Training Log Archive: boyle

Event: Laurentian Rogaine
 

This whole ride was into a 25kph headwind.

Now I had the tailwind. The ride totalled 54k, 5h24 time, 3h32 in the saddle, 40 geocaches: Eagleson to Carleton Place and back.

Watts Creek

While at a much slower pace, last week represents the most training I've logged on AP since the week that included my marathon by snowshoe. Even so, I gained four pounds through the week.

I submitted the COC sprint results to the sprint series recorder.

I was back on the Carp-Ridge-type terrain.

This log entry includes a number of runs after the meet (successfully) seeking that one final finisher (non-finisher actually) who didn't run with a watch and claimed not knowing about the three-hour time limit.

I sure put a lot of time out on map 7b today.

COC Long
Carp Ridge Ecowellness Centre and the "Barrens"
mp

I visited only 16 of my 19 controls. Despite walking out from the start, I drifted right (as usual) of control 1 by about 50m and onto a parallel feature. En route to 2, I met Richard coming back to 1. With all the issues I would soon face, I worried about Richard's outing but he managed to complete the course, if outside the time allowed.

By leg five I was up to speed and running, taking advantage of the elephant tracks. As in the days of ol', I overshot, big time. I completely missed one lake and came upon control 8 (206) rather than control 5 (211). While checking my watch at control 8, I calculated that there was no way I could back-track and complete the map in three hours. In hindsight, of course, I redid the calculations and may have made the cutoff. But for what? Far too many runners went into extra time today.

In review, I had two issues but I don't know if they are from the map, my map reading or my diminishing vision.

Issue #1 - prevention - skirting south of the lake(s), I came across a significant length of fence remnant. I came to a full stop to carefully examine the map, knowing that the fence must be mapped. On course, I never found that fence on the map. In review, I can see three little sections of fence remnants, 250m farther along my course from where I thought I was. In the end, there is no way that I can fault the map or my vision. My second control was literally on the southern extension of this same fence boundary. I already had the information to use the fence as a catching feature, turn 90° and head for control 5.

Issue #2 - recovering - I abandoned the course at control 8 (206) because I did not see the mapped lake crossing 160m NE of the control. Even now, looking at the map (without the pressure of racing), the dark blue ink overwhelms a link between peninsulas that measures less than 1mm. From my calculations to abort due to allowed time, that tiny link would have cut off hundreds of metres of running. When skirting the lake(s), I'd already come upon temptations to swim across the black line and decided I would NOT...not today, B meet = no problem (but not today). I aborted because I thought the mapping NE of #206 was just another temptation.

Well there was no bronze medal for me at the long distance event at this COC. In fact, there was nothing even top-five-like at any of my COC events this year, excepting the long-event GO-control sprint after a nice easy stroll through the woods.