Training Log Archive: smittyo

Event: 2015 Seattle Adventure Running Tournament
 

Wow! Didn't realize all that traveling meant I still hadn't logged the sprint tournament. This was a really fun day and I'm glad I fit it into my travel schedule. Unfortunately, didn't have my Garmin - I forget why; I think I left it in my luggage and forgot to bring it with me in the car to the events. So no tracks. First up - Time Trial at Green Lake Park.

This race proved that speed is not one of my assets. I don't recall any issues and Winsplits doesn't show any time loss on the course. So the fact I came in 74th out of 78 is clearly due to my physical speed (or lack thereof), not navigational problems. Nice little foot race to start out the day.

Round 1 - Woodland Park
With such a low seeding, it seemed pretty obvious that I wasn't going to move up for round 2, so I didn't push too hard on this one. In fact, if I was doing it again, I'd probably just walk and save my energy for later.

A little more technical here, but not extreme. Once again Winsplits shows no time loss, although I'm sure not all my route choices were optimal. Navigational consistency helped me, as I ended up 69th overall this time, but at the bottom of my heat, as expected. Enjoyed the variety of terrain.

Round 2 - North Seattle College

This map was intense! A two-level campus with the building edges on the lower level mapped as dotted lines. Where the top level had openings, it was like you were looking down through them onto the lower level. Luckily, we had studied the map last night at Ardis' place, so I had a little bit of an idea of how to interpret it. My heat included some women that I've beaten on various occasions, so I figured I had a chance to actually move up for the next round. This would greatly exceed my original hopes for the tournament. This being a nice college campus, I decided to run barefoot.

Definitely had a good race navigationally. I was getting ahead, and then getting passed again by the faster runners. My only lost time was at number four. This was the first control where the dotted lines came in to play. When I hit the double levels, I hesitated and took time to figure out which level I wanted and then ran around the building, but went too far and had to come back. Unfortunately, my decision to run barefoot possibly cost me the move up for the next round. Some of the paved areas were a little gravelly and not nice barefoot running. In addition, some of the woodsy trails were a little rocky and slow for barefooting as well. I was only 27 seconds behind the third place runner who moved up. I don't really know if barefooting cost me that much or not, but maybe. 63rd overall this round.

Round 3 - North Seattle College
Same map as the previous round, but now we're all a little more in touch with it. I learned my lesson and wore my shoes this time. As the day progresses, you're running with people who are closer and closer to your speed. I was once again navigationally clean. At control number 5, a superior route choice put me in the lead for my heat, but they slowly ate away at my advantage. At 16, I managed to sneak ahead again and was surprised to be holding my lead into the final woods loop. Bob Forgrave was right on my tail and passed me in the final stretch, but it was a great race!

58th overall - better result every time. I love my souvenir bib with all the colored heat stickers on it. I ended up higher than the bottom bracket, so that's a nice outcome. On Sunday, David Tallent took my position and together we ended up 69th, in the third from the bottom bracket.

HDR Track Interval workout. Drills today.