Training Log Archive: maprunner

PTOC sprint #1 at Loose Park. Goal was to see if I could think with a stuffy head, and to have a clean race. I jogged about a third of the way, and felt OK. Did OK on navigation; was pulled off by the other bunch of trees at #2 (correction: #4), and started to doubt myself and waver on the way to #6. Otherwise clean. Have to do better in the second race this afternoon.

PTOC sprint #2 at JCC. This course was more fun, because there were more obstacles (buildings, uncrossable fences). It was also easier in one way, since they used regular markers (the morning event used night O units) which were visible from far away.

One tiny mistake on a misplaced control; one more tiny (but public) mistake getting to the finish (didn't see the fence on the map). That last mistake was costly, in that another female competitor witnessed my mistake, and avoided that trap when she ran. She beat me by 5 seconds. Such is the nature of sprint courses.

I felt good this afternoon. I made it around the whole course at a slow steady jog and was reading the map fairly well.

Many thanks to Dick and Mike for making two new maps and setting the courses.

C • Sounds fun 1

So, I happened to be chatting with the Mayor of Kansas City this evening (at an exclusive Inauguration reception):
-Hi Mark
-Hi Mary
-I'm glad Mike will be working with you.
-I'm glad too. The other day, I was asked how I was going to handle open meetings, and I stalled on the answer. I thought to myself "I'd like to talk to Mike about this before I answer".

Cool!

The best part about this exchange was watching Mike's mom, who was standing next to me. She was totally beaming with pride to hear the Mayor praising her son. I was only smiling with pride :)

It's been a strange 6 months as Mike's job has moved from working for Mark Funkhouser, City Auditor, to Mark Funkhouser, Mayor. But I'm looking forward to the next four years.

Six months to go, and I'm pretty much on track to meet my goal. November 2006, my USOF ranking was 55. I need ~ 75 ranking to meet my goal. In the most recent USOF rankings, I'm up to 64.

Still lots of physical and mental training needed. Mostly, I need to get more consistent, and eliminate the big mistakes. I plan lots of long trail runs this summer, and travel to training camps to practice on maps.

Drove to work this morning, then sat in the car a few minutes to get enough energy to walk in. Rescheduled all my appointments, then turned around and drove home. Just woke up from a three hour nap.

Cristina, how long does this thing last? It just kills me to use a precious vacation day, just because of a stupid cold.

C • Bummer! 3

For only the third time in my life, I got a massage today. I thought my legs would need it after two weekends in Harriman/West Point. Turns out the tighest muscles were in my shoulders. Weird.

Also, I think I caught Cristina's cold....

C • Bummer 1

Day two at West Point. I did not want to spend any time just wandering around. My goal was to read ahead, and orienteer as well as I could.

I messed up on the second control. First, I went up a parallel reentrant, which I quickly figured out. Started to contour over to the correct area, and was distracted by other runners. Stupidly followed them, and found a control. Wrong code. Where was I?

This time at least, I stopped and relocated. Started again, confirmed a few other features, and slowly made my way back to the same "wrong" control. Started to think they had put out the wrong marker, which caused me to say "The problem is you, not the control". Took a long look at my map, and noticed that I was looking at the circle for #3, but expecting the code for #2. Damn! I was at #3!!!!! Quickly ran the ~100 meters back to 2, then back to 3 again. At least I had a quick split to #3 :(

After that, I settled down. For the first time on this trip, I was orienteering, knowing what to expect, reading ahead, letting go of the map when appropriate, reading details when necessary. I was motivated by all the men running past me; I tried to keep them in sight for as long as possible. I pushed myself, since there was no reason not to try as hard as possible. Still couldn't run over the rocks or up the hills, but I moved quickly without stopping.

So, overall, I was satisfied with this run.

I was 1.57X the winner.

Green-2 - Splits