It started as any other day - up at 4:30, coffee, play with dog, walk dog, oatmeal...then it went a little differently. At 6:00, the Bullfrog van pulled up, and I hopped in. Bash and Bent were at my door to pick me up and shuttle me to Burlington and the Tyandaga Golf Club for the start of the 2010 Raid the Hammer run - we picked up Hingo on the way. Bent provided a large thermos of coffee; I provided the pumpkin muffins - great race fuel...
Rain showed up as we hit the 407, and the sky offered the most amazing red clouded highlights - 'red sky in the morning' as the saying goes - gleep...
We arrived early, registered and received the maps for the journey ahead. After plotting and planning, we were ready to board the bus for a trip to the start. Rain falling...excitement growing. The start was to be a waved start into the first Matrix section. We had agreed to split up, with Bash and Hingo picking up the first four controls, and myself, running long to pick up the far and final one before heading back to meet at CP 1, and a regrouping before heading onto the rest of the course.
I was off first, running hard for E. Found the valley I needed, and launched myself downward into the steepness. It was so wet, steep, rocky and slippery, that I slipped and slid down the deep ravine until finding a tree to reach out and grab for assistance. Well, it assisted alright - assisted my face in experiencing a sharp embrace as it pulled itself into my right side, leaving a serious impression on my brow bone, cheek and chin. I fell to the ground semi conscious and covered my face. Checking for blood, and a pulse, and more blood, I finally managed to peel myself off the ground and onto the control. Swelling, and now bruising ensued. A couple good abrasions as well...ouch; what a way to start...
Found my way back to CP 1 and reunited with the team - and we were off. From here it was into a section titled "Gnarly Trail Run"...indeed...and a quest to receive map #2 from within the bowels of a tunnel en route. Map received - into 'The Bull's Eye...crazy map with 6 cp's - advanced nav. - no north lines - detail removed - rotated - and downright crazy. We lost a bit of time in here, but Bash's trusty navigation skillz pulled us out and back on track fairly quickly. We were now moving forward really well, and all feeling pretty good. I think we each had our fair share of slips and falls on the wet rocky terrain, and though I can't speak for my teammates, I can only say that the climbing was burning my a$$. Our next map brought us into ''The Halfpipe" and 5 controls running up and down across, and across again, the escarpment...ouch!! A lot of climbing fo sho...did I already say ouch? well once again...ouch.
Bash's navigation was bang on and things went smoothly throughout. A quick trail run section brought us to Cp 8-12 and again, all was mint. I tried hard to follow closely to where we were at all times (ya, I know, this is key, but often I just run blindly and don't ever check my map....yup...true...) so I never felt totally lost. Heading into the Team matrix, we picked up one control and agreed to hit the others on the way home again after heading through the last map..onto map 4...t.b.c...
And here is where I leave my story for the night - sleepy now - past few days have been full of amazing riding and running - had 17 out yesterday in Dufferin followed by the most supreme hardcore crokinole tournament evah, and just a few too few hours of sleep - will extrapolate on the rest of my tale tomorrow...
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