Training Log Archive: RLShadow

Event: ROC - Cobbs Hill Park, O & Sprint
 

Orange course at Cobb's Hill. Very sloppy on a few controls.

Worst was #2, which just didn't seem to be in the right spot (although few other people had as much trouble as I did with it). I tried two different and very distinct attack points, and missed it both times; finally spotted it to the west of where I thought it should have been. Took 12 minutes to go from #1 to #2, on what probably should have been a 2-minute control.

Also had trouble with #4; Sylvia and I looked for it for a few minutes, eventually finding it, but it wasn't where I was first looking. Lost a few minutes on #9 which wasn't where I thought it should have been. Also, had to hunt around for #12; didn't lose a whole lot of time, but certainly didn't nail it either.

All in all, a pretty disappointing outing, but on the plus side, it was a real good workout. Distance of 4.35 miles is what the Forerunner said I actually covered. Straight-line distance was stated to be 4.6 km.

Cobb's Hill Sprint. It went slightly better than the Orange course. Got a little confused on the trails going to #1 and wasn't sure if I was in the right place or not; turned out I was, but being uncertain affected my speed. No problem finding #2, but annoyed at having to climb down the steep hillside to the flag again, after having to do the same one on Orange!

Didn't do well on #3, didn't find it the first time and had to find another attack point and try again. Found it the second time, losing probably 2-3 minutes. No other real problems finding controls, but took a poor route choice from #7 to the finish, probably losing a minute.

Distance is the distance the Forerunner said I covered. I believe the official straight-line distance was 1.9 km.

C • Forerunner 4

Anne and I climbed Mt. Marcy. It was 3 hours going up, and 2:51 coming down -- not because we were generally going any faster most of the way down, but because we decided to run on some sections of the trail from Marcy Dam to the trailhead, which is about the only runnable section of the whole trip.

The weather was miserable. Could it be any worse in late June? It was cold (50 degrees at the base), raining, and windy. The conditions at the summit, above the treeline, were almost unbelievably bad. The temperature was in the low 30's, the winds were blowing around 50 mph, and it was a combination of snow in pellets and hail, being sandblasted into our faces. Needless to say, we didn't linger at the top.

Overall, it was a little disappointing from the standpoint of a workout. From Marcy Dam on, the trail is such that it's tough to keep a real strong uphill pace. We were limited more in our dexterity of stepping over, onto, and around the many stones and boulders that make up the trail, as opposed to our endurance. We decided that climbing up and down Bristol Mt is probably better training for Pike's Peak (which although single track most of the way, is reported to be a fairly non-technical trail, easily runnable for those with the training to do so).

Not to mention the weather is a heck of a lot nicer at Bristol than at Marcy this time of year.

C • Variety is a good spice;-) 2

Easy morning run around the neighborhoods -- to Finn Park, loop around the field, Rt. 104 bike path to Bay, to Woodland, then an extra lap through the housing tract to the north of Woodland.

Anne and Paul Schwartz and I went up to the Adirondack Loj for one overnight, mainly for Anne and I to get some *real* hill training in on Mt. Marcy.

We arrived at the Loj around 4 pm on Thursday. After the nice dinner they served at 6:15, we decided to climb Mt. Jo, as it was a very pleasant evening. We didn't take any lights with us which was almost a mistake, because it took a little longer than we had expected. We got back around 8:45, at which time it was getting quite dark in the woods.

The climb was fairly short but actually quite challenging, it certainly wasn't like just walking up a trail. Very nice view from the top of Mt. Jo.

Mid-day run, second "urban" run in two days, after getting off of work at one of my part time jobs, near Highland Park. Parked on Park Ave. near Westminster. Park to Culver to Monroe to Strong Museum to East to Berkley and back to car. Just beat thunderstorms by about half an hour.

Ran from OCD (B-313 in Kodak Park, near Weiland and Ridgeway). Down Ridgeway to Dewey, to Bryan, then Lark, then right on Driving Park, right on Mt. Read access road, and back to B-313. Warm day but I must have gotten out early enough to beat the heat because it really didn't seem all that bad.