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Odyssey 8 Hour Rogaine On Mill Mountain 6 March 2009 Several people have asked me about my strategy/course for the 8 hour rogaine that Odyssey put on last weekend. Here's a summary of what I did that day. First, I awoke early - about 5:00AM and had a large breakfast - cereal, eggs, and such. I brought a biscuit and some fruit with me to the race as well - along with my ever present cup of coffee. After I checked in, I taped up some tender spots on my feet (from racing in Patagonia) and changed into my racing clothes. I figured it would get hot, but I wore wool tights (iRule) and an Icebreakers wool top anyway as I tend to be more chilly than hot. In fact, I wore Smart Wool socks too. I overheated a bit by the end of zone 1 (climbing back up Mill Mountain), so I changed into a lightweight (but still long sleeve) loose fitting synthetic top during the transition. My shoes were my standard AR shoes: Brooks Adrenaline Trail Runners. It's pretty much all I wear regardless of race or distance. They work well on my feet. I don't get blisters. They drain very quickly and they provide great motion control for traveling off trail. They could be a little grippier (like Inov-8 shoes), but otherwise, I find them ideal. I ate my biscuit and a banana right before the pre-race briefing. I didn't eat again until I finish zone 1 at 10:30AM. I carried about 100 oz of Nuun for the whole race and finished it around 12:50PM as I got to control 39 (in zone 2). I plotted the first set of controls with Susanna and left the Start/Finish alone at about 8:15AM. Here's the map. Controls 1-19 were in zone 1 and controls 26-44 were in zone 2.
ZONE 1Here's the order I attained the controls:
I basically decided to do a big counterclockwise loop and get all the forest controls and then head into downtown Roanoke. I didn't worry too much about elevation as Mill Mountain just isn't all that tall, but I did try to work my way down the mountain getting controls. I opted to get control 13 from below as it'd be easier to find the reentrant from below rather than coming from the summit. It was a bit of climbing back up the mountain, but as the reentrant was free of brush and logs, it was easy travel. Going from control 5 to 6 was nice because it was all road with an obvious place to turn back up the mountain (where the side road heads off to the right). Whenever I was on a road, I ran at a pretty good pace (9 min/mile). In the forest, I was always at a fast walk unless I was on a trail. For the forest controls, I used the terrain features though I did pace count on a bearing a few times. I tend to use my watch more than pace counting as I know about how fast I am traveling. I never used my altimeter though I did estimate height differentials several times to find the hillside controls (controls 18, 14, 11, and 27 in particular). An aside here, I tend to talk out loud when I race solo. It helps me remember things better. So, after reaching a control, I punch the passport, and then start a soliloquy that goes something like, "Okay, that's 2 controls down and 17 to go. The next one is number 11. It's on a hillside (read clue sheet). It's about 250 meters from here just east of north which means I need to go around this spur. It's a bit below my current elevation. It's 8:45 so I should be there in 3-4 minutes. After that, I'm heading to control 17, 19 and 5..."Mistakes: I made a few mistakes in the first zone, but nothing too costly. I left my clue sheet at control 18 and didn't realize it until I was almost to control 11, so I had to go back for it. After that, I kept it in my left front pocket, the passport and a pen in my right front pocket and the map in my left hand. It made for quick travel and punching at controls. My compass was around my neck and it had a 1:24000 grid on it so I could replot if necessary (it was). My other mistake was not getting control 2 on the way from 4 to 8. That cost me an extra bit of running in the city. ZONE 2I finished zone 1 around 10:30AM, got the clue sheet for zone 2 and starting plotting. While I plotted, I changed my top and ate an apple, a banana, and two bars. I also drank about 20 ounces of water from a bottle I left at the Start/Finish. I started zone 2 at 10:50AM. I was glad that there weren't a lot of controls back in the city as I didn't want to run so much. I decided to go get the city controls first and do another big counterclockwise loop. In hindsight, it probably made more sense to get controls 40 and 27 first and then head down to get 43 and 26 but that didn't occur to me. So, for zone 2, the order I got the controls:
I followed my same basic strategy as I did for zone 1. Had I got controls 40 and 27 on the way down, I could have saved a pretty big climb from 38 to 40 (and a bit of thinking at control 33 trying to decide whether to go get 40 or head for 29). One nice thing about this order is that it ends with a nice run back up Mill Mountain on the Star trail, so after getting 39, it was pretty mindless to just go get on the Star trail and follow it up past control 42 to the top. My big mistake in zone 2 was misplotting 27. I switched the easting and northing so I looked for it for about 10 minutes in the wrong place before I replotted it. And then it I missed it on my first pass across the hillside and had to backtrack slightly lower down the hill to get it. It was obscured from above by a few trees but very visible from below. For most of the controls in zone 2, I used the terrain features to guide me, but tried to walk straight from one to another. So, from 37 to 32, I just contoured around the spur. And from 28 to 34, I ran SSE down the spur/ridge, into the reentrant and to control 34. I finished zone two at 1:14PM. As I mentioned, I ran out of water about 30 minutes before I finished. I ate two more bars while in zone 2 as well. Overall, I was very happy with my route choice and performance - no major mistakes and I keep a pretty good pace throughout both zones. I was beat all day Sunday. Mark |
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