Training Log Archive: SusC

Trying out my new rope. Multiple skip-walk along the farm road to the bus stop and then a bit at the highway end, waiting for the bus. Quite an energetic commute. Was a bit self conscious but luckliy was almost dark;)

after getting home

10 mins warm up on the grass and 5 mins warmdown on the sand to the stack and back bare foot.
Was a bit late getting to running, Bert dropped me home so I could make it:)

City to surf pace to the stack:
3.24 (the start)
3.47 (main pace)
3.30 (main pace with surge)
3.23 (last km)
45-60 secs recov b/w each
last one bare feet

56,45,1.00

even put on my new skins to do it....so cold today! Only 22c in the house this evening

C • 22 4

to work on my 3/4 new bike, it has brakes! And the gears have been redone the reverse of what they were, still getting used to that.

Home from work via CDNP

Collecting control 41, which had had a sleep-over all by itself....

Charles Darwin NP event - busy!

putting out controls at Charles Darwin NP

Several laps jog, runthrus & drills

4 x 200 @ 3k pace: 49,49,48,47 with 15 secs recov
6 x 400 @ 5k pace: 1.41,1.36,1.35,1.35,1.34,1.36 with 30 secs recov
4 x 200 @ 3 k pace: 45,48,49,48 with 15 sec recov

A bit blowy on the track, home straight had a good sized head wind. Really enjoyed the session tho think I was doing it all at the same pace. Legs felt very happy after nearly two weeks off hard sessions.

15 secs b/w the 200s, 30 secs b/w the 400s

Did Belinda's last 2 laps of 200s with her (50-52 sec ints, 25 secs recov), she was running well but taking it easy before Cairns 1/2 iron next weekend.

Checking control sites in Charles Darwin NP before work. Dropped my compass at the ditch control and collected it again on the way back to the exit. Mad race to reach the stop in Winnellie before the bus came. I won:)

BAB spray trial set up @ Willeroo in am & drive home from Katherine pm

BAB spray trial set up @ Willeroo

BAB spray trial set up @ Willeroo

Little bit of running but mostly stretching, out the front gate of Willeroo.

Finally, a really thorough stretch after getting up. Lots of floor stretches and making myself relax. Was good:)

Paced Belinda through her 10k run of the tri at Lake Alex. She stuck it out and looked pretty good for the whole run though claimed to be dying;) Was a very nice pace and legs felt good after the big stretch earlier.

To Katherine for Bellache Bush spray trial set up

Headed out to the NP with Daniel to tape control sites for event next weekend. Some really pretty shady gullies with swamp mahoganies and little undergrowth but unfortunately lots of yucky bits overgrown with gamba grass. Would have loved to be in the NT before gamba went BOOM. Didn't exactly finish the job as it got dark and we didn't want to be locked in.

Lach & I took Zoe on a run into Bayview, up past the old magazine storages and then down again, over the lock and back through the streets. Lush lawns, landscaped gardens and big lego land houses in there - it could be Mawson Lakes. Ages since I've run in there and got reminded of some useful hills.

Dinner at wharf after, re-organising our NT NOL preparation schedule. Can not believe I am going to Switzerland....!

C • WMOC? 2

home from work, trying to beat the dark

C • WOC 26

trying to get back in to good habits!

to work, bike feeling a bit unfamiliar

C • Stretch your way to work 2

Needed to do something to wake up so got in the pool. Quite a good temp, not dry season chilly yet! No belt, tried to stretch the legs out.

East Point, from carpark near the Lake Alex loos. On the clif top bike path back around to Lake Alex, then turned around and took the monsoon vine forest tracks. Was a trudge to start with but improved and felt fairly ok by the end on the tracks.

With Belinda and Kate...I didn't think I was up for Klaus' tonight but they were happy to come for a gentle run.

need more sleep.......flight got in late

NOL WOC trial, near Cessnock. Bushy area, flatish wiggly creeklines and slow running/walk in lower parts and more open but eroded areas in upper slopes. Impressive track network. Map 50:50 white:green but white not particularly runnable, track options attractive. Took until the long leg 5-6 to feel comfortable with map, after being caught 2 mins by Laurina by #3 as overshot both 1 (me not paying enough attention) & 2 (control circle unclear on map unclear - many victims). Then leapfrogged Laurina virtually whole way, me taking tracks, Laurina going straight. Left track at correct spot for #6 but then looked for control one spur early, happy with nav then through until spectator area 15-16-17, really messy getting in to 15, then didn't realise taped route went right up to 16 so nearly ran off map, took the slow thin track option and then through green to 17 which about 2 mins slower than the wide road to the left of line...had planned this leg during one of track running stints and must have failed to see the better route back at that point in time so then when I got to the leg I did it as planned. Should always take a second look for alternate routes at the last minute!

Course quite well set but think I was a bit tireder than needed to be to really get stuck in to it and enjoy it, never felt in my groove with concentration or running. Afterwards I felt like I'd done a rogaine that weekend, not the one before! Long travel home to Darwin feeling a bit trashed...

Testing out me & knee, taped it again.

In the carpark before and after sprint

NOL WOC trials. A fun uni to orienteer in. Technical area of buidlings & garden beds near start. Mostly got things right initially but struggled with leg 7-8 not understanding control placement (quite a brief description) and not detecting optimum route through building underpass, lost 40 secs. Otherwise fairly happy. Did avoid one area of what looked like hard to read walls & grey passages around #4-5-6 asnd went wider/safer on these as seemed too risky incase I read it wrong. Happy to pay a few seconds extra/leg in this case to avoid a confusing area.

NOL WOC trials. Another very interesting area for orienteering. Combination of compass legs, green, safe vs risk, some detail. Mostly happy with run apart from running past #10 (close, within 20m) a bit of a bingo-ish control and then relocating at the track and coming back in - 1.5 mins. Also 20secs on #6, as doubted where I had come in off track. Had a bit of trouble seeing #15, was standing there for a while before realising I was right where I wanted to be. Happy with end of course, was able to attack a bit more over last few controls and saw Simon at the trickiest of them which helped with confidence.

Before & after.

fly to Sydney, train to Newcastle

From Fern's over to the park and then some back & forths on the track next to the golf course. Stopped to stretch 3 times, can get knees back to normal for a few minutes but then sore again. Nice autumn evening.

Trying to get knees tracking better. In the park.

Massage at Blackwood, mmm

In the rehab pool at Marion...was nice and warm:) I felt like i needed re-habbing!

Drive home from Blinman.

More running when we could, mostly in the last 90 mins as had to be at 43 by 11.00 if we wanted time for 75 & 35 (4k distance). Were there by 11.03, so had to find a way of hurrying up, which I thought I did by engineering a pack drop & out & back route to get 75 (&35 if time), but then proceeded to drop packs next to the wrong knoll and so made a parallel error of sorts which cost 10 mins. A bit unsure if we could have made 35 anyway without the mistake but I think it would have been pretty close.

24hr Aus Champs rogaine at Angorichina, Flinders Rangers, SA. Had booked Zara for this after successful 2011 Aus Champs Rogaine in Tas. That time were 15th, although 80 points failed to register on nav light. Had been v pleased with our planning & execution on that occasion so this time tried to recall our approach & went over what notes we wrote down about last time's effort. Goal this time to better 15th place.

Planning & prep:
Collected maps at 9.07am, immediately apparent a low score event, only 49 checkpoints, max score 2760 on offer. Quite hilly. Started looking for barriers between checkpoints and strings of checkpoints that flowed. Labelled strings A-E and measured up for points/km (varied between 25-31pts/km) then selected the 2 highest strings and the linking string needed to access them from the HH. Banked on 3k/hr minimum (although hoped for more!) in one big loop with no HH visit during course. Had 3 versions of a finish option in mind for the last 3 -5 checkpoints of course, depending on speed. At 11.10am put maps away to pack food (already laid out), get dressed & shoed & eat lunch (already prepared). Briefing scheduled for 11.40am, were organised enough to get to it around 11.45am with lunch in hand.

On course:
Started out in steep un-runnable country to N of HH, with many teams going much faster (including womens) up to first checkpoint . Then fairly alone quite quickly after 2nd control. Felt a slow & unfriendly start on account of hilliness and long legs following winding creeks, but needed to do this in order to connect to the 31pts/km strings. Bent to S after first 5 controls and reached nicer area of native pines to SE of HH by 5pm, allowing some running. Had debated adding in more 'nice' looking controls depending on time (by deviating to W) but were potentially behind schedule (depending on how slow the next hilly section would prove to be) and was worried about doing these in the dark so rejected the deviation in the end.

Entered slightly hillier area just after dark and night navigation was excellent, maybe lost 2 minutes all night long. Felt like we were going faster in the night than had been in the day. On this NE side of map had arm-chaired route fairly thoroughly to avoid climb by using ridgelines to get between checkpoints. Left hilly mallee country for flatter native pines area at top NW around 3-4am. Initially nice going (small sections runnable again) but got tired around 5am and opted for nap at 41 at 6am as back in rougher country underfoot with hidden climb and rocky slow creeklines. Nap limited to 20 mins on ground near shallow saddle next to control, slightly overcast by now so not as cold as feared. Got up more focussed and in the daylight now with total stop costing around 45 mins by time we got organised again.

Revised route for remaining 6 hours, unfortunately now needing to drop out some higher points in order to leave safe finishing options for the last 90 mins. V slow leg to get over range to 63 as downhill so steep and loose rocks. Behind comfortable schedule from here on so opted for ease of travelling rather than shortest distances. Had to drop 82 (had planned a pack drop & run up the track & back) but managed to fit in everything else from version 2 of the originial ending plan bar checkpoint 35, so not a terrible end, but lots of running & pack dropping involved and somewhat elevated stress.

Overall:
Really pleased with how well we kept things together between us. Were pretty switched on for most of the course, addressing the pre-dawn flat spot as soon as practical. Happy with food, didn't end up not eating for 8 hours like last time. Zara was an absolute work horse, as usual, making no complaints although feet must have been v uncomfortable. Both of us felt it was a tough tough event, quite a bit tougher than Tas, on account of more & steeper ups/downs with rockiness and overall less runnable as well as more fine navigating & thinking required.

Totally stoked and in disbelief (still!) at 4th outright. Before seeing results list I thought this year must be a weaker field than Tas. In Tas I felt we had earned a win. Just didn't get that feeling this time - felt like we were a bit unproductive at times. But Zara says we worked harder this time, plus didn't have nav light not register 80pts, plus had a shorter nap, plus I wasn't feeling ill in the morning. My take is that the finer navigation suited us better compared to other teams. Really impressed by result of top mixed team containing Sarah Buckerfield (70 points ahead of us) as think they had virtually the perfect route, with a better beginning than ours (theirs very similar to but probably better than outright winners Ben & Paul) and hence an excellent scoring first six hours.

Running when we could, which wasn't much because either too rocky or steep for the most part. Fell over when we did try to run down from 42 and got a bit bruised. Most of today's running was in the dark at the south east corner of the map.

drive to Angorichina for rogaine

With the Thursday evening Belair group up to Long Gully with the group and then back with Fern & Simon. Not all that cold:) Nice to be out running with friends. Getting nervous & excited about the rogaine. But gee it gets dark here early!

To Charles Darwin NP and back to check map & control sites for Daniel's event, plus a bit in park. Very grassy & lots of work on map to be done unfortunately.

Running at East Point with Belinda. Started near the Cool Spot and went around the bike path loop, walking back from near Lake Alex. Relaxing and just what I needed. Milkshake at Cool Spot after. Mmmm!

Return from Jabiru

out to Dripstone cliffs

Warm up laps on the grass with a sprint between the buckets each time, plus a little on the beach down to the stack and back.

On the sand, 5 mins group running around sand loop, catching person in front and holding them off, then some separate laps, approx 33 secs each. About 1.30 recov b/w each but legs stuffed by about the third so stopped at four.