Training Log Archive: maprunner

Analysis of my 2010 goals:

Goal 1. Time Lost : lose <15% of time in >80% of my O races. Result: mixed. Only under 15% for 66% of my races, but my average was 13.36%. Large range of variability here, which needs to be decreased in 2011.

Goal 2. Consistency: have a consistency level <20 in >80% of my O races. Result: not good. Under 20 for 75% of races, and average was 19.19. Again, need to improve in 2011.

Goal 3. USOF Ranking: 65.10 ranking points. Result: terrible. Ranking= 50.84. No surprise, given the first two sets of data. I think I forgot how badly I orienteer when I'm unfit, and I underestimated how much fitness I lost due to injury in 2009. I think 2011 will be a "getting fitter" year, and look for better results in 2012.

Goal 4. Stretch Goal: make a very small local level O map, learning the process from start to finish. Result: Not at all. This is the second year in a row that I ignored this goal. Time to admit: I'm just not that into mapping.

Goal 5. Fun goal: I will train/take a class in a unique sport. Result: I took a fencing class this year.

Goal 6. Race of the Year: classic champs, EMPO in October. Result: Day 1: DNF, because I couldn't find one control. Day 2: sloppy and slow. A fitting end to a sloppy year.

So, overall, it was not a good year. But I did get fitter, trained over 200 hours, and lost 6 pounds. I'm most proud that I orienteered at least once a week in 45 weeks this year, and I wasn't even paying attention to that statistic until November.

Fun practice with PTOC and OKers. Great turnout. Pushed hard in the beginning, but got tired by the middle and slowed down a lot in the second half. Followed by a nice meal with kupackman, Scarecrow, Spike, eelgrassman, Gina and Marv at Free State Brewery. Perfect way to end the year. Route

Sixty-five degrees and early work dismissal: woo hoo!

Came home and ran out the door over to west campus. Weather was great, but I felt dead. This was a slog and I kept looking at my watch. Ah well.

My new WakeMate arrived today.

A nice easy map hike on Mike's draft of the Rockcrusher map. Too sleepy and unmotivated to do much today. Upper 20s and sunny; pleasant to be out there.

First run of my 10K course. Tough.

The course and my route. Map is very old, and trails have changed a lot. Also, vegetation can be very different. Due to financial constraints, the park has stopped mowing many of the fields (they do mow around the edges), so the open yellow is rarely open anymore. Sometimes the grass is knee high (so I go through it) other times it is as tall as me, so I go around.

Low 30's and a mix of rain and snow to start, but the precipitation soon stopped. I was dressed right for the rain, but I got a bit warm once the rain stopped. But later, when I got tired and slowed down, and the wind picked up, I got cold again.

Erin asked why I did this course. It's not for navigation training, per se. The terrain here is pretty easy, so it's hard to set technical courses. But here is what I found myself practicing as I did the course:
1. moving at a steady, continuous pace
2. reading the map on the run
3. looking ahead to see big features
4. remembering to look at the map often
5. recognizing when my body hits the wall (usually right around one hour)
6. walking in a straight line on the compass right to the control (I only did this twice for short distances; I'm not a believer in compass and pace in general)
7. paying more attention to map reading in the second hour
8. pushing myself to keep moving when I got tired
9. pushing through crappy woods and tall grasses
10. stopping to stretch my hamstrings when they got tight

Usually, my orienteering races are 6K or less, and I'm out there 90 minutes or less. The main point here is to push myself beyond those limits, so actual races may feel easier. That's the plan, any way.

Warning: boring notes on each leg follows, for my own benefit
S to 1: no problems
1 to 2: more trails in area; grass is OK
2 to 3: knee high grass
3 to 4: I had not yet hung the tape at 4, and planed to use the man-made object. But it wasn't a good location. This area is now filled with many trails and man-made objects, as part of a mountain bike technical skills course. So I stopped my watch for a bit, and wandered around looking for a better feature to use. Finally decided to use the edge of the field.
4 to 5: woods are really crappy right around 4. Had to stop and hang the tape at 5, too.
5 to 6: took a minute to decide on my route. Decided to go straight this time. It was a risk, not knowing how the woods would be near the beach inlet (other inlets are filled with downed trees). Wasn't so bad. But after I climbed the stairs and passed the building, I saw that the field was chest high (or higher) so I went around on the road.
6 to 7: I followed the stream, and hit a bridge where the trail crossed, but there was no tape there. Looked further down the stream, and saw my tape. Went there, looked around, and realized the tape was correct. The "trail" is covered up here, and the other trail (with the bridge) is not on the map.
7 to 8: knee high grass, with areas that are chest high.
8 to 9: trail part way, then straight up the reentrant and over to the control.
9 to 10: Vegetation through me off line at the start, and then I wandered a bit looking for the best place to cross the stream. Tape is gone (expected this on the more popular mountain bike trails).
10 to11: followed the rock wall, in order to spend more time in the woods. This is supposed to be HTFU training, and this leg made it so. Woods were pretty crappy in this section. Tape is still there, but barely. It's been reduced to just a stub.
11 to 12: grass is mowed here :) But I was tired now and couldn't move very fast. Did a good job of looking for the reentrant from far away.
12 to 13: I knew there was a trail and a bridge at the north end of the lake.
13 to 14: grass is pretty high here, but I had no real choice but to go straight.
14 to 15: tough grass to start, crappy woods to end. Ah, joy.
15 to 16: wind had picked up, so it was cold out in the open, My hands got cold, so I tried to pick up the pace. Wasn't paying attention, and wandered off line.
16 to 17: the "open" area is filled with cedars now, so it's hard to keep a straight line.
17 to 18: this is a miserable leg. Long slog in the open wind when you're cold and tired. Who designed this ?@%$# course, any way?
18 to F: also a royal pain. Grass is as tall as me. Uphill. But finally done.

C • Mary's 10K course 2

10K - Splits

Hanging more tapes at Clinton. I took it really easy, since I'm planning to run the full course tomorrow (weather permitting). The wind is fierce out in the open, but it's OK once you're in the woods. Going to be a tough course.

I'm counting my massage tonight as PT. I went to a different therapist, who uses "release" techniques rather than the traditional rubbing. My quads feel great; shoulders hurt a bit. Will have to wait to see how I feel tomorrow.

I originally planned to row for 20 minutes, but I just wasn't feeling it tonight. So I stopped after 10.

Ran the KS champs course. Probably faster than I would have run the actual competition, since I didn't have to punch; plus I had advance knowledge of the course. Guess this shows how fast it's possible for me to move at this point in time. Perfect running temps.

more hills on west campus. Still walking up most of the time, but jogged up for a few repeats

Orienteering at Wyandotte. This is my annual hills loop. It forces me to move through the woods, and up and down lots of hills. I pulled out an old course, from 2006. I was quite surprised to find 3 tapes still out there. Temps were the low 30s the start, and dropped during the run. The wind was fierce. I had to put more layers on my head and hands by the end of the run.

I learned some things today: I am unfit for hills, and my navigation sucks. Made several mistakes in finding the center of the circles, so then I was off as I approached the next control. Sloppy. Also, I can never seem to go in a straight line over the hill to #13. I took way too long at each control, planning the next leg. And on and on. I guess that's why I practice.

route

short and hilly - Splits

Interesting article on winter running:
http://gearjunkie.venturethere.com/blogs/detail/Wi...

I also keep my hands balled up inside the mittens, and remove my hat and gloves. But I still like to start warm, and then get too hot :) Will have to try the cooling off outside trick.

a few hill repeats. Felt a bit tired and out of it tonight.

Trail run at Clinton. Felt good tonight. I think I finally have my night vision, and am comfortable running with the headlight for this season. Also, I made myself jog up every incline on the way out (even if I went ridiculously slow). Jogged up hills on the way back too, for the most part. Satisfying to see my min/K dropping (even if Linear Ice could walk faster than I jog :)

C • Night vision 4

Event: Possum Trot XIV
 

Meet worker at Possum Trot 14. Congrats to Eric and Cristina. Fun, as always, to watch the race unfold. Colder temps than yesterday, but less wind, so it felt better. Another fun weekend. Hard to believe it may be coming to an end.

Event: KS Champs (part of Possum Trot Weekend)
 

Logging some time to cover the hours on my feet at the KS Champs. Great meet, but hard working conditions. Forty degrees with mega-winds, which made it feel much colder. And made it harder to keep registration papers and club banners from sailing away. Thanks to all our volunteers, and those who came out to run.

I wanted to find a place to do hill repeats, so I went to west campus and ran up the hill behind the biotech incubator. Felt like a decent hill, but short. Turns out there's not much climb. May have to look for a better location.