Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Up at 3:30 am for my 6:10 flight.

I picked this Southwest flight because it was cheapest and scheduled to land in Denver at 8:50 am, which would get me home and online for work by ~10am (kinda late but not terrible).

Unfortunately, I forgot to check in for my flight in a timely manner yesterday, and I ended up with boarding position C47. FML.

Knowing (as of Friday afternoon) that I had a 10am video conference call that included my VP, I was really nervous that boarding last would mean having to check my carry-on (and then having to wait for it at baggage claim), sitting in the very back of the plane in a middle seat with no window to sleep against, and being last to get off the plane -- making me late for the call. So I forked out $40 for an A-group boarding position.

So much for my bargain-basement trip (speeding ticket + $40 in extra fees...). :-\

I have either bursitis, arthritis, or the beginnings of a stress fracture in my left big toe joint. As my seat-neighbor on the plane was sitting down, he dropped his laptop squarely on that joint. Ouch.

On the bright side, my VP talked me down from the severe agitation I was feeling after Friday's meeting. It's still not the greatest news, but I feel less aggravated and furious.

C • Ups and Downs 4

Day 2 at Petrified Forest -- Rainbow Forest.

Unlike yesterday -- when people seemed to scatter in multiple directions and I was alone almost the entire time -- a lot of us seemed to have similar counter-clockwise loops today.

I followed the dry washes whenever possible, and I didn't have the same navigational mistakes I had yesterday.

I think I was ahead of Sharon until #43, where I lost a bunch of time trying to find a way out of the steep, crumbly, slot canyon area without killing myself. I'm sure she was smarter and back-tracked out immediately.

The Shahbazian team apparently had a similar ordeal at #43 but caught me near #51. We had a similar pace and plan, so we were together for most of the rest of the course.

As I left #35, I passed JP going the other way and he informed me that Sharon was ahead. From that point on -- no more photos! no more lollygagging! full speed, no mistakes! ;-)

I passed her just after #34 and managed to stay ahead. The only question was whether she might have had a better route with more points. I got to the finish with 15 minutes to spare, but there weren't any other controls close enough to get in that time.

As it turned out...I was ahead by enough points to edge ahead of Sharon in the two-day combined results -- fifth overall, 2nd female (behind Sanna, who I knew I had no chance of beating -- she cleaned the course today and got all but one control yesterday).

I snuck away without doing control pickup... I felt kinda guilty about that, but my feet were killing me and I was exhausted.

I had about 30 minutes of tense anxiety on the way back to Phoenix, when I absent-mindedly almost ran out of gas on a long isolated stretch of the highway. I made it to Payson and filled up with 9.6 gallons -- which makes me think I had less than a half gallon to spare?!

Overall, a really fun weekend with perfect weather. After my mostly-horrible races at the recent BAOC S-M-L meet, it was great to be able to RUN and navigate well.



Charlie at #42:

C • Nice 2

Event: RMOC Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch (CANCELLED)
 

Event: RMOC Corn Maze at Rock Creek Farm
 

Event: Petrified Forest 2 x 4hr rogaine
 

Day 1 at Petrified Forest -- Blue Mesa.

Today didn't get off to a great start: I forgot to grab my sandwich out of the hotel fridge, and then I got a speeding ticket as I was leaving Holbrook. %&^$*@%!!! As of today (Monday), I still can't bring myself to open the ticket envelope to see how much it's going to cost me...

But luckily I had plenty of time to get to the meet-up spot and get situated, the weather was perfect, and I had some other snacks to get me through the day.

On the bus ride to the start, I planned a clockwise route that worked out pretty well. I blew it on #26 (I second-guessed myself at the last minute and wandered a bit), and then I did the same thing to a lesser degree on #30.

But after that, everything went according to plan until the very end -- I overlooked #24 and at the same time got totally off-track on my way to #10; I ended up at #13 instead (which I had already visited...). Ugh. I was running out of time at that point and had to sprint to the finish -- which is painful to do in soft sand at the end of a ~13-mile excursion.

I finished in a tie with Sharon (700 points), except that she was 2.5 minutes faster.

Overall a really fun day -- I mostly managed to put the speeding ticket and work-woes out of my head while I was out on the course.

Petroglyphs at #51:

Control pickup...oof.

Got back to my hotel just in time to shower and leave again for the group dinner -- which was actually really fun, with good food (eggplant parmesan and garlic bread) and good table-neighbors (Mark Parsons & the Lennons). :-)

I worked remotely today -- from my hotel room until I had to check out at noon, and then from my company's Scottsdale office.

I had hoped to squeeze in a walk at some point, but ended up working until about 5:30 pm. I only had time to grab a quick dinner before making the ~3.5-hour drive to Holbrook.

This afternoon included a really shitty meeting that made me think my job has no future. Ugh.

It's 29°F and I have a plane to catch in a few hours (and I still need to pack)...but I managed to squeeze in a quick neighborhood run. "Yay me."

Weekly Runners Roost group run.

From the store, up the Hwy 36 bike path, around the north side of Davidson Mesa, and then back to the store via McCaslin.

The weather is changing (snow in the forecast for tonight / tomorrow), and there seemed to be a stiff headwind no matter which direction I was facing. At least we're not experiencing The Greeley Smell. :-P

I finally felt like I could run at a normal clip without feeling totally sluggish. And my stomach behaved.

Neighborhood walk -- listening to another episode of The Dropout. I really hope Elizabeth Holmes gets some prison time.