Thursday Nov 29 |
 | Cycling (mtb roads and trails) 1:10:00  ** 9.0 mi (7:46 / mi) +285m 4:24 / km | |
| ahr:128 max:160 9c shoes: Nike ACG cycling shoes |
| Rode second bike loop of Fall BEAST course at Cedar Mtn. and vicinity with Matt Hayes, who rode his cyclocross bike and pulled away from me like I was standing still up the hills. Logged time is approximate riding time. Total time out was 87 minutes, including stops for making notes and map corrections and for my couple spectacular but not injurious crashes. It was run to ride my bike again, but I was a bit technically rusty. |
| Orienteering (course testing) 1:00:00 [2]*** 5.5 km (10:55 / km) +245m 8:55 / km | |
| ahr:128 max:157 9c shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Most of draft Fall BEAST trekking section w/Matt Hayes at Cedar Mtn. and vicinity. I felt okay but a bit tired. |
Wednesday Nov 28 |
| Orienteering (course checking) 2:00:00  *** 10 km (12:00 / km) +420m 9:55 / km | |
| ahr:130 max:158 14c slept:6.0 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Running while Fall BEAST course checking at Petrovitsky Park, Cedar Mtn. and vicinity. My right quad hurt at the end of the run. |
| Orienteering 15:00  *** 2 km (7:30 / km) +20m 7:09 / km | |
| ahr:115 max:138 8c shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Run through of part of Fall BEAST course orienteering at Petrovitsky Park. |
Tuesday Nov 27 |
| Note | |
| slept:8.7 |
| My legs are still a little sore from Sunday. |
| Running - Trail / Grass (trail) 42:00 [2]* 4.7 mi (8:55 / mi) +75m 5:17 / km | |
| ahr:136 max:154 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Late night run scouting checkpoints for the Fall BEAST course. |
Monday Nov 26 |
| Note | |
| slept:8.8 (rest day) |
| My legs are sore today, more so than they usually were after races and interval workouts earlier in the fall. This is a dramatic case of the definition of "hard workout" changing, with my reduced post-break fitness level. |
Sunday Nov 25 |
| Running - Road / Track 58:30  7.85 mi (7:27 / mi) +115m 4:26 / km | |
| ahr:153 max:168 slept:6.7 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Went for my weekly "long" run: to NH track, where I ran a few very easy intervals (100m, 212m, 200m, 212m in 20, 47, 44, 46), just trying to take it easy while getting my stride rate up (to ~188 steps/minute). Then I ran a 2 km training course at Meadowbrook backwards (logged separately), ran to the Burke-Gilman Trail via the flood control project and the neighborhood streets, including Sand Point Way, then back home from Matthews Beach via the trail and Lakeside Place.
My legs mostly felt pretty good, but I was surprised by how high my heart rate was (often in the upper 150s). It probably didn't help that I was digesting a late lunch while running. |
| Orienteering 13:40 [2]*** 2 km (6:50 / km) +35m 6:17 / km | |
| ahr:149 max:158 12c shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| At night, I ran the practice sprint course at Meadowbrook from the training event there earlier in the year, using the Petzl Ultra headlamp. It was plenty bright, and I mostly managed not to blind myself when I read the map. I'm looking forward to doing some real forest running at night. |
Saturday Nov 24 |
| Orienteering 40:00  *** 4.5 km (8:53 / km) +125m 7:48 / km | |
| ahr:130 max:159 29c slept:9.0 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Running while vetting and making final map corrections at Hamlin Park. I felt pretty good, except that I got tired whenever I ran briskly for more than a minute or so at a time. |
| Orienteering 34:20 [2]*** 3.4 km (10:06 / km) +155m 8:13 / km | |
| ahr:138 max:159 10c shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Ran the 2007 BEAST race #3 orienteering course (at Volunteer and Interlaken Parks) with Terry, Barb, Dave, John and Eric. The cool air and golden afternoon sunlight were invigorating, and it was fun to run the course in a group. I mostly hung back and practiced my relay pack running skills. I towed Terry up the big climb (+72 m). |
Friday Nov 23 |
| Running - Trail / Grass (mapping) 10:00 [2]1.25 mi (7:59 / mi) +20m 4:44 / km | |
| slept:7.4 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Bits of running around while mapping at Hamlin Park. |
Thursday Nov 22 |
| Orienteering (mapping/vetting) 42:00  *** 5 km (8:24 / km) +100m 7:38 / km | |
| ahr:125 max:158 25c slept:8.4 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Running at Hamlin Park to vet and make map corrections for WIOL #3. I tried running with my heel lift in the right shoe (to compensate for my left leg being 1 cm longer), which ended with sharp pain in the bones/ligaments/etc. of the arch of my right foot after maybe 2/3 of the run. |
Wednesday Nov 21 |
| Running - Road / Track 2:00 [2]0.29 mi (7:00 / mi) | |
| slept:5.7 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Forgot bags on a walk to the grocery store with Terry and Rosemary, so I ran back to get some. |
Tuesday Nov 20 |
| Note | |
| slept:7.7 (rest day) |
| My fall training break is almost over. I enjoyed not feeling stiff, sore or tired from training, but I also confirmed for myself once again that I prefer training to not training. In fact, I'm really looking forward to it. But I'm sure I'll be screaming uncle in a few weeks time, when I'm feeling tired from the buildup. |
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| C • What 3 |
Monday Nov 19 |
| Note | |
| slept:8.0 (rest day) |
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Sunday Nov 18 |
| Note | |
| slept:8.0 (rest day) |
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Saturday Nov 17 |
| Orienteering race (short) 25:32  *** 4.15 km (6:09 / km) +12m 6:04 / km | |
| ahr:157 max:186 17c slept:7.4 shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 3 |
| Ran course 7 of WIOL race #2 at a very wet Magnuson Park (steady rain on top of lots of standing water). The course was pretty good, with some interesting route choices, short-to-moderate length legs forcing lots of decisions, and changes of direction. I navigated pretty well for the most part, although I had to remind myself not to be mentally lazy, even though I know Magnuson Park well.
After essentially no warm-up, I started a bit too fast, and my hamstrings felt doughy and like they might tie up on the way to the first control, but my legs felt better as the course progressed. |
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| C • did you win this thing? 7 |
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Course 7 - Splits |
Friday Nov 16 |
| Note | |
| slept:9.0 (rest day) |
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Thursday Nov 15 |
| Walking (mapping) 1:15:00 [1]* 4.69 mi (15:59 / mi) +250m 8:31 / km | |
| slept:9.2 shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| Brisker periods of walking while mapping for Fall BEAST. It was a long day outside, from shortly after dawn to shortly after dusk, with rain on and off, then just on steadily for the last couple hours or so. I'm guessing about the time, distance and climb. |
| Running - Trail / Grass (some road, too) 33:00 [2]3.96 mi (8:20 / mi) +140m 4:40 / km | |
| shoes: Brooks Cascadia (gray) |
| A few stints of running while mapping for BEAST. My legs felt tired, which is common when walking around all day. |
| Note | |
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| I ate a big pot of collard greens (over a pound) with vodka marinara sauce as part of my dinner--yum! |
Wednesday Nov 14 |
| Note | |
| slept:6.8 (rest day) |
| I donated blood today. I almost forgot to make my one annual blood donation during my training break, but I got an appeal from the Puget Sound Blood Center in the mail.
I've been a little nervous about giving blood since the technician jabbed the needle into the opposite side of my vein a few years ago. It hurt a lot, and the blood was barely coming out. Afterward, I had a giant purple bruise on my arm.
But everything was fine this time, and of course I enjoyed the free juice and cookies afterward. I also came prepared with some Gookinaid Hydralite powder, which I sipped throughout the rest of the day to rehydrate with.
Best of all, I now have an excellent excuse if my O' race doesn't go well on Saturday. ;-) |
Monday Nov 12 |
| Note | |
| slept:10.5 (rest day) |
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Sunday Nov 11 |
| Walking (trail, some road) 15:00 [1]0.88 mi (17:00 / mi) +25m 9:43 / km | |
| slept:6.9 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Brisk walking while mapping and course designing for Fall BEAST. |
| Running - Road / Track (some trail, too) 12:00 [2]1.5 mi (7:59 / mi) +20m 4:46 / km | |
| shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Running while mapping and course designing for Fall BEAST. |
Saturday Nov 10 |
| Running - Trail / Grass (trail) 20:00  1.3 mi (15:23 / mi) +25m 9:01 / km | |
| max:129 slept:4.8 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Putting out course markings for the final Northwest Trail Runs event of the year, at Des Moines Creek Park. I was out for 50 minutes (AHR = 91 for that period), but most of that time was spent stopped to put out flagging. |
| Running - Trail / Grass (trail, some road) 15:00 [2]1.76 mi (8:30 / mi) +25m 5:04 / km | |
| shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Bits of running to put the finishing touches on the course marking and signage for the NWTR event at Des Moines Creek Park. |
| Running - Trail / Grass (trail) 19:00 [2]2.3 mi (8:15 / mi) +45m 4:50 / km | |
| ahr:126 max:154 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Picking up the Northern part of the course markings after NWTR. |
Friday Nov 9 |
| Note | |
| slept:6.5 (rest day) |
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Thursday Nov 8 |
| Note | |
| rhr:49 slept:7.8 (rest day) |
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Wednesday Nov 7 |
| Note | |
| slept:7.3 (rest day) |
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Tuesday Nov 6 |
| Note | |
| slept:8.2 (rest day) |
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Monday Nov 5 |
| Note | |
| slept:8.7 (rest day) |
| My training break begins today. I'm already looking forward to resuming training to get stronger, faster and smarter for next season.
My blisters, scrapes and scratches from the weekend are sore today. My muscles are only a bit sore. |
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| C • NEW CHAMPION - AGAIN! 11 |
Sunday Nov 4 |
| Running - Road / Track warm up/down (gravel road) 13:34  1.87 mi (7:14 / mi) +50m 4:10 / km | |
| ahr:151 max:164 slept:8.3 shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 2 |
| Warm-up run before orienteering. Another good length warm-up. It helped that the start was a mile away. |
| Orienteering race (long distance) 1:19:20  *** 11.2 km (7:05 / km) +440m 5:55 / km | |
| ahr:160 max:175 21c shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 2 |
| U.S. Champs day 2. I felt much, much better today, mentally. It felt like my mind was twice as engaged as it was yesterday. While I had a few moments of wanting to relax or my attention drifting, I was able to catch it quickly (there's a physical feeling associated with this urgent realization of the need to refocus--sort of like the nervous flush of embarassment) and brought my attention back. I think my mental problems yesterday may have resulted from my brain being asleep, due to the time difference and the 10:01 start time. I'm rarely even awake at 7 AM Pacific time!
Anyway, today's run was quite good, although it was, in retrospect, very cautious--maybe too cautious. I never felt like I was easily mentally and physically flowing/bursting through the course, as happens on my best orienteering days, but I was just happy to improve so much from yesterday. I knew before I started that Wyatt had run 82, so I would have to run 75-76 to beat him for the weekend. In the early part of the course, I was a bit distracted by this thought, but I settled down and focussed better in the middle. As I approached the hour mark, it became clear that I would not be able to overtake Wyatt in the U.S. Champs standings, and I had to give a bit of extra effort to keep my speed up.
I had blisters on my left heel from wearing the new VJ Twisters yesterday, and they hurt during my run, especially after the bandage and tape slipped down. Otherwise, I felt good physically, and I had reserve capacity in my legs. A few minutes after finishing, the soreness in my lower back from running stooped over yesterday returned. Placed 3rd overall and U.S. today, and 4th U.S. Champs eligible overall. Winsplits |
| Running - Road / Track warm up/down 8:53  0.75 mi (11:51 / mi) +25m 6:40 / km | |
| ahr:122 max:141 shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 2 |
| Warm-down jogging after the race. |
| Walking (road) 15:00 [1]1.0 mi (14:59 / mi) +15m 8:54 / km | |
| shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Walking while carrying my luggage back to my car from the terminal at SeaTac after flying home. |
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Day 2 Blue - Splits |
Saturday Nov 3 |
| Running - Trail / Grass warm up/down (mostly trail) 12:45  1.7 mi (7:30 / mi) +65m 4:10 / km | |
| ahr:141 max:160 slept:7.6 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Warm-up running before U.S. Classic Champs day 1. I had decided that my performance was suffering sometimes due to my warm-up runs being too short, so I'm happy that I ran for over 10 minutes before this race. |
| Orienteering race (long distance) 1:55:26  *** 12.9 km (8:57 / km) +440m 7:39 / km | |
| ahr:156 max:169 20c shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 3 |
| U.S. Classic Champs day 1 and World Ranking Event. The course was hard right from the start, and I picked a poor route (to the right: trail to ridge) to control #1 and tentatively stumbled into it. The next few controls went mostly okay, with some mistakes, but I wasn't feeling in my element in this terrain. I caught Wil Smith 4 minutes, and Lachezar Iliev caught me 4 minutes, and we ran through some controls loosely together, bumbles and all. Lacho missed control 11, and Wil and I got ahead and then split to #12. His straight route put him about a minute ahead, then I made a poor route choice from 12-13 and--more detrimentally--shut my brain off for a while. This resulted in a severe loss of map contact and a protracted relocation process, which set me back about 10 minutes on this leg. I tried to keep it together mentally for the rest of the run, although it was hard to motivate myself to push really hard after blowing it so badly. I mostly ran okay but leaked a bit of time due to sloppiness or slowness on each leg. I had stopped drinking at the water controls prematurely, thinking that I would be done sooner, so I was a bit dehydrated at the end, and my hamstrings seized a few minutes from the finish, going to control 19, after which I eased up to improve my odds of making it in without having to stop and stretch again. Placed 10th overall, 6th U.S. Champs eligible. Winsplits |
| Running - Trail / Grass warm up/down 16:39  1.67 mi (10:00 / mi) +25m 5:56 / km | |
| ahr:116 max:141 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Warm-down jogging after the race. |
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Day 1 Blue - Splits |
Friday Nov 2 |
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| Event: US Champs
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| Running - Road / Track warm up/down 5:10  0.63 mi (8:12 / mi) | |
| ahr:127 max:158 slept:7.0 shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 3 |
| Jogging to the start of the U.S. Champs classic model event and back. |
| Orienteering (model event) 20:17 [2]*** 2.1 km (9:40 / km) +75m 8:12 / km | |
| ahr:139 max:158 10c shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 3 |
| U.S. Classic Champs model event at Prince William Forest Park. The terrain was green, with lots of greenbriar, holly and laurel, which greatly reduced the visibility and runnability. I also navigated poorly, not keeping good map contact, not visualizing the terrain well, and not planning ahead. I resolved to do better a little later at the sprint model event. |
| Orienteering (model event) 16:02 [2]*** 2.07 km (7:45 / km) +25m 7:18 / km | |
| ahr:137 max:157 8c shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 3 |
| U.S. Champs sprint model event. I orienteered better than I had in the classic model but still not well. I sprained my left ankle badly enough that I had to walk for 20-30 seconds, but I was able to resume jogging after that, and the pain went away within several minutes after that. My new O-shoes were stiff and uncomfortable, and they hurt the protuberance of my right heel significantly. |
| Running - Trail / Grass warm up/down 3:00 [2]0.38 mi (7:59 / mi) +6m 4:44 / km | |
| ahr:137 max:148 |
| A bit of additional warm-up running before the U.S. Sprint Orienteering Champs race. I was well warmed up after having done the model event. |
| Orienteering race (sprint) 15:32 [4]*** 2.9 km (5:21 / km) +100m 4:34 / km | |
| ahr:170 max:176 spiked:14/18c shoes: VJ Twister (US size 10.5) - 3 |
| U.S. Sprint Champs. I had a good run, with one true miss (~10 sec.) and only a few other small bobbles and hesitations. It didn't have the squeaky-clean feeling of a great run while I was doing it, but my legs felt strong in the forest, and it was good enough for the win.
I forgot to clear and check my SI card at the start, so I ran back and did that, and started only 20 seconds ahead of Lachezar Iliev, who came within a second or two of catching me on the short legs early in the course (around #8 was closest, I think). From the start and for the first third of my race, I thought about how screwed up it was that this happened and how it might unfairly help me if he overtook me, and I hoped I would be able to run fast enough to keep him behind me. Fortunately, I was able to stay in front of him at all times and--with the exception of my 10 second miss on control 6, which I corrected without breaking stride--I didn't make mistakes because of the pressure. I gapped him on the long leg from 9 to 10 and wasn't aware of him behind me after that.
After the race, my right heel was quite inflamed from the new shoe. I taped my left ankle, and it neither turned again nor was painful at all during or after the race--whew! |
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| C • shoes, late start 2 |
| Running - Road / Track warm up/down (some grass, too) 13:15  1.56 mi (8:30 / mi) +12m 5:09 / km | |
| ahr:124 max:147 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Warm-down jogging after the race. |
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Sprint Blue - Splits |
Thursday Nov 1 |
| Running - Road / Track (road) 31:30 [2]4.4 mi (7:09 / mi) +90m 4:11 / km | |
| ahr:141 max:157 slept:4.7 shoes: Brooks Trance 5 - 1 |
| Ran around the roads and regional paths near BWI airport: route. I felt pretty good, although my legs felt fatigued up the hills in the second half of the run. Midway through the run, I stepped in a hole running on some grass, and I nearly sprained my ankle. |