Training Log Archive: jfredrickson

Local meet at Paugussett State Forest in Connecticut. The weather was beautiful and perfect for running. The map was a 1:15000 which was a bit of a contrast to yesterday's 1:7500, but I adjusted without a problem. I felt pretty good going out although I was a bit tired. Since the area was so technical I couldn't really run fast anyway so my speed wasn't really altered by my fitness. I made some really good route choices and executed them perfectly on the first 4 controls and then on the 5th I made a 15 second error. It was about a 150 meter leg downhill and I overran it by about 15 meters. I made the same mistake on the next control and lost about 30 seconds. I made a great route choice on the 7th, but had to take a pit stop just before hitting the control. The 8th was another success and I was feeling great as I headed out to the 9th. The 9th was in the middle of a thick green area in a distinct reentrant. Unfortunately I was moving a bit too fast through the green and lost contact with my map. As a result when I hit the reentrant I wasn't sure exactly which one I was in. I deduced that I must have gone too far since the reentrant was very wet and the area where the control should have been on a boulder, looked like a swamp. I headed back and wandered around for a little while in the green before relocating. As it turned out I was in the right reentrant and I was about 15 meters from the control. I lost about 6 minutes on that control.

I blazed the next two controls, but on the 12th I didn't have a very good or definitive route choice and just sort of wandered my way in the right direction. As it turned out I was my path was obstructed by some nasty thorns pushing me too far down the hill that I was contouring along. I ended up losing 5 contours which I had to make up just before the control. I blazed the next one and finished up fairly strongly since the recent legs had been downhill and I was feeling pretty good.

Overall I was pretty satisfied with my run since I was perfect in the technical areas of the course. Unfortunately I wasn't able to concentrate in the thick green areas and lost contact with my map as I fought through the underbrush. I will have to do some training for this.

Red - Splits

Red course in Forest Park, Queens. The weather was just perfect for running. A bright, cold, sunny day. The wind was chilly and I thought that I would be freezing when I ran, but I warmed up right away and felt great the whole way. The temperature was perfect.

The course was a park-o style course with lots of short fast legs. We had 20 controls over 5.7k, so the legs were really short. The map was 1:7500.

My main goal for the day was to adjust to the scale and not make any mistakes. I started out fast and the controls were coming really quickly, much earlier than I expected them. I still managed to hit them all perfectly until number 5. Each leg was basically a fast trail run but since there were so many trails it was very technical. On number 5 I missed the trail leading right into the control and went about 10 meters too far. I misread the map a little and went up the hill next to the control and had to come back down 2 contours into the control. I lost about a minute.

I was fast and accurate for the next few, but on number 10 I got on the wrong trail again and got really confused in the crazy network of trails. I ended up at a large depression that I was looking for, but didn't realize that I was about 200 meters too far south at a different depression. I relocated on a nearby road and followed it up to the next junction. I lost close to 5 minutes before I knew exactly where I was and was able to attack the control. The next one I went to far and lost about a minute.

After that I was clean until the last control. I was running along a trail looking for a vegetation boundary. I came out to the vegetation boundary right where I expected to, but didn't see the control. I looked at my map and figured that it was possible that I had gone a little too far and was actually at a field and had missed the vegetation boundary. I ran back on the trail a little ways and quickly realized that I had to have been in the right place. I went back to the vegetation boundary and looked around a little more. After about 20 seconds I spotted the control a little ways to the south. I guess I just didn't see it at first. Since the trail network was so confusing I couldn't be absolutely sure that I was in the right place so I had to relocate when I didn't see the control where I expected it.

Overall I had an awful run. I should have been under 40 minutes considering the speed of the course. If I hadn't made any mistakes I easily would have broken 40, but the map was pretty technical even though it was so easy.

Basketball practice. Strength, speed, and endurance workouts.

Basketball practice for an hour and a half. Lots of strength and endurance workouts.

First basketball practice of the season. I felt pretty good physically and we got a great workout. We did lots of sprints and leg strengthening exercises. It should be good cross training for the winter.