Training Log Archive: Mark Two

WJS training w/e on Gower

Oxwich

Shadowing
Jessica on Atack point course - annoyed with myself that I had forgotten to print the carefully crafted "Ap intro" course. But Jessica coped with this OK
Maddie on Aiming Off
Christopher on Beacons

Lovely sunny day. Sand Castle map competition after lunch went well - I should have given the prize to the students.

Putting out controls for Night Training at Whiteford. I started this far too late. Too much faffing sorting out everything at the accommodation, and should have taken up Ben and Megan on their offer to hang - I wanted them to be able to run.

Consequently ended putting the last few out in the dark - with things taking a lot longer. So start was a lot later than intended and Ben and Meg had to get off before the run anyway .... Sorry guys. Also in my rush at the end I managed to put one out in the wrong depression.

Vegetation could do with a signifcant remap.

Still apart from Will - whose lamp failed before he even found the start - everyone seemed to enjoy the adventure. And thankfully nobody was late back.

A day spent largely in front of the computer, planning and or tweaking exercises then printing them for the coming weekend.

Managed to get outside in the sun an hour or so to sort out and load kit for Briitish Nights w/e.

and then an exiting vist to Aldi to shop for food for 36 for the w/e. Did not buy enough potatoes ---- note to self - 100g of potato - does not equate to 100g pasta or rice !

Pembrey. Checking out the final few control site tweaks by Steve. All fine as I expected. Proabably didn't really need to do this - but better safe than sorry.

So another enjoyable, late winter Iberian O experience.

Some rain overnight, and pretty chilly but also some nice sun and great running weather.

Decidely variable performances from myself. A really poor performance on Monday, but solid ish on Saturday and Tuesday. And my best run for a long time on Sunday - and not just that I beat Clive.

As a reality check, looked back at results from last year's Spanish races. And I was definately running and Orienteering much better this year. So that is encouraging.

POM day 4

Much better performance than Monday, tho' without the somoothness of Sunday.

Slight wobbles on 3 & 4 - soon corrected - 15s ish each. A bigger error on 10 - visiting wrong boulder pile on end of spur - but quite quickly sorted - 30s.

And other than that OK - and running quite well - even got some splits faster than Clive at the end.

POM day 3 - Middle.

Oh dear......

Started OK on first 5. Stupid route to 6 - got stock in green in clefts between massive bouldery stuff. Knew where I wanted to get, but a bit of prickly fight to get there.. 70s

sligfht wobble on 9 - 10s

dreadful miss on really short leg to 11 - totally overshot - 80s

Another slight wobble on 13 - 15 s

Then another bad miss on 14 - visiting wrong group of boulders - 60 s

Urban night sprint - Portel.

Fo some reason right buttock really stiff from race earlier - first noticed it on walk back from finish there. Eased off a bit with a good warm up , but still pretty uncomfoirtabkle.

Race very easy - didn't stop me nearly misspunching - realised when I came out at totally the wrong place and had to significantly back track. And then I missed an obvious route choice.

POM day 2 St Bartolomeu do Outeiro - "Long Distance"

Well this was a bit of a shock. Easy long first leg - a lot of path to start. Then slightly trickier approach into 2, gob smacked to see Clive - my 4 minute man - coming towards me trying to relocate. Then follow me as I confidently ( smugly ?) ran past the hill and spiked the control on the boulder. Clive proceeded to run away from me - tho I kept him in sight for a couple of controls, and it certainly spurred me on for the rest of the race.

No mistakes worth mentioning - it was pretty straightforward - not as easy as the model - but still mainly run straight on the needle, and read the features on the way. Very fast, and firm underfoot - able to look up a lot rather than down at the ground too much.

Chuffed to loose only 2 minutes on Clive over the last 2/3 of the race, and finish 2nd overall. I cannot recall the last time I beat him in a race - many years ago certainly.

Needless to say I really enyoyed the race - a bit of a shame it was so short for a "long" distance.

Also great to see a decent run from Ben on super-Elite and a "one stupid blunder" away from a really world class race by Megan.

C • Well done 2