Training Log Archive: GM

After 9 hrs sleep the previous night I woke up not feeling well and completely exhausted, so I had a shower then went back to bed and slept for most of the day too. I blame Robert for passing on his cold.

Not feeling well so decided on a rest day. Think I am getting Robert's cold.

Went to the physio this morning who has given me some more strengthening exercies for my hip.

Had a bit of a collapse today after our 10 days away. Nice to catch up on some washing and good home cooked food.

Following Hugh Moore's advice I have tried taking some Voltaren tablets for my hip and they actually seem to be working. That man knows his drugs.

Australian Relays. 3rd place in M35 with Rohan Hyslop and John Scown who ran the 1st and 2nd legs. It was a great area for a relay, and the course splits were close enough to make the racing interesting, not that I saw anyone.

My run was steady with no navigational errors, except for stopping at the end of the taped route to work out where all the lines were going.

I went out in 4th place, a couple of minutes behind Mark Darvo for NSW who were 3rd. The only time I saw someone on my course was when I was leaving the second last control - the 3rd runner from QLD was running back towards it so I had about a 150m lead and was able to extend it by a further 30 seconds to finish.

I wasn't very happy with my running in the 2nd half. My hip started to hurt on the climbs and I estimate I dropped about 4 minutes, but at least that wouldn't have changed the placing.

Australina Long. 8th place in M50A. This was my only disappointing run for the week, and I had hoped to do much better.

A couple of Nurophen Plus about 45 minutes before I started helped a bit but I still wasn't feeling good while warming up. I was clean through 1 to 4, but slow - Chris Norwood had gained 2 minutes on me half way between 3 and 4. I made my first error on the short leg to 5. I read the control description as being on the left (as opposed to West) for 5, so I ran to the high point but couldn't see the control as it was on the other side of the feature. A quick loop around the flat green to work things out meant I lost 2 minutes.

Running into 6 some clown coming the other way told me that "I'ts number 90". My only response was "Don't tell me", but I wish I had got his name/chest number.

I bumped into Chris at 8, and again at 10, so he was having a few problems. Then came the yawn of a leg to 10 - a track run for over a km and then some simple navigation into the control. Again I just couldn't run fast so I lost a bit of time. Leaving 11 I wanted to make sure I hit the track but aimed off a bit more than I should have so had to run back to the east.
The rest of the course was clean but slow - a lot of improvement in my fitness/speed is required, especially in the races that last more than 30 minutes.

Australian Sprint. 2nd place in M50A. This was my second (almost) mistake free run for the week. I started very focused and kept it up the whole way. Good route choice from 7 to 8 out of the cattle yards - the map said there was a way through, and there was, so I managed to pick up about 10 seconds on Alex which was enough.

Hunters Hut Dash public race following the schools individual. I entered MH2 on the off chance that I could get a run in, but wasn't fussed. I thought it would be good to jog around some of the area to be able to discuss it with the team.

I was waiting for everyone to finish so missed my start time. In the end Valerie talked me into running, and I am glad she did. The course was the same as the Senior Girls. I thought the placement of the first control was a bit suspect - the description said earth bank foot, but it was perched up on top - probably because the foot was in the water.

My only blip was on the next leg where I ran beside the creek for too long before heading for the track/fence. That, and a 'call of nature' which was hard to do in the open forest.

The course was straight forward, and I just picked simple safe routes, more with the aim of showing the girls that you could orienteer fast, even when just jogging and walking, as long as you don't loose time through navigation mistakes.

Queensland Long. 3rd place in M50A. A steady run. I misread the detail at 4 and expected the watercourse to link up with the ponds, but it didn't so I overan the control by about 100m but still lost about 2 minutes by the time I recovered and went back. I was a bit slow from 9 to 10, preferring to take the 'greener' side of the creek because it had more detail. On reflection I should have taken the right side for the first half then swapped over. The worst part was the last 400m down to the final control - what should have been a fast finish turned into a painful hobble by cramping in my hamstrings.

I enjoyed the course and the area. A few degrees cooler and less humidity would have been nice.

Event: 2008 Australian Championships
 

Australian Middle. 2nd in M50A. This was the best race navigationaly I have run in a very long time. I was focussed the whole way and didn't loose any time from the navigation. The only 'mistake' was missing the entrance to the finish shute when leaving the last control - I just looked up and saw tape but start running too far left. I had to stop and turn back so lost about 10 seconds compared to the others.

I hadn't run for over a week so I wasn't too sure how my hip would go. During the short warm up I realised it wasn't going to be good, but I thought 'bugger it', and just tried to ignore it. The Nurofen helped a bit too.