Training Log Archive: wwk

Round 1

Round 2

Zoe was a shadow ninja, Max was a train engineer. I think Max had the most stamina and willpower to get more "snacks" than all the other kids we were with.

Great night for it, too -- 50F, crunchy leaves all over, just a sprinkle or two by the time we were done.

In the morning we went up the Thacher (Hailes Cave) for the Albany Running Exchange's Hairy Gorilla race. Stacey ran the 6 mile while I watched the kids. On the way up we were behind a car with an O-control rear-view mirror decoration; car had NY plates. Didn't recognize them though!

C • Orienteers? 11

Trail intervals at Pine Bush (watertower)... 5 min walk them mostly stuck to 2 min run/1 min walk intervals. At the end ran on one of the illegal bike trails that I hadn't checked out yet. I suppose it was what mountain bikers call "sweet singletrack" with lots of sharp ups and downs but I thought it was suicide if a biker suddenly came barreling down at me with little notice.

Also a bridge on the red trail over a creek (at about 2.6km on my track) was posted as under repair, trail closed, no access allowed -- typical Pine Bush hyperventilating. They had some lumber out, apparently for the bridge -- impressively large 12x12 posts. I courageously disobeyed the multiple levels of "no access" signs to find a trickle that was easily jumped. I guess it won't be like that tomorrow though.

Hiking with Stacey, with Max on my back. Zoe had a birthday party in Clifton Park so the rest of us killed time at Kinns Road Park (old side of the map). Nice day, hard to see some of the trails now that most leaves are down.

Another Monday, another evening entertaining Max at the Crossings. With sunset getting earlier there's not much daylight in the 6-7 PM timeframe to use. We took the longer way around through the woods on a beautifully warm fall evening, wound back to the playground, and played until we couldn't distinguish slides from seesaws. Then we continued walking (Max in the stroller) until well past sensible people are back inside, till about 7 PM. Max babbled pleasant incoherencies almost the entire time. I pondered what I could do with a Night-O there!

County Forest Nature Preserve (in Duanesburg, Schenectady County), one of those smaller patches of woods you don't really hear about but are nice anyway. I don't think many people go here. The trails appear to be maintained but the blazes can be hard to find and the leaves sure didn't seem to be kicked up at all making finding the trails hard sometimes.

Hike with kids (max on my back) while Stacey tried to get some trail running in. Zoe whined a bit but decided to bring a notebook and make notes of things along the way. The only part I got to see said something about "pretty leaves but an ugly forest" and she transcribed a trail sign about an Eagle Scout doing maintenance work for his project.

Run/walk attempt at intervals in the Pine Bush (6 mile waterworks)... didn't succeed so well since my left shin was painful.

Event: EMPO - Cole Hill
 

Green Course at Cole Hill State Forest, local EMPO meet set by the indomitable Phil H-T. The day started off rainy, but a fine day for orienteering by the time I started. Cole Hill has a lot of different features and nice open woods to make for all the orienteering fun you could want in one course.

No major errors --
1 Likely a suboptimal route to #1, maybe lost a minute.
2 Almost right on, hit the stream about 20m to the right of the control
3 Intended to go straight on the line but got off too far east and saw the intermittent streams, maybe a lost minute
4 Went straight for it and did pretty well though I tripped face first over a bit of ruined wire fence (it was mapped...), which simultaneously took off my right shoe and made me drop all the accoutrements strapped to my hands and head. Lost a minute. Saw Janet F (on Red) headed up the hill as I recovered
5 Followed the stone walls all the way, easy.
6 Followed the trail then attacked from the trail/stream crossing (big bridge there) -- I remembered from last year that this is a nice little trail to run down. Got there a bit before Janet F
7 Long leg -- went right, intending to stay south around around the marsh end by the park boundary, hesitated a bit since the marsh was larger than mapped and I wasn't sure if I could get through (veg a bit thick, etc). Janet F led the way, about 50m of water walking and then followed the bottom of the hill side till I could see rock features, then compass shot right too it.
8 Pretty much went straight for it, but stayed along the edge of the long marsh towards the end and attacked from the corner.
9 Just went around the marsh tip, no problem
10 Followed the indistinct trail (I think there a few more meanders unmapped around there) to the large trail by the park boundary
11 Had fun cutting down the slope

Picked up 11 controls, mostly white and yellow. Amusingly Sue H-T was still out on green when I left, and one of green's last controls was one I was supposed to pick up. Luckily I saw Sue not far before that control and saw her run off down the trail towards it. I eventually caught up with her and saw her running down the trail away from the control, just as I had done when I ran the course. So I tuck into the woods to get the control, pick it up and start walking out. Sue runs in and needs to punch it; she had overshot! So like a true sportsman I ran back to the stone wall and replaced the control.

C • premature pickup 1

Green - Splits

At Cicotti Center -- 1/2 hour on elliptical, then some laps on the indoor track and weights.

Event: EMPO - Dwaas Kill
 

Local meet at Kinns Road -- first time I'd ever been there. Zoe had the day off school (Columbus Day) so we went and did the 90 minute score-o. She did a good job scaling the steep hillsides by the creek and walking all over the place (crossing streams, etc.), her good attitude didn't falter much at all. She even spotted a few controls before I did and ran off to them! Her favorite part was petting all the dogs.

Route (no misses) 6-4-3-14-17-19-20-12-13-8-9-7-1-2

Nice park and a lovely fall day!

Only two errors. Accidentally scaled the wrong hillside (one too early) while walking east along the stream and trying to get to 20--prob a waste of 5 minutes, it was steep and muddy. Later, going from 13 to 8, mistakenly took the trail below 8 instead of above, wasted a minute inspecting the wrong section of the reentrant, but then figured it out.


(32 points on the score-o)

Had Max for an hour again while Stacey was at a class. Pushed him in the stroller around a loop at the Crossings, then let him play at the playground. GPS track shows the wonders of toddlers climbing and sliding. (Well its not that good, I was using my phone's GPS) Definitely going to set a leg in the hedge maze for the totally unannounced, unofficial, unasked-for summer EMPO event.

Trail run/walk at Tobyhanna State Park (PA). Great Fall Day, about 60F and breezy. Trail is level, not rocky, very easy to traverse, so optimum conditions! A ~5 mile loop trail around the lake. Goal was to do 5 min walk warmup, then 2 min run/1 min walk intervals the whole way around and just about did that without a problem.

Had custody of Max for an hour at the Cicotti center... so took a jog/walk with the jogging stroller. Went for a loop than stopped at the playground for a while. Max can climb anything. Or so he thinks.