Training Archive: RosstopherIn the 31 days ending 2006-10-31:
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Sunday Oct 15 | ||
| orienteering race 3:40:00 [4] 26.3 km (8:22 / km) | |
| Highlander. I was so stoked about this race. Really, really excited to go out and race well, and to redeem my poor showing last year on the king of the mountain and the sprint. It started well enough; john and I set a quick pace got to the maps without incident and started following the streamers for about 30 seconds before I sprained my ankle.
I swore loudly but that didn't seem to fix my ankle any ( too bad) and tried to shake it off for a few paces with john, but it hurt a lot and I remember how painful the 6th day at the Swiss o week was and that was giving me pause because that was only 4 k on a sprained ankle not 26. I stopped and hobbled in a circle for a bit watching the other racers pass, they were all very sympathetic and that was nice. I sat down for a bit maybe 3 minutes at most. I was debating the next move. Either continue and do the race or go back to the car and feel miserable for 4 hours until people got back and then hear about the race and have to drive home after no orienteering. Plus the only other person back at the cars was evelyn. So I dusted myself off an got back on my horse. my ankle had gotten to the point where it was sore but weight on it was fine. I jogged as fast as I could afford up along the trail and felt better because I had caught up with Pavlina by the top. the "trail" to number 2 was tough on my ankle and I was limited to a crawling pace down the rocks. Joe and Jenn and Pavlina were encouraging me to keep racing and that was really nice too. I was moving well on the next leg, and going at a slower pace than normal was making the navigation a bit easier. I was surprised to see sam rush up the trail behind me at 7, and decided to push a little bit more on the next section. IB prophen was also a positive factor. went through the checkpoint in 18th, and I kept orienteering well, spiking the controls and feeling in control. I caught up to peter at 12, and chose an unlikely route to 14 that went through a green swamp. I find that swamps don't slow me down all that much ( I like to crouch and weave through all the laurel) and it was a great chance to ice my ankle in the water. slowed down on the tricky control 18, and was rewarded for my caution by not getting lost. caught up to Balter going to 20. and went through the last checkpoint in 9th or 10th. I saw daniel up ahead and got ahead on the way to 21. I knew that 22b was the control for me because it was closer, had less climb, and had a better route leaving for the next control. plus I like swamps. I saw alan young leaving 22, and I tagged along with him all the way to the hill before 23 where we caught up with John Campbell. It was the three of us together for a bit and then I pushed a little harder up the hill. I was worried about my speed on the downhill but there was no need to race someone in so I was okay. Glad that I raced, happy with my result, I'm going to be king of the mountain one of these years, it's my abiding ambition. | ||
| C • So the idea of hanging out wit... 9 | ||
Sunday Oct 1 | ||
| Trail run race 37:39 [5] 6.2 mi (6:03 / mi) vdot: 55.6 | |
| Houghton's pond trail run with running friendly cool weather. The rain held off for the most part and none of the trail was slippery at all.
Turns out that our practice on Friday was on the old course, and the new course was slightly longer but basically the same trails. I started out working towards the front of the pack for the first mile... getting a good position for when the trail got narrower and passing more of an effort. I counted the pack ahead of me at this point, saw that I was in 7th, and decided that most of the guys ahead looked pretty strong on the trail and that I shouldn't get too aggressive. However, as soon as we hit a real trail, I decided that only the front three were all that strong on trails, and I quickly and easily slipped ahead into 4th spot just behind these leaders. At about this point I decided that I was probably running too fast, but was enjoying it enough that I didn't really let up at all. made another advance on a downhill section and moved into third at about the 2 mile mark. I stayed in third for a couple of miles, but this section was really flat and easy and I was getting tired from having gone out too fast. the leaders started to pull a decent gap on me. I got passed by a youngster next, and then a couple guys that I had passed earlier came back and passed me at mile 4 or so. they didn't ever get out of my range, but I didn't beat them into the finish, I finished 6th, with a strong kick that let me know I should have been running harder at somepoint near the end of the race. I was very happy with my effort, and they even gave me a trophey for 2nd in the M20-29 group. As to pacing, I like starting fast, and don't know if a steadier effort would give me a faster time. It doesn't matter with a trail race, but it matters a good deal for important orienteering races.... I don't want to get worn out at the end of the highlander for example. | ||