Misadventure racing: Open5 Slaidburn
Third race of the Open5 series, but second one of the season for me. I was entered for the North Wales event in December but had been suffering with a horrific cough that I couldn't shift, so decided to save my health and skip it. Kind of glad I did, as I only managed to shake the cough in the last week before Christmas after a fair amount of rest.
Anyway, lessons learnt from the first race of the season, I remembered my watch for this one. Not sure I was any better prepared, I threw together some bits of kit the night before, had at least tried to sort some of the mechanical problems I'd had last time out, and hadn't been out on the lash 48hrs before the start. I had been kayaking the day before, because some things never change and kayaking is fun. Kit worked out well again: Buff, bib shorts, 3/4 tights, base layer and a thicker jersey. Waterproof stayed on for the entire day, as a windproof layer more than waterproofing (there were only occasional showers), wool socks (Woolie Boolies) and my old Wave Harriers for the run, waterproof socks (from Mapdec) and my SPD shoes for the bike.
Run - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1305492129
'Run' is still a bit of an optimistic term, but this one went better. I neglected to wear my compression calf guards, which might explain the horrible tight achilles pain I had both during and after the section (and still have the evening after), but I shuffled around anyway. The best part for me was no nav cock-ups, and I was much more decisive about setting a loop and sticking to it. At the Muker race I'd been very vague and picked the next CP on the fly, which combined with the lack of a watch, meant I wasted time and didn't actually get very far. One positive, that'll do. I'm still not in any sort of shape (apart from 'round'. Round is definitely a shape), so I'm contemplating one of the 'Couch to 10km' programs to get my backside out and about and try and build into things. At least I got my timing right, 1:45 was pretty much bang-on what I was aiming for, so I was happy with that.
Bike - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1305725287/
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I made one major mistake, towards the end, that cost me a bunch of points and a lot of time and energy. The majority of the route was grand, the CPs configured so those not looking to clear the course could pick a route that was predominantly tarmac with various dog-legs and out-and-backs to pick up CPs. I'd written off some of the further out checkpoints in favours of setting a fairly reasonable loop that I felt I could do in the time, which was grand. The 'hindsight' part comes in because, with some extra information about trail surface I could have easily got at least two if not three more CPs further out on the course. That would have also occupied some time and prevented the daftness I had at the end, where I decided to try and push up a horribly crap bridleway onto Dunsop fell which would have been easier to kayak down than ride or walk. I'd got to my planned penultimate CP with over an hour still on the clock. The choices were to stick with my plan and finish 30 points up and probably 30-40mins ahead of time, which would have been fine energy wise but annoying planning wise, or to gamble on making the 35 pointer on the fell top. I gambled and it didn't pay off. The bridleway was so humorously crap that continuing would have put me out of time, and by the time I'd realised this and turned around, coupled with a much worse linking bridleweay than I'd expected and failing energy reserves, I was cooked. I finished just ahead of time but failed to get either of the two possible CPs. Not the best end to what had been a pretty good day, but my own daft fault.
I love the 'score' format of the Open5 events, because it's easy enough to pick and choose your own route based on your ability and inclination. Apart from the daftness at the end, my route picking was pretty good, and I'm happy enough with that. I said this series was me trying to re-develop some bits over the winter, and I'm going to end up learning some lessons, even if those are mainly how unfit I am. Next up is Blanchland, County Durham, in February, so on we go.
Anyway, lessons learnt from the first race of the season, I remembered my watch for this one. Not sure I was any better prepared, I threw together some bits of kit the night before, had at least tried to sort some of the mechanical problems I'd had last time out, and hadn't been out on the lash 48hrs before the start. I had been kayaking the day before, because some things never change and kayaking is fun. Kit worked out well again: Buff, bib shorts, 3/4 tights, base layer and a thicker jersey. Waterproof stayed on for the entire day, as a windproof layer more than waterproofing (there were only occasional showers), wool socks (Woolie Boolies) and my old Wave Harriers for the run, waterproof socks (from Mapdec) and my SPD shoes for the bike.
Run - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1305492129
'Run' is still a bit of an optimistic term, but this one went better. I neglected to wear my compression calf guards, which might explain the horrible tight achilles pain I had both during and after the section (and still have the evening after), but I shuffled around anyway. The best part for me was no nav cock-ups, and I was much more decisive about setting a loop and sticking to it. At the Muker race I'd been very vague and picked the next CP on the fly, which combined with the lack of a watch, meant I wasted time and didn't actually get very far. One positive, that'll do. I'm still not in any sort of shape (apart from 'round'. Round is definitely a shape), so I'm contemplating one of the 'Couch to 10km' programs to get my backside out and about and try and build into things. At least I got my timing right, 1:45 was pretty much bang-on what I was aiming for, so I was happy with that.
Bike - http://www.mapmyride.com/workout/1305725287/
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I made one major mistake, towards the end, that cost me a bunch of points and a lot of time and energy. The majority of the route was grand, the CPs configured so those not looking to clear the course could pick a route that was predominantly tarmac with various dog-legs and out-and-backs to pick up CPs. I'd written off some of the further out checkpoints in favours of setting a fairly reasonable loop that I felt I could do in the time, which was grand. The 'hindsight' part comes in because, with some extra information about trail surface I could have easily got at least two if not three more CPs further out on the course. That would have also occupied some time and prevented the daftness I had at the end, where I decided to try and push up a horribly crap bridleway onto Dunsop fell which would have been easier to kayak down than ride or walk. I'd got to my planned penultimate CP with over an hour still on the clock. The choices were to stick with my plan and finish 30 points up and probably 30-40mins ahead of time, which would have been fine energy wise but annoying planning wise, or to gamble on making the 35 pointer on the fell top. I gambled and it didn't pay off. The bridleway was so humorously crap that continuing would have put me out of time, and by the time I'd realised this and turned around, coupled with a much worse linking bridleweay than I'd expected and failing energy reserves, I was cooked. I finished just ahead of time but failed to get either of the two possible CPs. Not the best end to what had been a pretty good day, but my own daft fault.
I love the 'score' format of the Open5 events, because it's easy enough to pick and choose your own route based on your ability and inclination. Apart from the daftness at the end, my route picking was pretty good, and I'm happy enough with that. I said this series was me trying to re-develop some bits over the winter, and I'm going to end up learning some lessons, even if those are mainly how unfit I am. Next up is Blanchland, County Durham, in February, so on we go.
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