Sunday Sep 30 |
 | Orienteering 1:16:45 [4]*** 5.1 km (15:03 / km) | |
| spiked:11/16c |
| A-meet, day 2. 12 minute error on #3. The initial attack from the trail to the north, I didn't know where I was (though I thought I did). I wandered. The second attack from the trail to the southeast, I didn't know where I was (though I thought I did). I wandered a lot more. The third attack from the trail to the north, I did it right. Also made smaller mistakes on 1 and 6 (and even, my favorite, the go control). |
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| Adam had a thrilling come from behind victory to take M14. OK, there were only two runners in M14. But still he had an excellent run on day 2: 24 minutes for a 2.63k yellow course. Just what was needed to pump up the motivation to keep orienteering. |
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Green X Day 2 - Splits |
Saturday Sep 29 |
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| Event: Boulder Dash 2007
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| Orienteering 1:11:07 [4]*** 4.8 km (14:49 / km) | |
| spiked:9/13c |
| Boulder Dash UNO A-meet in Bow, NH on a new map by Bob Lux. Challenging courses, with lots of technical legs. Saturday's run did not start well, as I made mistakes on 2, 3, and 4 that added up to maybe 12 minutes (that's a guess; see below); then I screwed up the go control for maybe another 30-45 seconds lost. So I can't say I'm real happy with how I orienteered (though 5-12 went very well, with just a couple of hesitations). Sunday I lost even more time, due to a 12 minute error; maybe 16 minutes total. But there are two ways to evaluate performance: absolutely, say in terms of time lost; and relatively. I think I'll focus on the relative evaluation: 2nd M50 for the two-day combined; 5th overall on Green X. That doesn't sound so bad.
Just when I thought I had suffered every possible mishap while orienteering (short of serious injury or death), something new and unexpected happens. (That's why I love orienteering!) When I tried take the split on my watch at #2, there was nothing but bare wrist. I had donated my pricey Polar watch to the Nottingcook Forest. But the cost is the least of it: I hate not having splits! I went straight to Walmart in the afternoon and bought a Timex Ironman pretty cheap so I'd have splits for Sunday. |
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Green X Day 1 - Splits |
Thursday Sep 27 |
| Orienteering 1:10:00 [2] 6 km (11:40 / km) | |
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| Norwottuck, low 80's and steamy. About half on trails, half off looking for nearby features. Off trail was walking because I had shorts on (and was tired). Included a climb to the top of Norwottuck, and down the steep trail that leaves the summit to the north, and then swings east beneath the cliffs to meet the M-M below the horse caves. Interesting trail, I'd never been on it before. |
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| C • That's the old M&M route. W... 3 |
Wednesday Sep 26 |
| Road Run 43:12 [3] 5.2 mi (8:18 / mi) | |
| weight:139lbs |
| From Ainsworth after lifting, the old Y/Gazette 10k course minus the loop around Childs Park. It was after dark, but still 80 degrees and humid. Left hip and quad weren't happy; should have stayed off the road. |
Tuesday Sep 25 |
| Trail Run 53:02 [3] 6.0 mi (8:51 / mi) | |
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| Crackerjack day, low 80's and low humidity. Snuck out at lunch and did the Frost to Atkins Res. and back. Pretty relaxed going out (and up), a bit harder coming back. My hip was pretty sore by the end. 8:35, 5:21, 2:31, 6:25, 5:20 (28:14), 5:16, 5:03, 2:16, 4:35, 7:37 (24:48) |
Sunday Sep 23 |
| Orienteering race 15:19 [4] 2.02 km (7:35 / km) | |
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| US relay champs. Watching the races was lots of fun. The courses were well designed by PG for spectating. I ran in an 8 point NEOC team with Tim P. leading off, me second, Hilary third, and Sam fourth. We took 2nd to WCOC in a close finish. I was oddly nervous about doing yellow; I'd never competed in a yellow course before, and it seemed there was a distinct possibility for serious embarassment if I went too fast and got stupid. But the run went well enough; I was second on the course to Pavlina by 30 seconds, but well ahead of all the kids and West Pointers who can run a lot faster than me. (I didn't have a single fastest split.) But it was far from a perfect race: I probably lost at least 10 seconds on each of three legs, two by being inaccurate, one by not choosing the best route. (I should have taken the road to 10; I went around to the right.) The course was more interesting than I expected; not at all trivial, with lots of route choice, like a sprint course. |
| road 9:00 [2] 1.0 mi (9:00 / mi) | |
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| Warm-up. Surprised that my legs felt pretty good. |
| Trail Run 51:43 [3] 5.2 mi (9:57 / mi) | |
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| Hadn't done much exercise in CT, and it was a beautiful day, and Adam needed to do a 5-6 mile run. So we went to Mt Tom late in the day and, starting at the gate, did a shortened loop climbing up Goat Peak (slow, but no walking), then cutting out the climb up Whiting Peak by taking the Quarry Trail to the Keystone extension and back down to Lake Bray. |
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Yellow - Splits |
Saturday Sep 22 |
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| Event: Sprint Series Final & US Relay Champs
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| Orienteering race 18:46 [4] 2.22 km (8:27 / km) | |
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| Sprint Series Finals at Cranbury Park in Norwalk. 3 sprints: the first two were were an A-meet with staggered starts; I ran in M45. The last was the sprint final run as a mass start after the finalists ran. It was a fun day, with excellent courses set by Joe; and a good day for me, with no mistake over 30 seconds, and the last sprint clean as a whistle. I felt my hip when I tried to go fast, but it held up pretty well throughout the weekend.
Sprint A had the most green, and the most potential for trail or stone wall confusion. It started badly with the worst mistake of the day: I got confused right off as to what trail I was on ( the 1:4,000 map scale didn't help), and ended up taking a circuiitous route to 1, losing 30 seconds. Beyond that maybe a couple 10-15 second mistakes for under a minute total. |
| Orienteering race 18:58 [4] 2.33 km (8:08 / km) | |
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| Sprint B had more open woods, and more distinct contours. Another solid run with just a couple of 20 second errors. Most people were at least a minute faster on this sprint than sprint A, but I guess I just didn't have any higher gear to move in to. |
| Orienteering 19:24 [5] 3.15 km (6:10 / km) | |
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| The sprint finals course, done after the finalists as a mass start. This was great fun: the course started with 3 short loops that could have been done in any of six orders depending on the map you got. I had variation 1 where I first went north, then east, then south. The orienteering on these loops was very fast and easy. Then there was a map exchange with a 1200 meter loop to the south, also fast and pretty easy: the only challenge was coming straight at 19 from the stone wall junction, and I nailed it. I can think of only two controls where I lost as much as 5 seconds; and I tried to put out a bit more physical effort from the start than the first two sprints. |
| grass 8:00 [2] 0.8 mi (10:00 / mi) | |
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| Some easy jogging before the first sprint to loosen up. |
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Sprint A Course 3 (R/B) - Splits |
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Sprint B Course 3 (R/B) - Splits |
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Sprint C - Splits |
Thursday Sep 20 |
| grass 29:01 [3] 3.6 mi (8:02 / mi) | |
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| 4 loops around UMass athletic field. Felt kind of hot with the sun beating down and high 70's. 7:32, 7:14, 7:10, 7:02. |
Wednesday Sep 19 |
| Track 14:09 [4] 2.0 mi (7:04 / mi) | |
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| After lifting at Smith. Too dark to run trails, so I did a short, easy tempo run on the track. (Well, it didn't feel that easy, but it should have.) 7:05, 7:04. |
| dirt 25:00 [2] 2.8 mi (8:55 / mi) | |
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| Before and after. |
Tuesday Sep 18 |
| Trail Run 45:29 [4] 5.5 mi (8:15 / mi) | |
| max:160 weight:140lbs |
| Juggler. Best time on this course in years, 3:20 faster than last week. Felt really good. I had only planned to run something under 48, but about 12 minutes into the run some tall, buff, bearded Nordic-looking guy (definitely not my Dean) was coming up behind me, so I instinctively sped up to keep ahead of him. He continued on the Frost past Juggler, but I felt committed to maintaining the same pace on the way back.
8:12, 9:01, 6:09 (23:23), 6:12, 8:37, 7:16 (22:06). |
Monday Sep 17 |
| Trail Run 38:48 [3] 4.5 mi (8:36 / mi) | |
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| After lifting at Smith. Tired, and unmotivated. |
Sunday Sep 16 |
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| Event: NEOC Great Brook Farm
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| Orienteering 1:27:46 [3] 7.2 km (12:11 / km) | |
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| NEOC event at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle, put on by Tim P. I did red. First time on this map, which seemed pretty good (except on the way to 15 where unmapped stone walls and an unmapped trail threw me off a bit). There are some technical areas, with trail runs between. Lots of "light green" on the map with low visibility. My orienteering was on the sloppy side: a bunch of 2ish minute mistakes. And at the end I stupidly tried to go to 18 straight across the marsh (everything had been pretty dry!), and lost 3 minutes getting stuck in some deep mud. |
| Trail Run 8:00 [3] 0.8 mi (10:00 / mi) | |
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| The older I get, the more I need a warm-up. This wasn't enough, but it was better than nothing |
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Red - Splits |
Friday Sep 14 |
| Orienteering 48:42 [3] 3.5 mi (13:55 / mi) | |
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| At the notch, south side, just before dark. Running with map, on and off trails. Hard to read the map in the darkening woods. |
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| C • NEOC group 2 |
Thursday Sep 13 |
| Road Run 36:54 [3] 4.8 mi (7:41 / mi) | |
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| It was too late to do a good trail run before dark, so I hit the roads. My usual loop from Boyden Gym, which includes the Amity and E. Pleasant street hills. I felt better, and ran faster, than expected! |
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| C • Boyden 2 |
Wednesday Sep 12 |
| Trail Run 48:51 [3] 5.5 mi (8:52 / mi) | |
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| Juggler. Got away at lunchtime for a change, and had a decent run: first real run since before the rogaine. Don't want to go any faster until my hip feels more secure. 8:30, 10:08, 6:47 (25:26), 6:35, 9:16, 7:33 (23:25) |
Tuesday Sep 11 |
| Trail/Road Run 34:24 [2] 3.6 mi (9:32 / mi) | |
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| From Smith, mostly after dark. Felt old and decrepit. |
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| C • I too know the feeling. Felt t... 2 |
Monday Sep 10 |
| machines (elliptical) 20:00 [3] | |
| weight:140lbs |
| After lifting. Too wet and dark to venture out. |
Sunday Sep 9 |
| Orienteering 1:42:43 [3] 6.2 km (16:34 / km) | |
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| Red course. Cooler, heavy rain in the middle. Energy was OK, but my legs were really tired, and I moved slower than yesterday. Started badly, as I lost 3-4 minutes hunting for 1 too far south. Then I never found number 4. It was 100 meters east of the night-o's number 9, an area I've messed up in before. I attacked from the corner of the pond, and it was only 200 meters from there, but I quickly got off line and nothing made sense. I tried to relocate without going back to the pond, but I kept messing up, mostly I think looking too far east. After 15 minutes, I just headed off to 5. But look on the brighter side: I more or less spiked 9 of 11 controls! (Though moving only 13-14 min/k).
Adam did the yellow in about 23:00, then had a long wait for me to return. He ran faster today, but made a three minute error blowing by a trail junction on the way to #6. First place was out of reach: 15:00 by PG. |
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| C • red #4 6 |
Saturday Sep 8 |
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| Event: UNO Camping Weekend
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| Orienteering 1:11:44 [3] 5.1 km (14:04 / km) | |
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| Pawtuckaway camping weekend, with Adam. I chose to start with the green course because it was wicked hot and humid (near 90 when I started just pasts noon), and there was a lot more activity to come. A 10 minute error on 5 and a couple of one minute errors. (The thing about Pawtuckaway is I can be right on track up to the circle and then, wham, a moment of inattention and I have no idea where I am. My mistake was not immediately going back to where I knew where I was. I wandered, without success, and then relocated on a nearby trail.) Minus the errors, I was moving at standard Pawtuckaway pace (in spite of the heat), which for me averages about 11-12 min/k. Feels pretty slow.
Adam did the yellow in about 35:00 - a minute slower than the best time. |
| Orienteering 1:00:00 [1] 2.9 km (20:41 / km) | |
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| Walked most of the orange course with Adam for training, letting him lead the way after discussing the route. And he did pretty well. But Pawtuckaway isn't the place for him to try his first orange course on his own. |
| Orienteering 50:00 [3] 2.8 km (17:51 / km) | |
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| Barb's bus stop-o. This was very well designed: just needed better marketing to get some serious orienteers to try it. Once I went outside the "beltway" during my second leg, I didn't see anyone again (though Meg Parsons came looking for me, and apparently got thoroughly lost). Because I was picking up six controls along the way, I had to hustle on my third and fourth legs to make the schedule: not just a leisurely walk. I loved the orange and white felt hats, but they could have used some ventilation in the near 90 degree heat! |
| Orienteering 50:00 [2] 3 km (16:40 / km) | |
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| Vampire-o with Adam. Last year it was fun because we got the holy water, and then could safely get all the controls. (Though carrying the gallon jug of water wasn't so much fun ...) This year, no such luck. After putting out some effort, we got vamped by Samantha and Judy. (How could they? And they didn't even express any remorse.) It kind of took the wind out of our sail. By the end we had been vamped about 4 or 5 times and came back, dejected, as vampires. Not sure I like this game: subverts the American work ethic. |
Thursday Sep 6 |
| dirt 34:56 [2] 4.0 mi (8:44 / mi) | |
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| Smith fields, after dark. Feeling tired and unmotivated: back to the grind of 5-6 hours of sleep and 10+ hour workdays. I'll call this a rest and recovery week, and try to get back on track after Pawtuckaway. |
Wednesday Sep 5 |
| grass 28:44 [3] 3.6 mi (7:59 / mi) | |
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| Four laps around UMass fields progressively faster. Hip feels kind of vulnerable. 7:40, 7:12, 7:03, 6:48. |
Tuesday Sep 4 |
| dirt 18:00 [2] 2.0 mi (9:00 / mi) | |
| weight:139lbs |
| After lifting at Smith. Dead tired, so cut it short. Pathetic! |
Monday Sep 3 |
| cycling 58:08 [3] | |
| weight:140lbs |
| Westhampton-Leeds loop. Since it's end of summer, I pushed from the start to see if I could get a course PR - which I did by a matter of seconds. 18 miles, 18.6 mph. 21:30, 37:28. |
Sunday Sep 2 |
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| Event: WCOC Trout Brook Valley
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| Orienteering 1:43:39 [3] 8.3 km (12:29 / km) | |
| weight:133lbs |
| Trout Brook score-0 with 20 controls, by Pavlina, with a 5 control sprint course in the middle. (Joe was hanging out at 16; for bonus points, you could get map, a do the sprint while Joe timed it.) We had 100 minutes to get back before penalties; I got them all, including the sprint, but, alas, I was three minutes overtime. (Pavlina generously put 1:42 59 for my time.)
I shouldn't have taken so long. My navigation was good, with maybe three minutes total lost. But I messed up the order that I had planned to do the 20 controls in, which added 600 meters, or about 6 minutes. (The score-o was 7.5 k the way I did it, but should have been 6.9; the sprint was 800 meters.) My order was: 1,2,3,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,6,4,16,(sprint), 14,15,27,29,18,20. After 13, I should have done 14,15,16,6,4,17,18,19,20.
Physically, my energy was good for the first hour, then by 90 minutes I had totally bonked (not the usual, getting real tired; I mean bonked, where you can barely lift your legs.) Felt like dehydration: I had let myself get really dehydrated over the past couple days in NH, and there was no water on the course. When I got home, I weighed 135, and that was after drinking at least 2-3 pounds of liquid. So post-race I weighed no more than 133, my first sub-G experience. My feet, surprisingly, were fine. The four remaining "blisters" were well-bandaged, and didn't bother me. |
Saturday Sep 1 |
| Trail Run 1:08:50 [3] 5.4 mi (12:44 / mi) | |
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| With Adam, up to the fire tower on top of Red Hill (1300' of climb), after a two mile out and back on a nice grassy ski trail near the bottom (with probably another 300' of climb). We ran about two-thirds of the way up to the tower, which was challenging for Adam. Then he took it easy coming down for his old man's sake (and my hip was fine). But he took a good fall on the way down with some pretty good scrapes. His initiation to trail running. We kept right on going. |