Training Log Archive: BorisGr

Run to the start in the mud and cool-down.

After the start was delayed two hours on day 1 of the COC's, one would have thought that the technical difficulties were over. However, weather interfered, as the overnight downpours turned the road to the assembly area into a mudslide with many cars needing to be pushed up som hills. As a result of this (and the very long, very muddy walk to the start) many people were showing up late for their start times. The organizers scrambled to deal with this by assigning people new start times, which results in stress for some (Hammer) and luck for others (me.) I was given a start 1 minute behind Mark Adams. After being clean the first two controls, i made a mistake on the third and came back to it to find Mark there, as he messed up #2. We pretty much stayed together the rest of the race, and i have to say that it a mutually beneficial situation for both of us, as we definitely pushed each other most of the way. I was extremely impressed with how smooth he is in the forest, putting on a clinic in detailed map reading without slowing down in all sorts of terrain. Not surprisingly, it ended up being a very good result for each of us, as i was 3rd and Mark 5th overall, wth Per winning in 75 min.

C • the Griz 1

Course 10 - Splits

Various warm-ups and cool-downs.

COC - Short in Williams Lake, BC. My first real racing since....the Team Trials? The reason I flew out to Canadia was to at least partially make up for the lack of important races in the Northeast this spring. Quite happy with this wet, thick, technical race - 5th overall, 3:30 off Swede Per Magnusson, one 2-minute mistake and a couple of bobbles. Started the race very well, and actually led after 7 and 8 controls before screwing up 9. It was fun to go along, collecting the people who started ahead of me. Good preparation for WOC middle qualifier. Obviously, plenty of things left to work on - a big one being route choice, which i had some issues with on a couple of the longer legs. Anyway, a very fun course in some tough terrain.

Sprint "race" at the COC's. Watching the showcase with all the national team runners was very exciting and a lot of fun, but running the course by myself afterwards in the rain was very anticlimactic. Could not really get myself psyched up, as it seemed more like training than a 50-point sprint. Too bad, since it was a very nice course set by Mike Smith, and a whole Canadian Sprint Champs could have easily been made out of it. In addition to making mistakes and having my shoe come off at one point, i had to spend some time looking for the flag and SI unit on one control which had been vandalized by local hooligans. Jon Torrance won the sprint showcase in an impressive 13:10 or so. The highlight, though, was Hammer's now-patented sliding approach to two controls and the subsequent rest on the wet grass in a compromising position (pictures will appear shortly.) :)

C • PHOTOS 1

Short - Course 10 - Splits

Model event for the COC's, mostly running around with Kat.

very easy run just to get the legs moving in the heat and humidity. Off to the Canadian Champs tomorrow.

Training at Harriman - short course loops, setting and running. Felt low on energy, but navigation was ok.

Map hiking

C • great training 3