Training Log Archive: kido

Australian Middle Distance Champs

Felt really rough warming up, soleus really really sore and also a bit of pain from my fall spots yesterday. Also didn't sleep too well.

Really messy through the first 4, wouldn't have said I made a mistake (Winsplits begs to differ on 2) but was sort of 10-20m off on each of them. Then really struggled to read the rock around 5 and lost about 1min just to hesitation as I was too high.

Bit better through the next couple, quite solid to 14 and not as messy. Then I misread the clearing into 15 and went past the control to the right, found and punched the higher control on the boulder then realised it was the wrong number and spent some time trying to read the clearing and work out where I was. Lost about 1:40.

Once again, I'm happy not to have had a blow out, but I'm still pretty frustrated with myself. Definitely think my error at 15 was a product of panicking a bit after having caught Bridget and running near a bunch of W20 / M21 and so rushing and not doing my own nav.

Soleus pretty agony now and struggling to walk the rest of the day.

Australian Sprint Champs

We were warned before the race about the "pea gravel" (very slippery pea-sized smooth rocks), but the only choices I had for footwear were racing flats or O-shoes with metal dobs so I choose the flats.

Paid for it by falling hard coming around the corner out of #3, taking off a bit of bark and completely ruining my compass.

This made the rest of the course tricky - it was about 40% forest sprint, the forest was pretty low vis, and there were a few control-picking legs, so I found not having a compass a challenge. I actually don't think I made any mistakes really but I just had zero confidence and was being really careful.

Only route choices I would say I regret are going the long way around the left to #4 (which heaps of the other girls did anyway) and on the way to #17 when I found myself on the top of an embankment next to a building and tiptoed down it only to find that I could have stayed high and gone through a passage through the building.

Attempting to do a lap of King's Park for old time's sake, but got a little bit lost down in the SW end, couldn't remember which way I used to go so cut it a bit short unintentionally. Then my soleus got really really painful and had to stop and walk back. It is actually swollen now and not good.

Easter Day 3 - Middle

Pretty much an unmitigated disaster. Having said yesterday that I was glad to be finally eliminating those big blow-out errors...I go and make a big blow-out error! Really rookie error, just panicking and not using my processes, compassed off down the wrong side of the slope to 14 and lost 7.5 minutes (in a middle!). Didn't take time to check direction using an exit feature, just rushed out of the control and was quickly just among a bunch of rock that I couldn't make fit to anything.

Had been having quite a good run up to that point, lost about 45s at 6 when I read the wrong bunch of rocks but otherwise had been glad to be keeping it together, especially near the start which was probably the most technical bit. Wouldn't have been near Tash or Bun but would have been nice just to finish with a clean performance. Physically felt tired which I guess is to be expected.

Forgot my Garmin

Easter Day 2 - Long

Forgot my Garmin, distance is about what the other girls did and climb from what was in the info.

An OK race, I suppose. Happy that I made no big errors, but was really messy and had two errors over 1min, at 16 and 19. Couple of 30s ones at 7, 10, 12 and embarrassingly at the finish control when I kept following some M21s...

Navigating well through the easy stuff near the start and feeling good, but really lacking confidence in the technical stuff later on, terrified to make an error so not attacking it at all. Physically fine, maybe lacking some speed and endurance but didn't hit a big wall. Need much more O training.

Soleus was really sore warming up, thankfully adrenaline got me through! Pretty sore again now.