Training Log Archive: maprunnerIn the 7 days ending Mar 29, 2015:
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Sunday Mar 29, 2015 #
8 AM
PT 1 [0]
stretch 1 [0]
run/walk warm up/down 15:00 [1]
orienteer race 54:58 3.9 km (14:06 / km) +220m 11:00 / km
ahr:151 max:169
US Champs, Middle, Carter Cave State Park
Legs were toast, but the sun was out and it was warming up fast. And I had some caffeine, yeah! I dressed warmer this morning (too warm, it turns out).
A little slow to get started. Mind and legs were not yet warmed up. Every little bit of uphill was tiring. I was sloppy on the way to 2, and drifted too high up the hill. Found some other boulders, but near a ditch so I immediately relocated.
3-6 were fun. I liked the control picking and the nice woods. Seemed to take longer to get to 7 than I expected. As I was trying to contour to 8, I reminded myself that I have a bad habit of drifting up hill instead of contouring, and I thought I was correcting. Not! Was amazed to see some ruins and figure out I had unnecessarily climbed the whole hill. At least I could run down the trail and get the control easily.
Had fun crossing the natural bridge on the way to 10 (although that hill to 10 was a killer on my legs). After that, I seemed to settle down and I picked up the pace for the rest of the race. My map reading was going well, too.
Until I left 16 and started thinking, yeah I'm almost done! Went down hill and hit a trail, but it was going the wrong direction. Looked at map. Ooops! Almost skipped 17! Back up the hill, checked out the depression by mistake and then found my control. Fast run downhill to last control, but slow walk up hill to the finish.
Overall, pretty pleased with this race. Especially considering the poor quality of sleep for several nights, exhausted legs and mental recovery after yesterday's disaster.
Nice enough weather to hang out after the race and catch up with everyone. Even got to place hide and seek with Samantha.
Leisurely drive back to Lexington, and spent another night with Summer and Silas (Greek food for dinner. Also, good beer and bourbon :)
route
Legs were toast, but the sun was out and it was warming up fast. And I had some caffeine, yeah! I dressed warmer this morning (too warm, it turns out).
A little slow to get started. Mind and legs were not yet warmed up. Every little bit of uphill was tiring. I was sloppy on the way to 2, and drifted too high up the hill. Found some other boulders, but near a ditch so I immediately relocated.
3-6 were fun. I liked the control picking and the nice woods. Seemed to take longer to get to 7 than I expected. As I was trying to contour to 8, I reminded myself that I have a bad habit of drifting up hill instead of contouring, and I thought I was correcting. Not! Was amazed to see some ruins and figure out I had unnecessarily climbed the whole hill. At least I could run down the trail and get the control easily.
Had fun crossing the natural bridge on the way to 10 (although that hill to 10 was a killer on my legs). After that, I seemed to settle down and I picked up the pace for the rest of the race. My map reading was going well, too.
Until I left 16 and started thinking, yeah I'm almost done! Went down hill and hit a trail, but it was going the wrong direction. Looked at map. Ooops! Almost skipped 17! Back up the hill, checked out the depression by mistake and then found my control. Fast run downhill to last control, but slow walk up hill to the finish.
Overall, pretty pleased with this race. Especially considering the poor quality of sleep for several nights, exhausted legs and mental recovery after yesterday's disaster.
Nice enough weather to hang out after the race and catch up with everyone. Even got to place hide and seek with Samantha.
Leisurely drive back to Lexington, and spent another night with Summer and Silas (Greek food for dinner. Also, good beer and bourbon :)
route
Saturday Mar 28, 2015 #
9 AM
PT 1 [0]
stretch 1 [0]
run/walk warm up/down 20:00 [1]
orienteer race 1:56:35 6.4 km (18:13 / km) +357m 14:15 / km
ahr:147 max:180
US Champs Long, Bat Cave, Carter Cave State Park
Cold, below 0C at the start. I wasn't psychologically prepared for this, since spring has sprung in Kansas. And I wasn't dressed warm enough for a long (i.e. slow pace) for me, and I got cold, off and on, during the race. Also, I didn't have any caffeine this morning (don't usually drink it, but I have gotten into the habit of drinking some before a race). I hadn't slept well for several nights, and I really wanted the caffeine today. And my quads were tired. Oh boy, let's go out and do a long course!
I walked from the lodge to the start, both to warm up and to look at the model map. I laughed when I saw what was mapped as dark green; we would have mapped it as white in Kansas! I ignored the vegetation mapping through the whole race.
I felt off right from the start. Just a bit foggy and hesitant, not reading ahead as well as I usually do. Stopped at each control to look at the route choices, and then slowly moved on. I was clean through 4, though.
And then came 5. Picked a good route choice, and executed it well, up until I left the trail and started up the stream bed, just due west of the marker.
My goal for this year is to "STOP" whenever I hear that little voice in my head that something isn't right. I've done very well on that goal, so far. But that was about to end.
Here are some of the thoughts that I remember thinking, any one of which should have told me to STOP:
1. I've been out one hour and I always bonk I one hour. I should eat something. No, I'll eat when I get to the control.
2. I wonder how I will know when the stream changes from the blue line to the ditch symbol?
3. This stream is longer than I expected.
4. Where is the bend in the stream? I should keep going until I pass the bend.
5. There's a junior heading up the hill, I'll follow him.
6. There is no big reentrant here, I'll just keep going until I hit the big reeentrant.
7. Cross the big reenetrant, but the ditches on the other side aren't what I expected.
8. Down to the stream to relocate, look at the map in case I could have made a parallel error. Nope, only one big reentrant near my control
9. The stream bed at the base of the reentrant has lots more detail than is shown on the map.
Yeah, I was a hot mess. Of course I had gone way too far, to another reenetrant system east of 5. When I finally stopped and ate something, my brain function returned and I figured it all out. Ran all the way back down the stream and found 5 right where it should be.
I am so disappointed in myself. This is exactly the type of error I'm trying to avoid. I have to think of some way to program myself to eat on a regular schedule during a long race (maybe at 50 minutes?)
But I soldiered on, slugging my way up the hill towards 6. At this point I was really tired, and spooked, so I took the extra cautious route around on the trail to attack 6 from the south.
I looked a t the route to 7, and all I saw was the trail option (north of the red line). Never saw the option to stay low and take the road close to the finish.
As I neared the top of the first hill on the trail, I took a look at the rest of the course, and decided that I was done. No need to kill my legs when I had one more race tomorrow. And I certainly wasn't having any fun at that point. So I took the trail down to the road, and then into the last control and DNF'd. I was so ready to be done.
Popped lots of ibuprofen all night, and kept using my "stick" to roll out my legs in a desperate hope they could be ready for the middle.
Took a nap, and then a nice dinner with Tom, Lisa and Sandy at an Italian restaurant in Grayson.
route
Cold, below 0C at the start. I wasn't psychologically prepared for this, since spring has sprung in Kansas. And I wasn't dressed warm enough for a long (i.e. slow pace) for me, and I got cold, off and on, during the race. Also, I didn't have any caffeine this morning (don't usually drink it, but I have gotten into the habit of drinking some before a race). I hadn't slept well for several nights, and I really wanted the caffeine today. And my quads were tired. Oh boy, let's go out and do a long course!
I walked from the lodge to the start, both to warm up and to look at the model map. I laughed when I saw what was mapped as dark green; we would have mapped it as white in Kansas! I ignored the vegetation mapping through the whole race.
I felt off right from the start. Just a bit foggy and hesitant, not reading ahead as well as I usually do. Stopped at each control to look at the route choices, and then slowly moved on. I was clean through 4, though.
And then came 5. Picked a good route choice, and executed it well, up until I left the trail and started up the stream bed, just due west of the marker.
My goal for this year is to "STOP" whenever I hear that little voice in my head that something isn't right. I've done very well on that goal, so far. But that was about to end.
Here are some of the thoughts that I remember thinking, any one of which should have told me to STOP:
1. I've been out one hour and I always bonk I one hour. I should eat something. No, I'll eat when I get to the control.
2. I wonder how I will know when the stream changes from the blue line to the ditch symbol?
3. This stream is longer than I expected.
4. Where is the bend in the stream? I should keep going until I pass the bend.
5. There's a junior heading up the hill, I'll follow him.
6. There is no big reentrant here, I'll just keep going until I hit the big reeentrant.
7. Cross the big reenetrant, but the ditches on the other side aren't what I expected.
8. Down to the stream to relocate, look at the map in case I could have made a parallel error. Nope, only one big reentrant near my control
9. The stream bed at the base of the reentrant has lots more detail than is shown on the map.
Yeah, I was a hot mess. Of course I had gone way too far, to another reenetrant system east of 5. When I finally stopped and ate something, my brain function returned and I figured it all out. Ran all the way back down the stream and found 5 right where it should be.
I am so disappointed in myself. This is exactly the type of error I'm trying to avoid. I have to think of some way to program myself to eat on a regular schedule during a long race (maybe at 50 minutes?)
But I soldiered on, slugging my way up the hill towards 6. At this point I was really tired, and spooked, so I took the extra cautious route around on the trail to attack 6 from the south.
I looked a t the route to 7, and all I saw was the trail option (north of the red line). Never saw the option to stay low and take the road close to the finish.
As I neared the top of the first hill on the trail, I took a look at the rest of the course, and decided that I was done. No need to kill my legs when I had one more race tomorrow. And I certainly wasn't having any fun at that point. So I took the trail down to the road, and then into the last control and DNF'd. I was so ready to be done.
Popped lots of ibuprofen all night, and kept using my "stick" to roll out my legs in a desperate hope they could be ready for the middle.
Took a nap, and then a nice dinner with Tom, Lisa and Sandy at an Italian restaurant in Grayson.
route
Friday Mar 27, 2015 #
3 PM
PT 1 [0]
stretch 1 [0]
run/walk warm up/down 20:00 [1]
orienteer race 28:33 2.8 km (10:12 / km) +66m 9:07 / km
ahr:167 max:184
(edit): Mike and I slept in, then went for a great breakfast at Doodles. Then we walked around the UK Arboretum, in the cold. Not the most interesting area, but we got outside. Quick trip to a grocery store, then back to the Arboretum to meet Sandy. It was such fun to be traveling with her on this trip. We told her some OK stories and legends, and taught her Talk Four. Her name is really Sondra, and her family sometimes called her Sond, so that fit well.
US Champs Sprint, Morehead State University
Yeah for Kentucky, my 39th O state!
I was nervous about this race, since I hadn't done a sprint in a long time. I was a bit excited with lots of adrenaline during the warm up, but I talked my self down a bit just before my start. It helped that the first few controls were pretty easy, so I could get into the game.
But then came the middle of the course, which was much trickier. I was not very smooth making the transition from control to control, and had to stop often to look at the map. AP splits says I lost time at 7, but I don't remember this. Maybe just too slow and hesitant?
Craziness at 8: Saw one woman crossing under the tape over the uncrossable wall and I yelled that what she was doing was not allowed, but she shrugged and continued on. I ran around the building. As I approached the control, a boy was also climbing under the tape, but when I told him he wasn't allowed, he said "I'm not?" and backed down. I was trying not to get caught up in those folks during my race, but it made me very mad. How do you handle d it when you see folks breaking the rules during a sprint?
Was heading past 10 when I saw someone leaving the control. I saw the right way into 12,but not that I should stay down and go around the building to 13. Hesitated and changed my mind on the route to 14, which was a mistake. Very slow to 15, because it was uphill, and I was starting to get tired. Also, I had a hard time reading the map and figuring out where I was supposed to go.
Biggest mistake was not reading the map well as I approached 16. I thought I had to continue NE to 17, rather than back to the NW. Circled around an extra building and had to back track.
Like everyone else, I hesitated as I approached 19, which was the upper walkway around the building. Stopped and double checked the map before I crossed the bridge.
As I approached the last control, Mike was there encouraging me on. He indicated that I had a chance to beat Kissy, and I should sprint. So I paused for a second to catch my breath (and let another runner punch first and get out of the way). I looked down the finish chute to gauge my direction, punched the control, and took off. Wee! I hadn't done a good, fast finish chute run in a while, so this was fun! I was only about 90% because I still haven't gotten all the way back after my hamstring injury, and I didn't want to get hurt again. And I muffed up punching the finish so I lost some time there. 13 seconds, which was fastest on the course, but 2 seconds off the best. Shoot! Someday soon I'll get the fastest finish split....
Overall, I was fairly clean, but I didn't like all the hesitation I felt on the course. Need to practice more sprints. I know I pushed as hard because my quads were surprisingly tired that night. I was't running all out (that would be bad for my nav) but I think it was the longest hard effort I had done in a while.
I appreciated that OCIN had put the control numbers on the side of the stand, so you could see the number as you approached. I also appreciated the ride back to the start from Iamstillhungry. Funny incident when conversation in the car was about people taking your map (when they are distributed after the race) only to find out that Tom H had accidentally taken someone else's map!
Nice dinner at A&W to test out my soon-to-be BIL's new creation. Enjoyed talking with Sandy and Tom H about their first experience at a national event.
route
US Champs Sprint, Morehead State University
Yeah for Kentucky, my 39th O state!
I was nervous about this race, since I hadn't done a sprint in a long time. I was a bit excited with lots of adrenaline during the warm up, but I talked my self down a bit just before my start. It helped that the first few controls were pretty easy, so I could get into the game.
But then came the middle of the course, which was much trickier. I was not very smooth making the transition from control to control, and had to stop often to look at the map. AP splits says I lost time at 7, but I don't remember this. Maybe just too slow and hesitant?
Craziness at 8: Saw one woman crossing under the tape over the uncrossable wall and I yelled that what she was doing was not allowed, but she shrugged and continued on. I ran around the building. As I approached the control, a boy was also climbing under the tape, but when I told him he wasn't allowed, he said "I'm not?" and backed down. I was trying not to get caught up in those folks during my race, but it made me very mad. How do you handle d it when you see folks breaking the rules during a sprint?
Was heading past 10 when I saw someone leaving the control. I saw the right way into 12,but not that I should stay down and go around the building to 13. Hesitated and changed my mind on the route to 14, which was a mistake. Very slow to 15, because it was uphill, and I was starting to get tired. Also, I had a hard time reading the map and figuring out where I was supposed to go.
Biggest mistake was not reading the map well as I approached 16. I thought I had to continue NE to 17, rather than back to the NW. Circled around an extra building and had to back track.
Like everyone else, I hesitated as I approached 19, which was the upper walkway around the building. Stopped and double checked the map before I crossed the bridge.
As I approached the last control, Mike was there encouraging me on. He indicated that I had a chance to beat Kissy, and I should sprint. So I paused for a second to catch my breath (and let another runner punch first and get out of the way). I looked down the finish chute to gauge my direction, punched the control, and took off. Wee! I hadn't done a good, fast finish chute run in a while, so this was fun! I was only about 90% because I still haven't gotten all the way back after my hamstring injury, and I didn't want to get hurt again. And I muffed up punching the finish so I lost some time there. 13 seconds, which was fastest on the course, but 2 seconds off the best. Shoot! Someday soon I'll get the fastest finish split....
Overall, I was fairly clean, but I didn't like all the hesitation I felt on the course. Need to practice more sprints. I know I pushed as hard because my quads were surprisingly tired that night. I was't running all out (that would be bad for my nav) but I think it was the longest hard effort I had done in a while.
I appreciated that OCIN had put the control numbers on the side of the stand, so you could see the number as you approached. I also appreciated the ride back to the start from Iamstillhungry. Funny incident when conversation in the car was about people taking your map (when they are distributed after the race) only to find out that Tom H had accidentally taken someone else's map!
Nice dinner at A&W to test out my soon-to-be BIL's new creation. Enjoyed talking with Sandy and Tom H about their first experience at a national event.
route
Thursday Mar 26, 2015 #
Note
Nice day. Started too early, though, with an 8 am flight to Cincinnati. Mike, sandy and I took back roads through KY horse country to reach Sandy's dad in Versailles; very beautiful. Then Mike and I explored the UK campus. Small art museum, massive library. Then we had fun looking at the campus as if we were making a sprint map: would this be gray or tan? Uncross able wall or not? How do you show this ramp? Good practice for tomorrow.
Then to Summer and Silas's house for good conversation and great food (pork roast with cherries, and fennel salad). Love to have Silas and his cooking skills join the family :)
Then to Summer and Silas's house for good conversation and great food (pork roast with cherries, and fennel salad). Love to have Silas and his cooking skills join the family :)
Wednesday Mar 25, 2015 #
PT 1 [0]
stretch 1 [0]
weights 30:00 [2]
A light easy session with the trainer tonight, in anticipation of the weekend.
I am so excited to see everyone this weekend, especially some folks I haven't seen in literally years, such as Tom and Lisa. Also excited to have two OKers attending their first national meet. Plus we're visiting Mike's sister and her fiance'. It's going to be awesome!
I am so excited to see everyone this weekend, especially some folks I haven't seen in literally years, such as Tom and Lisa. Also excited to have two OKers attending their first national meet. Plus we're visiting Mike's sister and her fiance'. It's going to be awesome!
Monday Mar 23, 2015 #
PT 1 [0]
orienteer 40:00 2.4 km (16:40 / km)
I went out to Rockcrusher to pick up the markers from the latest practice course that Mike had set. I had trouble getting started: first, I thought I was going to one parking area, instead of the one on the map. Then, I forgot my O shoes (thought they were still in the car) and had to wear gym shoes; and finally my Garmin was dead (despite being plugged in all night long).
But it was a beautiful evening (15C and getting cloudy) with great views of the lake and setting sun. I felt much better than I expected, after yesterday. I took it pretty easy, because, why do something stupid tonight? A nice outing, the best part of my day.
But it was a beautiful evening (15C and getting cloudy) with great views of the lake and setting sun. I felt much better than I expected, after yesterday. I took it pretty easy, because, why do something stupid tonight? A nice outing, the best part of my day.