Training Log Archive: Becks

Warm up and cool down (very short, it was freezing and wet!) around National at Errochty.

Felt like shit when I woke up this morning and spent an hour deciding whether to run or not. When I got out in the cold and wet I actually started to feel better, reasoned it was maybe the fault of sleeping on the floor ina stuffy semi light village hall and decided to set off and see how I felt. The good news was I generally felt good, except for on the big uphill legs where Karen took a good thirty seconds out of me each time, and my legs felt like leaden blocks again. Navigationally I was pleased, I made three mistakes.

3-4 Drifted too long down the slope, saw the road but took a little time to make sure I was as directly below the control as I thought I was. I was, so that was cool.

8-9 - Had a good attack point directly above the control but then completely failed to go directly down to get it - pansied diagonally across the slope and relocated on the edge of the rough open. Dithered a bit midway through heading back to the control, then kicked myself into shape and got the control.

12-13 - Ran the leg very confidently until the last minute where I was struggling to make sense of the vegetation and then ran to the wrong side of the stream because I didn't look at my control description.

Overall technically a good race, with a vast improvement on slope orienteering especially. Felt much better physically by the end, and enjoyed the area, which was absolutely beautiful, and the course was really well planned.

Line course up the hill at Baluain and Banvie. Technically fine, but could barely move up the hills. A bit tight in the chest and legs were totally leaden. Hopefully just the product of doing nothing for a few days.

Contour interpretation/traffic lighting/simplification at B & B. Nice course, even if I do say so myself, and was going really confidently into all the sites except a couple of mega vague ones near the end, where I didn't mess up but dithered. Physically still feeling shite though.

Downhill course planned for my benefit with nice diagonal legs across blank slopes. Was feeling a little bit better in the legs, a bit looser and stuff, and orienteering confidently. Was a total pansy down the hills as the sole started to come off my right show and my foot was sliding everywhere, not good when it's really rocky and uneven. Beautiful forest, shame I didn't really feel I was attacking it very well.

Teaching all day at Mum's school, feeling a bit better but still not ace.

Lots of work and driving to do today and felt kind of headachey and rubbish all day, really stuffy, so decided not to do anything till the weekend.

Had a little lie in this morning then had to cycle to George Square at 9 to get a brain for Ellen. Then cycled into work. Still not feeling 100% but not feeling any worse, so will rest for the rest of the week and then hopefully be good for Saturday.

Cycle home.

Was on an off about intervals today all day, but by 2pm was struggling to get up the stairs (this may be because I kepty forgetting things I needed for the dark room for my assay, and so had to run up and down two flights about 20 times in quick succession. Yes, I am a special. But yes, I took this as a failure of the weak test, trademark Kitch, and decided that as:

a) This is the last week of my autumn training break
b) I want to have fun at Baluain and Banvie on Saturday

I would skip the intervals in favour of finishing off series one of Heroes. Unfortunately the local electricity suppliers had other ideas, and instead Ebony and Fraser and I ate beetroot salad by candlelight in our freezing kitche, wrapped up in many clothes and gloves and hats for three hours. Then I went DJing, which was fun. We played Akron/Family, old Ladytron, Ikara Colt and some comically rubbish hip hop, and it was ace. I felt much better in the head then.

Various cycling round town, feeling very tired, not so much in the legs but in the head, and slightly stuffy, so decided not to do weights and to spend an evening watching Heroes instead. Probably raised the heart rate more to be fair. Mmm, Isaac Mendes...

The cycle home from Morrisons ws actually the coldest and wettest I have ever done, and hence I decided that it is officially winter.