Biz-Ness Report

Word on the street is that Biz will be hitting Route 108 in the notch today where his Jeep will be waiting to take him to a hot shower and a comfy bed. He plans to take a 0 (zero) day tomorrow. so we're going to get the crew together for some mirth and levity. Should be a good time.

We do have some much less uplifting news: Team Runs with Scissors will not be in this weekend's Hardwick Scramble. Fortunately, we do have a list of reasonable excuses: Grambo has a foot injury, Justin has to work and I have to clean the garage so we can sell our house so we can buy a house. (Okay, so they're reasonable, but still lame) Oh well, that's the way it goes. But never you fear, we'll be back.

Now, I've gotta go get some shit done around the house.

JG

PS--Ran 5 miles (down to the ice rink and back) tonight. Brrrr....

And, Biz sent a text message saying he was at the Middlebury Snow Bowl--the half way point.

WEEKEND UPDATE

Whew! It's been a busy weekend.

Yesterday, after about 2 hours at the gym, I spent the better part of the day installing our new dishwasher. That completes the full appliance update for our kitchen--an investment we hope will help us sell in this cooling market.

Today, we had hoped to take advantage of the weather to take AMG on her first hike in the Kelty Kids carrier, but it wasn't meant to be. Instead, we met with our real estate agent, visited the house we're preparing to make an offer on and went over some of the contractual details. House hunting sure is a complex, time consuming process and expensive process. Vermont needs more housing stock to help drive down the prices.

AMG has been in the Kelty twice--once for a short 5 minute walk around our house and again a few days later for a 20 minute walk around our neighborhood. She's napping now, but if she wakes I may take her for another stroll around the neighborhood in it. She seems to really like it. Plus, when we were touring the house today we walked the perimeter of the lot which was wooded and she enjoyed it. All signs that she might take after her father and prefer to spend time outside, rather than in.

This past week was a decent training week for me--with two gym days, a run and a ride. My tentative plan is to train at least three days before Saturday's club race in Hardwick, but may very well end up going four days in a row, with Friday as a rest day before the race. It's only a 6-hour, what could possible go wrong?

Finally, I've been thinking about jumping on the trail with Biz--who is expected to make it to Waterbury Friday night or Saturday. Obviously, we'll be hangin' with him at some point this coming weekend and I look forward to hearing his trail tails. Rather than hike with him for a few days from here, I might meet him at or around Jay Peak and rock the end with him.

Also, Grambo is trying to rally bunch of folks for an end-to-end celebration at Journey's End cabin. Which, by the way, is a wicked cool cabin to hang out at. You should join us. Biz could do us a big favor by timing it to be on a weekend. In any event, we'll keep you posted as events develop.

It's apple season. Enjoy!

News from the Trail...

Sorry for the late posting, but it's been busy this week!!

So, last Friday, Justin and I set out to get Biz started on his Long Trail adventure. Biz was planning to hike the entire, 270 mile long trail, from Mass to Canada, and neither Justin or I had hiked that section, so we decided to head out with him for a couple of days. So, we took 1/2ers Friday, and departed Waterbury around 12:30. And first off, I must say, it is a long friggin' drive to the southern end of the LT!! We had to leave Justin's truck where he and I would come off trail near Stratton, and then drive down to Stamford VT to the start our hike. Leaving Montpelier around 1, we didn't get to our destination and start hiking until 5pm!!

Day 1: 6 Miles
So, we finally let the Jeep and headed south. We were accessing the trail from 3 miles north of the Mass border, and to finish the trail we needed to backtrack a bit. So, it was 0.3 miles to the Seth Warner shelter, where we dropped our pack. We then just grabbed water bottles and a camera, and blasted south. Unencumbered by packs, we made the 2.8 mile trek to the border in just over an hour. We signed in, took a few photos, and blasted back north, maintaining a similiar pace, and arriving at the shelter around 7pm. We had it to ourselves that night, and with the exception of a possible bear Justin heard sniffing around late at night, we had an uneventful evening.

Day 2: 13 Miles
Saturday morning we were up bright and early eager to head north, and were hiking by 8:30am. We stopped briefly at the Jeep to drop a few unneeded items, and then proceeded north over some gently rolling terrain, and making good time. Over our entire trip we managed slightly over 2 miles per hour, which is great, at least for me. We stopped for water around 11am, and noonish had us hiking along a lovely river, which lead us to Congdon Shelter, and lunch. For me, this a was tortillas with apple and peanut butter, a great, energy packed lunch. Post lunch we continued north, eager to get up Harmon Hill, which promised (according to the LT guide) expansive views of Bennington and the Battle monument. Unfortunately, it was hazy, and views were not to be had. Did I mention it was hot? Dang hot. Africa hot, in fact!! Humid and 90+. So, we cleared Harmon Hill, and commenced the descent to Rte. 9. Right about then, as we were preparing to descent 1000 feet in 0.8 miles, the heavens opened. Yep, rain, the real heavy, instant puddle creating, turning the trail into a river rain which makes hiking very unpleasant. We stopped to quickly cover our packs, and continued. Down to route 9, and across, and then up 1000 feet in 1.6 miles. Thankfully the rain had slowed to a drizzle at that point, although thunder began to rumble in the distance, speeding our steps and getting us to the next shelter, Melville Nauheim, pretty quickly. This was another leanto type shelter, and this night we spent with an AT thru hiker, along with a recent Middlebury college grad and his mom, who was a psycologist (and a talker). Not a bad night, though, although it was still very warm sleepin'.

Day 3: 13 Miles
Sunday dawned overcast and warm, and we dragged ourselves out of bed and made preparations. The rain started up as we were about to leave, and there was some whining from the other shelter inhabitants concerning the rain, but we knew we had a ways to go, and were in pretty good spirits. Plus, we would be topping Glastenbury Mtn. today, which promised a fire tower and good views. So, northward ho, we left the lodge around 9am. The hike north could be described as rolling, as we traveled from 2300-2800 feet in elevation several times, with some lookouts which probably would have offered amazing views, had it not been overcast and foggy. However, it was a good bit cooler than the day before, and the rain let up and it was just kinda mistly. We dropped into the last dip, and then began ascending Glastenbury Mtn (a 3700 footer). It was a moderate climb from 2800 feet, and before we knew it we were at Goddard Shelter, 0.3 miles from the summit, just as the heavy rain began again. We elected to have lunch and refill on water at the shelter since it was dry, and briefly considered staying at this shelter for the night. However, in the end we pushed on. The summit did have a nice, tall firetower, and again, everything was completely socked in. This was a real bummer, as the guide claims that the view from the tower, including "more wilderness than is to be seen from any other point on the Long Trail". We were quickly off the summit, and made short work of the 3.8 miles to the next stop, Kid Gore Shelter. This lean-to actually had a descent view east of a couple of ridge lines, and was a nice spot. We were joined as it got dark by 4 southbound AT thruhikers, who proceeded to drop their packs and roll and smoke a seemingly endless stream of cigarettes. Pretty funny. They were a cool group, and fun to spend the shelter with. A couple games of cribbage had me taking the championship for this trip, and then off to bed.

Day 4: 8 miles (for Justin and I)
Monday dawned, again, cloudy and foggy. Since Justin and I only had 8 miles to go I can't say we were super motivated to get moving, but Biz had about 14 miles to do today, so we got our act together and got on the trail shortly after 9. It was a pretty uneventful hike out, although we did pass some really amazing, huge beaver ponds, and Justin saw a couple of deer. We passed Story Spring Shelter with only a brief stop, and made Kelly Stand Road and Justin's truck around 1pm. Here we dropped packs and shed shoes, and Biz re-supplied on food and fuel, and re-charged his cellphone. Around 1:30, he headed north towards Stratton, and we headed home. Overall it was a pretty good trip, although it was a bummer to miss all the good views. And it was an especially sweet trip for me, because I have now completed the entire Long Trail!!! I was psyched to get this done, as I have been working on it for about 8 years now. Quite an experience...

As for Biz, I got a text message from him Wednesday indicating that on Tuesday, the day after we left him, he did a 20 mile day!! Guess we slowed him down some. If all goes well he should be at the Inn at the Long Trail in Killington right now, having completed his first 100 miles...

Grambo

TIPS OF THE WEEK...

As we approach our next race, I thought I'd post some tips from a few of the world's leading adventure racers. You know, something to get us thinking again...and I'll tell you what, these tips make me want to go for a good ride after work today!

We hope to see you on the trail!

Adventure Racing Tips from Mike Kloser and Ian Adamson (Team Nike)

1. When I'm gearing up for an event, I research what disciplines the race will offer and prepare accordingly. I try to work on my weakest areas of strength or skill. It's always easiest to just go out and work on your strengths, but in reality, you really need to get out and spend some serious effort on improving your weaknesses.

2. I generally try to stay pretty fit year round so as events pop up on the calendar, I'm not too far from descent fitness. If I stay healthy I can essentially work on specific skills related to the race and be reasonably prepared with in a few weeks. The down side to this general fitness principle is, it can be a challenge to peak for some specific race on the calendar that might require a very specific training program to reach optimal form.

3. In order to maintain a fresh, enthusiastic attitude towards training and racing after 20 years of competition, I try to keep my training as enjoyable as possible. I kept on a pretty intense program while racing bikes for 10 plus years, so now with Adventure Racing, I try to mix it up as much as possible and keep fresh outlook on training and racing. With adventure racing being a combination of skills, it's much easier to have a diverse training program and remain enthused to train year round.

4. For my highend fitness and training needs, I participate in quite a few different races throughout the year. These might range from a 20min. time trial on a bike to a 7 hour solo adventure race. This is my substitution for speed work in training, although I will still do some speed specific workouts as needed, I find the intensity of racing is a much easier way to achieve this and if all goes well it can be rewarding as well. At times, I may find myself racing as many as 2 to 3 times a week, and other times no racing for several weeks. Rest and recovery are a very critical and important element in training.

5. I mix up my training quite a bit and try to include my family and friends in my outings as much as possible, company and conversation can make for a much more pleasant experience at times.

Final Race Day Prep

1. Try to share responsibilities with team mates as not too over burden yourself when it comes to acquiring gear and taking care of logistics.

2. Get your gear lined up or purchased well in advance and make sure you have had a chance to go out and test it in an environment as close to that of racing as possible. If you break it out the package on race day, you are setting yourself up for disaster.

Transitions: if you finish your task in a TA prior to the others, don't stand there barking orders such as let's go, hurry up, etc. it will only frustrate them (I've been guilty of this on more than one occasion). Ask what you can do to help assist the team in getting back on the trail, you will in essence be helping yourself and the team both.

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Mountain Biking at Night

Mountain Biking at night, don’t let the dark of night scare you, riding off road at night can be a lot of fun and a great experience. I often enjoy getting out for a night time ride with friends, especially in the fall when the nights start to cool off and the long days of summer have passed.

For us day jobbers, it may be the only way we can log some legitimate hours or miles on the mountain bike. Here are a few pointers that I’ve learned over the years that should help in making your night ride more pleasurable, who knows, with time you might actually find yourself looking forward to those short days of the fall and winter?

Get a good light. Don’t wait to learn this lesson the hard way, go out and invest in a quality bright light. This may run you several hundred dollars, but think about the money and agony you could save yourself from a trip to the emergency room. I used to be all concerned about the weight and convenience factors while racing through the night in big adventure races like the Eco Challenge. I’d use little trekking headlamps with disposable batteries, thinking I could save weight and time. As it turns out I probably lost time, as I had to go slower and needed to change out batteries with in a few hours time. Now I use the Jet Lites system and can run up to 8 hours on one battery, which fits into a water bottle. This 12watt system is a little jewel that lights up the trail like that of searchlight in a prison yard!

Mount the Light on your Helmet. It may at times be easier to mount your light on your handle bars, but your handle bars aren’t always pointed in the direction that you want to see or travel. Make sure when you purchase your lighting system that it has a helmet mount. If you want to see around the bend and you’re headed straight, the handle bar setup won’t do you much good. I often find myself looking in various directions to find trail or road intersections and it’s a lot easier to manage this with a light mounted to your helmet than it is on your handle bars.Look up and ahead. Like most sports that require forward travel, it’s easy to find yourself focusing on the trail or object right in front of you verses off in a reasonable distance. If you can get in the habit of looking several bike lengths ahead you will find travel much easier, fluid and faster.

During long races as fatigue sets in, I sometimes have to remind myself to quit looking down at the trail just in front of my wheel and focus my attention up the trail. Looking ahead is especially true on twisting and technical single track. Try to look as far in the distance as is comfortable for your skills and continue to work towards looking several bike lengths ahead, eventually you will find yourself trying to out distance your lighting system.Ride in the front of a group or give sufficient space.

When ever possible, I try to ride at the front of the pack at night, this allows me to go my pace and I don’t find myself becoming mesmerized by the lights and bikes of those around me. It can also be very helpful when the trail becomes dusty or foggy in the haze of moisture. If you’ve ever been behind a few riders at night heading down a dusty single track, you know how difficult it can be to see your way through the dusty haze in hopes that you don’t plow into some rock or ditch. If you aren’t in the front, back off and give enough space between you and the riders ahead to allow for a good line of vision. Have fun and be safe.

A good pair of clear lens glasses and a simple blinking rear light should be part of your gear, just as your helmet is. Riding at night has its challenges and rewards, ride smart so you can enjoy your next ride even more than the last!

***

Adventure Racing Tips from Retired Team Nike Member Ian Adamson:

Race Day Checklist...

1. Make sure you double check the mandatory equipment list. A written list is very useful so you can check off each item as you put them in your boxes.

2. Make a second list of items that are necessary to race with, over and above the mandatory gear. Things like extra apparel, food, spare equipment and medical supplies are useful for long races.

3. Tape a gear check list inside your gear box(s) - if you are doing a long race.

4. Make sure you eat well but don't over eat the night before a race.

Meal planning for the morning of race day is also important as it is the last chance you will have to eat and hydrate without physical stress on your body.

5. Pre-race sleep is important, especially for multi-day races. With this in mind, try to have all your clothing, equipment and food prepared before you get to the race site and then use any extra time to rest or nap.

Transitions...

1. Practice your transitions. This means setting up your food/apparel/equipment just as you would have it for the race and do a few timed run through's in each of the likely combinations. You should be able to do a major complicated transition in 10 minutes with practice, although most teams take 40 - 60 minutes and 20 minutes is pretty good. For sprint races your transitions should be well under 5 minutes, with the best times a minute or less.

2. Think through each transition well in advance of getting there. It helps to talk it through with your teammates and mentally rehearse what you are going to do.

3. Know what sport you are doing next. One trap teams fall into is not knowing what is ahead. Many athletes rely on their teammates to think through the race, but everyone on the team should know so you can all be using your brainpower (which is at no athletic cost, but a huge time cost if not used).

4. Assign tasks. Generally there will be tasks that have to be done for the team as a whole, or ones which can be separated out - such as organizing food, questioning officials or preparing maps. These tasks should be pre allocated for the transition to keep it smooth and to cover all necessary tasks.

5. Help each other out. If you are finished with preparing your personal items in a transition look to help your teammates and ask to help anyone who is lagging. Conversely if you are slow in the TA, ask your teammates for help.

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THIS JUST IN...

2nd Annual Hardwick Scramble 6 hour race
Adventure Race Training Day - Hardwick, VermontSeptember 22, 2007--9:00 AM

This a 6-hour training race centered at Hazen Union School in Hardwick,Vermont. New teams as well as experienced teams are invited, and veterans are encouraged to team up with first time racers.

This race includes:

• Hiking
• Orienteering
• Canoeing (Canoes provided for $10/team or provide your own.)
• Mountain Biking
• Optional Swim (With alternate dry route)
• Beautiful views during leaf season
• Post-Race Meal
• Prizes (EMS Gift Certificates and more.)

Cost: A $25/person donation to the Hazen Union Outing Club (+$10/team forcanoe rental)So far several teams are planning to attend.

If you are interested, please contact marc_considine@hotmail.com by Monday the 17th.

Team Runs with Scissors will see you there!

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