Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Event: Deschutes Daze - A Pyr-O-Clastic Adventure
 

Deschutes Daze, Day 1 @ Arnold Ice Cave. Mappy.

It is *extremely* smoky here in Bend; visually I'd say it seems even worse than in Seattle a few weeks ago. Given that and my minor hamstring injury I wasn't sure how to approach this, so I started out slow to see how it went, and with positive feedback gradually picked up the pace. Could definitely feel a little discomfort toward the end, but it didn't seem to slow me down, and I also didn't notice any problems from the smoke (to illustrate the situation re: smoke - Bonesaw orienteered with a bandana covering his face, outlaw-style).

Surprisingly, I got Eric by 1min, though we agreed that <40min would be the race-effort expectation under normal circumstances. I felt sluggish and was often sloppy with my compass, especially on the last few controls, but mainly it was just nice to be orienteering in some great terrain, especially since I didn't even know if my hammy would let me run at all!

C • Smoke :/ 3

Did some dope late afternoon mountain biking. I badgered my mom into dropping me off up at Tumalo Falls and worked my way back down to Bend via Tumalo Creek, Skyliner, Pinedrops, and Phil's. First few miles were gently rolling, then smashed a whole lot of sweet sweet downhill all the way to the river. Brilliant stuff.

I played (indoor) soccer for the first time in many years last Friday. I was a little apprehensive re: my knee exploding, but it turned out okay. Soccer used to be my main athletic interest, while orienteering was always an afterthought. I was a pretty decent player but not close to good enough to play beyond high school, so my career died with intramurals in college, and I've never been enamored with the idea of playing in some men's league with a bunch of clumsy, disproportionately intense dudes with more beer gut than skill.

Anyway, my left hamstring has reacted poorly to the unfamiliar movements. Feels like a strain or slight pull, but is already feeling progressively better over the last 2-3 days. Biking doesn't seem to annoy it but jogging/running definitely does. Hopefully I'll be okay for Deschutes Daze - though the great thing about Deschutes Daze is that it's more about pure enjoyment than competition. Deschutes Daze is the Ideal Type (in the popular sense, not the Weber sense) of orienteering.

C • Deschutes 1