"Spring Training"

It occurred to me not long ago that most athletes competing in outdoor environments begin their racing seasons with those natural ones most conducive to pleasurable and comfortable experiences, primarily spring and fall. That thought crossed my mind many times as I plunged through four feet of snow in upstate New York for the annual adventure racing season “Spring Training” at the end of February. Clearwater? Fort Meyers? How about Fabius, NY to get the blood flowing, the muscles flexing and the brain working.

As has become tradition since joining GOALS, CNYO’s annual Snowgaine has become the marker for a new season. Two days of six to eight hours in snow filled woods looking for controls by foot, snowshoe or ski. While this is not a race that I plan on winning anytime soon due to some of the competition, I have noticed that the top teams seem to be armed more often than not with snowshoes rather than skis. Combined with the fact that I am neither trained for nor comfortable with skis, going by foot for a third year made perfect sense. Unlike past years, however, Abby would be staying behind. Jon, Bruce, Keith and other potential GOALS teammates also decided against the race this year, so Ali’s first Snowgaine would be with me alone.

The directors, like last year, divided the race between two parks; the first day would see us romping through Morgan Hill State Park for 8 hours, and we would spend six hours in Highland Forest Park on Sunday. As usual, while the field was relatively small, many of the teams there were impressive, whether due to regular winter training in snowy conditions (despite Philly’s historic winter, I did little in the snow…actually I did little of anything…), significant experience with rogaining or a combination of both. Cracking the top five would be a challenge as always.

The days themselves were beautiful and serene; the snow was deep, and constant snow showers, adding a majestic feel to the woods as we slogged up and down the surprisingly significant elevation, highlighted the first day. We began Saturday morning breaking snow, an exhausting and time-eating chore, and after nabbing the first two controls, we revised our plan to detour away from the logical course for better-groomed trails. This was a gamble, as we’d be sacrificing the route for easier and quicker travel. It’s impossible to determine if this was the right or wrong move, but at the end of the day we were in sixth or seventh place, though the rankings were tight.

The second day was much smoother as we bagged far more controls. We moved well, sweeping the west and south sides of the map easily before making out way back north. Our pace was strong, and we had played our cards relatively well, avoiding breaking snow for much of the day after a few short stretches early on. As we made our way back to the final controls and the finish, we had the time and pace to finish well and come close to clearing the day, but once again, we gambled a bit that racers would have broken snow between the last several controls. While there were tracks, only skiers had visited the route we found ourselves on toward the end of the race, and only a few had done so. Our pace fell off dramatically, and after bagging a final high value control, we had to exit immediately, a grueling slog through deep snow and ravine that left us frustrated and exhausted.

It was a disappointing finish, and in the final rankings, we found ourselves in seventh overall. Not quite what I had hoped for, but knowing many of the teams and racers ahead of us, I was generally happy with the weekend. It was a tune-up after all, for the real adventure races that are about to begin, and as always it was a pleasure playing in the snow. As is usual at this time of year, I was in mediocre shape, and where rogaining is concerned, I still have plenty to learn, as it’s not quite the same as AR. Beyond that, it was nice to shake off some of the rust; #1 and #2 rule of navigating? Trust the compass, and never follow others. I broke both of those rules in the first hour of the race and we paid a price for it. Don’t know if it made a difference, but those first two controls on Day 1 took FOREVER!

And as always, it’s the community and people that leave the most memories. Having not raced much with Ali in the past year or two, I was amazed at her strength and fortitude. Despite gear issues and having not done the race before, she was on my heels for the whole race, never tired, and anytime we got onto open, hard packed trails and found ourselves trekking? Well, I would have to run to keep up as she powered on at an exhausting pace. And who could ask for more than a teammate willing to allow his or her navigator to takes risks? As we made some of our decisions, she reminded me of Grant’s Untamed team bio for us from last year. I guess risk-taking is what we do, and in the end the point spread between third and seventh was relatively small. It didn’t pay off this time, but it easily could have…Finally, it was a pleasure getting to know those impressive racers from Canada I always see from behind in these races and who I am seeing…also usually from behind… at some adventure races as well. The folks from Untamed and Milton Basement Racers won the day, and it was a pleasure meeting them after the race, seeing a bit of their strategy and hearing stories about Ecuador and Patagonia.

All in all a fine tune-up to the real racing of the year, which begins in…five days! Abby, Chris and I will be heading south to warmer climes for Kando's 12 hour Swamp Fox. The marshes and swamps of South Carolina call…as do the gators and snakes that reside within. It should be a good first race with a new course, setting and completely new faces. And 65 degrees and sunny sounds nice right about now. That’s what Spring Training is supposed to be like!