I was looking at Scott Stenberg’s Facebook post where he says he’s done 1370 miles in his boat so far this year, and looking at my Garmin Training Center which says I’ve done 490 miles in my boat so far. Ok, granted I didn’t have the GPS until the 5th of April, and I didn’t bring it on every single work-out, but I wasn’t doing much distance back in March, and I’m sure I brought it on all the big ones, so I’ve probably really done less than 525 miles anyway.
One of the things I’ve been thinking about a bit is someday doing the Adirondack Canoe Classic, aka “The 90 Miler”. In many ways, it reminds me of the Canadian Ski Marathon (CSM), which used to be the focal point of my cross country skiing season. The CSM was nominally 100 miles over two days, although the years I did it, it was more like 170 km. The 90 Miler is nominally 90 miles over three days, although I’m told it’s closer to 87. And hey, my Thunderbolt has done it already, so it knows the way!
I definitely don’t have the training base to do the 90 Miler yet, but if I try to do 650-700 miles next year, and 800+ the next, I might be ready. The race looks pretty daunting for a first timer. It’s not like the Canadian Ski Marathon where there were checkpoints every 15-25 km where you could quit and jump on a bus. At the 90 Miler, you’re expected to have a pit crew who meets you at certain road-accessible points – so I suppose if you need to quit, you have to wait for one of those points. One thing I might do to prepare is to join somebody’s pit crew and meet them on the portages to hand them water and food. That might give me some view of what it’s like without getting in over my head.
Another thing I’d like to look into is doing it in a K-2 with somebody on the team. I bet a couple of us in a West Side Boat Shop Bullitt could do pretty well for ourselves. The Bullitt is based on the EFT, which is the touring class boat that Mike likes. Too bad WSBS doesn’t make a K-2 based on one of their unlimited boats, like a Thunderbolt or Marauder.