Training Log Archive: iansmith

I'm posting this here because I don't want to contribute to a thread which hopefully has died a peaceful death. First and foremost, I'd like to thank everyone who had meaningful comments about the elections process and everyone working hard to ensure a fair and meaningful election - especially Peter Goodwin, Donna Fluegel, Janet and Glen Tryson, and JJ. It is unfortunate that the deadline for proxy declariation is two weeks in advance per the bylaws, but as has been noted, this was codified years ago, and the absence of contested elections has not motivated a change.

I agree with the substance of what Maryann has to say - it would be great if a way could be found to extend the proxy deadline (ditto mikeminium and others), and having board members up for reelection involved in the election process does give the appearance of impropriety. There is a reason people recuse themselves. That said, I am optimistic that Janet, Glen, and JJ will ensure a fair election.

However, I take great umbridge at two things from that thread: first, Peter Goodwin's responses to Maryann via e-mail were unacceptable. I am not privy to their private correspondence - but whatever the tone or tenor of the conversation, it is the responsibility of authority in particular to maintain a professional attitude. I recognize that text, like e-mail, forums, and so on, because it lacks context can be interpreted in a way that is more antagonistic than intended. Nevertheless, I am disappointed that Maryann's comments were so received.

I condemn sammy's remarks in the strongest possible terms; they were beyond the pale, venturing from criticism to ad hominem, and have absolutely no place in rational policy discourse by adults. The cloak of anonymity enables polemic and excoriating criticism of others under the guise of discourse without fear of ostracism. It is the pinnacle of cowardice.

I have no qualms replying to even obtuse remarks if they are about substance and policy. In that post, sammy attempted to falsely and deceptively cast the coalition policy perspective. They used the strawman of malicious and furtive vitriol to discount our substantive views. It would be an interesting exercise to make a complete list of logical fallacies - strawman, No true Scotsman, circular reasoning (complaining), and oversimplification at least. I defer to a rhetorical master like j-man to deconstruct such remarks.

But the way to deal with a troll is to ignore them. Until sammy learns basic tenets of respectful discourse, this seems the best approach.

Too much has already been written about petty and irrelevant matters. There are perfectly reasonable policy grounds on which to disagree with the coalition. As (obviously) one of its advocates, I cannot guarantee that our approach will work. Maybe after five or more years of wholehearted effort, we will still find that the policies we advocate do not grow the sport any more than the existing ones. My argument is that a revised approach is more likely to succeed, and we know empirically from the past several years that the existing approach did not. We all have the same goal, and we all need to figure out how we can move forward most productively.

If all else fails, maybe I'll move to Canada.

C • Anonymous comments 7

C • Private correspondence 1

Warmup.

CSU Track workout, + Ethan. Attendance was light this week, with Kevin, Amore, Terry, Ethan, and me in the lead group. The workout was 4x1200; with a 400, 300, 200 set to finish. I felt a bit meh, but managed to push through. My target paces were 4:15-4:20 for the 1200s, but I couldn't quite manage. Kevin, Amore, and Terry were running 5-15s faster than I over the 1200s, but I let them go and ran my own pace.

1200s: 4:17, 4:24, 4:18, 4:22
4,3,2: 75, 52, 34

I felt a little tired at the end but generally ok.

Cooldown. The outer edge of my right foot was becoming a hot spot by the end.

Festival March, Joseph Suk
Appalachian spring, Copland

Vetting controls for my meet at Noon Hill. Actual time about 1:45. Noon Hill is a great piece of terrain. It's varied and complex in places, but the woods are generally open and often quite fast. There is some undergrowth and some areas of thick, but there is very little pokey-stabby vegetation. My only real qualms are that the parking is limiting and the long marshes constrain course design. Still, it's a great 2 sq km map.

I needed to clear my head, so I went for a cruise along the river. I was curious how long a loop with my favorite river cruise interval circuit would be, and I raised the pace a little bit on the interval loop. A gentle mist fell on me throughout the run and brought serene catharsis. Just past the BU bridge, the skyline of Boston was shrouded in cloud, and it was as though I ran to infinity.

C • nice 2

Event: 2016 Corn Maze Champs
 

Event: NEOC: Belmont Wanderings
 

Warm up, chatting with Ethan.

Corn Maze Classic Race. After winning all eleven individual corn maze races I entered, I was defeated by Ethan twice in the classic and the sprint. From the splits, we had comparable speed, but I made one costly mistake on each course - a 15s error at 4, then a horrendous 30s mistake on one of the sprint controls where I was executing correctly, but doubted myself and doubled back unnecessarily. It was Ethan's day, and despite the formal scoring practices of CMOUSA, he was the clear victor. We had good back-and-forth on the Night-O, but for the most part, there was only one plausible route on each leg in the maze. As a result, we were never more than 20-30s apart. We each had one or two mistakes, letting the trailing competitor catch up. I managed to secure a 10-15s lead coming out of the maze before I ran my penalty loop, but Ethan very sportingly didn't punch the finish until after I finished the loop.

Championship Classic - Splits

Championship Night - Splits

Obligatory OUSA stuff for the day:

Does anyone have access to the document Cristina posted in the second comment of this thread? The link is broken (unsurprising, as it's six years old).

I read some documents.
http://www.us.orienteering.org/sites/default/files...
http://www.uslacrosse.org/sites/default/files/publ...
https://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/images/uplo...

C • Has the name just changed? 6

Climbing with Ben, Joe, and Sam at Brooklyn Boulders. I nailed a few 5.9s, including two overhangs. It was a pretty good day.

So, it seems that it's on now.

Also this: https://xkcd.com/1022/

But seriously, how absurd is it for there to be conflict about such a small enterprise? While I can appreciate a just battle, OUSA is tiny. Ultimately, we all have the same broad goals; this will be so much easier if we cooperate and collaborate rather than antagonizing each other. Else, we are like two mongrels fighting over a morsel. Resorting to total war would be a pyrrhic victory, and for what? OUSA is declining. Will we fiddle while Rome burns?

C • Shine on! 6

Why do I have so much stuff?

C • stuff 27

Wee jog.