Training Log Archive: Kat

Warm-up running before the race.

EVENT: WIM Regional Event, New Forest

COURSE: JW5L, 7.0 km, 135 meter climb, 16 controls, map was two-sided.

WOODS: Parts of the map were very nice runnable woods (a lot like Epping), and other parts were very clear and open with heather everywhere (like Ash Ranges), and yet other parts were hilly with tall grass that made me trip a lot (like Leith Hill). So basically, there was variety on the map. And there were marshes too in the open bits! And a stream that I would surely have fallen into (because grass and bracken were hiding it from view) had I not looked at the map and expected it to be there.

Another reason this is a really cool area is that there are ponies and cows roaming the land and grazing freely. I saw many by the road (and a few on the road) and I almost stumbled into a pony while running around in the woods before the start, but I didn't see any while orienteering.

RESULTS: I started out easily to #1 and found it. From there on, I was going decently fast for the remainder of the course. Not sprinting, and I did pause a few times if I couldn't read some finer details on the map while running, but I kept a decent pace.

I had one major mistake going from 10 to 11. I had my route planned out (which was basically to go straight) and I knew what to expect along it: trail, wide reentrant, then uphill, looking for a pit next to big green bushes. But this area was the one with the tall grasses which makes finding and seeing controls difficult. So once I was up on the hill, when I didn't see the control after running around for a bit, I began to doubt myself. I felt really confused when I looked to the north at the edge of the hill, and instead of seeing a wide strip of grass shown on the map, I saw a grey narrow road (or what looked like a road). When I actually came down to it, it turned out to be a horse trail. So then I began to understand where I was, but I spent time relocating by going around the hill to make sure I knew where I was, then matching up features as I left the grass strip (horse trail) and went up the hill yet again. This time, I knew where I was, with total confidence, and I did find the control. I couldn't believe this took me 15:50! It really should have taken 3 minutes, 4 if I went slowly.

And a small glitch from 15-16 as well. The control descriptions had "Turn map to side A" written between #15 and #16, and after getting #15, I started heading toward the finish, then realized there was one more control. This wasn't a big mistake, perhaps no more than 30 seconds, but it could have been worse!

I noticed that while running downhill or on flat, I did a pretty decent job of going through heather and jumping over things. My legs are fit enough for that type of thing. But going uphill is tiring and really something I need to work on...

All in all, I'm quite happy with today's run. It was exactly the right length and exactly the type of course I felt like doing. Fun day!

Swim sessions will be easy the next couple of weeks since Roger is having the team taper for the Varsity Match. Even though I am not going to compete, I definitely welcome the easier workouts. =)

4x150 easy (100 free, 50 choice)
8x25 swim/drill
200 IM drills

100 easy choice
2x25 sprint on 45 seconds
100 easy
2x50 sprint on 90 seconds
100 pull easy
2x25 sprint
100 easy

4x50 pull
2x100 pull
8x25 pull
200 pull

8x50 alternating drill/kick

After this main session, we practiced some starts over at the deep end. Thus, the entire pool session lasted about 1:30, but I'm putting it down as 1:15 because there was several minutes of waiting between the sprints.

5 mid-pool sprints (about 6.1 for free, 6.5 for fly)
1x25 meter sprint (I did freestyle, 15.2)

100 easy

total: ~ 3,000 meters (I did 2,900 - cut off some of the pulling)

Easy run by myself after lectures. Through the meadows and then two permanent O-courses around University Parks. On some days, I feel quite happy to just run by myself and feel like I could keep going forever. Then there are days like today, when I was bored and making a mental list of all of the things I would do when I got home. I need to find somebody to run with on Fridays.

C • i'll come.. 17

Easy running before, during, and after intervals. Also includes about 5 minutes of drills with XC team at the beginning of the session. I took Boris' advice and did about 15 minutes of warm-up and cool-down each. It definitely made me feel warmer and more ready to run intervals. Too bad there was nobody to cool down with though, since most of the XC people only do a loop or two around the track, then leave.

3.5 x {1:30 hard, 100 meters jogging recovery (had to be done in about 30 seconds), 1:30 hard, 2 minutes rest}

(I did two such sets, then did one of the 1:30s and jogged until the start of the fourth set because I felt I needed more rest.)

Running through University Parks, doing some loops through the meadows, and back.

Stretching calves.

Doing a second loop around park and meadows after stretching. I took along the map from last weekend and a compass and ran around one of the biggest (and closest) meadows with it. Basically, I was trying to practice staying on a bearing and also quickly and accurately change direction while looking at the map. So I wasn't really studying routes or anything, just looking at the pink lines from one control to the next, running a leg by going straight along the pink line for 20-25 seconds, then changing direction and going to the next imaginary control.

I am not sure how useful this was, but it kept me entertained for 10-15 minutes and a group of horses standing in the middle of the meadow looked at me curiously as I ran in weird directions.

Crunches and push-ups.

Right calf still sore/tight, but feeling better than yesterday afternoon. Keeping it warm overnight seemed to help. And the easy run today seemed to help as well. Even though it felt tight throughout the first half hour of the run, it felt better and looser in the second half after I stopped to stretch it for a few minutes.

C • theory on tight muscules 5

4x150 (swim, pull, kick, swim)
2x50 scull/swim

6x { 150 (100 free, 50 choice), 150 (100 IM, 50 free) }
200 easy
6x125 kick

6x50 easy

total: 3,750 (I did 3,450 - cut out a few 25s on the kicking and a few 50s in the main set)

I felt sore, but quite good today. Could even cruise on some of the 150s. But my feelings of "cruise" and "fast" seem so subjective at times that I'm not sure if I'm actually improving or just feel good on a particular day. If I were to do a practice session with my former high school team, then I would probably feel reasonably fast because I would be among the fastest people there. But at Oxford, no matter how hard I work, I am still going to be slower than pretty much everybody else because a lot of the swimmers on the team have strong backgrounds. We even have one girl who used to be a New Zealand national swimmer! So, even though I've certainly improved my swimming since start of the year (and start of term), it's hard to notice sometimes because I'm surrounded by speed. But I try to keep things in perspective.

Easy running before, during, and after intervals.

Intervals with XC team in University Parks.

2 minutes
(1 minute rest/jog)
4 minutes
(1 minute rest/jog)
4 minutes
(3 minutes rest/jog)
1 minute
(1 minute rest/jog)
1 minute
At this point, I just did a few minutes easy running. The rest of the XC folks did 3 more 1-minute runs with decreasing rest by 15 seconds each time.

I felt quite good doing intervals. Stayed behind Helen the entire time, except for on the last (second) 1-minute run, where I kicked pace up a notch and was actually in the lead of our little group. The funny thing was, after I went faster on that one (not sprinting, but faster), I actually felt quite good! I wanted to continue, but decided not to push it. Before we started, I had decided I would do 12 minutes of hard running and that's exactly what I did. If I continue to feel fine, then perhaps in two weeks or so I can do more.

I felt great during intervals, but when I was doing easy running before (and especially after) my calves and shins felt tight. My right calf has felt very tight ever since I woke up yesterday morning, actually, and even though the rest of my legs are fine now, it continues to bother me when I walk. It feels on the verge of a cramp and I'm not quite sure what to do about it now. Should I try massaging the knot? Keep it warm? Keep it cold?

C • Keep it warm 2

One slightly extended Christ Church loop while looking over yesterday's map. Even though I could have taken safer route choices (rather than going straight), there really were no good attackpoints for most of the controls. I felt in the mood for more running, but I decided to make today a very easy day instead. Why is it that my knees don't hurt after interval sessions on grass/track but they hurt during/after easy runs on the grass? That makes no sense to me.

C • Attack Points 2

Right calf feels quite sore for some reason.