Training Log Archive: iansmith

I made the trip to Moreau with Ali to run the 2012 Billygoat, which I missed due to GimpyFoot. I had never run on Moreau; I wasn't at the 2010 classic champs due to Gimpier Tibia (there's a pattern forming). I procured permission to run from Sanctioning, EMPO, and the ESC to confirm I could do this without disqualifying myself from the 2013 Team Trials and A-meet.

Anyway, the terrain and map were delightful. The top of the plateau is a playground, an orienteering paradise. I didn't run hard; my goal was to familiarize myself with the terrain, practice some navigation, and not injure myself. I was not fast, but I really didn't have the stamina for an aggressive effort after the weekend. I was pleased to make it through the course at a steady pace without errors or injuries.

I should train to read farther than 5-10 meters ahead of me when planning my microroutes through terrain.

I only ran through control 15 before our agreed departure time approached, though as my objective was running about on the map, I didn't skip any controls. I was satisfied that I had made good use of my time and that running further would not be optimal given my depleted and injured physical state, so I moseyed down the trail to the car.

Surprisingly, I survived the weekend without injury! My feet and legs are tired, but everything seems to be in working order. My goal for the next few months is to build up a steady base of running, orienteering, strength, and cross training before the North Americans.
Quickroute

Billygoat - Splits

Warmup for the sprint at Cemetery Hill. I didn't have as much time as I had hoped, but both feet and legs felt acceptable. On my way to the start, Ken taught his munchkins how to cheer for me, and they caught on quickly. I didn't have my GPS running during the entire warmup, and I stopped to tape my laces before heading back to the start.

Day 4 of the Western MA 5-Day: Sprint at Cemetery Hill.

I was the last scheduled starter, though Jeremy Colgan showed up late and started after me. Andrew Childs started a minute ahead. I have run on Cemetery Hill before, and that experience certainly was helpful. I ran hard and had a good race despite a number of unnecessary mistakes.

I wasn't very confident of my position when I attacked 1, but I was right where I thought I was and only lost time due to hesitation. I failed to find the light green strip on my planned route to 3 just past the frisbee golf basket, so I punched through a thick strip of dark green at a cost of what felt like 20-30s. I apparently lost time on controls 5-10; I have struggled in this area in the past, and small hesitations on the flood plain add up quickly. My only real mistake was at 9, where I ran right past the control without seeing it and had to double back. I passed Andrew on the way to 3, but I had been unable to shake him through 9, and he punched about 20s ahead of me.

I had some difficulty on the way to 11 - I think I didn't run far enough to connect to the second trail, so I punched through more dark green. I caught up to Andrew at 10 and pulled ahead, and he amusingly followed me through the green. Controls 11-14 were uneventful; I tried to push hard to lose Andrew, and I didn't execute my route that well to 14 negotiating the obstacles on the first half.

I had an attack of the knucklehead at 15 and 16; I ran out to the field to get to 15, but somehow managed to overlook the route from the right. I forded the high grass and attacked at the frisbee golf basket NE of the flag. The mistake was costly - apparently about 30s. To 16, I again overlooked the superior left route in favor of running past 1 and barging through more green. Still amusingly, Andrew hung with me. On the run in, Andrew turned on the afterburners, so I followed suit and managed to punch just ahead of him. I banged my knee on the finish sign screeching to a halt. Overall, a rough sprint with lots of costly errors, but a solid effort.
Quickroute

Picked up four remote controls from Day 4: Cemetery Hill. I ran at a very comfortable pace; the objective was to cool down. I ovangelized to a few hikers who were curious about what I was carrying.

Day 5 of the WeMa 5-Day: Mt. Tom Long Farsta

There's really not much to say about this race except: 23 minutes. I lost to Ali by 23 minutes; she crushed the field, but that's still an embarrassing statistic.

I started strong (with a terrible route choice) and discovered quickly enough that I was completely spent. I had nothing left; it was a death slog the entire way. I will train intelligently and prepare, but I will not be too discouraged by my absolute failure to orienteer competently today.

Cool down with my posse: Andrew, Giacomo, Carl, and a bag of chips. One of our number did not return. Donner, party of 5: your table is ready.

Control pickup at Mt. Tom. It turns out I had a water control, and as I lacked a bag, I was force to improvise. I stashed the jugs on the WCOC control stands, stacked the cups, and bundled the cups and garbage in my shirt. During the time it took to do this, Garmin gave up on life and died, and mosquitos feasted on the Ian entree.

Event 4 - Cemetery Hill Long Sprint - Splits

Event 5 - Long HA: Mount Tom - Splits

Event: Western Mass 5-Day
 

Day 1 of the Western MA 5-day: Blue Middle Distance. I started the race quite well, but I started to fade as the climb increased. I bobbled control 9; I missed right after checking off my attackpoint - the hill left of the line. I overshot ten and had to double back after hitting the major trail. I struggled during the charge up the hill to 12 and 13, but was reasonably clean.

My big error was on the long leg at 15. I had a reasonable plan - going essentially straight, though slightly left of the line. I had passed Andis at 14, and in my effort to hold him off, I didn't pay enough attention as I entered the trail networks. It turns out that I had executed a slightly better variant of my plan, but I wasn't sure of where I was. The trails weren't bending the way I expected, and I hesitated. As I neared the circle, I thought I was 200 meters north on the spur; I saw the major trail and the finish field, realized where I was, and had to double back to the control. It was a disappointing way to finish an otherwise solid race. I really need to focus on having a clear sense of where I am in networks of small trails and not focusing on trails to the exclusion of other terrain clues.
Quickroute

I ran to the start plus jogging around. GimpyFoot felt pretty good, but oddly enough, HealthyFoot felt uncomfortable around my shin. My tibia felt ok when I pressed on it from various angles, and given my recent workouts, I would be unsurprised if there were connective tissue damage and ligament pain from overdoing the 400m intervals.

Anyway, after the warmup, my legs felt pretty good, so I decided to compete.

Day 2 of the WeMa 5-Day: Blue Middle distance

While it was clear that my energy had been somewhat depleted by the first race, after some lunch and good company, I felt strong enough to be competitive. I started strongly and spiked the first control, but perhaps began too aggressively. I missed 3 to the left attacking from a somewhat vague trail bend, though I think I was close on my first pass - the visibility at the control was poor. I tried to take the trail to 4 instead of the superior straight line + contour reading route, miscounted the trails, and ascended too high. After some debate, I decided to go straight to 5, ran acceptably up the hill and spiked it. My route to 6 was solid, but slow - I hit the big trail, ran up it to make sure I knew where I was, then attacked from the bridge. I should have aimed off leaving 5 to the right to hit the trail bend.

I caught up to Andrew at six; he bobbled seven, so I took the lead there. I ran hard into 8 to try to lose him. I drifted slightly right of the line to 9 and went over the hill with cliffs halfway through the leg. I attacked from the saddle on the line - while my execution was fine, I was sluggish.

I lost a little time at 12 both by running too far to the right to pick up the trail and by checking the first hill just west of the control. My route to 13 was good, but sluggish. I ran to and on the big trail to 14, and attacked from the bend. I was too high and too reluctant to descend, so I hit the knoll by the trail SW of the control; I briefly led a pack there. 14-15 was similar to part of the long leg from the morning, and I was prepared. I executed well up to the point where I attacked the circle. I misjudged which hill was mine and checked the southern hill first before realizing my error.

Overall, I lacked the fitness to compete again - my fatigue noticeably showed in my numerous navigational bobbles and my sluggish running speed. The variance of my split placings is unacceptably high. I suppose I'm happy that I wasn't horribly outside of the pack, but I believe I can do better. There are few things as motivating as a good set of A-meet races against a solid field.
Quickroute

Warmup to the start.

Day 3 of the WeMa 5-Day: Long Sprint at the University of Massachusetts. Decisively nemesised.

After helping take down and move the arena set up at Earl's Trails, I moseyed over to U Mass for the sprint. I neglected to change into shorts at the cars and lacked time to rectify that when I arrived at the start; I ran in running tights and my Mizuno running shoes.

The devious powers that be had deliberately or accidentally given me a start time of two minutes before Ali. There was some concern (and heckling by PG) the due to lack of recent training, two races earlier in the day, and general noobness, I would fail to hold her off, so my sole focus was to stay ahead of Ali.

I raced reasonably well - checked my codes, had good flow, read ahead - but I was drained and sluggish. I hesitated for perhaps 5s at control 4 before dashing past Ken Sr. up and down the stairs, through the breezeway, and into the flag. I very nearly ran into a parked car while reading my map on the run to 6. I thought I was making a poor decision running around the south to 8, though I had read the description ahead. I'm not certain which way was faster.

My sluggishness became increasingly apparent - I lost 1:14 to Ali between controls 4 and 12 without any mistakes. I saw Ali behind me (only 40s) as I was approach 12, so I dug deep and pushed to 13 and 14. I took the northern route to 16 through the narrow corridors. When I hit 16 without seeing her, I was comfortable that she wasn't going to pass me and the moral (albeit Pyrrhic) victory was mine.

After control pickup, taking the arena down, and helping Joanne with some directions, I made my way over to Bub's for some excellent barbecue and company. Overall, this was not a good race, but I'm not terribly dissatisfied with my performance under the circumstances.
Quickroute

Control pickup, +1 saw horse of the Apocalypse.

Event 1 - Middle Blue - Splits

Event 2 - Middle Blue - Splits

Event 3 - UMass Long - Splits

A mighty company.

I decided to take a rest day in lieu of the Park-O. My legs weren't feeling fantastic after Tuesday and Wednesday, and a hard sprint would be taxing leading into the 5-day.

Easy run around the Charles. Gimpyfoot felt ok, but left leg was tight, and left knee felt a little strange. My local running density should probably not be as high as it has been the past two days. It felt great to get out; I saw at least five rabbits and a possum or badger-like creature. I hope the rabbits have better reflexes when they encounter Presto, because I could have nearly kicked two of them.

Core session, 1 minute per exercise:
Tuckups, kayakers, plank, oblique crunches, leg lifts, tuckups, side plank (x2), single leg bridge (x2), cherry pickers, oblique crunches. I overlooked bicycles.

I managed to get nearly everything done tonight that I planned.

A smattering of my favorite pictures from West Point (full album here - http://iamsinht.com/is/albums/20120505_WestPoint/ )

Happy dog in final launch preparations
We have liftoff
Wheeeeeeeee
Alisaurus Rex
Practicing kicking butt
Rocket legs
Profiles in fuzzy courage
Smug Swede Stretches
Self-satisfied cyclist
Battle face
Luck o' the Irish
Haha nice bib
Incredulity of youth
Birds of a feather
This shot wasn't staged at all
Will people ever realize my last name doesn't end in "s"?
Little Hall in the chute and in the zone

C • Photos 2

Warm up and run over to MIT. GimpyFoot at first felt somewhat uncomfortable, but the various tissues seemed to loosen up as I ran along. I considered aborting the track workout, but when I arrived at MIT, it felt good enough.

First track workout since the rise of GimpyFoot! I joined the CSU crew at the MIT track on a drizzly day for 12x400 at alternating 5k, 3k pace. Only five were in attendance: Giacomo, Terry, SGB, Patrick, and me. I had planned to run 8, but I missed the first two due to tardiness and felt like staying with the group. My target times based on my recent running time trials were 87 for 5k pace and 84 for 3k pace, and I deliberately backed off to try to hit those. Doing so took great restraint, especially with Giacomo blasting 79/72s. He ran 65s for the last 400.

Splits: 84, 81; 87, 83, 88, 83; 85, 82, 87, 77

C • MIT Track 2

Run around Briggs' field; I chatted with Giacomo about NEOC meets and our summer plans.

Run home; I was motivated to hurry home, and pushed into tempo pace. As my glasses were obscured by drizzle, and I lacked a light, I was wary of bad footing. However, I stopped for a bit at traffic lights and still ran comfortably under 5:00/km. GimpyFoot felt ok.