25K Hyner View Trail Challenge - Apr 26, 2014

Pre-race Thoughts

There is a little over an hour until the 25K HVTC kicks off. I've picked up my race packet and am ready to go. The weather is cool and crisp but dry, for now. There is the possibility of rain today.

Susquehanna River (PL)

Last night I drove up to Williamsport. It was dark for most of the drive and rained off and on, but nothing like the drive up in 2013. The drive this morning was so much nicer than the one last night. It was so nice to be able to see my surroundings.

My bib number is 838. I can't remember what my number was last year but I like this one. 8 + 3 + 8 = 19 which is very appropriate since I am wearing a 1/9 t-shirt.

View 2013 - 25K HVTC in a larger map

Post-race Thoughts

The weather was close to perfect. I had a light jacket with me but I took it off at the beginning of the race and didn't feel the need to put it back on during the race. I am still sore and probably will be for a few days but I am very happy with my time in the HVTC. I shaved almost 17 minutes off my time from last year. I moved up about 100 spots from where I finished in the overall standings. 

Beginning of the 25K Hyner View Trail Challenge (PL)

Hard to say at this point where I shaved off most of that time. My Garmin wasn't working so I don't have that sort of data. I did use my stopwatch and used the lap function but that data isn't anywhere near as precise as the Garmin data would be. 

I didn't start at the back of the pack like I did in 2013 but I wasn't at the front either. A lot of people passed me on the way to the first bottleneck aka Cliffhanger. Unlike last year most of the people ahead of me were running at that point. I walked to the first bottleneck, briskly.

Cliffhanger Trail (BH)

It felt like the pack moved a little faster on the Cliffhanger Trail which leads along the Susquehanna to the bottom of Humble Hill. I passed a number of people on the way up Humble Hill. Many of them had stopped to catch their breath, some stopped and stepped aside when I asked if I could pass them. My wind was good throughout the course and the climb up to Hyner View was no exception.

I did not stop at the first aid station. Before starting down the back side of Hyner View I did drink a little water from the 1-liter water bottle I brought with me, and had a couple bites from the peanut butter Pro Bar I brought with. I ran most the way down the backside of Hyner View. For most of that I was in the middle of a convoy of people. We weren't moving very fast. It felt more like a trot or a shuffling pace but I'm sure we were moving faster than even a fast walking pace. I could feel my quads starting to rebel but I stuck with it as long as I could despite the growing pain.

Nearing the Top of Hyner View (PL)

Shortly before the climb along Johnson Run began I passed a woman who was injured. She was surrounded by a group of 6-8 people who were helping her. I figured they had the situation under control so I didn't stop or ask if there was anything I could do. I doubt that my facility with spreadsheets would have proved useful in this situation. A minute or two after passing them I passed a park employee with a walkie talkie headed towards them.

Once the trail started to climb again I abandoned any attempts at running. I didn't pass more than a handful of people in the hilly section along Johnson Run. When I got to the first crossing of Johnson Run there was only a couple people in front of me. Last year there was probably 20 or more people waiting to cross at the narrowest spot. Even though there wasn't a long line this year I still took the short cut through the ankle deep water.

Rounding the corner at the top of Hyner View (BH)

Just like last year I got my feet wet numerous times in this section of the course and passed a number of people, who were trying harder than I to keep their feet dry. I don't think I passed as many people or walked through as much water as I did last year. Once the course got away from the stream the trail became narrower and it became much harder to pass, but I found a few opportunities to do so.

I didn't stop at the second aid station. Once past it I did slow down to drink some water and took another bite from the peanut butter pro bar.

From there until the bottom of the Post Draft I was in a convoy of people moving together. I wanted to move a little faster than we were but the trail was narrow, my quads were still sore, and I didn't want to overextend myself at that point. So I stuck with the convoy. A few people passed us, but not many. Last year I think I ran down this section of the course at a faster pace behind a couple of 50K runners.

The climb up Cleveland Hollow and SOB moved a little slower than I wanted it to. Once again, maybe that was a good thing. Maybe if I hadn't been in midst of a group of people who were moving at a decent pace, but just a bit slower than I wanted to, then I would have burned myself out there. I was finally able to break free of the group once we were 3/4 of the way up SOB. I lunged past a few people people to make it to the top. I paused there for about 30 seconds. I had a drink of Gatorade at the 3rd and final aid station and then moved on.

Huff Run (BM)

I jogged a little bit but for the most part I walked from SOB until I got to the top of Huff Run. Although my quads were still hurting my joints (knees, hips, ankles) felt good enough to jog down this section of the course. In 2013 I walked this section of the course because my left knee wasn't feeling up to anything other than that.

Once we got back to the road I started walking again. Some runners from the convoy I had been with coming down Huff Run continued to run, others did like me and walked. I walked until I got to the bridge over the Susquehanna. Originally I was just going to jog halfway across the bridge but then my pride kicked in and I saw the people cheering us on to the finish line. So I jogged the rest of the way in, which was probably about a half mile.

Finish Line (BH)

I was ready to collapse by the time I crossed the finish line. But it felt so good to be done.

Looking back on the race as a whole I think that I definitely benefited from starting further from the back of the pack than I did in 2013. It was still congested in spots but overall I passed considerably fewer people this year and the people who I did pass, especially after the first hill, were moving at a better clip than most of the ones who I passed last year. 

Post-post-race Thoughts

I am a slow starter. I tried starting further from the back, closer to the front this year. I thought it made a difference but looking back now at my lap times I can see that it didn't. Unless I run the road portion of the race to the beginning of the Cliffhanger Trail I'm going to get caught up in that bottleneck. Honestly I don't see how I can avoid that bottleneck without running. Even if I do run it I'm not sure I would be fast enough to avoid getting caught in the bottleneck or at the very least being able to get through it appreciably faster than the 27 minutes it took this year. 

Even though I felt like I was moving slower down Post Draft and up Cleveland Hollow my lap times seem to indicate otherwise. Last year I was still passing families with kids at that point whereas this year those groups were few and far between once I got to the top of Hyner View.

I’m not sure how much room for improvement I have without incorporating running, specifically trail running, into my training regimen. Currently my training consists of bicycling, walking, and orienteering. The bicycling helps with the uphill portions of the course and my breathing but doesn't do much to prepare me for the long, sustained downhill portions of the course, which were the most painful parts. Most of the pain was in my thighs. My boots and socks did a great job protecting the soles of my feet although I think I may need a new pair of boots by the time next year’s HVTC rolls around.

Overall a great experience. I'm eager to do it again.

Time: 4:58:06
Pace: 17:57 / mile
Place: 497/959 Overall, 97/159 (M 40-49)

Results: PA Runners

Photography Credits:

BH = Bo Hagaman - See PA Run

BM = Butch Miller - Butch Miller Photography

PL = Peter Lopes - Peter Lopes Picassa

Rosaryville - Apr 13, 2014

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Possibly my most successful orienteering adventure at Rosaryville. The last time I was there, in 2012, I lost my e-punch 20 minutes in. I never found it but it turned up later on. I went home feeling kind of dejected that time. Today's experience was infinitely better even though it wasn't entirely error-free.

It was very warm; the temperature was up into the mid-80s. I got my feet a little wet stepping into streams and crossing marshy areas. The skies were clear. My memories of past orienteering experiences at Rosaryville usually involve rain so this was a nice change.

More: AttackPoint Training Log - RouteGadget

Google Maps: Dave Goes Orienteering 2013-14

Pohick Bay - Apr 5, 2014

The weather was fairly warm. No precipitation. I wore a jacket although I had the vents open on it. It was a little muddy but not to excess.

More: AttackPoint Training Log

Google Maps: Dave Goes Orienteering 2013-14

Patapsco/CCBC - Mar 30, 2014

I did not use a Garmin. Mine was acting up so I left it at home. The Garmins that the club possesses had not arrived on site when I got was ready to begin so I orienteered without one. My stated actual distance is approximate since I used a ruler and the map to guess the actual distance that I traveled.

I won the time derby for the umpteenth time. In other words, I spent more time orienteering than anyone else. The combination of windy, wet weather and low attendance at this event probably are in large part responsible for my win.

Control pickup was no picnic. It was raining when I started and switched over to sleet and then snow before I finished. Most of the controls I had to pickup were in wooded areas which offered some protection from the elements.

More: Attackpoint Training Log

Google Maps: Dave Goes Orienteering 2013-14

MD HEAT Race - Aug 3, 2013

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The night before the race was a very short one. I was up until 1:30 doing laundry and getting stuff ready for the weekend. My original plan was to head directly to a family reunion in Northfield, NJ after the race. I got up at 4:30 because the race director wanted everyone at the parking area by 7 am. I got there by 7 and then ended up waiting for almost 2 hours after the shuttle bus ride into the park for the race to begin. If I had it to do over again I would have slept in for at least another hour.

The weather cooperated, to a degree. It rained, off and on. There were no torrential downpours but it was a soggy day. The rain helped to keep me cool and minimized my need for re-hydration. I took a rain jacket with me but I didn't wear it. It sat in the bottom of the bag I carried with me during the race.

It wasn't a very big field of participants, only a handful of them started the race walking. I walked with one of the few until we reached the first hill. At that point we caught up to another walker and I left them behind.

I passed a couple more people before reaching aid station 1, near the 4 mile mark. I paused long enough to grab a handful of trail mix. I passed a couple more people there and a bunch more on a very steep and rocky descent less than a mile after aid station 1.

One thing I had working in my favor was my fearlessness of water. As with the rocky downhills I didn't slowdown when I encountered streams. I didn't go to any sort of lengths to try and keep my feet or my boots dry. When I reached the river crossing I just powered through it. I took a few items out of cargo pockets and held them in my hands but unlike the half-dozen or so runners that I passed at that point I didn't take the time to take off my shoes and socks before crossing. The water was up to mid-thigh on me, at the deepest point. My boots were full of water when I got out of the river. I'm not sure how long it took for the bulk of the water to drain but eventually they didn't seem quite so water-logged.

When I got to aid station 2 one of the volunteers asked me how I was doing and offered me a choice: stop or turn uphill and keep going. I chose to keep going. I passed a trio of women at that point for the second of three times. They would eventually pass me again just before aid station 3 and then pass me a little after it. I passed three other people between aid stations 2 and 3, who did not return the favor.

I pushed myself a little too hard on the rocky downhills in the first half of the race. I took it a little easier after that because my left hip was starting to bother me.

At aid station 1 I grabbed a handful of trail mix and kept going. I didn't stop at aid station 2. I stopped for a minute or more at aid station 3 to down a small peanut butter sandwich and a small cup of Gatorade. In between aid stations I also nibbled at the food I brought with me (hard pretzels, raisins and almonds) and drank some water.

I had been to various parts of Patpsco Valley State Park before, for Quantico Orienteering Club. Some of the trails that the race course traveled were familiar to me but most of them were in the last 6-7 miles of the race. It felt a little weird sticking to the trail and not following other handrail features.

Early on I could see that I was close to a 18 minutes/mile pace. I pushed myself in an effort to increase my average pace to 17:06 but I never got there and eventually gave up on that goal as the pain in my hip got worse.

On the whole I thought the organizer did a very good job but that doesn't mean that there isn't room for improvement. I was annoyed that the race didn't start on time. It was scheduled to begin at 9 but didn't step off until 9:20. Also would have been nice if the race course had been just a little bit longer. According to my Garmin it was 15.3 miles or 24.6 km, even though it was billed as being a 25 km race. Nitpicking? Possibly, but that's how I feel.

After the race there was free food. I ate a foot-long hot dog (that I broke in two and split between two regular-sized hot dog rolls) and a piece of chocolate cake. I hung out for a little while after that until the shuttle bus back to the parking area arrived. I considered briefly sticking with my original plan and driving straight to the family reunion in New Jersey, after changing my clothes. After assessing how sweaty and muddy I was I decided to drive home and clean up before heading to the family reunion.

Time: 4:34:30
Pace: 17:56 / mile
Place: 155/180 (Overall), 29/31 (M 40-49)

Results: UltraSignUp

French Creek East - Jul 14, 2013

View Dave Goes Orienteering 2012-13 in a larger map

I drove up the day before the meet and camped in French Creek State Park. My camping gear consisted of a 2-person tent and a bed roll that I bought from REI in early June. It took me a half hour to get the tent set up. The instructions on the bag were clear enough, but it took me a little while to figure out what was what. It took me almost as long to break the tent down on Sunday morning.

I had originally intended to stop in Lancaster for dinner on Saturday night but it was only 4:30 when I reached Lancaster and I wasn't very hungry so I kept driving. I ended up dining on a kashi bar and a mix of almonds and raisins on Saturday night. For breakfast the next morning I had some fresh fruit (that I bought at Whole Foods on Saturday), some more almonds and raisins, and a blueberry flavored pro bar.

Early Arrival, Late Start

I arrived early (9:20) and expected to be one of the first people to start. Unfortunately the meet director was a little overwhelmed and short on help so everything was not ready to go at 10 when the meet was supposed to begin. I helped carry some gear from the parking area up to the registration area, a couple hundred yards away. After that I stood around and waited for a while.

More and more people started to show up and things weren't ready to go. The e-punch set up was still in the process of getting set up when the meet director asked if someone would carry 3 gallons of water up to the start, which was a good kilometer or more uphill from the registration area. Nobody responded to his request so I picked up the box and lugged it up to the start.

Slow Start, Small Map

I expected that after I got to the start I would have to turn around, go back to the registration area, and register my e-punch. Instead they told me I could go ahead and start. I was a bit out of breath and sweating profusely but I accepted the challenge. My eyes almost popped out of my head when they handed me the map. It was tiny, considering the area it covered. the contour lines were printed in yellow and hard to read.

It took me a minute to get my bearings and figure out in which direction I need to head in order to find the first control. It took me about 15 minutes to find it, even though it wasn't very far from the start.

It took me over 30 minutes to find the second control. My search for it began with much bushwhacking. Once I got though all the under growth and out on a trail I thought I was in good shape. I would have been if I hadn't mistaken one trail junction for another and turned off onto a trail that didn't lead me where I needed to go. Once i figured out what I had done wrong, which took a while, I was able to find the control 2/77 without too much trouble.

The next 9 controls (3 through 11) didn't give me any trouble at all. I used my compass quite a bit while searching for them. I was most concerned when looking for 3/xx because other than having a bearing I wasn't sure what terrain features to look for. I followed the bearing and nailed the control. I didn't nail all the other controls I found but once I got close enough and was in the area of them by looking around me I was able to spot them once I got close enough.

I was sold on the compass approach after finding the first 11 controls. I tried using that approach for the 12th one and wound up in a sea of thorns. I kept pressing through the thorns until it got so bad that I had to turn back and find the nearest trail. I spent a long time amid the thorns. I didn't think they would be that thick or last for that long. Even after I turned back and started heading for a trail it took me a long time to get free of the thorns.

I did not emerge from the thorns unscathed. I came home with with many scrapes and cuts on my legs and arms. In some places there are so many marks from the thorns that it looks like I have lots of new freckles. I spent a little bit of time looking for 12, unsuccessfully. I was starting to run short on time and eventually I gave up.

I had a long walk back to the finish. It gave me plenty of time to contemplate my decision to attempt the red course. I was torn between the green and red courses. I had my doubts about my ability to finish the red. I definitely overreached. Under better circumstances I might have finished the red course successfully.

Course: Red [18 controls; 7.1 km; 205m]
Time: 3:24:49
DNF (gave up after finding the first 11 controls)
Actual Distance: 10.3 km / 6.4 miles

Hickory Hop 6 Hr Rogaine - May 26, 2013

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Pre-Rogaine

I drove down with Dan and Jon the night before. We stopped at a Thai restaurant (Bangkok 56) in Harrisburg for dinner. We arrived at Camp Shehaqua after dark. We stayed the night in a small cabin. It was much colder that night than I thought it was going to be. The cabin was not heated and the "mattresses" were just plywood boards. I didn't bring anything with me other than a twin-size comforter and and a pillow.

The temperature dropped down into the low-40s, I'm guessing. I slept fully dressed under the comforter. I did my best to stay under the comforter but I woke up on a number of occasions to find that my nose was cold because it was sticking out into the cold night air. I have no idea how long I slept. I know that I was awake for long periods of time. I must have slept some because I was not dead-on-my-feet the next day and I have a vague memory of at least one dream.


6-hour Rogaine

I got off to a decent start (by my standards) but lost a lot of time (1:37:03 by my estimate) looking for two controls that I never found. Best case scenario I might have scored a couple hundred more points than I actually did. I am satisfied with my performance considering that it was my first 6-hour rogaine.

Map A

My initial strategy was to get all the controls in one section of the map. I started with the eastern section of the map. First I swept south and then east. It took me 21 minutes to find the first three controls (63, 75, 65) as I swept south. It took me 29 minutes to find the eastern-most control on the map (35). In retrospect, considering how few points it was worth and the amount of time I spent looking for it I probably should have skipped it and headed west instead after finding 65.

The next three controls (45, 77, 67) challenged me but I found them all. I was unable to find the 8th control (47) I looked for. I circled around in the general vicinity of it, probably passed close to it, but never found it. In retrospect I am torn as to whether I should have skipped it altogether or just approached it from a different angle. I spent almost 55 minutes looking for it.

Having found (or at least looked) for all the controls in the eastern section of the map. I didn't have a plan of attack for this portion other than to wrap it up by getting the controls closest to the finish. I found the first control (73) I searched for in the western portion of the map without too much trouble.

At that point I probably should have reversed course and headed back to the trail I left when I was approaching 73. Instead I did much fruitless bushwhacking in an attempt to find 61. I finally gave up on finding it after 43 minutes. At that point I was getting frustrated. In a little over two hours since finding 67 I had only found one more control, 73.

Having a little less than an hour and 45 minutes to go I decided to play it safe and look for the low hanging fruit. I found 31 without too much trouble. I probably played it a little safer than I otherwise might have due to my experiences with 61 and 47.

I made a colossal mistake when it came to finding the next control (53): I headed south when I should have headed north. Not only did I head in the wrong direction but I ignored two clear indications that I was headed the wrong way: I crossed a creek that shouldn't have been there and I didn't cross a string telephone poles. It wasn't until I got back to a control I been to before I that I realized I was headed in the wrong direction. I probably lost 20 minutes thanks to his mistake.

I found the last two controls (53, 51) that I looked for without too much trouble. I got back to the finish with a little over 15 minutes to spare.

Map B

The only control I found on this map (80) was 50 feet from the finish.

Post-Rogaine

We hung around for almost two hours after the rogaine. There was food and an awards ceremony. Jon finished in first place. No one found all of the controls, Jon came closest (47/50). All participants received a commemorative towel.

We stopped on the way back for dinner at an Indian restaurant (Taste of India) in Harrisburg.

I was determined to make it as far as I could on the drive back without refueling. I almost made it to the gas station I intended to stop at when my car ran out of gas. Lucky for me I was able to coast downhill to the gas station.

Course

The distance is the straight line distance of the route I walked, jogged, and crawled. I included the controls in the measurement. I only searched for 14 of 50 controls.

Course: 6 Hr Rogaine [14 controls; 8.1 km]
Score: 715 points (Map A: 635; Map B: 80)
Time: 5:43:29 - Results
Actuals: 14.81 (distance); 415 (climb)