This was a final taper run for team Orient This! racing the Giant's Rib Raid next weekend. The original plan was to do about 12-13K of bike path through two parks, with a number of big hill climbs along the way. As I was preparing the O-maps for this route, I realized that there's a wicked alternative to the bike path in this park - a mountain bike trail in the woods on the other side of the river. So I pitched that instead. None of us had packed trail shoes though, he. It was appropriately very muddy!
I'd been pretty sick since Friday morning, so really didn't know what to do. My legs also hurt like a mutha from a weight workout on Thursday, and there was one particular muscle above the knee that had spasmed on me in the morning. I was very close to just sending my teammates off to run on their own while I took a walk, but I couldn't say no to that MTB trail! So off we went, me huffing and puffing with my mild fever, and my teammates trying not to crash into my slow ass.
I brought out my GoPro headcam for the first time ever too. I'd been so embarrassed to use it in orienteering company, as all the folks who usually don these are super-speedy and make crazy-looking videos. But I also needed to appease my dear friends who had given it to me for my birthday way back in November. We took turns with it out on the slippery trail, and I have to say HD is the awesomest thing ever. It's so crisp and clear, for miles around. With the waterproof casing, the sound only comes through from the videographer, but with music added, who cares? We shot in 4:3, but might go to 16:9 for the race.
The trail is really up-and-down, lots of switchbacks, and tons of those little rampy bridges and jumps. I always love running on MTB trails for that reason. It was slow going, but really nice.
Once we got back out onto the bike path, we decided not to go into the other park, as I was sick and ES was still recovering from a funny knee. We took the opportunity of the flat paved path to test out CK's tow line ideas. We tried various lengths of stretchy bungee cord, although I have to say that when it was tied around my hips/waist, it was a bit uncomfortable for the long haul. I preferred to clip it to my pack, but then having it that high up is not efficient. CK said he'd play with it at home to engineer a top-notch system based on advice from other racers.
The distance we covered was truly lame, but it was the best I could do in my state without compromising my health even more. I really need to heal for next weekend.
--Distance:
6.8K
--Duration: forever!
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