Training Log Archive: BorisGr

Hill intervals same place as last week, Klingle Road. Did these in the morning and felt very sluggish and stiff in the beginning, but better as the workout went on. Times were a little better than last week.
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C • Taper 6

Easy effort on the elliptical before work.

Jogging to the start

Alli and I met Kenny at Swanson Road, the location of yesterday's QOC local event. Alli went off to run the orange course, while Kenny and I did head-to-head intervals on the red course. Each interval consisted of 2-3 controls, with 1 control at jogging speed as rest. We took turns mass starting or giving each other 15-second head starts on the intervals. It was a lot of fun and got me to push harder than I would have during a local event. The woods were very nice in a lot of places, and the map was occasionally sketchy but mostly good. Good training, probably my last O-session before the US Long and Middle Champs next weekend.

Event: QOC Swanson Road
 

Xplore DC Urban Adventure Race??
http://www.eventbrite.com/e/xplore-washington-dc-u...

From home to the start of the 5km.

A road race 5km in Rock Creek Park. It was a very small race, with probably around 50 people running, but it was close to home, so I was excited to run it and see how my fitness compared to a month ago, when I ran 19:25 on a flat course in Columbus. This course was much hillier than I had anticipated - the Garmin measured 60m of climb, all on the way back. We started down a steep hill that gradually leveled out, and then turned around and ran back up, meaning that every kilometer was slower than the one before.

I opened conservatively on the downhill and was in about 10th place at the end of the steep part, with the top two guys far out front. I gradually picked off a few people on the flat and gradual uphill, and was in 4th as the steep climb started, just behind the leading woman. I felt strong on the hill and passed her in the finish. She, however, overran the turnaround point by 25 meters or so, and so probably actually beat me.

Alli surprised me by showing up to cheer at the last part of the hill, which was really motivating!

So the time still wasn't very fast, but it was faster than a month ago on a tougher course, so I feel like my shape is gradually improving from the low point it hit last winter after Africa.

C • Nice! 1

Back home with Alli after the race.

Xplore DC Urban Adventure Race with team Chelsea's Chargers

Alli and I did this urban adventure race / puzzle hunt in DC with our friends Laura and Shawna. The race consisted of solving clues to get to checkpoint locations, and then performing small challenges at the checkpoints. We got the list of clues after figuring out where the starting spot was based on pictures of DC locations. We got the 10 clues and divided them up, each of us solving 2-3 and plotting them on a map of the city. After that we planned a route and decided to run to at least the first few (we ended up running the whole way) - public transport was also allowed, but did not seem as effective.

The checkpoints were mostly in cool locations around the downtown DC area, including the Air and Space Museum, the White House, the Watergate, the the World War II Memorial, and so on. At the checkpoints, we had to take pictures of ourselves, usually with a particular landmark in the background, or with strangers that we coerced into doing something (at the White House Christmas tree, we had to get two strangers to sing a Christmas song with us on video. Alli and Shawna were really good at talking to strangers. I would have been terrible at this.) Once we had the picture or video, we had to send it to the race organizers via an app. We then got nearly-instant feedback on whether we got credit for the checkpoint. The technology worked surprisingly well.

We had a lot of fun, saw a bunch of the city, and worked well as a team. We ended up in 4th place, which was pretty cool. I would definitely do a race like this again.

C • Sounds familiar 4

Training in Prince William Forest Park, partly with Alli and partly by myself. I was very hungry and came back to the car to eat some sandwiches in the middle of the course. All the spiderwebs I ate in the woods did not seem to provide sufficient nutrition...

Long run from home. I ran south along Rock Creek, and then turned onto the C&O Canal trail. Nice trail, right along the Potomac too. Took a bit longer on the way back, as Rock Creek was closed just south of the zoo due to a police investigation.

Warmup through the zoo. Saw a lion, a tiger, a gorilla, and some really cute gibbons.

Threshold run. The plan was to run at 4:05/km pace, the hope was to go a bit faster. Tired legs today, so did not manage faster, but did end up averaging 4:05. Felt like a tough workout.

Cooldown.

I just accepted a position on Senator Franken's education team for this year. I start Monday. I am thrilled!

C • Congrats! 15

A recovery run with Alli through the zoo in the evening. Not much beastly activity, though we did get to watch some misbehaving elephants get scolded by the zookeepers. Really nice, pleasant run.

Event: QOC Lake Accotink
 

Event: Susquehanna Stumble XVI - Adams Creek
 

Susquehanna Stumble, my first ever.

Alli and I drove up the day before and stayed with our friend Daniel, who just started working at Lafayette College in Easton, PA. We brought Daniel to the Stumble, and he wandered around the woods while we ran. A Swedish non-orienteer at an orienteering event!

I felt pretty good before the start and decided that I would try to run with the lead pack as long as I managed, hoping that I would be strong enough to finish in front.

From the start, Wyatt set the pace, and I stayed with him through the first box (31-32-33), even though I thought going to 33 first made more sense. On the way to 5, Patrick Denzler and I got a small lead, and the low visibility in the green made it so that it was hard for the chasing pack to make contact. I made a small bobble going into 6 and expected a lot of people to catch up here, but only Sergei, who was just doing one loop, joined us.

From here the three of us were essentially together for the rest of the first loop. Sergei and I got a small gap going to 53 in the box, as we took a better route (across the gravel pit). We promptly got stuck in the green on the way to 11, and the lead evaporated. I took a long time at 11 thinking about routes to 12, and was the last one to leave. I eventually settled on the trail route to the left, which was longer. I reasoned that it would be easier running, which would save my legs a bit, and the dog-leg nature of going through the box 45-48 would make it easier for me to make contact with whoever was ahead. Not sure if this was good thinking, but I ended up with Sergei, but about a minute behind Patrick at the end of the box. Patrick kept a similar gap through the end of the loop.

Luckily, he was still drinking when I arrived, and so we started the second loop together. Our pace was steady, but fairly relaxed, and I was feeling pretty good. We traded the lead a few times, though Patrick definitely spent more time being in front.

At around 22 I could sense that Patrick was getting tired. I looked at the ending of the course and decided that I would try to make a move on the leg from 24 to the last box. I did that and chose the route to the right on the trail going past the ponds (pushing pretty hard), taking the controls in the order 43-42. I saw Patrick as I came to 42 and knew that I was in front.

The end of the course was pretty simple, so I was confident that I was still in front at the finish. Ended up winning by about 3:30. It was a really fun race, and really nice to run with Patrick head to head for a while. It also felt really good to have a nice race and feel strong physically for the entire duration.

A nice lunch with Alli, Daniel, z-man, and KPop followed. Really good to see friends, orienteering and otherwise!

C • Excellent job, Boris 1

Stumble - Splits

Easy elliptical at the gym. Tired and feeling overwhelmed by the job placement process.

C • Stumble win 2

Threshold: 2x12 minutes with 2 minutes rest. Warmup and cooldown with Alli.

Evening run in Rock Creek, finishing as it was getting dark.

Hill intervals in Rock Creek. Did them on a piece of dead end road next to Klingle Bridge. About 1:30 jogging rest between intervals.

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Event: QOC Clopper Lake
 

Got my first beginner out to a QOC event! My new friend Laura from work came and did the Yellow course. I shadowed her and talked her through some of the decisions and the symbols. She picked it up pretty quickly, had fun, and did well. It's so much fun to introduce people to orienteering!

Blue course at QOC's local event at Seneca Creek State Park.

It was a nice course in a nice area, though I quickly realized that green areas on the map are best avoided. I had a mostly good race, though picked a couple of bad routes in the beginning (4,6,7), was confused by a misplaced control (23), was confused by a strangely mapped area (3), and had sloppy execution (5,12). Probably a total of 4-5 minutes lost. Too much.

I also got stung by a handful of wasps on the way in to 7. One got me in the thigh, getting my leg to balloon. The rest got me on top of the head, and I was pulling them out of my hair as I was leaving 7. Head's pretty swollen too. At one point in the woods I asked Peggy to feel my head and see if she thought it was insanely swollen. She said it felt bumpy but not insanely so, and that was the clean bill of health I was looking for.

I ended up with the fastest time, but Jon T took it easy and Kenny only ran the beginner courses with the munchkins. They would probably have been quicker.

Blue - Splits

Didn't get much sleep since our building got evacuated when a drunk girl (who doesn't live in the building) got lost in our parking garage and pulled the fire alarm at midnight.

I still got up to meet Kenny at Peirce's Mill in Rock Creek Park and go for a long run. We parted near the top of the park (right on the DC border), and I ran back on Western Ridge trail. It was really nice to have motivation to get out and good company to run with.

Running to meet Jimmy

A run with a headlamp in Rock Creek Park with a friend from work, Jimmy. We had trouble finding each other at first. We decided to meet at a bridge. I got there and was standing under the bridge for a while, looking around, and saw no one. I ran off to check another location, then ran into Jimmy on the way back. Turns out he was standing on top of the bridge while I was under it, and we then ran in different directions to look for each other. Brilliant.
Jimmy is a 2:40 marathoner, so this was a brisk "easy" run for me. Probably good for me to run with him once in a while.

Running in Rock Creek park in the morning, just as it was getting light. My hamstring tightened up after 20 minutes, so I cut the run short and did some stretching instead.

Some core strength once I got home.

More elliptical in the morning. Going harder today. Hamstring felt quite a bit better. Hopefully will be able to run tomorrow. Off to the Library of Congress now.

My left hamstring was sore after the weekend, so alternative training today. A long session on the elliptical machine while watching the Giants get their butts kicked by the Lions. Big puddle of sweat by the end.
We had a nice talk at orientation today by the President's Science Advisor about the office of the president and the paradoxes and conflicts involved in it. I don't think I would want that job.

C • science people in DC 3

Event: QOC Occoquan
 

Warmup with Alli and then a few drills. Left hamstring very tight.

Orienteering!

Alli and I drove down to Occoquan, VA and went to our first QOC local event. It was fun, and we were impressed by how well run and well attended Quantico events are! Valerie was running epunch and had live results posted on a big screen near the finish.

I did the Blue course. I felt pretty sluggish the entire way and could never really run too fast, but the orienteering was mostly ok, if rusty. A little too much looking at the terrain first and then the map - laziness in my orienteering. It was a nice course making good use of the small park with some good route choice legs.

Alli won her Orange course! I was second on Blue, destroyed by Jon T.

Yummy Ethiopian food afterwards for lunch makes for an excellent Sunday.

Blue - Splits

Treadmill intervals: 10×2 minutes with one minute rest.

Elliptical in the morning before work. Today was day three of our orientation at work. We learned about talking points and how to prepare someone for testifying at a congressional hearing in front of climate changing denying congressmen.

Intervals on the treadmill, 2x10 minutes with 2 minutes rest. Today was day two of orientation. We had some great speakers telling us about the US political process, the US founding myth, and networking. We were then made to do some forced networking. I find it difficult to do that for long chunks of time, but meeting new people is pretty fun, as long as you don't approach it from a "what can you do for me? " standpoint.

Morning run in Rock Creek Park before starting my first day of work orientation as a Congressional Science and Technology Policy Fellow. The day itself mostly consisted of a few introductory speeches, info about health insurance, and mingling with the other 32 Congressional fellows.