Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

US Team Trials - Long Distance

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Cool area, good map, tough and challenging course. I went into the morning feeling confident and wanting to prove myself after the debacle of yesterday.

The start of the race was exactly as planned. I felt in control, holding back just slightly but still moving well up the first of many hills.

Things got messy on the way to 5. I wouldn't have been able to say where I went wrong without downloading the garmin. It turns out that I was in a classic parallel error but I was somehow convinced that I was far north when really I was a bit south. There was another runner in the same area messing around on the early hill and that threw me off too. Since I was so sure that I was north, I kinda had this feeling that I was off the edge of the map, and I was struggling with my compass and the shape of hills.

I rallied a bit, had a nice feeling again on 6 and 7, but then dropping down off the cliffs into 8, I lost my sense of control again and dropped two minutes messing around on that vague hillside.

Last mistake of note was the epic climb to the wrong hill on 12. Evidence that my fight with the compass was not over.

So, I guess I am happier with today. My fitness feels okay, I really bombed a few controls, but I fought hard through to the finish. However, If I am honest, I am disappointed with my racing this weekend. I did not show my best, but I will use this disappointment as fuel as I train for the big events of the summer.

C • Team Trials 2

Long Blue - Splits

A little warmup in the rain on the way to the start. Running until I started talking with people, then hiked the rest of the way.

US Team Trials - Middle Distance


Rainy weather. Started out this morning feeling very confident. In previous races and trainings at Moreau I have had really good map contact and flow. I felt, in a way, like Moreau was a good friend and I never imagined I would have any trouble with the course at all.

On the start line I flipped the map and immediately zeroed in on the start triangle, read the first leg, made a plan and sprinted out of the blocks. I crested the first little rise checking off the cliffs as I passed and then things fell apart.

A true disaster. I discovered that, with all the rain and wet conditions, I couldn't figure out what was a marsh and the leaves on the trees really cut down on the visibility that I was recalling from previous visits, and once I started to falter I guess I just panicked.

I didn't have a good relocation plan. I ran around, at high speeds, trying to make sense of hills, marshes, cliffs, and each time I thought I was somewhere I would reorient and dash back into the fray only to discover that once more things were not matching up.

It was an eternity before I found the first control. But even then I did not settle in. I was running in a very jittery, brittle, frantic adrenaline haze. I massively overshot the next control and bounced through the next set of controls much like a pinball but with far less direction. As I relocated to find 13, after nearly a dozen errors of varying degree, I felt incredibly frustrated with my inability to reset - to shake the etch-a-sketch and do the orienteering I know that I am capable of.

I was getting tired, but I was also angry enough at myself that I kept pushing hard. I strung a couple of good controls together at the end, and saw a glimpse of what I had thought my course might be like.

Massively disappointed. Not sure what the lesson is here. Will need to come up with a strategy that allows me to deal better in these high pressure situations.

C • Tough write up 12

Middle Blue - Splits

Event: 2013 U.S. Individual Championships/Team Trials
 

US Team Trials - Sprint Distance

Cool weather. Forest Sprint. I started out 1 minute behind Ethan Childs and as I waited on the start line I had an uninterrupted view of the first leg of the sprint. I could see exactly where he ducked off the trail and so when it was my turn, I hit the trail at top speed.

I was not thinking about conserving climb for such a short race, and so I planned to go up and over the hill on the way to 2, though I modified that when I got to the hill and realized the footing wasn't so good.

Saw Ethan's back as I climbed towards 3, and got even closer as I neared the buildings at 4. I watched as he rounded the hut and a moment or so later I saw him sprint towards 5. I kinda turned off my brain for an instant, then, and was worried when I came around the first hut and didn't see a flag at all. I did a lap, and even tried to run inside the hut to find this flag before realizing that I was still one building too early.

I hit the next set pretty cleanly, and saw Ethan up ahead as I cut through the forest down the hill to 12. I lost the plot once more at 13, ending up on the wrong side of the building and would have kept searching if I hadn't caught a glimpse of the flag in my peripheral vision.

Proud of my route to 14, back on Ethan's heels, and closing in on the finish of the course. However, I made one more error and counted trail junctions badly which ended with me cutting down the hillside on the way to 16 much too early. Was disoriented and confused, saw the flag for 12 and recognized that I had punched that control code earlier, and scanned my descriptions to discover that I was at control 12.

Pushed hard to the finish. Was glad to be fastest of the team trialers today, and was rueful that I ended 2 seconds behind BigE. Not my best sprint, but the legs were moving well, and a win is a win, right? :)

Congrats to Ethan for running himself into a Gold Medal... impressed that he held me off so surely.

Sprint Blue - Splits