Prep for Untamed New England

Hey All!

So it is finally here. The race is tomorrow. The one thing that surprised me most about adventure racing is how much organizing and preperation takes place before the race. Brian has taken the lead at getting many of the details together for the race, picking up the 20 glowsticks we are required to have, placing reflective numbers on our paddles, buying batteries for the headlamps, and generally taking care of bus-i-nass. After several trips to REI's all over the state, and many visits to Target we are ready to head to NH this afternoon. Here are some photos of the packing and planning that goes into a multi-day adventure race.

Final Training Days for Untamed New England

Hello! As the day until Untamed New England come very close, our training has become more and more relaxed. We took one last hike/bike/and navigation through the Blue Hills. It ended with a long peanut butter picnic next to the TOWER.

Now we are officially one day and 8 or so hours until the race starts. We are putting together the gear bins, and planning where to have our socks stashed, how much food to pack, and making sure where have all the required gear. We will post some pics in the next day to give an idea of all the pre-race prep that goes into this event. Brian is really

quite skilled at

organizing, and Nick has some superb sharpie skills. I

have given myself the fine task of blogging.



Follow our progress during the race; head to the event's homepage: www.untamedne.com There you'll be able to find out all the race details, track teams, and send words of encouragement.

Alex
845

Into the hills!

This past weekend I traveled home for a friend's wedding. As a bonus it also happened to be another friend's birthday. This particular friend, Jake, had been in Bulgaria with the Peace Corps for the past year so it was nice to see him. He even brought some Bulgarian "moonshine" with him. I know it was legit because he was carrying it around in a bottled water container.

Training at home can be somewhat difficult without a bike, so I mostly go for trail runs, or play soccer. At least one time while I'm home I like to travel into the mountains and take advantage of the terrain. Although I waited until the last minute, this trip was no different.

Eight hours before my flight was scheduled to depart back to Boston I convinced my mom to drive with me to Mt. Rainier National Park for a little exploration. Due to the fact that I had never done the run, and there was a distinct possibility it would turn into an route-finding fiasco, I packed my suitcase and brought it in the car with me in case we had to go straight to the airport. I arrived at the 3800' trail head just after 5 p.m. and began my little warm-up routine.

Starting from a bridge crossing Fryingpan creek, the trail meets up with the Wonderland Trail, a roughly 90 mile loop around the mountain. I was just doing a small out and back section, however. Following the creek up the valley, the grade of the ascent is pretty consistent, with only a few steep sections. The trail is smooth and fairly wide, and easily runnable for most of it's length.

Around 5500 ft. the snowline caught up with me and the running became pretty difficult. I wasn't carrying an ice axe, didn't have crampons, snowshoes, or poles, but did have the benefit of an earlier traveler kicking moderately deep steps for me. It was probably the only thing that kept me going, having seen a woman being carried down in a stretcher on the way up. I could see the ridge line I thought I had to make just several hundred feet up, and figured I a little risk would be worth it.



Summerland is a campground just below the treeline, a little over a mile away from my objective, Panhandle Gap. Getting up above the ridge I found myself surrounded by snow, and wandering somewhat aimlessly as I searched for an obvious path. Luckily, I met a friendly hiker and his son camping at Summerland. I trust I would have found my way eventually, but having neglected to actually print a map, I was happy to have someone point me in the right direction. We spoke briefly about how it may be hard to run in the snow, and he mentioned one other person had run up just before me and was also having trouble route finding. On a side note, I never saw this other supposed runner, and having come up the only trail that didn't continue onto the glaciers...I hope he's okay.

Crossing the slushy snow fields my footing wasn't exactly stable, and I was glad to not really dwell on potentially deadly situations; it would have really ruined the views I was getting! Several tracks from hikers made their way towards the Gap, crossing darkened depressions in the snow. I was sure to utilize my somewhat questionable leaping skills to avoid ending up in the water I could hear running vigorously underneath.

With Panhandle Gap looming, I checked my watch and decided to cut the run short. The snow was making it hard to move quickly, my run was only halfway done, and my flight was in a little over four hours.

Topping out less than a quarter mile and a few hundred feet away from my objective, I made my way back to Summerland, and then the car. A group of hikers staying in a shelter at Summerland, who had looked at me pretty questionably when I came trotting up in my sleeveless shirt, tights, and tiny running pack, were apparently impressed with the speed I was able to cover the snowfield and congratulated me upon my return. I think they were just happy they didn't have to come rescue me after falling in a crevasse or sliding into a rock and fracturing my legs... Straight to the airport snacking on beef jerky and chugging fluids I got out of the car and darted into the terminal covered in sweat and mud only to find my flight had been delayed two hours... I love my mom, and I think it's great she hates using her cell phone, but as I sat in my tights at an airport eatery forcing down a "garden burger" that looked and tasted more like congealed vomit, I wished she wasn't so diligent about turning her phone off when she didn't think she needed it.

Back to Boston!

Nick
253

Racing Ahead Training Weekend

Hey folks,

Last weekend, the Area Goats took part in Racing Ahead and Up North Orienteers' training weekend. Just as the sun was setting that Friday night we all met up in NH looking for a place to sleep. We set up camp (tents, hammocks, fire pit, pot-luck buffet, etc.) right on a small beach on a beautiful lake. Soon thereafter, we had a little run in with the Laconia police force, when we were informed that camping in that particular spot was forbidden! After a quick background check and confirmation that we were not wanted or convicted felons, the cop made us pack up camp and leave the park immediately. We were luckily able to find a nice campsite 20 min away and get some rest.

Once the race actually started, there were several courses that were set up. One longer course by foot, one MTB course, and 2 sprint courses. We were only able to do the longer foot course and the MTB course. Both courses were set up beautifully. We decided to use the event to train for UNE (big packs and all) where as most other participants went solo and fast.

We had learned already that there will be an orienteering relay during the 2010 Untamed New England course where each team member will have to complete a short o-course on their own before the next teammate can start. Before last weekend, Alex only knew the basics of map and compass work so she used this training day to learn some new skills. She did almost all of the map work by herself and led us successfully through both courses. There were a couple of moments spent lost but overall, great work! We all learned a lot and had a great time. Thanks RA and UNO!

Brian

904

Riding dirty with the ducks

Hello all!
I am writing from the living room of the dental/medical/guest house in Plainfield, VT. It is a big, funky house with a porch, large kitchen, and plenty of windows. It is perfect. I have been exploring, cooking, and looking for books in the great used book stores in Montepelier (the capitol of VT, about 10 miles from here). Here are some of the adventures from the last few days:

On Monday I explored the town of Plainsfield and came across these fiesty ducks:

I passed by the hissing geese and trailed along the river for about a mile. I found this along the way, any guesses to its use?

That night Brian and I got on the bikes for one of the hardest bike/hikes I have ever done. We climbed STEEP hills for about 10K. Then hiked up a beautiful fire tower. The best part? The ride down, we flew down the hills. Here are some of the highlights:

It was beautiful, with caves, streams, and perfect weather.

Today Brian and I decided to try out the Cross Vermont Trail, which offers smooth single track riding with a bit of technical, and muddy spots. We biked on this trail for about 12 miles until we came to Kettle Pond in Groton, VT. This pond was stunning, the sun was setting over the mountains, and we were able to park the bikes on a dock to snap a quick photo. We raced back to try and keep the ride in the light. We made it back just as the sun was setting and right in time to eat some pizza, baked potato and fresh coleslaw. Nice!

Alex

845

My little shoes.

How people deal with 'down time' varies widely. My mom reads (though she may argue reading isn't a way to pass the time so much as it's an activity people should make time for). My friend Matt gambles. I've heard of some people learning to play an instrument, or writing. My tendency is to look for ways to entertain myself, which brings me to introduce to you, my little shoes:


Made by Soft Star, a small company based in Oregon which hand crafts a variety of different moccasin-like shoes for both children and adults, my little shoes, the RunAmoc, were designed specifically for running. I've been interested in training with minimalist shoes for a while but have had trouble finding a design that could work for me. The widely popular Vibram Five Fingers (VFF) sadly assume everybody has 'normal' length toes. I happen to have abnormally short toes (for my foot size), and while good for being sneaky and swimming, they don't fit into the toe slots of the VFF very well at all. A real travesty. Lucky for me, the slipper-y RunAmocs were developed as a response to the discriminatory toe-length policies of Vibram.

After some research it appeared most who had purchased the RunAmocs were happy with their decision, the only complaint being poor 'ground feel' by some barefoot diehards. It seemed their complaints focused on the overall thickness of the sole, and the resulting discussion about how many millimeters corresponded to what type of ground feel seemed essentially pointless. Like most number crunching exercises of a personal nature, if it works for you, that should be good enough. I'm happy to report, it's working for me...


I'll come back with a more in depth analysis after I've had some more time with my new little shoes.


nick
253

Vermont!

Hey all!

This is Alex from the Goats. As I type I am on the bus headed to Vermont, thank goodness for Wifi! I am going to meet up with Brian for some great mountain biking, hiking, and trail running. As well as some good food, relaxing, and yoga. Whoo!

I am going to spend some time learning the in's and out's of navigation in preparation for this year's Untamed New England in which each team member needs to have that skill down pat. No more relying on Nick's navigation skills.

In a few weeks Nick, Brian, and I are going to meet up for a weekend of training goodness, with the help of Racing Ahead.

I'm psyched to be heading out of the city for a few weeks, and into the outdoors. We'll keep you all posted on what we find along the way with photos and videos. First mission when I get to VT: Find a hammock and a river.

Alex 845

The Dianne DeVanna Center 2-Way 5K

One of our good friends Ted helped organize this great event for a great cause. The event was called the "The Dianne DeVanna Center 2-Way 5K" and the concept was this:

Run a 5k loop at 9:00am clockwise, have some food, stretch, recover, make new friends, then run a 5k on the same loop at 11:00am counterclockwise!

The idea was a great one. It created a competitive atmosphere racing against the same people in your skill level just 2 hours later. The field was small but that competitive aspect was still present. With a hopefully larger field in the events to come, it could only get better. Ted mentioned that they were potentially holding this type of race twice per year. I'll keep ya posted when I hear when and where the next one will be.

Oh yea...and the Area Goats had some luck (not to toot our own horns or anything!)! We all received some sort of hardware but it was Nick and Alex who stole the show, capturing first place overall for males and females!!! They are both incredibly humble and attributed it to the small field, but I was very impressed...both really great runners.

Notice Alex modeling her new "Team Marathon Bar" gear. They are sponsoring her with some of her personal racing events. I can't wait to try some of the bar samples...always searching for good, calorie-packed, packable food!

Brian 904

3 Bonds in a Day

I had mentioned it earlier but all of that hill training was for a long hike we had planned to do in the White Mountains. We had to improvise and change plans slightly due to forgotten gear and worse than expected weather but what we came up with ended up being one of the most fun and interesting hikes I have ever done. River crossings, missing bridges, loose snowy sections near the tree line, brush and fallen tree-blocked trails...this one had it all! It took about 24 hours to complete the hike and then ride our mountain bikes back to the car. Even better was the fact that some other friends were camping in the area with good food and cold beer waiting for us upon our return (which provided some much needed motivation during the trek!).

There were too many pictures to upload here so I added a link to a web-based album:

PICTURES FROM THE HIKE

Brian 904

How many can you do??

Good rainy morning from VT!

So for the past week (and for the next 4!) I have been living in a little old house in the hills of VT in a town called Plainfield. It is technically for an "externship" for my schooling but it feels a lot more fun than school! This town is truly great, a real small town with a gas station, a couple shops, and a couple restaurants. Everybody knows everybody and they have all been extremely welcoming.

Another great thing about living in Plainfield and having a little more free time than usual is that it is perfect adventure race training grounds. What could be better than being able to train in untamed New England 2 months before Untamed New England?? This past week I have been riding my MTB, hiking, trail running, etc. It has finally all caught up to me and my body is begging for a short break (good timing because the weather is very poor today). So instead of going out into the backwoods and doing some form of endurance training I decided to try a challenged that my brother proposed a couple days ago:

**HOW MAY PUSH-UPS CAN YOU DO IN 3 MINUTES?**

This doesn't seem like it would be too hard at first but believe me, it is no cake walk. I did 90 on my first go and would love to get to 100 by the time I move back to Boston. Lofty goal, I know. Form is crucial and the following article explains it all really well. According to the article, I am in "good shape". I'll take it!

Article: PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST - PUSH-UPS

Brian 904