Training Log Archive: Psuba

Event: Mole Valley 50th anniversary District event
 

Event: Bournemouth Bay Run
 

Revfulop hills trail run - just a quick one to keep the legs moving whilst out to take care of family things at the weekend house

To start

Nograd Grand Prix, Middle distance, M40

2nd / 8

More analysis to come

Back to assembly

Event: Nógrád Grand Prix
 

Nograd Grand Prix, Night event M35

3rd/8, but very poor performance navigationally.
Some of it felt like an April fool's day joke... but unfortunately most of it really was down to me. Approach the whole race as a fun event, and got that, were it not for the frustration caused by the amount of mistakes.
Physically OK despite the climb that I am not used to in the UK.

Controls
1 - Drifted left although the compass was clearly indicating "go right" but for some mental reason I wasn't paying that much attention, both seeing lights to my left and the slope pushed me left. Paid the price, 3:10 lost
2 - Cost me 40 seconds to fight across a rough patch with high wires above, caught in the thorny bit... should have done that in 10.
3 - Probably chose a suboptimal route in hindsight, the safest route of going round on the track, but messed it up towards the end and hesitant finding the right ditch on the slope as the attack point of the rough open edge wasn't quite shaped the way the map shows. Lost about 1:50
4 - the long leg, won this one but regardless could have done better - was only managing the last uphill to about halfway, which dropped from about 7m/km to about 14 m/km, so lost about 1m on that section due to stamina (still better than would have been a year ago when I could not have attacked that hill at all). Also drifted right due to compass issue (talk about it later), but relocated based on the features so only about 15 sec lost.
5 - contoured to this control (no compass use), slow at the last section as had to check the map often in a complex area
6 - Compass issue strikes again but lost only minimal time - cutting across the field I tried to use the compass and it told me to keep running on the track... I navigated by the features instead.
7 - Compass issue again, bearing from the attack point and the compass told me to stay too high (to the right), but it did not feel right relative to the map so I checked what is to my left and saw the control. No time lost but I started to be curious about the compass here.
8 - Compass issue again. Same thing, compass took me to the right of the real line. I was suspicious so didn't run too far, turned back and relocated myself based on the features and found the control. 50s lost.
9 - On the climb I now verified the compass bearing and the direction of the ditch and found that the compass indeed wasn't pointing at the correct North... The I had to stop to tie my shoelaces - stupid me forgot to tape them before the start! 40s lost + the bearing from the attach point again took me too far right. I half expected it so bounced back from the veg boundary and checked to my left - there the control was. Lost about 15 s nevertheless.
11 - Carelessly ran too far on the path above the control as could not see the path bend as per the map that I wanted to use as attack point. Corrected myself by contouring back to the control but not before losing about 1m
12 - The icing on the cake - misread the map thinking that there is a path in between two fenced enclosures, which instead was just the fence in between the enclosures. So I had to run back around the enclosure, losing 1:20

So summary of 9:50 time loss, over 12 minutes if I was pushing more with the running which I could have easily done with a bit more motivation. That would have been a more acceptable time for this course (and I would have won), but still would have not been sufficient against the top of the class if they ran.

Work + travel

Legs quite stiff even through this jog, Post JK syndrome...

4x350m intervals on the canal and cool down

Still with the KCRC bunch. First interval was still quite painful but loosened up considerably by the 3rd. Normally should have done about 15 but canal was quite busy, the others were heading back and did not have the willpower to stay on alone this time.