Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

WCOC sprints at Crandalls. What a nice day. I started the first course with too much intensity, which meant that partway to the second control I was wheezing and out of breath. I quickly settled into a real rhythm after that though, and was able to make my way through the woods without much incident. The woods were gorgeous and open which meant that there wasn't much reason to do anything but go straight to each control. So most of my orienteering was aimed at taking good clean lines and keeping my eyes up to see the terrain. 4 was tricky because it was tucked behind a tree, but I was very confident as I approached the circle and didn't lose time because of it being hidden. A bit too low on six, and a bit too far right on eight. But all in all a pretty good run for me. a couple of seconds faster than Erik on this course, much of which I attribute to my superior gate hurdling skills in the finish chute :)

Second Sprint at WCOC. This was a remote start with a whole stream of runners going out ahead of me. I was more focused on the runner going out directly behind me though, Erik was a minute back. As I charged up the rise out of the start triangle I immediately got myself into trouble as I took a hasty rough compass bearing and charged across the top of the hill. about 200 meters into the leg I realized that I wasn't in control and that I didn't know exactly where I was on the broad hilltop. I was looking for a cliff, but I knew that if I found the control it would be luck alone responsible. I fairly quickly hit the trail on the far side and bounced back into the messy jumble of open rock and cliffs.... just in time to come across Erik punching the first control ahead of me. desperate to make it a race I pounded down the hill trying to get an edge on sheer enthusiasm.... and ended up way far right in my eagerness. Erik was much cleaner and again I was forced to work hard to catch back up on the way to 3. we got to those boulders at about the same time and he was super clean on his way out to the next one. I chose a worse route towards 4 and ended up chasing him along the stream into 4 and across the hill towards 5. On 6 I stayed too far right again, this time purposefully trying to get a better way into the reentrant, and was still trailing behind Erik as he made his way through the green to 7. On 8, Erik chose a conservative route and jumped on the trail. I thought that I needed to do anything I could to get an edge so I barreled as straight as I could and came out along the bottom edge of the cliffs on the way into the flag... no sign of Erik. I slipped down the slope on the way to 9 and sprinted into the finish imagining that Erik and Sam ( who we had been with as 6) would be just behind. I guess Erik had stopped one set of cliffs early or something and then bounced around a little bit after that. When he came in it turns out that we had tied to the second :) It was a nice chance to race with him, and a very fun time in the forest working hard to keep up. Next weekend's sprints will be a fun rematch for us both I think.

Foxhunting (ARDF) with Vadim, Brendan and Lori. oh and a guy that I hadn't met before, Les, was there as well.

This was a moderately disappointing and extremely humbling experience for me. Vadim is trying to coach us to become good ARDF runners. To this end he has been very active with getting us some practice time. If you want more info on ARDF the wikipedia page is pretty good.

Today Vadim set 5 beacons out in Franklin Park and had them on a cycle where each was on for 12 seconds before the next came on. Our task was simple, use the receivers to locate all five, in any order. I went out first and thought that I had a good sense of what I should be doing. Certainly I had a better idea than the last time that I had tried. I set out across the road thinking that I was heading for the second beacon, almost immediately I was struggling to hear the beeps of the beacons and I kept trying to fiddle with the volume and the tuner to get the sounds to come in better. All the beacons were on the same frequency so it shouldn't have been hard actually, but I found it to be nigh impossible to hear the beeps and to locate them in the 12 second window.

After a really long time of standing around trying to make any progress I headed back to get some gloves because my hands were freezing. Brendan and Lori were both done ages before and Vadim was coaching them on some further techniques. Eventually I switched receivers with Brendan as I tried to go get a nearby marker. I then set off trying to find beacon 4.... , which I eventually found, then 3 and 2, but it took me a really long time, and I felt bad because Lori was stuck waiting for me to get back and unlock the car.

I will certainly need to try this a few more times, I hate failing at tasks especially ones that I think I should be good at.

Here's what I've learned so far about ARDF. I really need to play to my strengths.... namely running harder and faster. So next time I will be less intent on getting information each time the beacon comes online.... instead I will concentrate on making faster time. ( I think this is analogous to looking at the map fewer times on the way to a control).

Don't ever touch the frequency dial. ever. It ends in tears. Just find an acceptable setting and leave it... I won't make it better and will probably make it worse.

Having a good "ear" musically should be a big help.

Running to work. felt oh so windy in the morning. Saw like 40 robins hanging out in the ball field by Cleveland Circle. I guess that means it's spring :)

Running home from work. Was going to pick up night-o flags with Sam but then we changed our minds, so instead I just ran home. I decided to add a lap of the reservoir to get some more time and distance in. Nice to run, but adding on extra distance with a back pack on just feels silly.

CSU training at Hammond Pond. I had set night-o flags out for the crew earlier in the evening, which meant I had a big advantage out in the forest. A nice turn out, Dean, Alexei, Pia, Alex, Ian, and Brendan all came out as well. Felt just awesome to be running in the woods, but I was using my tiny LED headlamp and it's not really up to the task of night-o at the moment. I haven't done anything about replacing my real charger that I accidentally fried when I was in Spain. Pia ran this training really quickly. It's nice to see that she's on the road to recovery. I think I lost some time to her on control 10) and on 13) but other than that, I was pretty pleased with my orienteering. I know the park really well though, so in some places local knowledge makes orienteering irrelevant.


Splits:
1) 2.13
2) 2.03
3) 1.53
4) 1.37
5) 2.24
6) 2.34
7) 1.52
8) 3.08
9) 2.39
10) 3.31
11) 2.01
12) 2.12
13) 1.35
14) 2.29
15) 2.08
16) 1.22
F) 2.22
T) 38.05

Running to work. Felt great to be out and running. Legs still a little sore, but nothing to slow me down. ran the section from Cleveland circle to Longwood Ave with another runner. He was going at a pretty fast clip and passed me as I waited for a light to change. so I just stuck with him until he got away from me. felt so nice to be running in the morning.

Running home. Not as good feeling as running to work. felt pretty low energy and my calves were feeling righteously sore again. Still, not a bad evening for running, and it feels nice to get two commutes in.

No exercise today, unless you count bowling. Bowling with Sam, Jenn and her boyfriend Mike, and at least Jenn is still feeling sore today too. Sam looks funny walking down stairs.

Running home from work because there wasn't any power on earth that could get me to run to work. Legs were very sore and head was very sleepy. I ran home because I had told myself that I would and because I knew that I needed to work the legs to make them uncringe a bit. Still a very pathetic 4 mile run home that took way too much effort. Finally started feeling better by the very end. Really must learn to cool down more after hard races. :)