Training Log Archive: TomN

Flying Pig Day 2 Long Green at Yellowwood Forest. I was pretty happy with my run. Came in to the first control a little high, and saw Addie coming out, so I had picked up 2 minutes on her. For the long leg to #2 I went straight up the hill and she went a little left, and I never saw her again. That leg gave me confidence, and I ran well after that. I made a small but significant mistake on #5, getting way down the hill towards the creek before realizing I was too low. Coming back up took time. Only one other mistake, on 12, where I left the trail too high and got into the series of parallel reentrants and had to come back. Second in M60 on this course, first overall counting both days. It's all going to be decided tomorrow.

Yellowwood_Long_2013_Green - Splits

Event: Flying Pig XVII and Eastern Interscholastic Champs
 

Flying Pig Day 1 sprint at IU campus. Our hotel is in Columbus (IN) about 35 miles away, and I grossly underestimated the time to the campus. We got there about 6 minutes before Addie's start time, dashed in to the student union and got race packets, she got her number pinned on on the way to the start, and off she went. I started 20 min later.

I'm not too good at sprints (run fast but think slow) and didn't expect much, but I started out in good control, everything made sense, reading ahead, taking a long view. But around 7 or 8, things started to get ragged. I was reacting instead of anticipating, searching for controls instead of visualizing, making convenient route choices instead of strategic. Still, a much better result than I expected, tied for 7th on the combined Brown/Green course, tied for 1st in M60+. And had a lot of fun, too -- a beautiful afternoon and an interesting campus.

IU_Campus_Sprint_2013_4 5 Br Gr - Splits

A run on backcountry trails to the south of Highlands Ranch. I parked at the Mountain Vista High School, which has access to the south end of the Dad Clark Trail. It joins up with the East-West Regional Trail and goes pretty steeply up to Highlands Point, passing the West Fork of the Big Dry Creek Trail along the way. Highlands Point has 360-degree views, from downtown Denver around to Longs Peak and Pikes Peak. It's at about 6200 feet. After another mile there is a trailhead with parking and porta-johns, accessible from Grigs Road. There is an extensive network of private backcountry trails owned by the community association, which were gated and posted, and I stayed off them. That made it an out-and-back, but a fine run anyway. Gorgeous day, temperature around 50 but felt much warmer in the sun. Time includes gawking at various sights and wildlife, but it was probably around a 9:00 pace.

A different trail loop this time. West Fork-Diamond K-Foothills-Dad Clark. The goal is to maximize use of the Foothills trail, because it's natural surface. The rest of the trails are paved concrete. Not the best for running, from my perspective.

Highlands Ranch trails again, but this time I made a loop: Dad Clark-Foothills-Northridge.

On the trail network in Highlands Ranch CO. Not too breathless, but noticeable up the little hills.