Training Log Archive: CleverSky

US Champs Sprint #1, Plymouth Centennial - West. 2.3 km, 40 m, Red M35, 20th/30 on course. Sunny and in the high 40s. Not a lot of room for making mistakes here, although I did avoid the one potential problem on #2 when I correctly saw the route using the allowable crossings of the uncrossable streams. A few seconds lost on the very short #6, when I ran to the wall and was standing a couple of feet from the flag but couldn't see it (hung very low and tucked in close to the back side of the wall). There were a couple of "which way around this obstacle" route choices, where the difference was probably not more than a few seconds. So basically clean, but not running fast enough. I think 4th/5 in M35.

splits
RouteGadget

US Champs Sprint #2, Plymouth Centennial Park. 2.6 km, 45 m, Red M35, 15th/29 on course. Nearly 60F by this point, still sunny, but with a stiff wind picking up. Some more running around in parkland, and also some navigating through flat forest, some with low visibility, looking for shallow depressions. The latter probably benefited me, as I had a couple of pretty good splits in the crud, whereas running across a mowed lawn is not my forte. Time loss less than a minute, most of which was on one easy control at a trail junction, where I just wasn't finding the right trail to go in on (not sure the trail symbols were to spec, they seemed tiny). I think I was 2nd/5 on M35 this time, but the two guys I got ahead of were close enough behind me that it didn't make a difference in the summed standings.

splits
RouteGadget

Getting back to my car, I was dismayed to find the doors locked and the the key not where I was expecting it. This rental is different from the cars I usually drive, so I couldn't put the key where I normally do, and I had been leaving it on top of the tire. But it wasn't there, so I realized that I must have just left it in my pocket and gone off to the start, and the car locked itself. So I borrowed Ken Walker's phone and called AAA. They seemed to haev some trouble dealing with the fact that I'm from Massachusetts, was calling from a Vermont phone, but I was in Indiana. After being on hold for a long time, they finally arranged for a guy to come out, said it would be less than an hour. While I was waiting, I decided to check one more time. I had already looked on the ground around the tire, but this time I slithered my arm into the wheel well and felt around, and found the key hung up on the brake caliper or something. Apparently the strong wind had blown the key off of the tire. So then there was another protracted phone session, trying to cancel the roadside assistance, which I finally abandoned when they said they had no work order for me. I'll find out tomorrow whether Ken eventually got a call from a tow truck driver saying he was on his way.

And then a drive to Ann Arbor through some variable and sometimes wild weather, and a fine evening visiting with a friend from college, her son, and an exchange student.