Training Archive: Tundra/Desert

Medium pace running race 4:55:56 [3] 49.6 km (5:58 / km) +1380m 5:14 / km
ahr:163 max:178 shoes: Mudclaw 270

The Woodside trail run out of Huddart Park. I ran alone all the way, paced myself well (helped not to look at the Polar data from the most recent Woodside course), and had my best-ever PCTR result, just barely beating my Angel Island time. Felt great during and afterwards. Ate and drank little, but all the important stuff. No cramps.

I think the cold dry weather (3 °C at the start) helped. Aid station time: 3:03.

Easy running warm up/down 9:44 [2] 2.01 km (4:51 / km)
ahr:138 max:152 shoes: (C)Ross Dress Brooks

I warmed up at De Anza, with Thorsten who set a really high pace for the warmup because of the cold. There were six people in all; also Mikkel, Tapio, Kent, and Brad Wetmore showed up later as we were finishing the first interval.

Medium pace running tempo (Threshold intervals) 21:30 [3] 5.03 km (4:16 / km)
ahr:165 max:182 shoes: (C)Ross Dress Brooks

We did mile intervals with 1:00 rest. I ran 6:14, 6:19, 6:17. I was ahead of Mikkel and Thorsten on the first two, and Thorsten pushed up the pace on the third, seemingly being in a better shape than the rest of us. He also did a fourth one with Tapio. Tapio averaged 6:56s, and Kent (who did 3×), high 7's.

The exercise felt alright after 7 weeks of relative inactivity.

Note

My hearing in the (formerly) good ear seemed to take a hit after last Saturday's show. I was sure there was no immediate damage, but over the course of the week things started to sound funny, compressed. Flowing water sounds more like individual drops, and has less of the hissy background.

And during the weekend, ringing started. It was at a much higher frequency than the constant ringing in the bad ear, and also intermittent, but nevertheless distinct. I plugged my MDR-V600s into a function generator today, and found no discernible loss, at least pure tone-wise. I didn't do a detailed survey a-la this one because there was a lot of background noise in the lab. I'm going to see an audiologist next week, get an audiogram, and then do my own ghetto audiology and compare. This should establish a reference point for future comparison.

Running with weights tempo 37:07 [3] 6.52 km (5:42 / km) +65m 5:25 / km
ahr:163 max:174 shoes: Mudclaw 330

I changed my mind a few times the night before my Monday morning flight about whether I should run to the airport from the hotel (there was no shuttle offered), or to take a cab. I had taken a cab to get to the hotel, and the cabbie didn't seem to know the way around the airport. So, I settled on running. But I overslept, and started to frantically call "the one" cab company at 5:00 am. No reply. Nobody answering phones. I gave up, showered, packed up my stuff into the Camelback (the laptop fit, but not the jacket or the headphones), and hit the road.

It was quite invonvenient to carry a large hotel laundry bag in my arms, but I was able to maintain a decent pace. The air quality around I-40 was horrible. I think even in the days of running in Moscow around MKAD I hadn't breathed in as much pollutants as on this run. My flight was at 6:40. I got to the terminal at 6:15, and seeing the security line, realized it wasn't my day after all.

Note

I did get home close to midnight, thanks to the nice ladies at the RDU Crown Club lounge. Nobody else at DL seemed to care squat, or even be willing to communicate.

Easy running 45:17 [2] 8.08 km (5:36 / km) +140m 5:09 / km
ahr:148 max:158 shoes: Mudclaw 330

On a sunny Sunday, ran from another hotel to a different part of Umstead to test-run some legs. I had planned to actually go and hang streamers, but the courses ended up unfinished by the time it was getting dark. So, I decided to salvage whatever was left of the day and at least get a gauge of the running speed through the woods, full of decayed trees downed by the 1996 hurricane.

I got a huge blister on the left foot in the Mudclaw 330s. It started on the Long day of the BAOC event, and seemed to never go away in the meanwhile. Friday's running in the Mudclaws was enough to bring it back. I put some Compeed on it on Saturday, but it came right off, making my running miserable.

C • 1993 Hurricane? 4

Orienteering tempo 18:39 [3] **** 2.86 km (6:31 / km) +100m 5:33 / km
ahr:167 max:178 shoes: Mudclaw 330

I promptly made a nasty parallel error on one of the legs I had planned, misunderestimating the difficulty of the terrain. It's not as easy as it looks! The navigation style is going to be very similar to this year's Hawn—the younger trees obscure a surprising amount of relief detail; but the physical challenge will be more Cincinnati-like.

Easy running 28:16 [2] 4.85 km (5:50 / km) +70m 5:26 / km
ahr:150 max:164 shoes: Mudclaw 330

I hurried back from the park before the sun set.