Training Log Archive: iansmith

CSU Training Night-O at Hammond Pond, courtesy of Ross Smith. I arrived late, after the group had started, so I didn't see several attendees: Alexei, Dean, and Alex. Ross and Pia were hanging out at the finish, and we chatted until Brendan (who started after I did) returned.

The course was pleasant; the network of trails in Hammond Pond meant that what I deemed the best route was often along a trail. I didn't bring my compass, so I was compelled to pay more attention to the features around me. I generally chose conservative routes, but I always was in contact with the map and usually had planned the next leg.

I never felt that I was moving faster than I could navigate, nor did I feel that I was moving very fast in general. I had a moderate pace for most of the run; I had a long trail leg from 8-9 (over which I probably traveled about 550m) that is representative of my speed.

I'm still bad at reading contours quickly; while Hammond pond has some confusing areas (specifically where I find it difficult to at a glance realize which direction is up), it's a simple map relative to most A-meet maps, e.g. I'll have to schedule some armchair orienteering in the near future.

For reference, Ross finished in 38 minutes; Pia and Brendan finished in 41.

C • simple map 3

CSU Hammond Pond Night-O - Splits

An early morning run; I didn't run yesterday, so I'm hoping to run a short, easy 30 minutes later this evening. I woke at 6 AM to my alarm; to avoid falling asleep again, I stumbled over to my computer and watched about 5 minutes of yesterday's Daily Show.

I ran a simple river loop at a purposefully moderate pace; when opportunities to extend my route presented themselves - e.g. the next bridge - I avoided them. My breathing was consistently 4/4 throughout the run. Early along the river component, I spied a girl ahead of me moving at a decent pace; I decided to overtake her, and about 3 km later was about 100m ahead of her.

I listened to a speech by Justice Antonin Scalia given at the Wilson International Center for Scholars from 14 March 2005 (transcript here: http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/gue... ). It was illuminating; while I have not thoroughly examined the argument for what Scalia terms the "originalist" interpretation of the Constitution nor that of the "living Constitution" argument, Scalia's case was very compelling. I think the root of the controversy about the interpretations by judges is the incompetent legislature; prima facie, one of the greatest hurdles to an effective legislature is the filibuster constraint in the Senate and the required 60 votes to overcome it.

Ran-it Granite in 10 days! The orienteering season is about to begin!!

A hard, short late night run. My goal for today was a 30 minute run; I decided to set an ambitious distance of 4 miles. I didn't warm up enough, but I felt pretty good throughout the run. My breathing pattern was 4/4 for the first ten minutes, then I pushed to 3/3 up to the conclusion.

I cooled down and stretched for about fifteen minutes.

On an unrelated note, as I have ramped up my training over the past few months, my legs have become significantly more muscular. I don't clearly recall what level of fitness I had when I rowed crew my freshman year, but even the paltry amount of training I have done has had significant physiological impacts on my body. I'm curious to see what a year of aggressive training and competition will do.

Today, I completed an unusual long run; I ran to Menotomy Rocks park, completed a old park-O of my design from May 2008, and ran home. This entry is the run to and from the park. In general, I felt very sluggish and tired today; there was much more climb in my run today than I usually have on river loops, both in Somerville and at the park itself. Had this been an orienteering course, I would have lacked the energy to have run it aggressively.

It is clear I need to do more training running for intervals of one hour or more; notably, the Ran-it Granite long is in 15 days.

I orienteered using a park-o map I designed in May 2008; my lack of speed comes not from navigation, but running slowly, the climb I incorporated into my park-O, and the climb I endured on the run and approaching the park.