Training Log Archive: mm-ha

Training, Window-O in the typical open stone terrain.
Worked better than expected in the beginning, than had a few bad problems and some good controls in the end again. Managed to go to 10 from the 15 controls in the 90 min. we had before hurrying back to watch biathlon.
Mix of hiking and slow running, wanted to keep it easy.
Details:
To 3) Was at the wrong stone and wondered if the control is maybe missing, then accidently stumbled about the right control on the way to 4. 2 min.
To 6) Was puzzled in the middle of the leg because I was to far left and running along a similar stone, but not similar enough. After I while I realized the mistake and saw the right stone formation ahead. Searched a long time for the control there. 4 min.
To 8) Understood nothing near the control. 6 min.
To 10) Didn't read the control description and was looking at the end of the stone formation and not between the stones. 1 min.

Short cool down back to the car.

Sprint training, first 2,4 km town sprint, then 2,6km in the stone terrain.
Town part was easy, partly because my running speed resembled more a slow jogging. Then in the terrain part I had a few bad mistakes in the beginning until I finally get used to the small scale. Fun, but now that was really enough training for today ;)
Details:
Part 1 - town (2,5km; 17:57):
To 6) Didn't see the small path through the houses on the first try. 15s
ca. 500m to the start of part 2
Part 2 - terrain (3,5km, 50:31):
To 1) Lost direction and ended at 4. 3 min.
To 2) Was orienteering to 3 first. 2 min.
To 4) Lost direction again and ended up at 7 first. 1 min at least
To 9) at the wrong stone first. 30s
To 13) A little problem in the circle. 15s
To 16) To far left. 1 min.

Long distance on the same terrain than yesterday. Still the same problems with the map, so orienteering was as bad as yesterday in the stony parts and OK in the other parts.
Running - when possible - was OK, knees felt better than I thought.
All in all another bad race, this time in the rain and with lots of water in the terrain. But somehow nice, anyway.
Details:
To 3) a bit to far north. 15s
To 4) First to far left, then running down the wrong valley. 1:30
To 8) Followed a path and other runners near the control in the wrong direction and it took me ages to figure it out, then had to run back down. 9:30. After that, searched the control in the circle. 1:30
To 9) And another direction error. 1:30
To 11) A bit to far right. 30s
To 12) Searched in the circle. 4 min.
To 13) Expecting the control much to far uphill and was going down slowly. 1 min.
Total: 19:45 mistakes :(

Another middle distance. Had lot of problems understanding the map, which stone was mapped and which one not. So lots of bigger mistakes :(
Running wasn't to good either - even when I wasn't walking around trying to understand the map I had problems with running on the stony ground and climbing over the stones. Knees both didn't really like the climbing over stones part...
All in all one of my worse races. But outstanding good wheather afterwards :))
To 1) silly route choice, up and down again, should have gone flat and straight.
To 3) was near the control in the valley but didn't understand were in the valley I was. In retrospective it was very clear. 1:30
To 6) Lost direction shortly before the control because I didn't want to climb over stones. So ended up far to far left. 1:45
To 7) Should have gone the other way around the thicket, over the stones. Got stuck very badly. 1:30
To 8) Was to high. 45s
To 10) Was running in the wrong direction. Ended at 7 and didn't even realize it first. Then realized the mistake and continued in the right direction. At least 3:30 lost.
To 13) Bad routechoice, should have gone straight cause runability was bad on the path, too. 1 min.
10 min. in total

Night sprint in Portalegre.
Was unsure if I should start or should give the knees some rest, then decided to start and do it easy.
A lot of up and down (walking uphill a lot) and to easy orienteering.
To 1) Was confused because the start was marked wrong on the map. 20s

Second stage of POM, middle distance.
Bad night, woke up at 4am with a bad headache and will taking headache pills realized that my left knee (the good one) hurts like hell when I try to bend it or stand on it - feels like I hurt it yesterday, but it was 100% OK when I went to bed. Was a bit better in the morning, but still hurtful, got better during the car ride to the arena, so decided to try and run the competition:
Nice, technical area with lots of stone formations. No big mistakes, but smaller ones. Details may follow.
Running felt a bit better then yesterday, apart from the left knee, which was OK during the run but is still not feeling OK.
Details:
To 1) Got a bit confused by another control on the way. 30s
To 7) Could have gone a bit straighter. 15s
To 8) Maybe the biggest mistake of the race, was running through the wrong 2 stones and needed a bit to realize it. 45s.
To 14) Could have gone straighter. 15s
To 17) Missed the direction to the fence crossing a bit and after the fence was confused for a few seconds about the direction. 20s
To 19) Second-last control and tired, ran to far (out of the reentrant again, silly me), then back. 45s
2:50 total mistakes

Event: Portugal O' Meeting 2011
 

First stage of POM, long distance.
Orienteering easier than expected, no big mistakes, only smaller insecuritiers.
Physical form was bad, I'm feeling the 3 weeks without training and am still not back to 100% - problems getting air in my lungs when trying to go fast.
Details:
To 1) Was at the wrong feature first. 30s
To 4) To far to the north first. 30s
To 8) Lost a lot of time at the fence crossing. 1 min.
To 14) Looked on the wrong side of the stone first. 15s
2:15 total

Control picking exercise as model and technical training for POM. Nice terrain, nice controls, some of them very resistant to be picked, so some bigger mistakes, but also parts in between where I really understood the map.
Fun :)
Details may follow when I get QuickRoute to work on the Laptop