Training Log Archive: MJChilds

Flying Pig Middle Distance. Pretty good race except for #9 where I went straight instead of looking at the route options and realized I had climbed several contours only to go back down them again. . .devious, but good course setting. . ., #10 where I should have looked at the control code so I would not have hesitated when I saw no control at the end of the ditch (it was in front of the earth bank below) and #12 when I went up and over anyway, even knowing that there was a more level route. I didn't feel like running through the honeysuckle to stay on the flat. All in all, was happy with my course and was pleasantly surprised to have ended up first on the course.

Friday Brown - Splits

This is the walk part of my run with Lucy, the uphill part that she labored over. It was slow, but nice to have her out with me. She seemed to enjoy it.

Ran from Catamount down the road to the pavement and back as a warm-up, leaving Lucy in the car. Then, brought her along, but had to stop a lot so she could catch up. We did the downhill, OK, but ended up walking back up the hill because she was struggling.

Temps around 40 degrees, brilliant sunshine, but WINDY, again, yet, still. . .

Back to the old routine. Hard to progress when one does not work at it.

Also did about 10 min stretching.

Walked Butternut in the freezing, windy temps. Temp around 26 degrees with such a severe wind I needed a face mask! Sunny though. :) Joined by KH, JG,AH, KM, PS and Ruby. Enjoyed catching up on what everyone's been doing.

Set controls at Osborndale on west side of map near Ansonia Nature Center. Boris gave me the nearest group which was nice since I wasn't certain how my legs would be today. Going was slow due to the extra checking of terrain to be sure my controls were set accurately. When I got back, I decided to not run the course since it felt like my legs had had a good amount of exercise but not too much. After the start, I took my camera out to catch some orienteers in action. Enjoyed sitting in one place for a while and just watch the forest as it gets ready for another spring. Still very cold, sunny and windy.

Got to see both Andrew and Ethan on their courses which was fun.

Long drive home--6 hours--since we took Andrew back to WPI on the way.

All in all, a really nice weekend.

C • first weekend 1

WCOC training weekend at Osborndale, CT. Three activities available: control picking with visualization exercise, compass course, line-O. I chose the control picking first and found that when I focused on what Jon recommended, the details of the terrain, the type of feature for the control, control extension, and the compass direction, I could navigate quite accurately. Being the first time orienteering this season and first time to run on and off trail, really, I found that my legs got very, very tired and sore. Surprising since I got in a reasonable amount of varied exercise over the winter.

Set out on the compass course but did not know it had a different starting point. Found what I thought was #1 just fine, but just couldn't find #2 after 2 attempts. Found another orienteer to ask about the problem, and learned that there was a different starting point. Hummmm. Found 1,2 and 3, then the course looped and I went to #6 in error. Thinking I was looking for #4 and not finding it, I realized what I had done. Went part way back and searched for #4, but as I was sore in the legs, decided to jog back to the car. Enough for the day. Good decision.

Very cold, temp around freezing and very windy, but sunny and not too bad in the woods.

Headed to Marie and Mike's where we were to spend the night. I was with Andrew and Ethan. Rested a while then headed to Becky's apt for the sprint on the Yale campus. Great fun. Found some new energy to run! What a gorgeous campus and an interesting course. Great map.

Very yummy dinner prepared by Marie: tomato basil soup, pasta/arugula salad, and mexican bean dip with chips. Yummy. Great company with about 20 orienteers present. Enjoyed the evening until I ran out of energy around 9 p.m. when I slinked away to my bedroom.

Great day. Carl had to stay home with Lucy. :(

Thanks to Pete Bundschuh for putting up Ethan and me on the way down on Friday night.