highlights:

• Lots of random livestock roaming the streets..literally...deer, horse, turkeys, and a COW that was running in circles
• Being chased by Cujo's Hell-Spawn (again)

It is supposed to be close to 70 during the next few days, so hopefully I'll get some more good rides in.

Snake Creek Gap Time Trial #1

Today was the first of three "time trials" on the Pinhoti Trail System in Dalton, GA and my introduction back into the world of "short" MTB races. While my ride wasn't completely stellar, it wasn't terribly bad either. I felt good for the first half with the exception of the descent off Horn Mtn where I blew a switchback and narrowly missed flying off the trail, and then I caused a 4-guy-bike-pile-up behind me when I spaced out and had to lock it up around another abrupt corner. I was feeling ok for the first climb of the second half, but once I hit a rolling section with some short, steep uphill sections, the wheels started to come off. I just wasn't carrying my momentum well and all I could think about was getting to the next long downhill. I started to get a bit of a sour stomach on the gravel road climb section, so motivation wasn't great. I felt sluggish and knew I had to get some calories in, so I choked down a Gel and a half PB&J. The final 8 miles were quite a slog..I'd have some "moments" when I felt good, but the majority of it was just suffering...pretty indicative for me of poor race nutrition. I drank an Ensure at the halfway point, which just didn't sit well, given how hard I was working. Coke seems to be the way to go for me for high intensity endurance events, so I'll definitely have that at the sag next time. I also don't think I drank enough - only two small bottles for a 4+ hour race. I'm not sure what my "official" time was, but I got 4:12 ish on my computer.

I feel pretty good about the ride, as it is a good starting point and actually quite a shock for just coming out of base and spending the holidays away from my bike. In two weeks I have the Georgia Navigator Cup, which I've been doing a lot of running to prepare for. Once that has passed, I'll be able to donate 80+% of my training time to riding in preparation for the TransRockies.

There's No Place Like Home..

Well, we're back in Atlanta. Time to go back to work and get back on the wagon. I was happy to sleep in my own bed last night, but it was really hard to drag myself into the office this morning. We managed to get sick while in Chicago, so I haven't been able to do much to prepare for the upcoming Snake Creek Gap time trial - unless you consider running in the snow good training for a 4 hour mountain bike race.

Registrations are steadily coming in for the Blankets Duathlon, so that is exciting to see. I am amazed that folks are registering so early - lots of women too, especially in the 2 person division.