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Itera 2014 Part 1: The prologue and Monday
So, the race I have targeted all year has been and gone. I am on a somewhat unpredictable road to recovery. It has taken a while to reflect on the race and let it all sink in. The story of 5 days / 114 hours of racing cannot be told in one report! Instead, you can look forward to reading about each day in instalments this week.
Getting There
The stress of getting to the start line seems so long ago now. After last minute purchases (duct tape, extra box covering, impulse need for trekking trousers etc) I was suddenly packed and ready to go. Jon picked me up on Friday morning and off we drove to Selkirk to meet up with Paul. Despite the detailed instructions we went round in circles a bit until we found his house – was this a sign?
Of course, by the time we had loaded the giant pick up truck with all our stuff and squeezed ourselves in, we were later starting than planned. Cardiff is a jolly long way away, and the journey was made even longer when we hit Friday rush hour holiday traffic on the motorway. Finally we got there and met up with Sam, our fourth team member. Plenty of time for team tentel to bond over a Chinese takeaway and box waterproofing.
The rest of the weekend went by in a blur, as we attended briefings, got kit ready, pored over the maps, laminated them, did the prologue and travelled up to Caernarfon.
Prologue
Full of energy at the start line of the prologue
The prologue was a 10km run around Cardiff Bay, with a short white water section in the middle. In an expedition race, the usual standards of decorum (with respect to changing clothes and wee stops) are eventually thrown to the wind. I didn’t expect to do so this early in the event though. As we walked through the multi-storey car park, I realised that my shorts were on back to front. In the stairwell I hurriedly switched them over, with Sam falling about laughing and pointing at the CCTV camera. Look out for me on some candid camera show soon!
We took the run at a fairly sedate pace. Paul wouldn’t have it any other way! As we got to the white water section, the leading teams were exiting and shouting a lot, which looked a bit stressful. We had to go in pairs, one after the other. Paul and I went first. The plugs came out of the bottom of our barely-inflated boat, water spurted in and we started sinking! After we took evasive action we felt lucky to get round in the boat. By the end, we seemed to be sitting below water level and steering was nigh on impossible.
On the bus on the way to Caernarfon on Sunday, we watched videos of previous adventure races, which just made me stressed. Surely we’re not about to start something like that are we? They were supposed to be inspirational, but the story of two Aussie blokes who went to the South Pole and back unsupported was easier on the mind!
As we tucked ourselves in overnight at the Travelodge, the wind whipped up the waves in the Menai Straits. Sam and I were sharing a room and were chatting away, whilst I’m sure Jon and Paul were sound asleep next door. Eventually I said “I think we should go to sleep now”, to which the response came back “I’m trying to!”. This was the funniest thing I had heard all weekend, as I’m sure I wasn’t the only one initiating the chat 🙂 . So I enquired what she would try next to get to sleep, since the talking wasn’t working. Perhaps a spot of dancing?
Day 1 schematic
Stage 1: Paddle + bike (Caernarfon to Conwy)
Paddling in to Bangor
The next day we had an early start. A last minute leader’s briefing brought news that because of the weather we might have a shortened paddle stage. There were a few options, but we were to get out at Bangor Pier and find out which it was to be then. We ran round the castle twice, waved to Jon’s parents (who must have had a very early start), then we were off to the beach.
All we had to do was fit our new seats to sit on top kayaks (the straps go where?!), attach our bags out of the way of our feet and launch! It was still quite choppy, but we had the tide behind us and were whizzing along. I am not normally a kayaker and throughout the race I was bemused by what was counted as a suitable ‘get out’ point. At the pier, we were directed to go past the nice sloping gangway, nose in by some steep jagged slippery rocks and try and haul the heavy kayaks up over them. I got a good dunking here as my foot slipped and I was into deep water!
We rode our bikes for the rest of what would have been a paddle stage to Conwy. I wasn’t sure if I was pleased about this or not – but was probably mostly pleased! After a section on Sustrans route 8 (which I had done in the other direction with Andy last year), we dived off onto a rather pleasant off road section. At the castle, it was hot and sunny as we ran round on top of the town walls and sought out controls hidden inside the castle. What a shame we were in a race and couldn’t stay to run up and down all the spiralling tower staircases! Our tracker wasn’t working, which was confusing people at home, so we swapped for a new one before beginning the first planned bike stage.
Stage 2: Bike + zip wire (Conwy to Ogwen)
Castle!
We rode back a different way to the one we had come, passing very close but taking a hillier and more off road route. Sam admitted that our earlier pace was too much for her to maintain, so we experimented with her going on a tow behind me. I love biking and was feeling strong and perky, so actually quite enjoyed this. All the more so when she said what a difference it made to her.
The wind was blowing hard into our faces so we travelled quite slowly at some points. I hoped it wouldn’t stay like this all week! The problem with travelling in lines instead of circles is that you could face a headwind all the way ….
At Bethesda, Paul got a cramp (the team’s first and only all week), but it was perfectly timed just as we got to the zip wire centre. Here we had to serve a time out – the length of which was dictated by our speed in the prologue. We had 53 leisurely minutes to stock up from the fast food hatch (chips, egg roll or bacon rolls, depending on tastes). Throughout the race I think Sam and I carried far more water than the others, filling up from ‘official’ drinking water sources when we saw them. Jon and Paul went for streams and rivers, and Paul batted away my concerns that he had used taps specifically saying ‘not drinking water’. He didn’t seem to suffer any ill effects though! He must have a stomach of iron.
Just before we had to go again, my dad appeared! He had been watching our tracker and only lives just over the hill from where we were. It was lovely to see him even though we couldn’t stop and chat. We had to hike up to the top of an old quarry, where there was another (timed out) wait for the zip wire. People were already sleeping in the cramped space, but I was anxious to stay alert and not miss our spot in the queue! As a Frenchman got kitted out he commented “What is this helmet for? Is it for when I smash into the brick wall at the end?”. We all found this very funny!
Soon enough we were ourselves suspended face forward in a harness overlooking the quarry. It didn’t take long to get back to the bottom when we were going at 100mph, or thereabouts. What a buzz! Quick goodbyes to my dad who had patiently waited, and we pedalled up to Ogwen to say hello to Andy. Oops, no, he was marshalling and we had a job to get on with – time to pack up the bikes in their boxes and start walking!
Stage 3: Trek (Ogwen to Tan-y-bwlch)
Lights in Snowdonia
We had already made the decision on Saturday that we would miss some of the controls on this trek and immediately become a ‘short course’ team. Due to the time outs, the wait at the zip wire and our general ‘steady’ speed, it was getting dusky already. Two of the controls had also been removed due to high winds, which meant the penalties for going the shorter route were less.
My map reading duties were on the bike. On the trek, Paul and Jon were in charge, so I hadn’t really appreciated what faced us. Despite going the short way, we still had a significant hill to climb! Halfway up it started raining so we donned coats and got our lights out. Paul’s didn’t work. “I tested them this morning”, he said. I asked: “And they worked then?” Duh – stupid question of the race! Luckily, spares were produced from somewhere and we continued on. The route was hard to pick out over the top, though Jon found it brilliantly. It was quite a sight to see the bright lights of other competitors dancing off Tryfan and the Glyders. At Pen-y-Gwryd whilst I munched on Babybels and oatcakes, we debated whether to head on down or go over Snowdon. We went down. In fact, we went short course for the whole of this leg.
We had a plan. Despite having to switch from the long course white bib to the short course black ‘bib of shame’, we hoped that we could change the moniker to ‘bib of cunning’. We didn’t want to be chasing cut offs and knew that controls later in the race held higher time penalties than those we were missing now. If we played the long game we would have more time and energy to get these controls in the second half of the race.
In retrospect, perhaps we could have been a little more ambitious on this stage, even just going for the two less committing controls with some extra climb near the end. As it was, we trotted down the road. Sam and I stared at the sky wondering if we could see dark clouds or dark sky. We were just discussing the important matter of how a certain cloud definitely looked like a poodle, when we saw the brightest of shooting stars! Amazing.
The maps marked a suggested ‘short route’, but unless otherwise specified these were not mandatory. We thought we were being smart by taking a minor road (‘A’ and ‘B’ class roads were out of bounds) and linking onto a good track via a short section of footpath. The footpath turned out to be very non-existent. In fact, its route traversed The Swamp of Doom. The further we went, the soggier it got. We tested the ground with our poles before committing the next step as we fanned out a bit. I stayed near Sam for moral support and combined safe route finding, though I’m not sure who was going to rescue who. We nearly lost her in a particularly deep wet patch! Just as my patience was wearing extremely thin, we got out of there and made rapid progress into the transition.
Here we had our first access to tents. It was still quite early in the race, but we knew we wouldn’t get them again until after the second big trek stage, in another 24h time. It was either sleep now, or sleep outside somewhere without a tent or warm sleeping bags. After a quick blog, we tucked ourselves up for 2h kip.
Open Adventure 2-Day Event
A tale of a medium dog and a shire horse on a 2 day adventure together.
Two and a half years ago, two girls raced together in an Open 5 run/mountain bike event in the Peak District. One of them (Kate) was a top endurance runner contemplating the West Highland Way race and riding a singlespeed. The other (me), was still quite an adventure racing novice. We were fairly well matched back then.
Fast forward and I have signed up for the Celtman (a tough triathlon like an Ironman, but with a longer bike and a run over a couple of mountains). Kate has ‘signed up’ to be my buddy runner on the mountain stage of the run for that event. Her job will be to keep me safe and motivated!
We haven’t seen each other since that Open 5 and missed doing the Peak District event in April together because I was chasing the series title. So we decided to do the Open 2-dayer in the Lake District instead. I don’t know if Kate knew what she was letting herself in for!
Pre-race
Me:
Follow structured training plan. Taper the week before. Buy a dog-lead to set up a bike tow.
Man in dog-lead shop:
“I think the tape lead will be better for what you want. Do you need small, medium or large dog size?”
Medium.
Kate:
Have a 6 week running taper. Have a 6 year kayaking taper*. Work and study very hard, don’t worry too much about ‘training’, because this race is just for fun.
* OK, so I hadn’t kayaked since last July either!
Day 1
Stage 1: Run (Loughrigg Fell)
Horse and dog team seemed fairly well matched on the ride to the start of the first stage, though it took a long time to get there. At this point we didn’t even know we were a horse and dog team.
The run was lovely. We took a good route, didn’t make mistakes and enjoyed the scenery and off-road running. Kate even towed me for a while along a nice flat section. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes it was all too much and positions were reversed later as we made a mad dash along the road and got back just a few seconds late! But we actually had the best female pair score.
Stage 2: Bike (Grizedale)
The first hour was traumatic. Kate went into meltdown (“I can’t ride, I’m holding you back, have you created a new loser’s route yet?”). I concentrated on how to rescue the situation. Then it all got better. We changed the planned route, rode some fun trails and agreed that on every road and fireroad Kate was going on the tow. She was now officially a medium dog.
Medium dog, looking perky
Towing is a skill and needless to say, we both got better at it as we had 3.5 hours to practice! Kate rides a singlespeed which makes switching between off-road and road difficult. Partway round I also realised she had no suspension – no wonder it was tricky!
We got into a good rhythm. I felt I was working hard, Kate was not left trailing and we were getting some good chat time. We took in the section of North Face trail early to make sure we didn’t miss it. Then I deliberately made sure we rode one of my favourite routes in the lakes – from Heald Brow Pasture, through Low Parkamoor and down to the end of Coniston Water at High Nibthwaite.
Despite having an hour left we were now short of time. We set off to get one last control up a hill, but on a road. It was slow and the dog was getting quad cramps. We faced one of my hardest ever adventure race decisions, and turned back round to head for home without getting the control. 45 minutes of tow into a headwind along the entire length of Coniston Water. I felt sick when we finished but we had no penalties!
Probably should have gone for the control, but we were Saving Ourselves for the Kayak. Our day 1 motto. We didn’t think it was serious.
Stage 3: Night run (Tarn Hows)
Set off well on a good route. We were having fun. I recognised one path as the place where Andy tried out magic walking poles for the first time, but that’s another story.
Damage limitation. One of us looks crazed, the other looks dead!
We got to the point where we were supposed to check the time and choose a ‘slightly shorter’ or ‘slightly longer’ route. We forgot to check and went the long way. It was getting late, we were getting tired and we started making lots of little mistakes.
- Couldn’t work out where we were on the map, spent ages figuring out we were 20m too far east. These things matter in the dark.
- Ran past a shiny reflective thing, didn’t think to say ‘hey what’s that?’, overshot and had to backtrack.
- Dithered at a footpath by a fence – one of which wasn’t marked on map but we weren’t sure which and couldn’t be decisive about running another 50m to the correct fence.
- Ran blindly down a fireroad for ages, I felt panicked and teary, even though we were in the right place.
- Checked a hundred streams until we got the right one.
Hit the road at the bottom already 10 minutes late and 2km from home. We pegged it and got back in 8 minutes. The medium dog didn’t trip over her feet and the shire horse was born.
Shire horse. Haircut wasn't until Monday.
We lost 125 points. Killer.
Day 2
Stage 4: Kayak (Coniston Water)
A very early start after not very much sleep. Following some last minute advice from Jon, I went in the back to steer. 10 minutes down the lake and we were knackered! But we stuck to our plan, which seemed sensible. We knew we could miss two controls out at the top of the lake later if we needed to.
Crossing the lake was fine, coming back upwind was a little harder. There were white horses and we were lurching over the waves. Kate got regular cold showers, whilst I whooped and shrieked with delight :-D. Then it was back to work. I found for the first time ever that my attempts at ‘edging’ were actually steering us, and my butt was getting an awesome workout.
We made good time and I decided we could go for the last two controls. Kate must have heard about my risk-taking from somewhere and in a last ditch attempt asked ‘should we head back now?’. I said ‘No’. For once, I was right, we got back under 2 minutes late and had our best scoring stage of the whole event.
Which just goes to show that dogs and horses can make good kayakers, especially when they ‘save themselves’ for it all the previous day ;-).
Stage 5: Trail run (Old Man of Coniston)
There was a complicated scoring system for this stage which also involved decisions about going for a short or long course. We decided we had nothing to lose after the night stage and besides, we wanted our money’s worth. We were doing the long course.
The first climb took an hour, and this is where I got the sort of full leg and glute workout that the physio would approve of. Uphill, pulling Kate as hard as she could take and hoping it wouldn’t break either of us! Despite threats from behind to ‘piss on my leg’, I refused to give up. I knew this is what it could be like in June on Beinn Eighe (without the extra resistance!).
Making our way up the Old Man of Coniston
Then came a blustery run along a ridge before a long descent. Looking at the splits I know where I still need to improve – rough steep descending. Kate was waiting patiently for me as I teetered down. Shire horses just don’t have the dexterity and lightness of foot for this kind of work. We may also have been slightly distracted by other interesting chat topics ;-). As we hit the well-made track in the quarry it was back to sprinting and we charged down the hill to the finish.
Results
Another female pair (Jill and Sharon) had a storming run and won the category – we rescued second place with our efforts on the kayak.
I was very pleased with this race. Our score was not the best and we were only mid-table overall. A teensy part of me was thinking ‘I wonder how I would be doing solo?’. BUT, the much bigger part of me was enjoying the company, the teamwork and the banter! I also got a fantastic training weekend for the Celtman, which has given me a real confidence boost.
A big thank you to Kate for putting up with the torture and coming with me. Also to Jon for the lift down and a space in a totally luxurious tent!
As usual, a well organised and challenging event from the team at Open Adventure.
Next up – the Slateman triathlon. 3 weeks to go!
Planet Byde 