Training Log Archive: KatIn the 31 days ending Oct 31, 2009:
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Saturday Oct 31, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Drove 5 hrs yesterday to Philadelphia, then stayed at Sandy's house. Could have run today, but originally planned this as a rest day so decided to stick to that. Legs (especially hamstrings and butt) sore from yesterday's weight training!
Friday Oct 30, 2009 #
Cross-Training (elliptical) 15:00 [1]
Looked at an old Billygoat map.
Strength Training 50:00 [1]
Legs tired from yesterday, especially left one.
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Thursday Oct 29, 2009 #
Running 1:01:08 11.08 km (5:31 / km)
ahr:139 max:174 shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Easy running at East Rock. I was hoping to do track intervals, but there was a football game going on, so I did hill intervals instead, starting at the stone "arch" across from the grassy field south of East Rock. Trail was leaf-covered, but not too rocky and no puddles. Times were 1:52, 1:55, 1:53, 1:53 and average HR's were 141, 162, 164, 164. Max was 174. Don't think I got much out of this - absolutely couldn't run any faster (legs felt really heavy, especially left one), but wasn't getting my HR up that high either. Track would have been better! Afterwards, did another 10+ minutes jogging as cool-down and managed to wobble my ankles several times. Seriously, I'm not sure what I can do about this. It seems like whenever I take my eyes off the trail and look ahead, my ankles fail!
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009 #
Running 1:41:19 [2] 16.76 km (6:03 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Long run at West Rock with Marie and Boris (usual loop + extra out and back along flat red trail). It was pouring all afternoon, so when we started we got soaked immediately and were running along trails that had turned into streams. We turned on our headlamps for the last hour. Fun!
Stability 15:00 [0]
Looked at some of Ross' old maps and thought about compass bearings. PG said that he looked at his compass carefully over 60 times on Sunday's course. Well, I doubt I did that more than 10 times during my own course...I use my compass for general direction only, and tend to rely on features almost exclusively. This works great in certain types of technical terrain, but fails miserably in areas where features are spread out or when visibility is low. My solution is to identify sections of legs where I should be using my compass carefully, and then (when I'm actually out orienteering) to do it!
Tuesday Oct 27, 2009 #
Running 1:01:46 [2] 10.06 km (6:08 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Easy run at East Rock with Boris in drizzly weather. I felt really sluggish (didn't eat enough for lunch, I think), so it was good to have company. We explored some new trails on the south side. One in particular might be very good for hill intervals!
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Stability 11:00 [0]
Monday Oct 26, 2009 #
Running 1:01:12 [2] 10.48 km (5:50 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Easy run at West Rock. It started to get dark in the middle, and by the end (6:10 PM) it was almost completely dark. Now that I have no more major races until spring, I plan to add more volume to my training gradually over the course of the next two months by extending my easy runs 10-15 minutes and adding a weekly long run. The goal is to run 7-8 hrs each week, which is new territory for me, something I've never managed to do before due to physical limitations (injury). But I think I can do it now!
Strength Training 5:00 [1]
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Sunday Oct 25, 2009 #
Running 12:43 [2] 2.12 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Warm-up.
Orienteering 1:01:09 [4] 8.11 km (7:32 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
A-meet, on a map adjacent to yesterday's US Champs area. The course had more short legs and the terrain was simpler - much more forgiving than yesterday. I still had some trouble with the terrain in a few places, and made some bad route choice decisions, but I had great flow for most of the course, which felt awesome. If only I had a week in this terrain! I was 2nd on red today behind Helen Palmer, who got me by 4 minutes. I could have run her time, but not much better than that.
Note
Later on in the airport, I developed a grading system for my trainings and races. My calculations yield a C for today's race, using the following general letter grades: A,B,C,D,F.
C • Rubric? 12
Saturday Oct 24, 2009 #
Running 18:00 [2] 3.0 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Warm-up. It was very slippery yesterday wearing mudclaws, so I decided to wear the integrators today instead.
Orienteering 1:12:53 8.0 km (9:07 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
US Champs. Spiked the first control, but then had trouble on the 2nd. I matched up the depressions along the way and came to where I thought my control should be, but didn't go high enough up the hill, and decided i must be in the wrong place. Having ruled out the correct area to search, it took me over 15 minutes to come back to it again, this time 100% convinced it had to be there. Found it this time. Then continued onward, met Sam at #4, ran together till #7, then went separate ways. I was wrong, so was a minute behind again at #8. Continued onward, but was discouraged and therefore not looking at the map. Drifted to the right and found myself closer to the finish than to #9. Realized that I could finish and still probably be 3rd, but didn't care about that. Thought about running the rest of the course as a training (because I clearly need more time in this terrain), but that would mean a total change of mindset and I wasn't up for that. Decided to jog back to the finish and conserve strength for tomorrow. Spent the rest of the day going over and over #2 and what I could have done differently, but it mainly comes down to not having enough experience in this type of terrain, not blatant stupidity. So it's disappointing, but I can't be too unhappy with myself.
Friday Oct 23, 2009 #
Event: US Individual Champs 2009
Orienteering 51:31 5.5 km (9:22 / km)
shoes: Mudclaws (Aug 2009)
Model event for the US Champs. Was surprised by the size of the depressions, and had some trouble relating map to terrain at first, but got into a good flow towards the end of the course.
Thursday Oct 22, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Off to Wisconsin tomorrow! :)
Wednesday Oct 21, 2009 #
Running 46:38 [2] 8.48 km (5:30 / km)
Easy run with Bogdan at West Rock - started at the parking lot and did one loop around the lake, then out and back along the wide trail.
Tuesday Oct 20, 2009 #
Running 43:06 [2] 8.16 km (5:17 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Easy run at East Rock (the usual 2x river path). Felt better as time went on, pretty speedy at the end.
Strength Training 6:00 [1]
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Monday Oct 19, 2009 #
Running 51:27 [2] 8.57 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Easy run at West Rock with Boris. Taped my ankles - didn't turn them this time. Legs felt sore, but not as bad as yesterday.
Sunday Oct 18, 2009 #
Note
Finally pulled the big thorn out of my scalp, which has been there since the ultralong in Rochester. Four weeks ago!
Saturday Oct 17, 2009 #
Event: WCOC Paugussett
Running 10:35 [2] 1.55 km (6:50 / km)
Running before the start. Hilly, so I cut it short. Legs really sore from jump squats yesterday, especially hamstrings.
Orienteering 1:40:00 9.0 km (11:07 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Red course at Paugussett. The leaves are down, hiding all of the rocks. My plan was to run at an easy, smooth pace and try to plan ahead, but once I twisted my right ankle on the way to #1, I began to be *way* more cautious in my foot placement and could never get my focus back. Nor was I motivated to push very hard - legs tired after yesterday, and the forest banged me up (especially my right knee).
Running 5:31 [2] 0.96 km (5:45 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Run back to the car.
Friday Oct 16, 2009 #
Cross-Training 20:00 [1]
My bike stand arrived yesterday, so I tried it out on the mt bike that Boris rescued a month ago. It works pretty well, but generates a lot of noise (akin to a vacuum cleaner) and this particular bike isn't totally comfortable for long bouts of training. Once my road bike is fixed, I'll be able to test that out on the stand and see if it's any better. Exciting!
Cross-Training (bike) 20:00 [1]
ahr:106
More biking in the evening, as warm-up. It's too bad that biking seems to bother my left IT band, because otherwise it would be fun to bike in the evenings while watching TV.
Strength Training 30:00 [1]
Strength exercises at home, just using body weight.
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Thursday Oct 15, 2009 #
Running 46:30 [2] 8.05 km (5:47 / km)
shoes: Sportiva
Cold rain all day, so I wore my warm red long-sleeve shirt and rain jacket. Also, I tried out the Sportiva shoes again (with the original insoles). Thoughts: reasonably comfortable, reasonably good grip, abnormal heel construction (which caused the blisters the first time I wore these shoes), not enough ankle support. I would wear these shoes in muddy terrain or at a park sprint, but not in rocky forest.
Note
Apparently, Boris and I were really lucky. We went running at around 5 PM, and it started snowing at around 6:30PM, shortly after we got back. I don't really understand why there is snow right now, but hopefully it will go away soon.
Stability 10:00 [0]
Wednesday Oct 14, 2009 #
Running 1:04:00 11.4 km (5:37 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
West Rock run. Parked at the lake, and went north from there on the red trail to the short yellow trail (which goes up to the ridge). I did some hill intervals on the yellow trail (45", 2:30, 45", 1:12, 1:09), then ran back to the nice flat part of the red trail and attempted some flat intervals there (1', 1', then 5 minutes of 15" on, 15" off). This felt more of a fartlek session than a proper intervals session, because I was exploring the different options available. Ideally, I need to find a piece of trail that's 400m long, slight incline (5-10%), and reasonably nice (few rocks and roots). The search continues.
Stability 10:00 [0]
Looked at a map from Canada from 2005.
Tuesday Oct 13, 2009 #
Running 53:30 [2] 8.8 km (6:05 / km)
Easy run at West Rock. Looked at the map from the long distance from the CSU A-meet last spring.
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Monday Oct 12, 2009 #
Running 46:32 [2] 8.05 km (5:47 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Easy run at East Rock, partly with Boris. Legs felt somewhat tired, but much better than expected.
Strength Training 6:00 [1]
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Note
Hamstring is getting better every day - I still feel it sometimes (like today when running to catch the bus, or when standing still), but there's quick improvement. I've decided to cut out that particular hamstring exercise out of my gym workout and also to cancel my plans for the treadmill. It will be outdoors intervals instead!
Stability 12:00 [0]
Wobble board practice while looking at the first Highlander map from yesterday (which the Lowlander competitors didn't get). Some good route choice legs there!
Sunday Oct 11, 2009 #
Orienteering 2:11:00 16.38 km (8:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Hudson Lowlander. I was taking photos at the start of the Highlander, so I barely made it back to the parking lot in time to change clothes and get ready for my own start. (Hence no warm-up.) I was completely alone from #2 onward, and had a great time! Took it kind of easy, and hence felt awesome at the finish. Things to think about for next time: (1) Eat an energy gel right before a water stop rather than 3 controls before, (2) Tape my shoelaces better (they kept untying).
Saturday Oct 10, 2009 #
Running 27:00 [2] 4.5 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Running to/from the map.
Orienteering 48:00 5.33 km (9:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
2-man relay in Harriman (part of the US team training camp). Fun to be out in the forest, and I even ran fast at times. I was careful with the hamstring, and don't think I made anything worse. It definitely hurt less today than previous days.
Friday Oct 9, 2009 #
Running 25:00 [2] 3.85 km (6:30 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Running before/after.
Orienteering 1:00:00 [1] 3.0 km (20:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Walking/jogging the second training exercise from today's US team training. I didn't realize people weren't going to come back in between the 9 and 11 AM trainings, so I had to wait until someone (which happened to be John F.) came back and gave me a map. The training was fun and the controls (except for the misplaced cliff one) were exactly where I expected them to be. Physically, I felt decent. My hamstring hurt when I would lengthen my stride, but it was definitely better than on Tuesday. I just hope that running/walking doesn't make it worse. The plan is just to keep training (carefully), and see how it goes.
Thursday Oct 8, 2009 #
Note
I had a midterm this afternoon, followed by a math dept. party this evening, so no time for training. And another day off is probably good for the hamstring, which seems slightly better when walking, but hurts when going up the stairs.
Wednesday Oct 7, 2009 #
Note
(injured) (rest day)
Left hamstring (the inside part of it) really sore. I looked back at my AP log in March, and that time it took over two weeks for my hamstrings to feel normal again after a similar incident. So I'll just have to wait and be careful.
Tuesday Oct 6, 2009 #
Running 52:50 [2] 8.81 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: Sportiva
Easy run at East Rock. On the way back, there was a small group of people standing around in the middle of the sidewalk, so I ran around them on the grass, and right as I was passing them their small dog barked and bit me! Well, it didn't actually get a good bite in - either it missed or was just trying to scare me, but either way teeth made contact with my leg.
C • dogs 6
Stability 10:00 [0]
Monday Oct 5, 2009 #
Running 20:00 1.45 mi (13:47 / mi)
4x{2,1} intervals on the treadmill, at the highest possible grade. I had the treadmill set to 5.4 (mph) and that felt comfortably hard, but when I got home and worked out the conversion (kph --> mph), I realized that last winter in Sweden I had worked my way up from 5.5 to 5.8 mph when doing the same intervals. I'll have to raise the speed next time!
Strength Training 30:00 [1]
Getting stronger - everything felt great except the last set of the hamstring exercises, when my left hamstring suddenly felt really tight and I stopped at 5 reps instead of 10.
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Stability 10:00 [0]
Note
It's nice to not feel dead tired on a Monday.
Sunday Oct 4, 2009 #
Running 3:00 [2] 0.5 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: Mudclaws (Aug 2009)
Running to the start - we got to the event site with only half an hour before my start, so I didn't have time to do more than change, tape, and head over there.
Orienteering 1:02:24 [4] 6.7 km (9:19 / km) +140m 8:26 / km
shoes: Mudclaws (Aug 2009)
Boulder Dash, Day 2, Sargent Center, Red. Today was better than yesterday in that I was aware of trails and stone walls and used them as much as I could to aid my navigation. But it still wasn't good enough: I'd forgotten that the purple dashed rectangle was a clear cut area, and ended up making a loop around there, thinking it was the yellow marsh. Results: 2nd behind Sam again in F21, who had another great run and beat Greg Balter overall on Red by 4 seconds. :)
Saturday Oct 3, 2009 #
Running 11:00 [2] 1.83 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Felt really tired jogging to the start, but at least it warmed me up enough that I was happy to take off my jacket.
Orienteering 1:17:30 [4] 7.7 km (10:04 / km) +310m 8:23 / km
shoes: 2008 VJ Integrators
Boulder Dash A-meet, Day 1 at Fox Forest, Red. This was a learning experience for me - on four controls, I took suboptimal routes (usually involving going straight through green/marsh instead of on a trail). On three of these legs, I actually considered all the options and still chose badly, but on one of them I didn't even see the obvious trail! Argh. I was pleased with some of the trickier legs, though, so it's only a matter of time before I get it right. Results: 2nd behind Sam in F21, although a long ways back. She's wicked good right now.
Friday Oct 2, 2009 #
Running 52:28 [2] 8.74 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: Asics Cumulus 2009
Usual run at West Rock. Body felt a bit flat and uninspired, but cooperative. I twisted my left ankle again on the way back down - nothing too serious, just stopped for a minute and then it was fine- but it's a bad sign anyway. That's probably the third time I've twisted an ankle in the last week. Time to start doing wobble board exercises again!
Strength Training 5:00 [1]
Stretching 5:00 [0]
Thursday Oct 1, 2009 #
Running 24:10 [2] 4.03 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: Mudclaws (Aug 2009)
Running before/after, including 4 short strides at the end.
Orienteering 35:00 [2] 3.5 km (10:00 / km)
Short course at Ansonia, with lots of changes of direction and controls. It was about 5PM when I started, but I wore my new headlamp so that I could read the map even if it got dark in the forest, and also so that I could see whether it was comfortable to keep the battery in the back pocket of my pants. I did the course at an easy pace, and I felt AWESOME! I'm really pleased with how my training has gone these past few weeks, especially after the ultralong. I was pushing myself pretty hard during that race, and it's nice to feel fully recovered less than two weeks later.