Training Log Archive: PsubaIn the 31 days ending Jan 31, 2017:
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Tuesday Jan 31, 2017 #
5 PM
Cycling 25:43 6.26 km (14.6 kph) +27m
ahr:135 max:157
To Uni for Wessex training. Very wet, windy, and Garmin starting to play up.
6 PM
Running 35:26 [3] 6.55 km (5:25 / km) +14m 5:21 / km
Wessex training - or should have been if I found the group! As I was late getting there, everyone left so set out thinking it was 1k intervals day. It wasn't as I did not see the group at the right location so after the loop went to where I expected them to do hill. Met the group on their way back. It was going to be a recovery session for me anyway, so no big loss.
Raining all the way so not nice to be out there.
Garmin wasn't willing to start recording so recorded this with the phone (strava), no HR data.
Raining all the way so not nice to be out there.
Garmin wasn't willing to start recording so recorded this with the phone (strava), no HR data.
8 PM
Cycling 24:00 [3] 6.55 km (16.4 kph) +1m
To home. Garmin still not playing ball.
Monday Jan 30, 2017 #
5 PM
Running intervals 1:02:47 12.83 km (4:54 / km) +67m 4:46 / km
ahr:158 max:175 shoes: Adidas Supernova Glide
Ugly weather, heavy rain and some wind, but given last week wasn't particularly good from a distance perspective I could not avoid.
I chose to run a modified version of the Spari training planned for tomorrow (given that I'll do the Wessex training tomorrow if all goes well), which is 3x2000m at 80-90% effort with 6-900m jog in between. I adopted it to my need to go to the post office to pick up a delivery, so I jogged down to the promenade as a warm-up, then ran 2x2000m aiming at sub 4:14 pace with a jog section in between, then jog uphill and loop back to the post office pushing where I could across the streets, and finally jog back home with the package.
I managed to do most of it despite the rain, even though the section to the post office wasn't quite 200m and wasn't quite managing the pace given the many junctions where I had to be careful.
Legs heavy from yesterday as well as from the water that my trousers and trainers were all soaking in in the first part of the training, but HR and lungs coped well.
I chose to run a modified version of the Spari training planned for tomorrow (given that I'll do the Wessex training tomorrow if all goes well), which is 3x2000m at 80-90% effort with 6-900m jog in between. I adopted it to my need to go to the post office to pick up a delivery, so I jogged down to the promenade as a warm-up, then ran 2x2000m aiming at sub 4:14 pace with a jog section in between, then jog uphill and loop back to the post office pushing where I could across the streets, and finally jog back home with the package.
I managed to do most of it despite the rain, even though the section to the post office wasn't quite 200m and wasn't quite managing the pace given the many junctions where I had to be careful.
Legs heavy from yesterday as well as from the water that my trousers and trainers were all soaking in in the first part of the training, but HR and lungs coped well.
Sunday Jan 29, 2017 #
11 AM
Running warm up/down 6:40 1.19 km (5:37 / km) +2m 5:34 / km
ahr:156 max:169 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Orienteering race (Black) 1:33:16 *** 14.99 km (6:13 / km) +169m 5:53 / km
ahr:171 max:180 spiked:36/36c shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Concorde Chase, Hawley and Hornley, Black.
My first time ever running Black course, and as I need to increase distances in general as part of the Marathon preparation ( https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Peter-Suba ) I also decided that this should not just be the distance but I was actually going to push all the way.
15th / 26 - http://race-results.info/2017/20170129conc/?page=c...
Which, given most of the people ahead of me, is not actually that bad, also considering the time loss as opposed to how much people behind lost, again is not that bad.
I haven't made any huge errors which I think is mostly due to being able to properly concentrate most of the way through. There were a few wobbles but they were fairly quickly corrected which is good confidence boost because as I was pushing the pace I could have been prone to making stupid huge mistakes. Those smaller mistakes still cost though on some of the leg, particularly:
2 - After making it up to the top of the hill open area, I came out a bit to the left of the junction I wanted and started to run on a track that I thought was the one under the line. Instead, this was the one curving to the left of it, and although I noticed but I decided to just go with it as it was too late to turn back or cut across the rough. Still, overall this cost me about 50s
7 - I wanted to use the path across the rough open but wasn't sure how clear it will be, so I ran on what I thought was possibly the path but ended up an indistinct bit of path running on the edge of the vegetation boundary, I have followed this for about halfway before the path actually was in the view and I switched, but not before losing some time here due to the slow going. About 20s I would say.
10 - I wasn't clean through the woods as I was weaving my way through between the green patches so this was longer than it should have been, only to then get stuck through the barbed wire fence - it was mapped as crossable, and it was, but it did take me serious seconds! 20s
11 - I did not notice the path on the map through the green so decided to run around it to the south (perhaps the planner could have made a gap in the line to make it clearer?), lost about 20s
12 - Somehow needed a mental break as I crossed the road so had to whip myself into action, it would have felt somehow good to just walk here. Not sure why??? Lost a few seconds but it's just hesitation as I read the vegetation properly.
15 - no mistakes and yet somehow lost quite a bit on this leg to the best times. I can only put this down to being slow through the rough!
16 - same here, I suddenly noticed someone popping out in front whom I have left behind coming out of 14 who was still looking confused there, so obviously made up all his deficit and coming through. I think that kinds shaken me up a bit and I started to push. Nevertheless made a small mistake out of 16 going down onto the road only to climb with the road straight after - should have contoured out instead even if that was a few seconds lost.
18 - This was a suspicious control to me. I ran on bearing and ended up wy too far to the NE of the control. There was a hide and a platform there which were not mapped. I hesitated quite a bit even though I contoured towards SW but stopped as I did not want to go too far. As it turns out I stopped about 1m before the point from where I could actually see the control and eventually got it. I have a slight suspicion that either the pit, in reality, is a bit further SW than mapped, or the control was misplaced to the pit to the SW of the one marked. Obviously could not check there and then, and the learning (again!) for me is to NOT stop, but keep running until I bounce back from something obvious, as this would have saved me about 40s here and losing the tail of the guy that just ran past me earlier.
20 - I suspect suboptimal route choice here so I lost about 20s
21 - An odd one this, as I have lost almost a minute on this leg but I have actually pushed quite hard. I suspect this was a combination of a.) hesitating out of the control and b.) running a stupid route as there were quite a few options here.
23 - Just overshot and bounced back from the road, in fact, this was a good example of how to lose LESS time which I did not do on 18, but I did here, bouncing back from the road only cost me about 20s.
25 - a compass bearing mistake, to be honest, I was only taking a rough bearing and should have noticed when I jumped across the stream that I should not have. Corrected myself eventually, but really really suboptimal route this way and about 40s
26 - again a large time loss and I suspect this was a route choice mistake, as most of the leg I was running through the forest and not around on a road. 1m lost but considering I was slower let's put this down for 20s. I was also on this leg consuming my gel which I should have done earlier but it seems I was enjoying the navigational challenges so much that I have forgotten about it before!
32 - was the last long leg and I think tiredness has shown here a bit. I once again have gone across the rough open (there wasn't much choice other than a bit detour that maybe I should have, in fact, considered!). More importantly, I almost climbed a small hill I did not need to, turned back on the road and had a thorny branch stripping me of my headband! I took it back but this small detour still cost about 20s.
34 and I suspect the green on the hillside wasn't quite well mapped or at least wasn't looking the way I expected so had to backtrack a few times before I was able to cut across to the road, so lost about 40s here!
The rest was fairly OK, but this still adds up to over 5mins worth of navigational errors, which I think is not a catastrophe over this distance even if it would be fantastic to be error free once. The rest is down to running speed and mostly speed over undergrowth which is something I need to work on.
My first time ever running Black course, and as I need to increase distances in general as part of the Marathon preparation ( https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Peter-Suba ) I also decided that this should not just be the distance but I was actually going to push all the way.
15th / 26 - http://race-results.info/2017/20170129conc/?page=c...
Which, given most of the people ahead of me, is not actually that bad, also considering the time loss as opposed to how much people behind lost, again is not that bad.
I haven't made any huge errors which I think is mostly due to being able to properly concentrate most of the way through. There were a few wobbles but they were fairly quickly corrected which is good confidence boost because as I was pushing the pace I could have been prone to making stupid huge mistakes. Those smaller mistakes still cost though on some of the leg, particularly:
2 - After making it up to the top of the hill open area, I came out a bit to the left of the junction I wanted and started to run on a track that I thought was the one under the line. Instead, this was the one curving to the left of it, and although I noticed but I decided to just go with it as it was too late to turn back or cut across the rough. Still, overall this cost me about 50s
7 - I wanted to use the path across the rough open but wasn't sure how clear it will be, so I ran on what I thought was possibly the path but ended up an indistinct bit of path running on the edge of the vegetation boundary, I have followed this for about halfway before the path actually was in the view and I switched, but not before losing some time here due to the slow going. About 20s I would say.
10 - I wasn't clean through the woods as I was weaving my way through between the green patches so this was longer than it should have been, only to then get stuck through the barbed wire fence - it was mapped as crossable, and it was, but it did take me serious seconds! 20s
11 - I did not notice the path on the map through the green so decided to run around it to the south (perhaps the planner could have made a gap in the line to make it clearer?), lost about 20s
12 - Somehow needed a mental break as I crossed the road so had to whip myself into action, it would have felt somehow good to just walk here. Not sure why??? Lost a few seconds but it's just hesitation as I read the vegetation properly.
15 - no mistakes and yet somehow lost quite a bit on this leg to the best times. I can only put this down to being slow through the rough!
16 - same here, I suddenly noticed someone popping out in front whom I have left behind coming out of 14 who was still looking confused there, so obviously made up all his deficit and coming through. I think that kinds shaken me up a bit and I started to push. Nevertheless made a small mistake out of 16 going down onto the road only to climb with the road straight after - should have contoured out instead even if that was a few seconds lost.
18 - This was a suspicious control to me. I ran on bearing and ended up wy too far to the NE of the control. There was a hide and a platform there which were not mapped. I hesitated quite a bit even though I contoured towards SW but stopped as I did not want to go too far. As it turns out I stopped about 1m before the point from where I could actually see the control and eventually got it. I have a slight suspicion that either the pit, in reality, is a bit further SW than mapped, or the control was misplaced to the pit to the SW of the one marked. Obviously could not check there and then, and the learning (again!) for me is to NOT stop, but keep running until I bounce back from something obvious, as this would have saved me about 40s here and losing the tail of the guy that just ran past me earlier.
20 - I suspect suboptimal route choice here so I lost about 20s
21 - An odd one this, as I have lost almost a minute on this leg but I have actually pushed quite hard. I suspect this was a combination of a.) hesitating out of the control and b.) running a stupid route as there were quite a few options here.
23 - Just overshot and bounced back from the road, in fact, this was a good example of how to lose LESS time which I did not do on 18, but I did here, bouncing back from the road only cost me about 20s.
25 - a compass bearing mistake, to be honest, I was only taking a rough bearing and should have noticed when I jumped across the stream that I should not have. Corrected myself eventually, but really really suboptimal route this way and about 40s
26 - again a large time loss and I suspect this was a route choice mistake, as most of the leg I was running through the forest and not around on a road. 1m lost but considering I was slower let's put this down for 20s. I was also on this leg consuming my gel which I should have done earlier but it seems I was enjoying the navigational challenges so much that I have forgotten about it before!
32 - was the last long leg and I think tiredness has shown here a bit. I once again have gone across the rough open (there wasn't much choice other than a bit detour that maybe I should have, in fact, considered!). More importantly, I almost climbed a small hill I did not need to, turned back on the road and had a thorny branch stripping me of my headband! I took it back but this small detour still cost about 20s.
34 and I suspect the green on the hillside wasn't quite well mapped or at least wasn't looking the way I expected so had to backtrack a few times before I was able to cut across to the road, so lost about 40s here!
The rest was fairly OK, but this still adds up to over 5mins worth of navigational errors, which I think is not a catastrophe over this distance even if it would be fantastic to be error free once. The rest is down to running speed and mostly speed over undergrowth which is something I need to work on.
Running warm up/down 2:10 0.36 km (6:03 / km) +2m 5:55 / km
ahr:138 max:150 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Thursday Jan 26, 2017 #
Event: Kent Night Cup
7 PM
Running warm up/down 2:55 0.55 km (5:16 / km) +20m 4:28 / km
ahr:148 max:157 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Night Orienteering race (Score) 55:01 7.97 km (6:54 / km) +256m 5:57 / km
ahr:164 max:180 spiked:17/20c shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Kent Night Cup Norbury Park.
Finished 4th / 45 to my great surprise, as I have made many mistakes both tactically and navigationally. http://mvoc.org/Events/20170126KNC/results/knc_sco...
Looking at the map I decided to go around the eastern end and collect the controls through that valley, then head up to the top of the hill and collect the controls through there, zig-zagging all the way towards the end.
I wasn't precise through. Straight to control 2 (209) I was stuck in green up the slope so wasn't particularly well placed, then to control 3 (213) I climbed too high and bounced back from the fence corner. The next few controls were OK but mainly just path running and dipping out into the forest at the right place. As I headed up to the top of the hill, I overshot the junction (still don't know how I did not notice the junction), so had to cross the forest strip, and then made a 90 deg error straight as I came out to the track believing I hit the one I expected to take initially. By the time I noticed my mistake I was closer to 215 so decided to punch that before heading back to 217 - this may have been the best recovery but it still meant I kept wasting time overall. Over then to 216 and then collected the few controls on the way back and I needed to start thinking about which controls to drop at this point as it became clearer and clearer that I wasn't going to collect them all. I have decided to drop all on the eastern slope (this was probably wise given the time pressure at this point), but then as I looped back to collect the few on the top of the hill I have seen many orienteers heading in the opposite direction as I was now running away from the finish. I panicked and looked at my watch which shown only a few minutes and in the middle of the leg I changed my mind and decided to drop the two controls in my direction and opted for a shorter loop - taken 204 and 207 before the obvious two last controls on the way to the finish (203/201). I looked at my watch again and the seconds were counting down so I pushed as hard as I could downhill and through the field (looking at the splits not hard enough because I still lost about 28 sec on the last control and for the finish from the best split, even if Dan is a fit young M21), just about punching the finish before my watch beeped. At which point I puzzlingly looked and seen it was prompting me to run the last interval "run 5 mins" which basically meant that I was racing not against the finish but against the penultimate programmed split and still had 5 minutes to spare! Which is annoying because I clearly had the scope to collect the 2 additional controls I planned before I changed my mind. Which means even without accounting for the many mistakes I had scope to win this event given that I was 10 points (1 control) behind only. I think this must have been an event full of mistakes for everyone as I wasn't running particularly well and making all those mistakes, I expected to be much futher down the rankings.
Finished 4th / 45 to my great surprise, as I have made many mistakes both tactically and navigationally. http://mvoc.org/Events/20170126KNC/results/knc_sco...
Looking at the map I decided to go around the eastern end and collect the controls through that valley, then head up to the top of the hill and collect the controls through there, zig-zagging all the way towards the end.
I wasn't precise through. Straight to control 2 (209) I was stuck in green up the slope so wasn't particularly well placed, then to control 3 (213) I climbed too high and bounced back from the fence corner. The next few controls were OK but mainly just path running and dipping out into the forest at the right place. As I headed up to the top of the hill, I overshot the junction (still don't know how I did not notice the junction), so had to cross the forest strip, and then made a 90 deg error straight as I came out to the track believing I hit the one I expected to take initially. By the time I noticed my mistake I was closer to 215 so decided to punch that before heading back to 217 - this may have been the best recovery but it still meant I kept wasting time overall. Over then to 216 and then collected the few controls on the way back and I needed to start thinking about which controls to drop at this point as it became clearer and clearer that I wasn't going to collect them all. I have decided to drop all on the eastern slope (this was probably wise given the time pressure at this point), but then as I looped back to collect the few on the top of the hill I have seen many orienteers heading in the opposite direction as I was now running away from the finish. I panicked and looked at my watch which shown only a few minutes and in the middle of the leg I changed my mind and decided to drop the two controls in my direction and opted for a shorter loop - taken 204 and 207 before the obvious two last controls on the way to the finish (203/201). I looked at my watch again and the seconds were counting down so I pushed as hard as I could downhill and through the field (looking at the splits not hard enough because I still lost about 28 sec on the last control and for the finish from the best split, even if Dan is a fit young M21), just about punching the finish before my watch beeped. At which point I puzzlingly looked and seen it was prompting me to run the last interval "run 5 mins" which basically meant that I was racing not against the finish but against the penultimate programmed split and still had 5 minutes to spare! Which is annoying because I clearly had the scope to collect the 2 additional controls I planned before I changed my mind. Which means even without accounting for the many mistakes I had scope to win this event given that I was 10 points (1 control) behind only. I think this must have been an event full of mistakes for everyone as I wasn't running particularly well and making all those mistakes, I expected to be much futher down the rankings.
Night Orienteering warm up/down 47:38 6.62 km (7:12 / km) +146m 6:29 / km
ahr:150 max:167 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Control collecting - bloody freezing and I have forgotten to get a gel or water down before I headed back out to the forest after the score, and paid the price as I ran out of energy halfway out with nothing to refuel with. So just had to push through which even though I was just jogging, wasn't easy, especially with carrying all the control stakes etc.
Wednesday Jan 25, 2017 #
Note
(rest day)
Company outing after work
Tuesday Jan 24, 2017 #
7 AM
Strength / Conditioning / Drills 27:31 [3] 0.0 km
7 PM
Running warm up/down 8:44 1.65 km (5:18 / km) +17m 5:03 / km
ahr:144 max:153 shoes: Haglofs Gram XC 2016
Night Orienteering race 37:57 *** 6.95 km (5:28 / km) +11m 5:25 / km
ahr:168 max:180 spiked:15/15c shoes: Haglofs Gram XC 2016
SLOW Ham Night-O
Not sure I had the speed. Luckily for once this was within running distance to my B&B, so easy solution to warm-up and cool down.
An interesting course with street sections in between almost sprint like woodland sections. Mostly well controlled, except for one mistake in the riverside, and one in the woodland. Nothing to learn there other than "pay attention". A few suboptimal route choices including the middle section through the houses where I suddenly noticed someone has popped out in front without overtaking - he actually used a much shorter alleyway shortcut that I did not notice.
Sections very slippery due to ice so had to slow down to avoid falling over, surprisingly this meant quite a lot of the pavement.
Not sure I had the speed. Luckily for once this was within running distance to my B&B, so easy solution to warm-up and cool down.
An interesting course with street sections in between almost sprint like woodland sections. Mostly well controlled, except for one mistake in the riverside, and one in the woodland. Nothing to learn there other than "pay attention". A few suboptimal route choices including the middle section through the houses where I suddenly noticed someone has popped out in front without overtaking - he actually used a much shorter alleyway shortcut that I did not notice.
Sections very slippery due to ice so had to slow down to avoid falling over, surprisingly this meant quite a lot of the pavement.
Running warm up/down 9:44 1.75 km (5:33 / km) +1m 5:31 / km
ahr:144 max:153 shoes: Haglofs Gram XC 2016
Monday Jan 23, 2017 #
Note
(rest day)
Travel, work...
Sunday Jan 22, 2017 #
11 AM
Running warm up/down 3:16 0.59 km (5:32 / km) +27m 4:30 / km
ahr:153 max:164 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Orienteering race (Blue) 57:36 *** 7.53 km (7:39 / km) +217m 6:41 / km
ahr:168 max:178 spiked:18/18c shoes: VJ iRock 2016
For today, I figured I should get there early, and run both the Brown and the Blue courses as a training exercise. Yes, I am using these events as training opportunities, not as target races. Next weekend is the Concorde Chase where I will run Black, and that will be a race that I treat with higher significance than this weeks Galoppen – I will try and push all the way and see how my fitness holds up through that long distance. But as preparation, I wanted to run Brown as a race and then just jog through the Blue with 70% effort but use the terrain as much as possible.
As I got there they weren’t sure if they will have enough Brown maps, so I had to reverse the plan and run Blue first – this meant that it had to be the competitive one.
Most of the Blue course was OK. I did wonder a lot of places why there were such a lot of undergrowth not mapped – in hindsight, looking at the Routegadget, I realised a lot more green on the map than during running. I have looked at the map hard now and realised that they were there, but hte green print was very faint, so I did not see a lot of it during the run. This effected my route choices and pretty sure even that underestimated the vegetation in places, especially between 11-12 where I was seriously stuck in brambles and what should have been dark green on the map. I have lost about 2 minutes there, running around on the track would have been much faster. My other bigger mistake was 4-5 where I have decided to run over the hilltop, again not realising that the open field on the other side would be full of brambles stopping me from just running down there. Running around on the track would have been again about 2 minute faster. Besides this I had smaller mistakes to 1 and 14 and a few seconds here and there, which means I legitimately lost 5 minutes – the remaining 4 minutes that I was behind the winner was purely running speed most likely.
As I got there they weren’t sure if they will have enough Brown maps, so I had to reverse the plan and run Blue first – this meant that it had to be the competitive one.
Most of the Blue course was OK. I did wonder a lot of places why there were such a lot of undergrowth not mapped – in hindsight, looking at the Routegadget, I realised a lot more green on the map than during running. I have looked at the map hard now and realised that they were there, but hte green print was very faint, so I did not see a lot of it during the run. This effected my route choices and pretty sure even that underestimated the vegetation in places, especially between 11-12 where I was seriously stuck in brambles and what should have been dark green on the map. I have lost about 2 minutes there, running around on the track would have been much faster. My other bigger mistake was 4-5 where I have decided to run over the hilltop, again not realising that the open field on the other side would be full of brambles stopping me from just running down there. Running around on the track would have been again about 2 minute faster. Besides this I had smaller mistakes to 1 and 14 and a few seconds here and there, which means I legitimately lost 5 minutes – the remaining 4 minutes that I was behind the winner was purely running speed most likely.
Running warm up/down 3:22 0.57 km (5:55 / km) +25m 4:52 / km
ahr:154 max:163 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Orienteering long 1:40:10 **** 10.52 km (9:31 / km) +379m 8:04 / km
ahr:152 max:166 spiked:26/26c shoes: VJ iRock 2016
By the time I got back they had plenty of Brown maps left but only 2 minutes before the start window closed, so I jogged around the Brown course, completing both as the training plan dictated, even though I was pretty exhausted by the middle of the Brown course.
I wasn’t pushing the running at all so no expectation of any result and no use comparing times. However, I wanted to have a clean run at least, which unfortunately wasn’t the case. The first wobble came on leg 7, where I initially wanted to run out to the tarmac road, but a combination of seeing the (not really mapped) drop to and with of the stream, and my initial plan to use the course as a terrain running training convinced me to turn back and go more or less straight. That was a decent plan, but then very poorly executed. I ended up way too high and on the road, climbing 10m more than I needed, and not used the small paths as well as I should have. I then messed up 9 which was strange because I had that control on the Blue course where I had no problems, but the whole leg here was executed like a mess, more a hope and pray than a proper plan with attackpoint. I paid the price! Which as usually the case, lead to messing up 10 as well (though not as much). I messed up my pace counting probably because I started to look for the control too early and then veered right thinking I wasn’t on the right bearing. I did then turn back before it became an even bigger mess and luckily saw the control. I suspect leg 11 in a real race situation would have been faster running up on the track – the forest was full of brashings so it was a slog to contouring round. I even ended up above the control and almost overran by one spur but again luckily I spotted the control and ran back for it. Luckily this ended the streak of badly executed controls and the next few were quite precise, although I did actually take it very carefully in the tricky bits around 14-17. The only control where I made a slight mistake was 15 – learning from my mistakes yesterday I di have a good plan to run down the path and then the spine of the spur, unfortunately the complex terrain meant that I first came across a different reentrant than mine. I quickly corrected though. Leg 18 was another slog where the hillside that was supposed to be white was full of brashings and brambles and I would have been better off running around, at least in a race situation. At this point though I was quite tired and out of gels, so I really broke down to walking up there into 18 and out of 18 up to the crest of the hill. Luckily from this point there weren’t many climbs and neither did I make any more notable mistakes (though I did take one or two quite safe but longer route choices).
I wasn’t pushing the running at all so no expectation of any result and no use comparing times. However, I wanted to have a clean run at least, which unfortunately wasn’t the case. The first wobble came on leg 7, where I initially wanted to run out to the tarmac road, but a combination of seeing the (not really mapped) drop to and with of the stream, and my initial plan to use the course as a terrain running training convinced me to turn back and go more or less straight. That was a decent plan, but then very poorly executed. I ended up way too high and on the road, climbing 10m more than I needed, and not used the small paths as well as I should have. I then messed up 9 which was strange because I had that control on the Blue course where I had no problems, but the whole leg here was executed like a mess, more a hope and pray than a proper plan with attackpoint. I paid the price! Which as usually the case, lead to messing up 10 as well (though not as much). I messed up my pace counting probably because I started to look for the control too early and then veered right thinking I wasn’t on the right bearing. I did then turn back before it became an even bigger mess and luckily saw the control. I suspect leg 11 in a real race situation would have been faster running up on the track – the forest was full of brashings so it was a slog to contouring round. I even ended up above the control and almost overran by one spur but again luckily I spotted the control and ran back for it. Luckily this ended the streak of badly executed controls and the next few were quite precise, although I did actually take it very carefully in the tricky bits around 14-17. The only control where I made a slight mistake was 15 – learning from my mistakes yesterday I di have a good plan to run down the path and then the spine of the spur, unfortunately the complex terrain meant that I first came across a different reentrant than mine. I quickly corrected though. Leg 18 was another slog where the hillside that was supposed to be white was full of brashings and brambles and I would have been better off running around, at least in a race situation. At this point though I was quite tired and out of gels, so I really broke down to walking up there into 18 and out of 18 up to the crest of the hill. Luckily from this point there weren’t many climbs and neither did I make any more notable mistakes (though I did take one or two quite safe but longer route choices).
Saturday Jan 21, 2017 #
8 AM
Running warm up/down 4:34 [3] 0.94 km (4:51 / km) +2m 4:48 / km
shoes: Haglofs Gram XC 2016
Running tempo (Parkrun) 20:00 [4] 5.02 km (3:59 / km) +12m 3:56 / km
shoes: Haglofs Gram XC 2016
Bournemouth Parkrun
Going out after 4 days away from exercise and hectic timings with the UK Open and work during the week meant I wasn't sure how my legs would cope. I knew I wasn't going to be tired, and my toes would have had some more time to heal though, so I put on some proper running (but not racing) shoes finally.
I was going to only do this as a shakeout session, but I felt good after the first km, so kept going with it at about 80% effort. When the third km was 4:05 and I was still on target to be under 20min I committed myself to try and make it, despite not having this as my original target at all. I still wasn't pushing 100% but was trying, unfortunately at around 3.5km my left ankles started to seize up a bit, that was clearly due to lack of recent exercise and movements as the muscles tensed up. I was also developing a stitch and was on the verge of just giving up. Fortunately at around the 4km point they were gone and the incline in the road became the priority to focus on, which wiped out the stitch and ankle issues, I just had to deal with the familiar sensation of oxygen dept there. This was just enough for me to steadily run to the finish (being overtaken by 3 men sprinting a the finish line but I wasn't bothered too much as this wasn't a race for position). And when I stopped my watch it had shown 19:59:9 which I will argue means another 5k just under the 20m mark which was the target for most of my parkruns this year, so pretty happy with it, especially given the circumstances and my effort invested.
Going out after 4 days away from exercise and hectic timings with the UK Open and work during the week meant I wasn't sure how my legs would cope. I knew I wasn't going to be tired, and my toes would have had some more time to heal though, so I put on some proper running (but not racing) shoes finally.
I was going to only do this as a shakeout session, but I felt good after the first km, so kept going with it at about 80% effort. When the third km was 4:05 and I was still on target to be under 20min I committed myself to try and make it, despite not having this as my original target at all. I still wasn't pushing 100% but was trying, unfortunately at around 3.5km my left ankles started to seize up a bit, that was clearly due to lack of recent exercise and movements as the muscles tensed up. I was also developing a stitch and was on the verge of just giving up. Fortunately at around the 4km point they were gone and the incline in the road became the priority to focus on, which wiped out the stitch and ankle issues, I just had to deal with the familiar sensation of oxygen dept there. This was just enough for me to steadily run to the finish (being overtaken by 3 men sprinting a the finish line but I wasn't bothered too much as this wasn't a race for position). And when I stopped my watch it had shown 19:59:9 which I will argue means another 5k just under the 20m mark which was the target for most of my parkruns this year, so pretty happy with it, especially given the circumstances and my effort invested.
Running warm up/down 13:14 [3] 2.52 km (5:15 / km) +5m 5:11 / km
shoes: Haglofs Gram XC 2016
2 PM
Orienteering tempo 49:32 *** 7.16 km (6:55 / km) +43m 6:43 / km
ahr:167 max:178 spiked:28/29c shoes: VJ Supra
Avon Heath informal 45 minutes score
First time since I have destroyed my toe that I tried a proper O-shoe in terrain. Planned therefore to run this cautiously and as a training session more than a race.
From the perspective of my toes, the event was OK and should hopefully hold up better tomorrow in a proper race situation. In the running sense, I wasn't pushing very much so not that surprised that I wasn't making it in the 45 minutes allowed, knowing that I was going to be over time I opted for collecting all controls and a longer training session instead.
From an overall performance perspective not very happy however. I am fairly sure that I did not have the best strategy (although not catastrophic). However, I messed up in that I missed one of the controls (160) in the middle of the map that I was supposed to pick that up towards the end loop.
I have also made several navigational mistakes that I really should not have, especially with the lower tempo, and lost time on:
157 - I was careful and whilst the vegetation wasn't mapped particularly well, I wasn't following the contours as well as I should have - knowingly "cheated" not going to the top of the spur to attack it but risked going around underneath hoping to be faster - ended up confusing the contours and taking 2 minutes longer than I should have.
131 - coming from 203, similar to the mistake above I tried to go more straight and come up to the control from underneath, which was a major tactical error. As this was a ditch control on the spur, I never should have attacked it from below but rather follow the curve of the spur on top to have a good line of sight. This mistake meant that I ran past the control underneath (the 7500 map distances were all too short for my routine so it was easy to overestimate the distances), bounced back from the path and had to fight through the rough open heather twice. Cost me almost 2 minutes as well.
201 - Not sure if the two standalone trees were properly mapped in relation to the ditch - ran past the ditch first. The vegetation here is definitely not mapped well, it is a lot more dense than mapped. Cost maybe 30 sec, but also getting out on the road to 202 was quite a fight and I suspect I lost another minute or so there.
200 - again, not path as mapped but the time I lost was more a directional error so taking more a curved approach than I should have. 30s
205 - The mapped depression is in fact in the middle of quite dense undergrowth so ended up running past first but only slightly, seeing a few features around I put together what happened and looped around the bushes to find it. Still, 30s or so lost.
163 - slightly disorientated out of 164 and had to really push myself to believe the compass. Ran on bearing which I suspect was not the optimal route choice, in hindsight running left on the path and then through the open field would have been quicker by 30s.
Finish - carelessly just ran on bearing out of 165 not noticing the impassable fence, to be honest had to fight through unmapped dense green too before. Then I was just pissed off and climbed the fence anyway, but going around would have been faster.
Lost way too much time navigationally then, I suspect that my "just training" approach meant that I wasn't focusing well enough, and strangely enough the 70% effort I mentally had on running also spilled over to mean 70% concentration on navigation. That is not a very good result, but something that is good to know about myself and maybe think about next time.
First time since I have destroyed my toe that I tried a proper O-shoe in terrain. Planned therefore to run this cautiously and as a training session more than a race.
From the perspective of my toes, the event was OK and should hopefully hold up better tomorrow in a proper race situation. In the running sense, I wasn't pushing very much so not that surprised that I wasn't making it in the 45 minutes allowed, knowing that I was going to be over time I opted for collecting all controls and a longer training session instead.
From an overall performance perspective not very happy however. I am fairly sure that I did not have the best strategy (although not catastrophic). However, I messed up in that I missed one of the controls (160) in the middle of the map that I was supposed to pick that up towards the end loop.
I have also made several navigational mistakes that I really should not have, especially with the lower tempo, and lost time on:
157 - I was careful and whilst the vegetation wasn't mapped particularly well, I wasn't following the contours as well as I should have - knowingly "cheated" not going to the top of the spur to attack it but risked going around underneath hoping to be faster - ended up confusing the contours and taking 2 minutes longer than I should have.
131 - coming from 203, similar to the mistake above I tried to go more straight and come up to the control from underneath, which was a major tactical error. As this was a ditch control on the spur, I never should have attacked it from below but rather follow the curve of the spur on top to have a good line of sight. This mistake meant that I ran past the control underneath (the 7500 map distances were all too short for my routine so it was easy to overestimate the distances), bounced back from the path and had to fight through the rough open heather twice. Cost me almost 2 minutes as well.
201 - Not sure if the two standalone trees were properly mapped in relation to the ditch - ran past the ditch first. The vegetation here is definitely not mapped well, it is a lot more dense than mapped. Cost maybe 30 sec, but also getting out on the road to 202 was quite a fight and I suspect I lost another minute or so there.
200 - again, not path as mapped but the time I lost was more a directional error so taking more a curved approach than I should have. 30s
205 - The mapped depression is in fact in the middle of quite dense undergrowth so ended up running past first but only slightly, seeing a few features around I put together what happened and looped around the bushes to find it. Still, 30s or so lost.
163 - slightly disorientated out of 164 and had to really push myself to believe the compass. Ran on bearing which I suspect was not the optimal route choice, in hindsight running left on the path and then through the open field would have been quicker by 30s.
Finish - carelessly just ran on bearing out of 165 not noticing the impassable fence, to be honest had to fight through unmapped dense green too before. Then I was just pissed off and climbed the fence anyway, but going around would have been faster.
Lost way too much time navigationally then, I suspect that my "just training" approach meant that I wasn't focusing well enough, and strangely enough the 70% effort I mentally had on running also spilled over to mean 70% concentration on navigation. That is not a very good result, but something that is good to know about myself and maybe think about next time.
Tuesday Jan 17, 2017 #
Note
(rest day)
3 days of UK Open - taking all day so no time for anything else like running...
Monday Jan 16, 2017 #
6 PM
Running 1:14:46 15.14 km (4:56 / km) +112m 4:46 / km
ahr:156 max:168 shoes: Reebok One Cushion Trail
Longer tempo interval session, with the push sections aimed at 4:30 pace for about 5kms at a time.
Doubled this as a session to buy tickets to the UK Open, so ran on the promenade.
Pretty miserable weather, rain, wind and cold, so cut shorter than originally planned as I just did not fancy being out there longer.
Doubled this as a session to buy tickets to the UK Open, so ran on the promenade.
Pretty miserable weather, rain, wind and cold, so cut shorter than originally planned as I just did not fancy being out there longer.
Sunday Jan 15, 2017 #
Event: SOC Level C & SCOL 5
11 AM
Running warm up/down 3:48 0.54 km (6:59 / km) +28m 5:35 / km
ahr:146 max:163 shoes: More Mile Cheviot 2 - 2016
Orienteering race (Brown) 1:17:22 *** 11.53 km (6:43 / km) +111m 6:24 / km
ahr:170 max:182 spiked:23/23c shoes: More Mile Cheviot 2 - 2016
SOC Parkhill Enclosure event (Level C).
4th / 15 on the Brown course, and quite a mixed race.
I tried in the morning whether I can put on a proper O-Shoe but that's a no-go still The iRocks that I normally would wear for this terrain have hurt my toes as soon as I put them on. In the end I used the More Mile shoes that are really not for this terrain as they fill up with water fast and get heavy and cold, I have them more for dry races, and with the recent rain the New Forest terrain is anything but. At least it has a relatively roomy toe box so whilst it was pressing on my toe, it was bearable - and by the time I was out on the course it did not cause much discomfort in that regard. I was quite keen to try out how my toe affects me after 2 weeks in a terrain and orienteering situation.
As far as the course goes, it was a decently planned one - to be honest this terrain mostly would predict a compass bearing exercise as it is mostly runnable (though with undergrowth in places and definitely very boggy - often it would be slower to run on tracks because of the mud than in the surrounding forest despite the branches and stuff).
I started fairly decent, although based on the splits still slower than Laurence T (I don't even compare myself yet with Tom B who is much younger and duly won), until about control 9 where I was about a minute slower, and I can't figure out why?! I suspect my route choice has to do with it - I first ran on the road then after crossing the fences I switched to the forest. I suspect it would have been faster the other way around, but it is a huge time loss that I find difficult to explain. Further losses that I know about:
11 - I was very hesitant getting to the broken ground and then finding my way around it - probably lost about 30s
From this point on I was noticeably slowing down in the splits. In fact, I did feel weaker and took a gel on the way to 12, so clearly some slowdown is due to physical condition from here.
12 - Apart from taking gels and observing a herd of about 20 deers running about 10m from me, I did make a directional error out of 11 her losing about 20s as well.
15 - the first big mistake. I took a dive in the middle of the leg, and that has shaken me up a bit (although this was me kicking something with the leg that isn't my damaged one), I think this possibly contributed to my confusion once I came across a control at a ditch junction. I knew it wasn't mine, but could not find it on the map. I finally concluded that it was what was mapped as a ditch end with a small clearing, but not before even checking if this was my #2 control which was nearby. I was totally confused and spent about 1m here, and this is where Laurence caught me up and ran past.
16 - As I was running through the woods I saw an elder lady taking a tumble so I stopped to check if she was OK. She wasn't, then she was - so I spent about half a minute on this. This was just enough to lose sight of Laurence ahead and I was running alone again from here. I also made too many hesitations here and directional changes due to the undergrowth that wasn't consistent with the map, so probably lost more here (over 1min down on the split, but unsure how much of this is attributable to simply being slower)
21 - ran past the control the stopped and spent again too much time hesitating. Finally decided to just run to the junction and try again with a different bearing that worked. It took me 2 min however.
So all in all about 4.5 min avoidable mistakes if only I was a bit more assertive with my approach!
4th / 15 on the Brown course, and quite a mixed race.
I tried in the morning whether I can put on a proper O-Shoe but that's a no-go still The iRocks that I normally would wear for this terrain have hurt my toes as soon as I put them on. In the end I used the More Mile shoes that are really not for this terrain as they fill up with water fast and get heavy and cold, I have them more for dry races, and with the recent rain the New Forest terrain is anything but. At least it has a relatively roomy toe box so whilst it was pressing on my toe, it was bearable - and by the time I was out on the course it did not cause much discomfort in that regard. I was quite keen to try out how my toe affects me after 2 weeks in a terrain and orienteering situation.
As far as the course goes, it was a decently planned one - to be honest this terrain mostly would predict a compass bearing exercise as it is mostly runnable (though with undergrowth in places and definitely very boggy - often it would be slower to run on tracks because of the mud than in the surrounding forest despite the branches and stuff).
I started fairly decent, although based on the splits still slower than Laurence T (I don't even compare myself yet with Tom B who is much younger and duly won), until about control 9 where I was about a minute slower, and I can't figure out why?! I suspect my route choice has to do with it - I first ran on the road then after crossing the fences I switched to the forest. I suspect it would have been faster the other way around, but it is a huge time loss that I find difficult to explain. Further losses that I know about:
11 - I was very hesitant getting to the broken ground and then finding my way around it - probably lost about 30s
From this point on I was noticeably slowing down in the splits. In fact, I did feel weaker and took a gel on the way to 12, so clearly some slowdown is due to physical condition from here.
12 - Apart from taking gels and observing a herd of about 20 deers running about 10m from me, I did make a directional error out of 11 her losing about 20s as well.
15 - the first big mistake. I took a dive in the middle of the leg, and that has shaken me up a bit (although this was me kicking something with the leg that isn't my damaged one), I think this possibly contributed to my confusion once I came across a control at a ditch junction. I knew it wasn't mine, but could not find it on the map. I finally concluded that it was what was mapped as a ditch end with a small clearing, but not before even checking if this was my #2 control which was nearby. I was totally confused and spent about 1m here, and this is where Laurence caught me up and ran past.
16 - As I was running through the woods I saw an elder lady taking a tumble so I stopped to check if she was OK. She wasn't, then she was - so I spent about half a minute on this. This was just enough to lose sight of Laurence ahead and I was running alone again from here. I also made too many hesitations here and directional changes due to the undergrowth that wasn't consistent with the map, so probably lost more here (over 1min down on the split, but unsure how much of this is attributable to simply being slower)
21 - ran past the control the stopped and spent again too much time hesitating. Finally decided to just run to the junction and try again with a different bearing that worked. It took me 2 min however.
So all in all about 4.5 min avoidable mistakes if only I was a bit more assertive with my approach!
Running warm up/down 7:16 0.72 km (10:08 / km) +13m 9:16 / km
ahr:137 max:161 shoes: More Mile Cheviot 2 - 2016
Saturday Jan 14, 2017 #
8 AM
Running warm up/down 10:15 1.95 km (5:16 / km) +7m 5:11 / km
ahr:145 max:155 shoes: Reebok One Cushion Trail
Running race (Parkrun) 19:57 4.99 km (4:00 / km) +2m 3:59 / km
ahr:175 max:185 shoes: Reebok One Cushion Trail
Bournemouth Parkrun #181
18/479: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bournemouth/results/week...
Quite windy and cold. With some decent warm-up and stretching I managed to get under 20min again, although wasn't hopeful when I felt the wind during the warm-up. Happy to finally run in a running shoe, tried it to see what my toe reacts, although to be fair this is still an older shoe with a roomy toebox. It felt OK though.
Also happy with the time given the conditions, the target for 2017 is to be consistently under 20min but I need to get to the point where it is less effort because I was giving 90-100% all the way, and that is not a sustainable effort for longer distances, and this is a pace I would need to consistently keep under.
18/479: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/bournemouth/results/week...
Quite windy and cold. With some decent warm-up and stretching I managed to get under 20min again, although wasn't hopeful when I felt the wind during the warm-up. Happy to finally run in a running shoe, tried it to see what my toe reacts, although to be fair this is still an older shoe with a roomy toebox. It felt OK though.
Also happy with the time given the conditions, the target for 2017 is to be consistently under 20min but I need to get to the point where it is less effort because I was giving 90-100% all the way, and that is not a sustainable effort for longer distances, and this is a pace I would need to consistently keep under.
Running warm up/down 10:27 1.85 km (5:39 / km) +5m 5:34 / km
ahr:149 max:158 shoes: Reebok One Cushion Trail
Strength / Conditioning / Drills 20:36
ahr:105 max:124
Some strength and core exercises to round out the hour
Thursday Jan 12, 2017 #
6 PM
Running warm up/down 3:35 0.64 km (5:36 / km)
ahr:151 max:160
Urban Orienteering race 59:50 11.63 km (5:09 / km) +47m 5:03 / km
ahr:162 max:177
Romsey Wessex Night League, more a Street-O type event, except that there were proper controls out (thank you) as opposed to the SLOW Street-O events where you have to write down clues at every "control". Touch-free punching also meant better flow in/out of the controls (usually - I had to double back for a few that didn't register first).
Well planned by RHF, you really had to think and there were quite a few options, not only for the generic strategy but specifically in between quite a few pairs of controls the route to choose. This is in my mind an indication of good planning as it reduces dead running - even though some of that is inevitable in a street event and there was some here too. A really nice intricate area in the NE corner of the map, had to take it carefully and almost felt like a Sprint event in that area with lots of rapid decisions and the opportunity to practice route simplification a bit.
2nd place, exactly like I expected when I went through in my head driving there trying to guess the likely contenders. Dave C won, and whilst in hindsight I don't think my strategy was the best, he seems to have followed most of the same strategy, so this was purely about him being faster than I am. Not really a surprise there, but a confirmation of an aim for myself to work towards :)
Made a few errors amounting to about 2 min altogether (this includes changing my mind and doubling back a few times), and from a running perspective felt quite tired in the middle section. Once I conquered the uphill it became easier and somehow I also felt fresher from that point as well, so tried to push.
Well planned by RHF, you really had to think and there were quite a few options, not only for the generic strategy but specifically in between quite a few pairs of controls the route to choose. This is in my mind an indication of good planning as it reduces dead running - even though some of that is inevitable in a street event and there was some here too. A really nice intricate area in the NE corner of the map, had to take it carefully and almost felt like a Sprint event in that area with lots of rapid decisions and the opportunity to practice route simplification a bit.
2nd place, exactly like I expected when I went through in my head driving there trying to guess the likely contenders. Dave C won, and whilst in hindsight I don't think my strategy was the best, he seems to have followed most of the same strategy, so this was purely about him being faster than I am. Not really a surprise there, but a confirmation of an aim for myself to work towards :)
Made a few errors amounting to about 2 min altogether (this includes changing my mind and doubling back a few times), and from a running perspective felt quite tired in the middle section. Once I conquered the uphill it became easier and somehow I also felt fresher from that point as well, so tried to push.
Wednesday Jan 11, 2017 #
7 PM
Urban Orienteering race 57:12 10.5 km (5:27 / km) +41m 5:21 / km
ahr:158 max:172
Balham Street-O
No clue about position, as it is not published yet, but probably didn't do very well. As usual, didn't really have a good strategy and running wise felt quite a slog. Not sure if it is the long drive up (late to get there, thanks to traffic), yesterday's training, lack of warm-up... but this did not feel good from a running perspective. I suppose one needs these type of sessions too for improvement - the Street-O events are anyway forming part of my training regime simply to get away from boring running. Navigation is usually simple, but still there were quite a few tactical errors in the ordering of the controls that I have made.
No clue about position, as it is not published yet, but probably didn't do very well. As usual, didn't really have a good strategy and running wise felt quite a slog. Not sure if it is the long drive up (late to get there, thanks to traffic), yesterday's training, lack of warm-up... but this did not feel good from a running perspective. I suppose one needs these type of sessions too for improvement - the Street-O events are anyway forming part of my training regime simply to get away from boring running. Navigation is usually simple, but still there were quite a few tactical errors in the ordering of the controls that I have made.
10 PM
Running warm up/down 8:51 [3] 1.67 km (5:17 / km) +1m 5:16 / km
Getting food!
Tuesday Jan 10, 2017 #
5 PM
Cycling 24:20 6.13 km (15.1 kph) +29m
ahr:148 max:165
To Uni for the Wessex training as a warm-up. Late as usual as I haven't used this cycle so had to do some unexpected maintenance...
Running intervals 49:54 10.01 km (4:59 / km) +140m 4:39 / km
ahr:160 max:180
A blend of the Wessex Tuesday training and what is in the Spari training plan. Wessex session today was Medium hills and I just got to the location when everyone has finished, partially because I was late getting to the Uni, partially because I kept getting lost running to the location... but in any case I already started the training instead of just a warm-up as that happened through my cycle commute there.
Spari training session was supposed to be a 45-49 min fartlek session with a 2min fast - 4 min slow type run on level ground, so I combined the two by running a roughly 2+min fast / 2+min slow pace, but of course it ended up being an undulating run. Once I got to the Wessex hills location, I then continued by running the full length hill, with each rep up/down the same effort (usually the effort is only up with recovery down), alternating the effort every 2nd rep, doing 10 of these before going back to the Uni.
Still running in the 1/2 size larger training shoe, but the toe started to stop bothering me now, even though it is still far from being fully healed. I will try normal size shoes from the weekend. Felt quite good after the session.
Spari training session was supposed to be a 45-49 min fartlek session with a 2min fast - 4 min slow type run on level ground, so I combined the two by running a roughly 2+min fast / 2+min slow pace, but of course it ended up being an undulating run. Once I got to the Wessex hills location, I then continued by running the full length hill, with each rep up/down the same effort (usually the effort is only up with recovery down), alternating the effort every 2nd rep, doing 10 of these before going back to the Uni.
Still running in the 1/2 size larger training shoe, but the toe started to stop bothering me now, even though it is still far from being fully healed. I will try normal size shoes from the weekend. Felt quite good after the session.
8 PM
Cycling 22:52 6.34 km (16.6 kph)
ahr:132 max:153
Back from training
Sunday Jan 8, 2017 #
3 PM
Running long 1:36:52 17.59 km (5:30 / km) +164m 5:16 / km
ahr:160 max:175
Long session through St. Cathrene's hill, Ramsdown and then through the estuary. My first semi-terrain run since the toe injury to gently "test the waters". Still running in a 1/2 size larger, not really ideal running shoe. At least the toes felt mostly OK.
I messed up my eating regime during the day as I was tied down with updates to the club new website and did not realise the time. I then had to eat quite late and quite close before I had to leave to get to R. This may be the reason that my HR was all messed up - it was a purposely slow run but my HR was much higher than I would have expected at this tempo normally.
Energy was also lacking and whilst normally I would expect to last this distance without a gel I actually had to have one at around 35 mins! Again probably down to the messed up nutrition through the day.
Got quite dark by the time I got to R due to starting late but good views from St.Cathrene's hill.
I messed up my eating regime during the day as I was tied down with updates to the club new website and did not realise the time. I then had to eat quite late and quite close before I had to leave to get to R. This may be the reason that my HR was all messed up - it was a purposely slow run but my HR was much higher than I would have expected at this tempo normally.
Energy was also lacking and whilst normally I would expect to last this distance without a gel I actually had to have one at around 35 mins! Again probably down to the messed up nutrition through the day.
Got quite dark by the time I got to R due to starting late but good views from St.Cathrene's hill.
Running warm up/down 18:07 3.23 km (5:36 / km) +21m 5:26 / km
ahr:155 max:167
Had some lasagna with R+K after we went through some website work updates. I got a lift to the cliff tops from R before I jogged back home as a semi-cool down exercise. I have to say I now felt why I keep the rule about time between eating and running - not a good idea to run after eating!
Running 1:05 0.19 km (5:42 / km)
ahr:137 max:146
Running 17:02 3.04 km (5:36 / km) +21m 5:25 / km
ahr:155 max:167
Saturday Jan 7, 2017 #
9 AM
Running tempo (Parkrun) 23:00 5.01 km (4:36 / km) +13m 4:32 / km
ahr:170 max:179
Very tempting to go to the BOK Event, in the end though I think sanity won and I settled for the Parkrun today. I do prefer Orienteering and from looking at an older map Leigh Wood would have offered some interesting route choice and terrain challenges. However, I think it is better to allow my toe to heal properly and not jeopardise the season, so stuck with less terrain and less risk for kicking something again in the rough and aggrevating the injury.
So this was just a Parkrun, but I was late for that as I could not find my barcode! In the end it turned out to be a modified route for me then, although distance wise almost the same, but I started late from home rather than from the startline, so had to join the crowd from about 600m on, then comb my way through it looking for Ian. I finally caught him up at around 3km, then ran with him to the finish at about 80% effort.
So this was just a Parkrun, but I was late for that as I could not find my barcode! In the end it turned out to be a modified route for me then, although distance wise almost the same, but I started late from home rather than from the startline, so had to join the crowd from about 600m on, then comb my way through it looking for Ian. I finally caught him up at around 3km, then ran with him to the finish at about 80% effort.
Running warm up/down 5:23 0.99 km (5:27 / km)
ahr:153 max:161
Thursday Jan 5, 2017 #
8 PM
Running tempo 1:10:52 14.29 km (4:58 / km) +173m 4:41 / km
ahr:161 max:181
Toe still quite ginger so ran in the half size larger shoe which isn't really a running shoe.
Shouldn't really do this for long so hope that my toe will heal soon to a degree when I can run in a proper running shoe but I do not want to aggravate it yet. However, I wanted also to see if I can do a decent training session with it. Just straight running, no terrain yet. It was OK most of the session although I can feel it a bit afterwards.
The session itself was based on my interpretation for the Spari training session planned for today - that was suggesting 9-10x circuits in Taban - not really sure about the length and profile but I have chosen the all zig-zag routes along the seafront to Bournemouth Pier and back, which has included 7 relatively challenging uphill sections on the zig-zags.
The training was suggesting pushing the uphills, tempo on flat, and easy jog on the downhills, which I have followed, translating "pushing the uphills" into 100% effort, and tempo to aiming at 4:30 pace. And my legs are not liking me at the moment.
Shouldn't really do this for long so hope that my toe will heal soon to a degree when I can run in a proper running shoe but I do not want to aggravate it yet. However, I wanted also to see if I can do a decent training session with it. Just straight running, no terrain yet. It was OK most of the session although I can feel it a bit afterwards.
The session itself was based on my interpretation for the Spari training session planned for today - that was suggesting 9-10x circuits in Taban - not really sure about the length and profile but I have chosen the all zig-zag routes along the seafront to Bournemouth Pier and back, which has included 7 relatively challenging uphill sections on the zig-zags.
The training was suggesting pushing the uphills, tempo on flat, and easy jog on the downhills, which I have followed, translating "pushing the uphills" into 100% effort, and tempo to aiming at 4:30 pace. And my legs are not liking me at the moment.
Wednesday Jan 4, 2017 #
8 AM
Running warm up/down (Treadmill) 21:28 4.3 km (4:59 / km) +90m 4:31 / km
ahr:155 max:181
Usual gym warm up treadmill run.
1km @ 5m/km 0% elev -> HR 140 BPM
1km @ 5m/km 3% elev -> HR 157 BPM
1km @ 5m/km 6% elev -> HR 176 BPM
500m @ 5m/km 0% elev -> HR to 150 BPM
500m @ 3:30m/km 0% elev -> HR to 181 BPM
+ cool down
Higher HR than last similar session...
1km @ 5m/km 0% elev -> HR 140 BPM
1km @ 5m/km 3% elev -> HR 157 BPM
1km @ 5m/km 6% elev -> HR 176 BPM
500m @ 5m/km 0% elev -> HR to 150 BPM
500m @ 3:30m/km 0% elev -> HR to 181 BPM
+ cool down
Higher HR than last similar session...
Strength / Conditioning / Drills 19:36 0.19 km (1:40:31 / km)
ahr:133 max:158
Leg + core
Monday Jan 2, 2017 #
5 PM
Urban Orienteering race 38:15 *** 6.88 km (5:34 / km) +14m 5:30 / km
ahr:162 max:176 spiked:20/20c
Poole Town Race, Wessex Night League.
I wasn't sure if I was going to go out and once I did, I wasn't sure how long I would run. I went out anyway just to see how my injured toe would react, very carefully. I had my walking trainers on which are 1/2 size larger than all my running shoes to give some room for my feet (all of my running shoes were pressing slightly on my swollen toe once I put them on and were painful). I didn't warm up and expected to start slowly and turn back at any point, or come back halfway if things got uncomfortable.
All of this meant I wasn't expecting anything other than some feedback on my feet today, this wasn't a competitive run as far as I a concerned.
I started slow as planned, then after my feet felt OK with the easy pace and my adjusted running style (heel strike and longer paces instead of the one I started to adopt over the last 10 months to move to front foot strike and more rapid pace, which obviously would put more strain on my toes), after about 7-8 minutes I was brave enough to up the pace a little bit, to about 80% effort (still being careful with turns etc that would stress the feet).
Technically speaking, I finally had a good strategy for the score (not sure if this was because of the slower pace allowing me more time to think or just so happens that I am starting to know the area now), and only really had one mistake with some confusion costing me about a minute. Of course, I wasn't anywhere near the pace I would expect without an injury.
Overall with all the precautions my toe lasted the course, which is encouraging but I won't be looking for any tricky ground (like a proper terrain for Orienteering) for a while to allow it to heal.
Ah - finished 4th but of course that means nothing in the context of the injury.
I wasn't sure if I was going to go out and once I did, I wasn't sure how long I would run. I went out anyway just to see how my injured toe would react, very carefully. I had my walking trainers on which are 1/2 size larger than all my running shoes to give some room for my feet (all of my running shoes were pressing slightly on my swollen toe once I put them on and were painful). I didn't warm up and expected to start slowly and turn back at any point, or come back halfway if things got uncomfortable.
All of this meant I wasn't expecting anything other than some feedback on my feet today, this wasn't a competitive run as far as I a concerned.
I started slow as planned, then after my feet felt OK with the easy pace and my adjusted running style (heel strike and longer paces instead of the one I started to adopt over the last 10 months to move to front foot strike and more rapid pace, which obviously would put more strain on my toes), after about 7-8 minutes I was brave enough to up the pace a little bit, to about 80% effort (still being careful with turns etc that would stress the feet).
Technically speaking, I finally had a good strategy for the score (not sure if this was because of the slower pace allowing me more time to think or just so happens that I am starting to know the area now), and only really had one mistake with some confusion costing me about a minute. Of course, I wasn't anywhere near the pace I would expect without an injury.
Overall with all the precautions my toe lasted the course, which is encouraging but I won't be looking for any tricky ground (like a proper terrain for Orienteering) for a while to allow it to heal.
Ah - finished 4th but of course that means nothing in the context of the injury.
Sunday Jan 1, 2017 #
Note
(injured) (rest day)
Travel + trying to rest my foot to help heal the toe injury! Only half size larger shoes for now :(