Race Report - Frontier Fall Classic

This was the big one for me, I have been looking forward to this race since the beginning of the season. Why? Because it is just that much longer than the rest providing more options for an epic race course. It didn't disappoint to say the least. The race was advertised at approximately 80km compared to the typical 40-50km for the regular sprint races (and a time limit of 14 hours rather than 8). This meant more of trail trekking and a bit less of an all out hammerfest. It's actually one of the longer adventure races you can do solo in Canada (Race the Rockies at 18 hours I think is the longest).

Once we got our maps we saw the course worked out to be right around the 100km mark - wow! From what we could tell it looked like an amazing course. It broke down like this:

• 15km Paddle
• 15km Trekking
• 65km MTB
• 5Km Trekking
• 5km MTB

Another glaring difference between this race and the others I had done this year was that it started at 4am! This was typical of many races back in the day but most sprint style races start at 8 or 9am giving racers the opportunity for a good nights sleep. we received the maps at 8pm and after a short race briefing it was time to plot our course and organize our gear for each leg of the race. I was rooming with fellow Race Day Rush teammate Adrian Makurat so we worked on the maps together collaborating on route choices and double checking things. It's was nice to be able to do this as without other teammates working on maps alone is never really that easy. Once everything was ready to go it was time to try and get a few hours of sleep before our 2:30am alarm.

Arrrgggggg That was not enough sleep!! I hit the snooze button a few times and rolled out of bed at 2:45am. The first words out of Adrian's mouth..."who's idea was this!" So it's September in "northern" Ontario, that means it was about 4 degrees C and we had to get ready to start paddling. It was going to be a chilly one. I knew I couldn't have too many layers on or I would over heat. I heard many racers had to stop and remove jackets (that were under race jerseys and PFDs) and that wasn't something I wanted to do. Off came my fleece a few minutes before the start and I jumped in my boat to try to loosen up a bit before the hectic start.

I was confident I would be one of the frontrunners in the paddle simply because of my boat. Most racers had poly boats, and a few with fiberglass while I was in my 26lb Simon River Sports Swallow. I knew I had the fastest boat, but could I keep with with the teams of 3 paddling canoes? Over 30 boats gathered on the water for the start, headlamps on...ready to go! The start boat was positioned just in front of us....stupid! As the horn sounds to go the boat takes off leaving a nice wake behind it! While we try to push off the start we are all hit with its cross-wake and while my boat is fast it isn't really stable, especially when you can't see the waves coming! I managed to stay upright and was in the front of the pack.

The next challenge was navigating in the dark through a maze of islands and across a fairly large open water crossing. Paddling in the dark is an interesting experience. While great under a full moon we were not treated to such a luxury. However, most of the time it is still easier to navigate without any light simply by following the black silhouettes of the the shoreline. Unfortunately not many teams figured this out and beams of light were scattered across the water for most of the paddle. Soon enough I was out of their range and in the lead...great right? Well for the most part yes, but I was the one navigating for pretty much everyone behind me. This meant several stops to check the map and set my bearings while others continued to paddle behind me. A few times I tried to rip the glow stick off my PFD so I could disappear into the darkness and make the others do some work on their own. It's not that I blame them, I would have done the same thing.

I was out of the water first in 1hr38min and off on the trekking section. I thought this would be my chance to create a gap before the biking leg so I was off and running. A quick run to the CP2 then into the bush, again. I opted for a more northerly route than most to hit some roads giving me more chance to run. Unfortunately for me the roads on the map were a bit older and I got caught up heading in the wrong direction for a bit then ended up picking the wrong trail. It cost me at least 30min and my chance to create any space between me and my competitors was gone. I hit the next CP in about 10th and was not a happy camper. I put me head down and kept moving fast. With half of the trekking still in front of my I wanted to pick up some of the time I had lost.

Most of the bush we were traveling through was old growth forest with limited underbrush so I could move pretty fast and even jog some sections. I neglected my bearing again a bit here and rather than skirting a lake before the next CP I ran bang into the middle of it. Here i bumped into another team and they had planned to swim and hit the lake in the middle on purpose. I didn't have much of a choice so in I went. Swimming fully clothed with a pack and shoes on isnt easy but can save time. I blew up my hydration bladder to help with some bouyancy, tucked my map bag behind my head hoping to keep it high and dry. I think the swim was about 250m or so and byt then end of it I didn't feel like i was moving at all! I made it though, hit the next CP and was off to CP5 and the transition to the bike.

As I approached CP5 I noticed one team leaving then bumped into Adrian and another solo just leaving. It was nice to see that I wasn't too far behind. I got into the transition in 5th, grabbed a boost drink, threw on my cycling gear and started to chase. I wasn't looking forward to this section since mountain biking hadn't been my strong suit all year, especially following a run or trekking section. My legs felt pretty good though so I was pushing hard. The ride was along a hydro line for the first 20km which tend to be wet and nasty. With the dry weather we have been having it was actually pretty dry and we could keep a pretty good pace. I passed a few teams early and was hoping to bump into the solos soon, and I did.

A group of 6 of us (3 solos including myself and the lead team at the time) ended up finding a dead end at a swamp. Rather then turn around and try to find the turn we missed we decided to push forward and actually carried our bikes across the swamp and bumped into the trail on the other side. Of course as we were doing this I saw teams at the far end riding on the trail we should have been on. At this point Adrian and I were riding together with the others not far behind. We took turn leap frogging for the next 10km until CP6 when after a quick map check Aridan passed me. We were the first people to arrive, what a good feeling after losing that time on the trek.

We pushed forward to CP7 and I created a bit of a gap as Adrian was starting to cramp and slow a bit. I was on my own on the last 20km to CP8 and the transition for the "advanced section". Of course when you are in the lead you are usually the one that finds the dead ends or wrong trails allowing others to catch you and benefit from your mistake. It was Adrian and I again after getting back on track pushing on the last section on trail. I arrived slightly (2 minutes I think) ahead of him but was notified he had a 5 minute time credit after waiting for CP staff to arrive on the trek.

The advanced section of the course consisted of 3 orienteering points located within a partially developed trail system owned by the host resort. I am not a big fan....ok actually I hate how orienteering has worked its way into adventure racing. For the record I feel orienteering and navigation are two totally different disciplines for which I feel a separate post (read: rant!) on the the topic coming. We were given a supplemental trail map for the section as well as the race topos with the plotted points. Anyways, I was off with my maps and expecting a rather simple section that I could hammer off without too much trouble. Was I ever wrong!

I bumped into Team Running Free at the first point that was pretty easy to find. So far so good. Then we headed off on some trails to the second point. Team RF is made up of some of the fastest and more experienced racers around. I offered a few choice words (in good fun of course) as they started to run and soon they were gone. While trying to follow the trail on the map and look at my topo I soon lost the trail and was really left without any idea of where I was. I tried to find the trial and the only thing that did was turn me around more! It probably took me move than 30 minutes to find a trail I could place on the map...I was not impressed. This was totally my fault for not paying closer attention and getting caught up trying to keep up with Team RF. my choice now was try to find the second point or go for the 3rd point that I knew would be easier.

I opted for the third point. It turns out I plotted this on what everyone was calling the "cartoon map" incorrectly. Thankfully I bumped into a team and they helped me out a bit to get the 3rd point. I was hoping to head back to find the second point, but again got turned around in the maze of trails....some were on the map, others were not or were only partially developed. This cost me more time after which I decided to call it a day and head to the finish. I was pretty pissed at this point as I knew I had blown my overall lead and probably the solo lead too!

I managed to get out of the section before Adrian but I was pretty sure he would have got all 3 points meaning he would finish ahead of me regardless. This is another reason the "O" sections don't fit in adventure racing. After 100km and over 11 hours of racing those who cross the line first should be the winners...not so when you need to wait to see who did the advance section and who got so many points. I really think it takes away from the drama and joy of the finish. In the end Adrian did get all three points and I ended up second in the solo category in a time of 12hrs 43min.

Here is the breakdown of my times for the race:

Paddling - 1:35
Trekking - 3:49
Biking - 4:26
Trekking - 2:16
Biking - 0:20
Total - 12hr 31min

All in all I am 99% happy with my race. I had a few errors here and there (before the advanced section) but it's pretty tough to run a flawless race. My legs felt good and strong, even on the bike - I ended up with the second fastest bike time besides Team RF. My downfall as described above was the damn advanced section. I really didn't give this section the time or respect it deserved. This is something I will have to work on since these O sections seem pretty normal in races today!

Last, but definitely not least...check out the trailer captured by solo champion Adrian Makurat for Race Day Rush.

So, what now??? I'm not really sure what i have planned for the rest of the season, but not much. A week or two of rest is first on the agenda. With racing done for the season I will be hitting the gym a lot more now working on weights with more of a focus on leg strength. I hope I still have a month or more of decent weather so once I am recharged I can still get out and get some endurance work in before I get stuck inside for the most part.

All Photos courtesy of William Young. Check out the complete album here.

Race Day Rush Video Trailer

I'm not sure if I will have time to hammer out a race report from this past weekend before my race this coming weekend. Check out the teaser from www.RaceDayRush.com using the footage we collected over the weekend.



Here is another short clip of the winner (red shirt) passing the guy that had been leading the race for the past 9+hrs (blue shorts, white top)....it came down to seconds at the end....awesome finish! Too bad i was out on the course and didn't get to see it!

Full results aren't posted yet but my Teammate Adrian and I finished as the top Tag Team and 4th overall (behind 3 insanely fast solo racers!).

The Frontier Adventure Challenge Fall Classic and Champs is shaping up to be huge race with a supposedly epic course! There are almost 60 teams registered! Crazy that is starts in less than 4 days!!

Storm the Ten - Race Report

I truly have to say this was probably the most fun I've had racing in a long long time. So first things first...Sean and the team at Storm Events did a wicked job and put on a great event (www.stormevents.ca). Also, thanks to Shane at www.RaceDayRush.com for his help and support all season. There should be some great footage from this race so keep checking RaceDayRush.com!!




The weird thing about this event is that it is absolutely not my style. A short and fast course that catered to speedsters. However, I did mix it up a bit for this one and raced as a team of 2 in the tag team division (each racer alternating laps). I have to say that racing as a tag team was one huge factor that made this event fun for me. Racing alternate laps gave us the chance to push hard while racing, but then eat, recover, socialize and watch other racers during out rest lap. I was racing with friend and fellow Race Day Rush teammate Adrian who I met at the FAC earlier this year. We worked really well together and I think it is safe to say we both had a blast.

The other great part about this race was the course. Here is a bit more of a detailed breakdown of how the course played out.

Paddling - the start and end of each laps. We would paddle from the beach near the start/finish area to the bike transition - about 750m. After the bike and run we would end up back here to paddle back to the start/finish.

Biking - the total biking was about 7km with the first 2 or 3 a tough section climbing up to top of the Niagara Escarpment. Once up top we were treated to some of fastest singletrack I have been on....it was so much fun to ride! Before dropping back off the escarpment we would drop the bike and transition to a the run, then back down the to the paddle transition.





Run - The run was a nice 2km (or a bit longer) loop on some more great single track. The first 1/2 was working us slightly uphill for the most part making the second 1/2 some nice rolling downhill back to the bikes.




Here is a breakdown of our laps times:
Lap 1 - 58:12
Lap 2 - 55:51
Lap 3 - 59:25
Lap 4 - 56:02
Lap 5 - 57:37
Lap 6 - 57:07
Lap 7 - 1:00:04
Lap 8 - 58:05
Lap 9 - 1:00:27
Lap 10 - 1:02:33
Total: 9:45:23

I really felt great for this entire event so that was a nice change. The first lap was a bit of a killer and the first climb really hit my cardio system hard, but my legs were feeling strong. We were always pushing pretty damn hard for the entire hour, so the rest lap was always nice.

The venue for the race was great and I think will be incorporating it into my training plan in the spring to get in some good brick workouts and some wicked cardio. If the schedule works out I will totally be doing this race again next year.

Here is the trailer from RaceDayRush! Be sure to check out all their race footage at www.racedayrush.com.





Sorry about the photos, but I refuse to pay the extraordinary price the photographers want for digital copies. $20 for a hi-res digital? That is ridiculous if you ask me! I bet they would sell a lot more at $5 and make more money in the process. It's too bad because they took some great shots.

Race Report from the Frontier Adventure Challenge coming next...sorry for the delay.

Storm the Ten - Pre Race Update

So the course has been released on the race website and it's time to plan our strategy.




Each lap of the course breaks down like this:

Paddle 750m
Bike ~6km
Run 2km
Bike ~1km
Paddle 750m
Total = 10.5km

Adrian and I have discussed our plan and debated between going 1 or 2 laps at a time. After thinking on it a bit we have chosen 1 lap intervals. It's estimated that the laps will take just under an hour to complete for the quicker teams (hoping we are in that category). So, while doing 2 laps gives use more rest between laps, it may actually be too much rest and I think we would tend to get bored and stiff. Also, we figured we would slow down on the second consecutive lap...and that is not an option.

Adrian will be leading off with the helmet cam mounted getting some great footage for our sponsor Race Day Rush. I hope to have a camera in the transition area as well so we can provide a look at how things go down in this unique race. While we are racing as a "tag team" there will also be solo competitors out there as well as teams of 2, 3, 4 and 6 who will race the course as pairs.

While we are in this to win I know there will be one thought in the back of my mind....don't kill myself so I can't race next weekend! The FAC Fall Champs is next on the schedule and it's a big race for me, one I don't want to go into tired! This means I will have to baby myself and really focus on recovery for the 6 days in between. Massages, Ice baths, lots of food and very limited exercise (just enough to get the blood flowing and ensure I am not totally exhausted from the past 3 weeks).

Some runners taper for 2-3 weeks before a race and recover for 2-3 weeks after....that would just leave me fat and out of shape! I am sure there is a happy medium, but no time to worry about that now. Why not go all out, race 3x in 4 weeks and cross my fingers I can get through it turn in a few good performances while I am at it. In my mind I am 0-1 in that category after Logs, Rocks and Steel so let's hope I fair a bit better in the next two.

The race report from this one should be awesome with some great video and plenty of photos...stay tuned!

Race Report - Logs, Rocks and Steel

Well, I expected this race to be tough, fast and a bit of an eye opener for me....and I was right on all three accounts!

The field for this race was a who's who of adventure racers and multisport athletes from across Ontario. This included the former 2-time World Jr. Quadrathlon Champion (swim, kayak, run, bike), several of Ontario's elite ultra runners as well as a few adventure racers that will be representing Canada in Portugal this November at the Adventure Racing World Championships. Needless to say it was going to be a very fast and competitive race.

Quite honestly the field was so tough I was feeling pretty out of it the night before the race. I hadn't felt like this since my early days of adventure racing. Nervous to the point where I wish I didn't have to race. I wasn't a good feeling at all! I really just wanted to get the race started so I could stop thinking about it.

The evening before the race was spent out for dinner with several fellow racers followed by a few hours of getting gear ready at the race site - filling water bottles, planning transitions and trying to figure out what food I would try to force down throughout the race. Since the pace was going to be so hard I knew it wouldn't be easy to get food into my system so I opted of a lot of Carb-Pro in my water and some gels/chomps to help when needed. With that completed all there was left to do was try to get a decent sleep in my dorm-style room (luckily I didn't have a roommate to worry about) and wake up ready to go in the morning.

My alarm went off at just after 5 am. I wanted to be up early enough to eat a good breakfast and have time for it to digest before the start at 8. Since I was racing unsupported I also need to head down and set up my gear at the bike transition as well as load my kayak for transport to the beginning of the paddling leg. All the unsupported racers were transported to the start by bus just prior to the start giving us just enough time for a quick warm up.



The race started with 16km run. After a short 1km loop to help spread the field out the course headed up and into some spectacular hiking trails. The key word there was UP! The course had way more ups and downs than I was used to and ended up taking a lot out of me. I think I started a bit fast not really knowing how quick the leaders were going to be....it turned out they were going to be pretty damn fast! I ended up getting into my own groove about 20 minutes or so into the run. then, in the blink of an eye my race could have been over. Within the next 15 minutes I was stung 3x by a wasps or hornets. I am actually allergic to the stings of one or the other, but I can't remember which. I still have 3 very large welts on my legs, but I am glad I didn't end up having a much worse reaction.


Following the stings I paid close attention to ensure I wasn't going to react and kept a steady...(read: not fast) pace. However after hitting the only aid station on the run about 10km in I began to slow down and lose a considerable amount of energy. I am not sure if this is the result of my immune system reacting to the stings or simply the hills. I plugged away and made it to the end of the run in 1hr40min (6:15/km)....the leaders were in at 1hr23min.

I knew I would be fighting a deficit after the run and was hoping I could make some of it up in the next 14km of paddling. I transitioned fairly quickly, throwing on my PFD, grabbing my map and water bottle and pushing off the beach with a few boats still in sight. I started to cruise and try to catch my breath from the run but my shoulders began to feel it after only a few minutes. It didn't take me long to figure out that it was going to hurt either way, so I started to push hard and pick up the pace. I caught the first competitor within the first 5km just before the first portage. I had run with him for a while before I started to slow and we have known each other since I started racing 10 years ago. It was nice to chat a bit here and there to help take my mind off the pain and suffering of the day.

The rest of the paddle consisted of moving through a series of lakes connected by several portages ranging from 100m-850m. I think there was almost 1800m in total portaging. I kept up a good ace through this section and manged to catch a few more competitors before reaching the final transition to the bike. I am not sure of my placing here, but I am guessing it was somewhere around 5th or 6th with 3-4 other racers in transition with me at the same time.




I took a bit longer in this transition but 1 racer headed out just before me. The bike leg started with some cross-country ski trails that were a mix of grass, mud and sticks. I was caught again on the first hill and had one other rider right behind me. It didn't take me long to figure out that I didn't have much strength in my legs...and I was not impressed! I knew the ride was going to be challenging, even more so with little to no gas left in my legs. I am not sure why I felt like this but I knew the next 45km was going to be tougher than I had imagined.

The trails continued to be soft and muddy (it rained for a good 2-3 hours the Friday night) for the next 10-15km. Then it went from bad to worse...snow maching trails cut through raspberry bushes for 5km. It was tough to ride much more than a few 100m at a time without having dismount for one reason or another. I just wanted to ride!! Eventually the trail ran into a dirt road that brought me to the final aid station and just over 20km or so to go.

At this point I had been passed a few more times and wasn't in a very good place mentally. While my legs had no juice I also had lost my desire to push hard and be aggressive....honestly I didn't have this from about the 5km mark on the ride simply because I knew my legs couldn't deliver what my mind wanted. This is where racing solo is tough. You have no one to help get you through those tough times and give you the little push that you need to help get your ass to the finish! I had some pretty depressing thoughts on the ride to the finish....thinking I was ready to call it quits and that I had way to much work to do to be competitive again.I was not a fun time! I think about this now and I am pretty disappointed in myself that I let my confidence slip so low so fast.




Of course once you finish things feel a bit better. Although I am still disappointed in my overall finish I am ready and willing to work at it rather than throw in the towel. With two more races this month I need to take these in stride and focus on some key areas where I can improve during each race. mostly staying fueled and mentally focused. While I am not sure why I bonked the way I did I on the bike I know that my mental state only made it worse. It's easy to have a killer instinct when you feel 100%, but digging deep when you know it's going to tough is what really makes a difference...and that is something I know I didn't do in this race.

Final Stats for the race:

Run 16km - 1hr40min
Paddle 14km - 1hr43min
Bike 46km - 3hr
Total - 6hr23min

I ended up finishing 10th solo male and 14th overall. The winning time was an impressive 5hr27min!!

No time to rest (or barely recover) - Storm the 10 This weekend. We will be getting the breakdown of the course on Wednesday so I will post a brief pre-race report then.

On My Way

Just a quick post before I start to fight the long weekend traffic in my drive up North.

The butterflies have started and I am still almost 24 hours from the start. I think I know I am in for a very tough and fast race with some great competition. I'm anxious to start and see how it all pans out but very nervous and hope I can be happy with my performance. With the level of competition I am not sure what to expect in terms of placing...tough call, so I guess we will wait and see.

I will be "Tweeting" before and after the race...check it out. http://twitter.com/JaymeFrank

Time to hit the road....