Training Log Archive: iansmithIn the 7 days ending Aug 17, 2008:
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Thursday Aug 14, 2008 #
Running 1:00:00 [2] 8.0 km (7:30 / km)
shoes: 200803 NB MT800
My run today wasn't training, but I haven't trained much since my tourist excursion in Europe, so this seems worthy of logging. I set a course today for the CSU summer training at Franklin Park. I designed my course rather hastily, and I have never been to Franklin Park, so I'm unfamiliar with its limitations. I haven't yet run my course (or seen the 4 streamers Ross placed), so my assessment is based on criticisms I received.
My objective was to design a challenging navigational course that was 4-5 km in length; because of the many trails in Franklin Park, this was a challenge. There were several total errors in the course design, but I retrospectively surmise the range of good courses was narrow because of two conflicting problems:
- Too many trails
- Lots of green (much of which was unmapped)
That is, distance considerations aside, placing controls without going through extensive green was a non-trivial challenge. The first half of my course was acceptable, but I placed control 2 about 30 m too far north on an unmapped 4 meter cliff, and 8 was in the middle of a chunk of mapped green (the actual location wasn't too miserable, though the route to it was unpleasant). The latter half of my course was not as navigationally challenging as I expected - and hoped - it would be, and some of the choices I designed did not have as much merit as I planned.
I will run my course this weekend (the streamers are still up if any of my readers want a pdf) and evaluate its attributes for myself. I would be more disappointed if this were a meet rather than a training session.
The running came while placing controls, jogging in circles to prevent mosquito bites while everyone was out, and looking for Peter (who returned at about 8:30). The distance is an estimate, but the pace was gentle - while placing controls, I was checking my position carefully to ensure proper placement.
My objective was to design a challenging navigational course that was 4-5 km in length; because of the many trails in Franklin Park, this was a challenge. There were several total errors in the course design, but I retrospectively surmise the range of good courses was narrow because of two conflicting problems:
- Too many trails
- Lots of green (much of which was unmapped)
That is, distance considerations aside, placing controls without going through extensive green was a non-trivial challenge. The first half of my course was acceptable, but I placed control 2 about 30 m too far north on an unmapped 4 meter cliff, and 8 was in the middle of a chunk of mapped green (the actual location wasn't too miserable, though the route to it was unpleasant). The latter half of my course was not as navigationally challenging as I expected - and hoped - it would be, and some of the choices I designed did not have as much merit as I planned.
I will run my course this weekend (the streamers are still up if any of my readers want a pdf) and evaluate its attributes for myself. I would be more disappointed if this were a meet rather than a training session.
The running came while placing controls, jogging in circles to prevent mosquito bites while everyone was out, and looking for Peter (who returned at about 8:30). The distance is an estimate, but the pace was gentle - while placing controls, I was checking my position carefully to ensure proper placement.