Training Archive: kupackmanIn the 31 days ending 2007-08-31:
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| W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | S | S | M | T | W | H | F | |||||||||||||
Friday Aug 31 | ||
| Event: Barebones | ||
| Orienteering race 1:16:08 [4]5.7 km (13:21 / km) | |
| shoes: Vasque Lightspeed | ||
| The first race of Barebones!
#1. I stumbled a bit out of the gate on this one, but I recovered nicely. #2. Aced it. One of my best legs of the weekend. #3. Aced it. Things are looking good. #4. A harder one, but I'm still nailing them. #5. Lost a little bit on this one, as did the mini-herd of people here. #6. I broke from the herd here and went right, as they went left. I punched about the same time. #7. Whoops. Wandered too far right. I had to slog through some slash to get there. #8. Damn it, I was doing so well, and the super long leg screwed me up. I slogged through the marsh ok, but I went way too far up the resulting hillside (perhaps even barely off the map). I couldn't even see the big lake that I was looking for, so I decided to go down the hill and find it, if it meant that I wasted some climb. Once I spotted the lake (and recognized it distinctly from a large marshy area), I relocated fine and figured it out... but the finding and relocating took flipping forever! #9. Got my confidence back. Found it ok. #10. Good plan, good execution, on a tricky leg. I loved it. #11. A really tricky, sloggy, leg. I moved too slowly, but eh, I found it. However, I tripped and faceplanted right at the control. I actually reaced up and stretched and punched from laying face down, as if I was stretching for a touchdown or something. Hahaha. #12. I was bleeding in three places from the fall (right knee, left elbow, right thumb), so I was a bit achy to #12. I slogged through some light green here. #13. Pretty fast run to the GO control. Finish. A mediocre run in. Examined the damage afterward... | ||
| Hiking 30:00 [1]1.0 mi (30:00 / mi) | |
| shoes: Pearl Izumi SyncroSeek | ||
| A short hike up to the Paint Pots in Kootenay National Park. | ||
Thursday Aug 30 | ||
| Mapping/Designing/Setting 40:00 [2]** 3 km (13:20 / km) | |
| shoes: Vasque Lightspeed | ||
| Eric and I did some training at the Potholes area near Moses Lake on the way out to Barebones. He's looking to map this for orienteering. Lots of fun sand dunes and small lakes/marshes.
The plan was for me to hang 5 controls for eric and vice versa. However, the terrain didn't seem to match the 1956 USGS basemap in places, so I got really, really confused. I only hung two. Luckily for me (and Eric), at least I managed to hang them in the right spot. | ||
| Orienteering 1:00:00 [3]** 4 km (15:00 / km) | |
| shoes: Vasque Lightspeed | ||
| I ran the course that Eric set, that had four controls. I found two of them decently enough, one of them moderately ok, and I had serious trouble with the other.
The sandy terrain didn't help my speed. I had to walk most of the last legs because my shoes were chocked full of sand and it was abrasive to run. I dumped at least a FULL CUP of sand from EACH shoe when I was done. Meshy shoes: good for water, bad for sand. | ||
Monday Aug 27 | ||
| Softball 1:15:00 [1] | |
| I completely mismanaged this game, and we lost 18-14. We beat this team three weeks ago 23-3! We were really short on experienced outfielders, and the other team took advantage during a massive inning, scoring 14 runs. Errors, errors, errors, killed us. I was guilty of one as pitcher, too.
I should have put Joe in left field and Matt in center. Argh. I was 2-4 batting, but none of hte balls left the infield. 2 infield singles, all plays were super close at first. Collectively, had I been a second slower, I'm 0-4. If I'm a second faster, I'm 4-4. I was really upset last night. I completely screwed it up. | ||
Friday Aug 24 | ||
| Note | |
| Stupid UPS. They've always delivered on time for me. So I was excited to get home on August 23rd, because that's when my new thumb compass was supposed to arrive. And, I didn't have any after-work activities, so I was going to grab my Woodland Park map and run out the door.
But I got home, and no package. So I checked the online tracking. It still said that it would arrive on August 23rd. However, instead of saying "In transit to Seattle, WA", the last thing is says is "Arrival Scan in Mesquite, TX." That was on August 17th. Has my compass been sitting in Texas for a week now? Now, I'm worried that I won't get it before I head up to Canada. Boo. Speaking of Barebones, I got some info yesterday about the club relay race. 4-person relays, everybody runs a sprint and a middle. It looks like a lot of fun. Also, there are 7 Cascade members signed up to go, plus me. Which means that we have exactly enough people to field two teams. However, this means that I'll be running for Cascade, which would feel a little weird. Granted, I am a Cascade member (for the discount and volunteering opportunities), but I've never run for anyone other than OK. This might be breaking the rules. We also have exactly 12 relay points going, which means we could field a 4-point and an 8-point team. I feel worthless as 0 points. At least Eric is worth 0 points. | ||
| C • OK 3 | ||
| C • Compass 2 | ||
Wednesday Aug 22 | ||
| Ultimate 25:00 [3] | |
| I went to watch Gina at her ultimate frisbee tournament. I warmed up with her for about 10 minutes of just running around and tossing.
I also got to sub in a few times, three times for about five minutes each. I really wasn't too active in the game. They only threw to me once, and I dropped it. | ||
Tuesday Aug 21 | ||
| Note | |
| It rained on Monday, so there was no softball.
Volleyball is over for the season, no nothing on Tuesday. We have a bye on Wednesday, so there's again no softball. I suppose I could have played ultimate frisbee this week (haven't played since April), but it was raining on Monday and I'm watching Gina play in a tournament tomorrow. Basically, I'm so worn out by work these days that the only time I'll train is if I feel obligated to do it, like participating on a team or attending every single O' meet in Seattle. However, I've already decided to skip basketball for the fall/winter. It's not worth driving up to Everett once a week for a poorly officiated 32 minutes of basketball. (Driving up to Everett for softball and volleyball is better, since it's for multiple hours of game play). I'm also not playing soccer this fall/winter, either. Those games were waaaay far north, and late in the evenings. Not exactly what I want to go along with the 5:30am workday. I will be stepping up the volleyball, though. I'll continue to play co-ed A i Everett on Tuesdays, and I'll be joining some of the new hires on a co-ed B team in Seattle on Wednesdays. There are a handful of o-meets in Seattle before Winter O starts in November. I'll have to miss a few of them. I'm pretty much planning on attending as many of the Winter O events as I can. I can work before and after each meet. I'll just take off 2-3 hours each Saturday morning. And if they complain, I'll just say, "Hey, I'm working 7 days a week, 64 hours a week, coming in at 5:30am. I'm making enough sacrifices to be here. Let me take a 2-3 hour break every other Saturday, damn it!" I'm also planning on travelling to some o-meets, too. Barebones in AB in a week. Western States Champs in CA in October. US Champs in VA in November. Anza-Borrego O-Fest in CA in January. Intercollegiates in AZ in February. Ones I'll have to skip (unfortunately): Western Canadian Champs in BC in October. Camp Scherman in CA in October. And then there's this one: Mt. Bachelor in OR on September 8/9. I'm planning on missing it, but it's within a half-day's drive, so I can decide last minute. The terrain is incredible, and I've worked enough hours that I can use my union's contract to my advantage and say, "Hey, I've already worked 144 hours of overtime this quarter, you can't make me come in. I'm leaving this weekend, too." I probably won't do that, but I could. | ||
Wednesday Aug 15 | ||
| Softball 2:30:00 [0] | |
| Two wins, and we're back in striking distance of the playoffs.
I pitched 8 innings and only allowed 5 runs, and I was 7-7 at the plate (triple, double, 5 singles) plus a walk. I managed to throw someone out at 1st with a between the legs toss. (It was a slow roller and I was facing away from the first baseman, so the only option to get the out was to flip the ball behind me. Thankfully, John was paying attention to my gamble and he caught it with a sno-cone! | ||
Monday Aug 13 | ||
| Softball 2:30:00 [0] | |
| One win, one loss.
I batted 7 for 9, and aside from one inning, I pitched rather well. I did get thrown out at 3rd base twice, by the center fielder who has a cannon! | ||
Wednesday Aug 8 | ||
| Softball 32 [5] | |
| Yes, that's 32 seconds. I decided that if Roger can log 1:34 of intensity 5 on a clown bike, then I can log my single and three triples. I can't think of an instance that is more intense than gunning for a triple. | ||
| Softball 2:29:28 [0] | |
| The rest of the two softball games that didn't involve running anywhere.
We won both games. One fairly easily and one that was close until we pummeled with six in the last inning. I batted 4-6 with three triples and one single. I scored three runs. In the field, I pitched for five innings, played 1st and 2nd base once each, and sat the remaining six innings. The one downside to playing with a large team is that I have to sit a lot and I only get a few at-bats. | ||
Tuesday Aug 7 | ||
| Volleyball 1:45:00 [3] | |
| shoes: Pearl Izumi SyncroSeek | ||
| Volleyball Tournament.
I'm logging this at a higher intensity level than normal, just because I was working harder because it was now-or-never time, plus I was *really* going after my serves. First Game: We were the #4 seed in an 8-team tournament. We played the #5 team, who we knew we could beat. We let them hang around until about 10-10, and then Jesus launched about 10 serves in a row. We got lazy and let them close it back to 5, but we won 25-18. Second Game: Against the #1 seed, who didn't have their awesome setter girl. However, they had another hitter, so all 4 of their players were awesome hitters (and decent setters). I perfected my jump serve to the point where I won 3 consecutive service points. That was pretty cool. We hung around and didn't embarrass ourselves. This team is just too good with those 4 hitters. We lost 25-19. Third Game: Into the losers bracket, where we had a rematch with our first round opponent. We were in a pretty good groove from the previous game, so we took it easy a little bit and won fairly easily, 25-16. Fourth Game: Played the #3 seed here, with a very solid hitter and a very solid setter. We were behind most of the way, but we overtook them at 17. We squandered 3 match points because we weren't aggressive enough, and then we pulled it out, 26-24. Fifth Game: Played the #2 seed in a game that would send us to the championship game. The other team was well rested, and we were getting tired. Plus, they had solid hitters. We hung around with them through about 14-15, but they pulled away with 4 straight points, and won 25-18. 3rd place! Now it's a month off. Hopefully, I don't get too rusty, because my jump serve can be lethal if I practice it just a bit more. | ||
Monday Aug 6 | ||
| Softball 2:40:00 [1] | |
| Softball doubleheader.
We beat the defending champs for the first time ever in the first game, 7-6. We were the away team, so it was pretty nervewracking in the 7th inning, knowing they only had to score 2 runs to win. But, we held them scoreless over the last three innings and got just enough clutch hitting to win. Earlier in the game, I had another bases-loaded, two-out situation. I nailed an awesome line drive down the first-base line. It would have driven in 3 runs.... but the first baseman jumped up and robbed me with a sno-cone catch. UGGGGH! So frustrating. Good thing I had the game-tying RBI later in the game, but still, that's twice in the past two weeks that I've come up empty in a bases-loaded, two-out situation. We played one of the bad teams in the second game. We took it easy and won 20-5. I was a mediocre 4-9 at the plate over both games. I pitched the final three innings of the first game and played catcher, right field, and 1st base for the rest. | ||
Saturday Aug 4 | ||
| Orienteering race 2:08:06 [3]*** 10.65 km (12:02 / km) | |
| spiked:11/16c shoes: Vasque Lightspeed | ||
| The long orienteering course that was held in conjunction with the Six Degrees of Naviation Adventure Race out in Cle Elum. Teanaway Forks map.
More route analysis later if I have time for it. | ||
Wednesday Aug 1 | ||
| Orienteering race 32:20 [4]*** 5.1 km (6:20 / km) | |
| spiked:20/22c shoes: Vasque Lightspeed | ||
| One of my favorite courses of the year, the annual "August Wednesday Sammamish meet at Luther Burbank Park". Ok, so it doesn't have that title, but it's an event that I've now attended three years in a row.
Why do I like it? 1) It's fast. I've recorded 74 orienteering events in my database, and my 1st, 2nd, and 5th fastest are all here. 2) It's sprint-y. The park isn't very big, and the coutours are simple. But, it's open enough, and there are enough obstacles and a variety of mapped features (the snail shell berm thing, the hidden pond, the intricate tennis court and playground area, the terraced ampitheater, the clump of thickets around) that allows for route choices that are more interesting than "do I take the left trail or the right trail?". 3) It's very beginner friendly (Nick, Mike, and Jeremy all had their first O-meets here, and all three have done it since). 4) It's right on the lake, and the weather is great, and there's always a cookout afterwards. Let's get to the courses. I ran courses 3 and 2 (together combine as course 4). I wanted to treat this is sprint training, so I wanted to maximise speed and plan exit strategies ahead of time. I also wanted to scrutinize every minor route choice detail. Start to 1: 150m. No-brainer sidewalk run. 1 to 2: 125m. Across the parking lot and up the hill. I probably lost a second or two because I didn't go diagonally across the lot. However, there were cars, people unloading their AR gear and stuff, so going straight really wasn't a great option here. 2 to 3: 200m. My original thought was to backtrack to 1 and continue 75 meters to the flag (which wasn't a bad idea), but my pre-planning identified a flatter, easier to negotiate, and faster route. 3 to 4: 200m. Very poor exit, as I didn't fully analyze this one, which is unforgivable since I had a plain-Jane leg before it. I took a really awkward and backwards way into the field. However, the alternate route choice here, which seemingly looks 10x better, is also pretty awkward, and only saves you 20 meters! So, even though I didn't pay enough attention, I made my decision fast enough that I didn't lose that much time (7 seconds or so). 4 to 5: 300m. Very good leg. Straight across the field and I headed left of the hill and tennis courts. Afterwards, I wanted to compare the alternative, heading straight at the hill and then to the right of the tennis courts. This route was only 10 meters shorter, but required 10 more meters of climb. I liked my gut instinct on this one. 5 to 6: 300m. Navigationally, pretty boring. I headed over to the new part of the map up on the hill, which required a lot of stair climbing. This one hurt. 6 to 7: 125m. Across rough open on the hill. Great view. 7 to 8: 400m. The long one. This was a good leg, as I never had to stop running, and double-check my features. I could have overrun a trail junction or a spot between thickets. I nailed everything on this one, all the way to the end. 8 to 9: 100m. This was a tricky control to find, but since the leg was so short, and the approach from the easier side, this one was pretty easy. (there was a control in this area last year that was seemingly impossible to find... for a minute). 9 to 10: 200m. Paved trail to the small attack point of the gap in the thicket. Not too tricky. 10 to 11: 350m. The toughest part of this one was to not stand at the control and decide on the best exit. Either way you went was going to be decent. I headed left (which was better), and pushed it hard. 11 to finish: 350m. This was the toughest route choice of the day. 11 was halfway up a hill. I could either go back down and run this narrow trail along the shoreline, and finish going uphill (definitely shorter, but the trail doesn't lend itself to 100% speed). Or, I could get the climb over with early, and blast through the upper field and finish downhill). I decided to go with the latter, which was 60 meters longer (with an option to only be 40 meters longer, but I stayed on the gravel path too much). The course setter thinks my way was faster, but who knows? -- MAP EXCHANGE -- Start to 1: 200m. This took me back the way of the route I didn't choose on the previous leg, so I got to experience the slowness of the trail. At one point, I had to stop and crawl under a tree, and slow down as I passed some other orienteers. 1 to 2: 125m. An awkward leg, as I had to go way around at the beginning. I ran 200m of trail to avoid 50m of uphill through light green. And in Seattle, light green is pretty slow. Control was at the top of the hill. 2 to 3: 175m. Diagonally across the other parking lot. 3 to 4: 175m. Navigationally, this was the most challenging leg of the day. Once you exit the parking lot, the leg crosses a large, wide open downhill area, ending at the lake. The control was a meter from the shoreline. However, the shoreline is lined with a strip of darker green, a mix of trees, bushes, and marshy-type plants. There are several small gaps in the vegetation where you can go all the way to the water. Cresting the hill, I needed to know which little gap to attack. Each gap is about 20m apart. Without a compass, I had to wing it, but I was pretty confident that I was choosing the right gap. And I got it! (Though, looking at the map now, this would have been insanely easy had I read the description sheet, which was for a distinctive tree. And there was only one really tall tree in the area.) 4 to 5: 400m. I really didn't want to climb back up most of that hill, but staying on the shoreline sent me to the dog off-leash area, which was obstructed on the map by the words "Dog off-leash area". I didn't know I could sneak around it on the lake side, so I played it safe by going around to the left. I was starting to really hurt on this leg. 5 to 6: 75m. I knew where this flag was because I passed it on the first course. There were two trees "guarding" this control, and I could have easily ran around either one, but I decided to plow through the branched in the middle like barging through the swingin' doors into an old western saloon. I made it through easy enough, but not without some scratches and some blood. :) 6 to 7 to 8: 500m. Some long legs getting me back across the park. Easy navigation, but man, I was really hurting with my fitness. If I would have kept pushing, I think I would have vomited. So I walked about a minute on these legs. 8 to 9 to 10: 300m. I started running again because it was slightly downhill, and the race was almost over, and because there were people milling around the park and I didn't want to look like a wimp. The flags here were visible at least halfway through the leg. 10 to 11: 125m. This one was just past the finish area, so one trick was to actually realize that there was a control here (instead of just finishing). The other trick was realizing that you couldn't access this control from the start/finish/beach area. You had to go around a bit to the south to get it. No problems here. 11 to finish: 50m. Looped around the thicket and through the adventure race circus to the finish. --- In total, 22 controls, I spiked 20 of them. I lost less than a combined 30 seconds on the other two, because of route-choice ineffeciencies. | ||
| C • wow, i just spent more time... 1 | ||