Training Log Archive: ndobbs

of which five minutes were afterwards, jogging back to the event centre, cold.

Grand Prix Warszawy 2008, Kabaty.

Unfortunately my first ever 10km was just shy of 10km, but close enough:)
Apparently the actual distance is 9.8... which wouldput me at 3505 for 10km which doesn't seem unreasonable.

However, since it is probably fast enough to qualify for a woc final, it would seem to suggest that i can't read a map to save my life, or that i don't run agressively enough when orienteering, or both.

Trails were flat, plenty wide enough and essentially dry.

Race wasn't particularly exciting, oscillated between 6th and 8th. Couldn't see any of the km marking (apparently there were some!) so I didn't know what pace I was running at... and I wasn't expecting the finish to arrive for another minute or two. Thankfully it did, as I was beginning to falter... still, I think I judged the pace about right...

orienteering is so much more fun

stuck around for two thirds of the prizegiving for the previous year afterwards - fit orienteuses are much cuter than fit runners, albeit based on a very small sample size.

ps don't think i could do it much faster without training a fair bit. It felt like leg strength was just as much a limiting factor as heart and lung capacity.

Foot was fine running. Got a serious twang out of it trying to climb out of a row of seats afterwards, considered falling to the ground and screaming but the pain went away after a second or two of standing normally. Not good. I don't know whether it needs a day or two of complete rest or just to be treated carefully... I've had this problem before and it has goneaway in the past... and I don't know whether it was unihoc (=innebandy apparently) or basketball that dit this or if it is the new shoes... or a combination

but I don't want to get properly injured this side of 2010

au bord de la Vistule,
2/3 on grass/trails

muscles sore from yesterday.

Bought new shoes on Tuesday, North Face, for everyday walking around in...
Today going to Polish lessons I got those nasty searing pains along what I suppose is a tendon under the foot.... not sure whether it is due to the shoes (lack of arch support?) or yesterday's training. Considered not going for a run but it didn't hurt when out so all for the good...

C • That's funny... 3

JOT training
toning/stretching/stuff led by Pani Ania for maybe 20 or 30 minutes, followed by a game of unihoc followed by a game of nbasketball

Our team was a bit weaker so I had to work hard... sweated buckets, heart wsa pounding, threw my weight around a bit in the unihoc (isn't it great being twice the size of 16 year olds)... I think I mightn't get invited back :)


It was great fun, but I can't see how this is particularly useful training - indoors one sweats way more than is justifiable for the exercise done... and it seems like hard impact for little benefit... maybe I'm wrong on this, but I think the 3*10minutes that I had been expecting would have been more beneficial...

C • Actually... 4

evening jog in warsaw

after dark, but not too cold yet. running faster tomorrow...

Drove backto Katowice airport this morning (3hrs, tiring!), then waited over an hour for a bus that left 40mins late to Katowice train station, waited an hour and for a train that was 15 minutes, got into Warsaw at 19h, twenty minutes late... long day.

So since I was very happy with yesteday's run I think I'll write some more. The control descriptions and race info said we would have 15km (enough to scare Paddy into retiring). I had decided to start at middle-distance pace and see what happens. It was maybe 5°C, quite cold, good temperature for me. I was cold at a couple of points but it meant I didn't sweat *as much* as usual and perhaps could keep the rhythm going longer.
Strangely I managed to keep running more or less at the fast pace I set out at and stay lucid. I never tried pushing too hard on the hills, not even with Mats chasing me out of 6. There was only 305m climb and we were dirven up a fair bit to the start, so there was relatively a lot of flat and downhill. Contouring and gentle up/downhill I am good at running, steep up I am not, and get burnt at. Steep downhill I am usually not so good, this time it was not rocky and a bit of motivation sent me running fast down. Also on the long downhills I was with good runners towards the end of the course, so I could use them for navigation.

The first thirteen controls I did entirely on my own. MH punched the sixth after me and went off his own way to 7. VL and MH punched 9 a bit after me and I didn't see them again until coming out of the 13th....

14 I had a bit of help, they came out the way I went in, 15 and 16 they helped too, but I was still keeping control, slowing to check the map. 17 I took my own route, 18-22 I was with Kowal and Scandi, still reading the map...
Oh, just checked, Scandi was Mattias Karlsson, the eventual winner.
So I had help, but perhaps none one wouldn't expect in a woc... and I was orienteering all the way and never felt like I couldn't think. I don't know how much further I could have gone at this pace. In recent months I haven't been able to do more than thirty or forty minutes without losing concentration. I feel like I was up a level yesteday... pity there are no more competitions this side of spring :(

Might run a 10km next Saturday.

I seem thinner than at the start of the training camp.
results here:
http://cm07.aljosa.org/?c=vysl_cm_ne

C • The french map you posted l... 2

http://cm07.aljosa.org/vysledkyne/h21e.htm
for splits.

See Sandra Zurcher's log for maps from the week, many of them are the same as those we were training on.

Found yesterday's map courtesy of Jon Pedersen:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2047/1569887862_c1e...
Major route differences were on
7: I cut up earlier to hit the path/ride that head(s towards the tenth, then along the bottom of the fence, then I climbed diagonally out of the green where running was bad.
10! I (and most peoplle?) went back up along the ride to the path, straight across from the path junction...
14 I was making a mistake, was too low, ended up dropping to the path a contour or two below the control, not a bad idea actually... but i slowed down to think...
17 I dropped 6 contours diagonally to hit the path, climbed a little along to the end of the first path, then contoured to the next path, directly to the control...

C • Holy crap 4

Maybe I should get dumped more often.

Did a two minute warmup and started running agressively what I expected to be a 15km course. Worked fine! My first mistake was when I stopped for maybe 10 or 15 seconds before finding the 6th control which was a re-entrant in a whole heap of gullies. I heard trees crashing behind me as Mats Haldin, who started two minutes behind me, flexed his pecks. Pity the Czech forest.
He overtook me after the 35m climb to path and jogged away from me as I bust my gut.
He stayed on the path longer than I had planned and I decided to stick with my original route choice. It didn't look bad on paper but the green was a little too green, so I had to climb out of it onto perhaps the ideal line. Stopped 4m from the 7th control, wondered where it was, decided it shouldn't be far and then saw it. No big cock-up yet!
Eighth control I went over the rocky ridge, not as bad as I feared, losing 10 oseconds on the downhill.
Ninth I ran well, typical Irish Wicklow forest control, running down a ride and dipping into the green to pick off a boulder. Heard more trees falling and as I went out to the ride on the other side, saw Valdimir Lucan leading Mats down the hill as I was climbing up. He gave me a smile. I felt good!!!

Pretty much perfect controls 10 through 13.

On way to 14th I went off line and LaLa and Mats overtook me, I dropped to the path below, kept the speed up, had to climb back up to the control but was maybe only 15-20 seconds down.
15 was a big descent, Mats showed us the control (thanks Mats!), with me maybe 10s behind.
16 I was maybe 30 seconds behind after contouring across a slope with a fair few baby pine trees and tussocks to slow progress.
17 the pair of them headed off contouring, probably not a bad idea but thought diagonally down, gently up a path and then contouring to the next path and running up it was good, and they were far enough ahead it wasn't worth following. In fairness my route wasn't far from optimal I reckon ;p
They were maybe 40 or 50 seconds ahead at the end of the next path and I didn't see them after that.

Slowed down to spike the 17th and dropped to the path, with someone flaking it behind me. After the flat 750m along the path came the big descent, 175m to the 18th, I was flaking it keeping pace with a scandi and Wojciech Kowalski. Another 80 or 90 down to the 19th with a wee climb at the end and more up to the 20th. They missed the 21st, as did I, then looked at the map and realised it was the cave I saw yesterday on the other side of the mound of stones we were at. Scandi followed by me at that control. Contouring to the 22nd, running fast, distracted by Kowal, looked at my map cos I didn't trust the other two and we were passing a wee yellow patch with a green X in it which caught my legs and sent me flying, first up and then down onto my chest... good thing it was a soft landing! Had a choice between down to Kowal's control or up to the Scandi's, I chose the wrong option because it was lower and I was tiring perhaps. Still pelted it from there to the last two simple controls before the finish.

Perhaps my best ever "long" distance run. Felt bloody brilliant.

Mattias Karlsson ran 60 plus a few secs. The top Czeechs would probably take a minute or two off of that, but 15% down ain't bad :) nice way to finish the week :) Counting everything I lost nearly two minutes, but that's being picky. :) :) :)

How does one draw extra-big smiley faces???


:)