Training Log Archive: ToddO

Eden Rock with Robert.
New Greens. Did most of them plus a couple of Woods and Yellows.
Managed the Yellow where you don't get hand hold and just have to use the arête and a lean.

30x eccentric Achilles

Not an awful lot of time spent warming up. Was trying to optimise the team before I started!

Turned up to the LOC tent (with Mark "Guns" Saunders) to be told that Will Rigg was injured after banging his knee the day before. First choice for second leg runner out...
Mark and I were at the JK mainly to have a crack at the relay (hence no Long race for either of us) so this was gutting news.
Turned to Angus Dobson (probably ranked higher than Will as an orienteer but arguably a more talented runner) who immediately pointed out that his hip was off and he wasn't sure he could run at any speed...
Jack Wright had pulled up in the car next to us on arrival and told us he'd been demoted to ShUOC's "C" team for the relays. So we were easily able to convince him to come back from clutches of ShUOC relay running to run for us...
We just had to get it by Chris Heppenstall* (who had been promoted into our team) and Derek Fryer (who organises the teams). Not sure who put their foot down but we ended up with the line-up of me, Chris and Mark.
There were murmurs of Jack being ineligible for LOC but I'm pretty sure this was incorrect as there had been no relays this year to make him ineligible.

*Chris is a very good orienteer but he hasn't been training at a high level for a while. Understandable with a baby really. We couldn't realistically expect him to pull off a fast time on this quick terrain.

C • ranked lower than will! far... 1

Set off at a sensible pace in a train before spiking the 1st control. Little high for number 2 to find myself in a pack with Jack Wright, Duncan Birtwistle a Belgian in a red vest (Tristan Bloemen) and another couple of young guys.
3, 4 and 5 were physical but pretty easy and I eased past a few at a steady pace. Saw Barrable at one point along here before he tried to run across water!
Checked my map a bit before dropping down to 7 and then before I left the control which let a couple of the young guys past. Had a line of people to reel in as we set off for 8 across the lumps of the quarry to head out onto the short heather of a gradual descent. I didn't feel like I was very strong here but took a little time out of some of them.
Across here I could see a line of guys led by someone in a yellow top with me back in 6th, at best. I just assumed there would be a pack ahead of our train and another pack on a different line. It didn't occur to me that it was Murray in front and he was the lone leader. Not until afterwards anyway.
Went around the top of the scooped out area but stopped early when I saw a control in there. Checked the code without going down to it but lost a few seconds. Oh well, the others led me through the next couple and I did cut a bit off their lines by doing some nav of my own.
Set off for 11 across a vast expanse of tussock just behind an OUOC guy (Vokes). Gained a little but I was suffering a bit and decided to hold back some.
A nice bit of downhill and runability to the spectator at 13 got me right up to Duncan again. Jack had been in front of me since the leg from 7 to 8 but he stuffed 13 (the spectator control) and so I never saw him again until the finish. Not that I allowed myself to look back!
Duncan set off W from there but I decided to go around the top to my next control (it turned out that we were gaffled here).
Kept it clean but wasn't feeling quick. Ground my way up a little slope to 15 before getting back into my stride for the next 2.
Got perfectly to the middle of the circle for the 3rd to last control but had made a rookie error...
I'd read ahead on my control descriptions a while back and seen that I had several re-entrants before a boulder (MISTAKE! the description was a black dot, not a black triangle) so I had thought "right, I'm looking for re-entrants until I see a boulder in the middle of a control circle on the map".
Unbeknowst to me I was 3rd at this point! Just Murray Strain and a top Estonian in front.
Got caught by the Belgian and Duncan here and had the Belgian and Rich Robinson go past on the pre-penultimate and penultimate legs respectively. Probably could have held them off if I'd known I was going for 3rd!
Some good scalps: Jonny Crickmore, Duncan Birtwhistle, Nick Barrable, Phil Winskill and the Mighty Wright.
No big errors. Felt like I was running a bit weakly. Oh well, good result if not a run that I felt was top drawer.
Relay orienteering evidently is my thing.
That's twice in JK relays I've been 3rd without having a clue now. Must capitalise next time.
Unfortunately Chris went out in 5th and came back from 2nd leg with the 37th best time. Mark had a storming run (about 60s slower than me, solo) but made a highly uncharacteristic mispunch.

C • Detail 1

With Phil Winskill around a little lake below the relay arena. Talking about my move to Keswick.

30x eccentric Achilles

Drove from a pleasant castle/caving outing into the jaws of a thunder storm as we approached the event.
Things had calmed to a drizzle by the time we set off for the event centre to pick up yesterday's map.

Onto yesterday's area with Mark to do a bit of technical orienteering. He was skipping the Long to prepare for tomorrow's relay. Got to the control circle for 18 and found it just as confusing walking around without oxygen debt!

Taking it in turns to do tricky legs. Mark displaying that a steady pace without hesitations and misses works well.
Had to really slow down at one point due to thick cloud rolling in but otherwise got my head around it a bit better.
Still thrown by the mapping in places. Just a little bit of apparent inconsistency with the inclusion/exclusion of pits and the use of the rocky ground symbols.

Down the hill and across the very wide re-entrant to get back to the car.
Shops all closed in Methyr Tydfil so we got pizzas. Good relay prep followed by bad...
Back to the bunk barn (a hostel really) for chess. I lost. Heavily.

Too the start. A long way.

Saw (what I thought was) the call-up clock on 12:00 so went for a trundle around the warm-up map (this being a world ranking event).
Got back to the start to be told "you've just started".
I'd thought I was off at 12:19 but it was actually 12:09!

JK Middle.
Grabbed my control descriptions and map and took off. Contoured around the hill but couldn't then make sense of the map (this theme continued throughout).
Massive time losses on 1, 6, 18 (when I thought I'd got the hang of it) and the penultimate control. Sloppy misses throughout though.
It seems that I cannot do well with negative point features. Pity these depressions and pits were everywhere and, somewhat arbitrarily, not mapped in places.
Won another close game of chess later on. Hope this helps with the concentration!

Event: JK 2014
 

Jogging around to get my "bib" A.K.A. race number and go to the loo.

JK Sprint, Swansea University.
Missed 17 because it was on the ground. Put it back up for the sake of better people who care more about their result.
Jack Wright beat me by a second. Beat Guns by 10 seconds.

Onto the beach with Guns and Chris Heppenstall. Topless in the sun for us young M21's (Chris now running M35).
Some calf and sumo squat stretches afterwards.

30x eccentric Achilles.
I won't log the intense chess battle that raged for over 2 hours back at the bunk barn. I emerged victorious.

Results for Coledale:
http://www.ellenboroughac.org.uk/?p=658

Check out 32nd place. Mike MCLVER.

How hard is it to spell McLover?

Parked at Pelter Bridge and ran along Under Loughrigg Road (with my full back-pack) to get to Rothay Park.

Lap of Rothay Park.

Drill, jog, stride and walk.
Butt kicks and high knees.

Loughrigg Fell Race, my 2nd Club Champs race of the year.
Started alongside Mike and Angus and went out fast for 30m to find myself next to Tom Addison. I think people were keeping a respectful distance from him so there was no jostling to be at the fore on the approach to the little gate and packhorse bridge out of Rothay Park.
I had significantly dialled back by the bridge in a safe 2nd place. Mike must’ve been just behind me because I heard him make a comment about the start being faster than intended.
Got a steady pace going up the driveway towards the bridleway and fell. Had a few guys go past on the steep bit and corners (Gary Greenhow, Tom Gibbs, Kieran Woods of Helm Hill, John Helme and Jon Rylance) and I settled into a habit of being marginally slower on the steeper bits and marginally faster on the flatter bits.
By the time the bridleway had the wall on just the right hand side I was also exchanging positions with Andy Broadbent, another Helm Hill guy and Nigel Wood from Coniston.
As we hit the fell the order was now: Tom Addison (miles ahead), Tom Gibbs, Gary, Kieran (all three together), John Helme, Nigel, myself, Angus Dobson had joined our pack and Steve Swarbrick from Bowland was on the edge of my vision at times.
Broke away from the guys behind me as we got into the later stages of the climb with faster running. I managed to get in front of John and Nigel before the penultimate climb on some rock steps but Nigel took the final little climb to the trig along the path and I tried going straight up the steep grass.
We were under strict instructions to go around the trig at the top. I headed straight to the left side to go around. Nigel was coming in from my left and tried to cut across my path. An instinctive forearm came out as he was about to collide with me. I was relatively unaffected but got a “fookin ell mate” for the inconvenience. I had enough breath to say “around the trig” before I set off on the descent in 5th place.
Nigel and I had some fast and slightly reckless descending for a coulpe of minutes before we were joined by Steve. I went the longer way around a marsh and found myself 10m back.
Didn’t have to racing determination at this point and just continued to track them at a quick but safe pace.
As I approached the fell gate I’d 50m to them at least and it was only checking over my shoulder to see John Helme coming that made me pull finger.
Really strode out down the bridleway and concentrated.
Steve and Nigel got a bit further ahead but I was happy to be 3rd Amblesider.
Jumped the cattlegrid onto Under Loughrigg Road with a little heel click for the spectators and came into Rothay Park to see Tom Gibbs (2nd at the top) ahead and going slowly but not within striking distance.
7th place but more importantly 3rd Amblesider. Jon Rylance finished next followed by John Helme.
On tapered legs I’d like to think I could have been with Gary in that race. He asked me what I’d been doing recently and when I told him about Sat, Sun and Mon and he said something about me needing to work on my taper… I gave him a funny look and said I was only tapering for Champs races. He’s doing Kentmere. I’ll have to show him there!
Helm Hill got the team prize with 1st, 2nd and 10th.
I picked a 4 pack of Hoegaarden as my prize for 7th. Loads of prizes!
Perfect evening for it and a big turn out.

Lap of Rothay Park with Mike and Angus. This was probably about 15 mins too late...
The walk back to the car eased out some of the R) Achilles pain and quads soreness though. Lovely conditions.

30x eccentric Achilles