Training Log Archive: JoshuaDudley

Hot day getting ready for the middle. Was sitting at mid to high 20s and I was feeling quite hot so tried to keep as cool as possible. Getting familiar with compass and plan. Good bearing out of control, simple plan, head up.

Jk middle. Was feeling great and ready for a tough race and to push hard. Head was in the game.

1 set off strong at start kite got my bearing and set straight. Nice renetrant and over wee hill. Quick ley reminded of symbol for trench. Boom. 2 contours were a little confusing but kept plan simple on line picking up paths as I went. Slight hesitation on hill top, reconfigured at path turn into control. 3 not much to go on so stuck a bearing. Was a tad right but good. 4 bombed out to path on right bit grotty but cut the extra climb. Cut across an up hill to control. Felt like they had put it in wrong pit too far right. 5 compass go. Boom. 6 up hill along path bearing from junction in check is good. Hit second path and count renetrants, one two theee head up boom. 7 came out of six a little left following renetrant round by hill, was good on line then saw another control out right, fooled I went over wrong code. Quickly realized and trailed back over to mine. Feature was a bit crap but put it behind me keep strong. Focus.

8 came out of 7 to right sneaking round green, contoured a nice line into control. 9 bit boring. Bearing path up down. Just trying to push where possible. 10 align compass into open head up boom. 11 rough bearing and cut straight through green. Maybe a bit quicker out to white. Hit path . Plan to roam to end of detail until canal bend. Worked well hit control, perhaps a bit slow up and down. Could have used paths better. Up until now I was feeling strong and positive about my race.

12 a bit fooled by this leg, with my flow decided to keep left and head to large bridge, map was a bit scrappy so hard to see crossing point, head up saw it, cross, ok along path and in. Shit, I hadn’t crossed the track. By this point I was 2-300m down the track curving away from track. Decided to keep moving west and cut across marsh. Jumped off path and straight into wire fence not on map. Forward flip and now frustrated with sore leg, limped along to path cursing. Into control fine. This mistake and injury set me back physically and mentally for the rest of the race. Aimed to keep positive and continue with a good race.

13 bearing, second trench on slope. Boom. 14, should have taken path, but sore legged and frustrated cut through marsh. Line was clean and up renetrant into control, just slow. 15, bearing head up, drink, cane quicker than expected. 16 out to road, over bridge, made sure to cross both, but missed the best line through the middle. Think map was shit here but maybe I’m just making excuses now. Stumbled along along path line to 16, felt hot and bothered unable to push hard. Felt slow.
17 went for the straight line, missed left line option which would have saved time and energy, up hill and along, cut off earlier than expected foundmhself in the wrong entrant. 18 straight. Approaching top of spur came too left. 19 clean head up for open. 20 easy but crap bearing , drifter right, green was not what I thought it was. Last few controls were fine just trying to stay clean and finish.

Summary:
- good technique and focus to 11
- good fitness and speed
- have an idea of them ahead leg, forsee challenges and take the time to work them out
- after large mistakes, learn to move on and not impact rest of race

Morning run to get the legs loose. Felt great. On the golf course was lovely and pushed a little bit on some short sections to get some pace and heart rate up. Had planned to not run sprint today and stuck to my decision. Didn’t want my first hard session on create after injury to be at the jk.

Lovely morning jog about the flat. Some hilly bits and forest and road. Nice and easy felt good, excited for weekend

A wee tempo to test the speed and legs followed by an easy trott home. Felt good but a little hard on the ups still. Should be well recovered for the weekend.

O intervals. Legs felt good on the flat but on any gradient started feeling tired. Did three sets which was enough for a blast. Felt me map reading and technique was good. A little hesitant into controls. So need to understand the control circle better. Also some of my bearings were a little off but not by much.

Remember good bearing, simple plan and head up. Know the circle ⭕️

Cheeky jog in the forest before lunch. Very pleasant but legs felt tired.

Warming up for the long distance. First start so was still quite cold. Felt alert but quite tired in the legs. Looking forward to being first in the forest.

The long race. In quick summary, I was quite satisfied with my run after I had finished, as technically I had been fairly solid. Only a couple of minutes off and hesitations. Additionally tho looking back I was not up to speed. The pace I was holding in the race was lacking behind the front runners by about 1min/km. However during the race I felt unable to push any more. From some strong performances this season so far and a good winter training, I find it frustrating to see me behind by so much. I believe that my body was not fully recovered from previous weeks of training, racing, work and therefore I had no spring in my step. Need to rest up now for the JK, terrain is going to be quite a contrast

About the race: tbc