Training Log Archive: hkleaf

Event: OCIN Mt. Airy Forest NOD
 

OCIN NOD Meet (in conjunction w/ the Great Outdoors Weekend) - Mt. Airy Forest, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Red course: 7.25k, 290m, 10c. (1:10 000, 5m)
Course Setter: Greg Sack
~80F, clear, sunny, and dry.

Arrived at the meet site fairly early to help out with registration and demos. Really nice turnout today. Got to run my course when finally there was a lull in the action. I didn't warm up for it, just got the map and go. Wasn't expecting a fast time anyway because 1)legs are kinda tired, 2)there are some steep hills. Unlike 2 weeks ago at Englewood, at least my mind was sharp this time. Knowing the park very well helps a bunch too. Overall, I ran a pretty clean race - read ahead whenever possible, and always had a plan and attack point.

Some small mistakes:
Went around to #4, but didn't stay on the road long enough. Lost time checking a reentrant to the E unnecessarily. Then at #6, searched around for the flag once I got inside the circle. Thought I was in the right place but found nothing. Headed N to confirm my location, back again to same spot. I think there're more tiny depressions in the area than mapped, which might've thrown me off a bit. Went further S and finally spotted the control. It's possible the placement wasn't as described on the clue sheet. Anyway, I moved on. Had a less than ideal route to #8. I also stopped one reentrant short, losing a few seconds to figure out where I was. Perhaps my brain was still operating on that 1:4 scale from last weekend? Because I seemed to be stopping short a few times, or expecting things to show up sooner.

Walked most of the uphills, and was sweating quite a lot out there. When I finished, I was surprised by my time. 40min seemed awfully fast was the advertised distance, considering the speed I was moving in. I haven't got time to measure and double-check the distance/climb figures, but I suspect it's quite a bit shorter in reality. [Edit: I measured and updated the straight-line distance for the entry. This is more like my expected pace. Greg must've used 1:15000 instead for his measurements.] It's amazing how runnable the forest is already! Greg commented that it's the most open he'd seen of Mt. Airy.

After my run, spent some time manning the finish station. Then headed out to collect some controls. It's crazy how many deers are in this park!

A bit of running back and forth along the trail posing for the Editor of Get Out!, a new outdoors magazine catering to the Ohio Valley region. That was fun! She also tried out a White course and interviewed a few of us for her "Join the Club" piece.

An extra long session at home. Hamstrings and groin area are pretty sore right now.

Red - Splits

Event: OCIN East Fork SP Club Meet and JrROTC Competition
 

50F, sunny, clear - 7:30a long run from Lunken with the group. Started with a loop around the airfield, then headed out along Eastern thru Downtown to Longworth Hall and back. Discovered some urban arts under the bridges. May have to go back one day and take some pictures. Temperature was on the chilly side at the start, but once I got warmed up it was perfect. Nice morning mist and a pretty sunrise, too.
*time included ~2:30 of water/gu stops.
GPS track testing.

C • GPS Link... 4

Post-run stretch.
Plus some for the soccer game.

By the time the last runners from the group came in, it was already close to noon. So I chose brunch over orienteering at East Fork. It's not as if my legs were itching for another run right then.

Indoor league game. Legs were tired, but feeling better than expected. I stayed back to play defense most of the time, so there's less running involved. We let in a last second goal at the end for a 1-1 tie. A nice competitive game, but we squandered away lots of chances.

Level 11, Hills, 569c.
On the recumbent, while watching one of the X-men movies. Still can't get comfortable paddling in these bikes. It seems harder to generate power on the hills. Maybe my legs were just tired? HRavg was at the lowest end of my aerobic base, so obviously I didn't work very hard.

Hips again. And abs.
I noticed after the Sprints that L-ITB showed signs of flaring up. I need to take better care so it doesn't develop into something worse.

70F, partly cloudy - Run from the Spot. We had to stop by Laurie's to check on her rice, so it was a new route. This has a little bit of everything in terms of scenery - a detour thru WH cemetery, Avondale, North Avondale, Norwood, and back to O'Bryonville. It's kinda hilly, but there're some quiet sections. Nice to be doing something different.

Afterwards.

Level 11, Hills, 597c.
Easy spin to let the legs recover a bit.

Hips, lower back, and abs.

Mid-Autumn Festival
Had some mooncake and star fruit, but didn't light any lanterns.

On a side note, today was yet another record heat day. The 62nd 90-degree day of the year! At least it rained, for once.

High 80s, storm threatening, humid, occasional strong wind - It's time again for Yasso 800s. The storm hit just as we were gathered at Crossroads, so we waited it out in the lobby.

This is the warm up (18:07) and cool down (19:29) portion to and from Norwood track.

I led group 1, pacing from lane 2 at an even 3:00 per 800m. Even though the rain had stopped, we were soaked anyway from all the sweating. The hot, humid, and steamy conditions weren't very pleasant to run in.

10x 800m, with 90s rest.
2:59.35--154/173 (1:43.36)--148/172
2:57.27--162/177 (1:37.29)--152/176
2:59.69--165/177 (1:46.57)--151/176
2:59.82--165/178 (1:50.82)--152/178
3:00:09--166/178 (1:51.21)--152/177
2:59.52--167/183 (1:51.49)--154/178
3:00.05--168/181 (1:50.78)--155/179
2:59.77--170/181 (1:51.63)--153/179
2:58.86--169/181 (1:50.84)--156/181
2:57.22--170/183 (1:50.64)--156/184

Pretty happy with the consistency, but like a couple weeks ago still a couple seconds too fast in the first 200m.

Recovery walk inbetween repeats.

Minimal stretching afterwards.

Scheduled rest day. My legs needed a break from running, even though they felt better than expected. I'm still pulling thorns out of my hands from all over! That thicket certainly showed me who's the boss. Bet it's still laughing at my silly attempt to plough through it yesterday.

C • Thickets in New England are... 2