First Rogaine - We Came 2nd!

Yesterday was my first rogaine! It was a 6 hour event a couple hours drive north of Melbourne. I didn't really know what to expect, but was told we'd be walking and jogging. I can manage that for 6 hours.

My all girl team consisted of 2 other girls who are hardcore adventure racers and know how to navigate. It turns out I also know how to navigate but lack the lingo. "If we go due east to the summit then we should be able to see the saddle near the water junction and from there nav to the checkpoint up on the spur" - not something I'd normally hear in everyday conversation.

We did very little running as we were rarely on tracks. I'm pretty slow at bush bashing, unlike the adventure racers who walk through scrub, over logs, and drop 2m down into creek beds as casually as if they were just walking down the street. I tend to look where I'm going, check the tree I'm about to grab onto for spiders and take the long way down to the creek bed if it's easier. When we did get to a track and could run, this was much easier for me!

We passed through interesting land including old cottages, mines, aqueducts, bushland and many creek beds (sorry, water courses), which were fortunately all dried up. It was very hilly out there and after a couple of hours my achilles decided to complain, but since it was at an easy pace it wasn't too bad. The weather was perfect, starting off cool and foggy, but soon enough the sun came out and it was just lovely. I wore my Nike Frees which aren't that good for rough ground. I like my shoes loose with room to wiggle my toes about but in this situation my feet were sliding around in my shoes and I did get a couple of minor blisters, which I would never normally get. I can really see the value of trail shoes in this situation.

We got back to the Hash House with 9 minutes to spare and feasted on their amazing food! They had on offer toasties on the bbq, vegie burgers, soup, potato, rice, curry, stew and for dessert there was apple crumble and custard! Unfortunately after a million servings of the best vegie soup ever, the apple crumble had all disappeared. Next time I will have a strategy for getting all the food I want.

Not having any expectations for my first event, and going at such a casual pace, I had no idea what was considered an average score or something reasonable to aim for. It turns out we placed second! Only beaten by a team of 70 year olds!

My team mates being much faster at bush bashing than me:

How to prepare for a rogaine?

On Saturday I got my VHBOS run in (Volcanic Hills Balls of Steel), which was around 25km including Reynolds and Allendale Rds from the Wattle Glen end. It was much easier starting at this end. I plan to take in part of the VHBOS every weekend possible to get as much leg strength and mental strength from the hills as I can. My hamstrings were still pretty sore from stupidly doing RDLs on Thursday (way too late in the week for hamstring work with a long run on Saturday). I wore my Adizero PRs to see how my feet would hold up in flats over that distance. I love those shoes so much but the soles of my feet were pretty fatigued so unfortunately that means I will have to wear the Nike Frees next weekend for a rogaine.

So... this coming Saturday I will be doing a 6 hr rogaine! The course will be 60% state forest, 30% historical diggings and 10% private land. I've been orienteering once about 15 years ago but that was very quick and easy. I'll be in a team of 3 and one of the girls has done a lot of this stuff so I will be in good hands.

I have been told to wear long pants and gaiters because the scrub can scratch up your legs. Well I don't have any long pants, because who runs in long pants? I have small roc bloc gaiters for running and I have big bushwalking gaitors, but I have been told there are special orienteering ones too! The little gaiters aren't suitable but I don't know how uncomfortable it will be running in big bushwalking gaiters! But then, I've also been told it will be quite easy going walking and jogging, because obviously you can't go at proper running speed while bush bashing. I have all the other gear - waterproof jacket, first aid kit, compass etc.

This will be my first long distance event of the year, although at an easy pace. So I'm not sure if I should be tapering or not. In any case, I am not going to risk the event with DOMS from weight lifting or any fatigue from running too much so my week will look like this:

Monday - Kettlebells
Tuesday - Gym (squats, rows, push ups, most likely followed by intervals on the C2 rower)
Wednesday - Hill sprints
Thursday - Something easy to recover from, probably kettlebells
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 6 hr rogaine
Sunday - Rest!

So... anyone reading this done any long distance orienteering or rogaining? Should I do more of a taper or not worry? Do I need to buy long pants? Or will 3/4 tights and bushwalking gaiters do? Any tips?