Training Log Archive: Bashman

A ridiculous amount of work is distracting me from what is potentially a second cold in a single month - WTF!?

C • cold 5

Got a very bad fever on the journey home last night, and am currently stuck in bed feeling a bit better. Going to sleep last night with a HR of approximately 80 wasn't the easiest of things. Think I raced too hard and slept too little last week - hopefully this doesn't stick for very long.

Gym

Felt better by the evening so went for some easy gym. Performing totally normally.
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Scotland win JHIs, very happy captain, BIG write up to come.
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WU
A short one, feeling sick with anticipation.
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Junior Home International - Relay - M18 3rd leg - 1st Team

We were awoken at ridiculous o'clock, although the clocks had gone back so it didn't feel so bad. The first thing I couldn't help but notice was that I could hardly walk due to my hip flexor, too much ceilidhing! Got better as the day went on and by the time I was out, I had forgotten about it - close call though!

After breakfast we had our team meeting. Myself and Tam did our thing again, except Tam was a bit knackered and didn't have too much to say. I went through thoughts on the individual - what worked well or didn't, last year's JHI and the fact that we needed to do something similar this year, and of course the mispunching warning. All we needed was a draw in the girls, and a top 2 in the boys - this is what everyone was aiming for. Everyone knew their roles and everyone was psyched up, perfect.

The girls did outstandingly, 1st and 3rd after leg one, leg two and leg three! Of course I didn't know the final results as I was out running but I couldn't have been more happier at the finish. They had completely smashed it!

The guys also stuck to the plan and finished second leg as a mental Scotland 123, except the 1 and 2 had a huge gap ahead, sending me and Dan out on a very cruisy careful run. The situation had a crazy deja vu involved thinking back to the jircs relay, but this meant me and Dan knew exactly what to do. I pushed to catch him at the start and we began comparing codes, first few exactly the same - nice! We paced it along to 2 to hear the next few second leg runners finished - we had a nice gap, so could spend some time double checking codes and navigating extra carefully.

We took turns leading all the way round to 13, our gaffes matched perfectly until then. It was a pretty surreal experience; chatting about routes, codes, and god knows what else isn't a regular race experience, and you wouldn't find it anywhere other than the jircs/jhis (maybe shis?). Think this is the thing I will miss most of all when I leave ScotJOS. Anyway, we finally got to a gaffled section and I said goodbye to Dan, agreeing that we'd finish together if we are both clean through the final section.

I was, Dan wasn't particularly. His orienteering was fine but he slowed right down when he got an inch-long thorn in his calf, probably piercing the muscle as he could hardly run! I slowed right down before the last few running legs and kept looking back, but when it was clear that he had done something I decided to not risk waiting longer and just finish. Punched the last control, was greeted by my brilliant ginger team, and we walked/jogged the run in to a very happy Scotland team. They told me the girls had done it, and that as soon as Daniel finished Scotland would win!

Couldn't believe it, it was great winning last year but England really hadn't sent their best team. This year they were much better and much cockier, so taking the win meant so much more to us. This was enforced even more with it being Maureen and Bill's final one - as well as my final one too. Also first Scottish JHIs win outside Scotland and only the 3rd in history. ScotJOS have never been this strong, and it couldn't have been a better weekend!
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WU
Quite a good one, couldn't help but feel a bit drained though.
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Junior Home International - Individual - M18 - 1st by 1:45

Quite the occasion that deserves more than the average write up. The day before seems like a good place to start.

Highlights were:
Myself and Andrew were late for the bus, apparently Maureen was about to drive off. Spent most of the time on the ferry asleep. Once in Ireland, Bill parked himself under a level crossing barrier that came down on the bus (classic). We headed into town after getting to the accommodation for a fish and chips dinner.

Once back, me and Tam did our regular speech, once Maureen and Bill had finished briefing us on the next day. We focussed on last year's win, the jircs, the race coming up and what consequences a dsq would bring... After this the guys took their time getting to sleep, but eventually Andrew B's forceful and painful hands meant we were asleep, albeit with some slap marks on peoples backs.

The next morning the weather was grim. After a decent breakfast we headed over to assembly, only to come home straight away when the rain hit. We wapped on the Scottish tunes in our dorm and began getting pumped up. I was the last one to leave to start, so had quite a bit of time to mentally prep.

In the end my plan was not a success at all. After watching Harrison head off, I felt the need to try and gain the 4 minutes on him asap, if possible. So went off the start way too hard, nearly missed number 1, and fell headfirst in a thorn bush acquiring some scratches and splinters way too early to be comfortable. It was also bucketing it down with a strong wind, so it wasn't the best situation.

I continued on this rampage through the next few controls, and soon it became clear to me that I was being stupid. A 45 degree bearing error on 3 calmed me down and I finally got into some sort of rhythm. Missed 30s on 5 due to not seeing the flag, and not believing I was in the right place. Long leg to 6 - thought about going round the path but manned up and went straight, killing my legs in the process, the thorns were abundant here. Passed Harrison who was heading to 8, had a look a my watch and noted the time. Two smooth controls later I was at the same spot - just over 4 minutes had passed - damn! time to push on.

Found 8 and noticed the easy running legs coming up. So ramped up the pace a bit but didn't have that required gear today for some reason. So pushed through feeling a bit uncomfortable, especially on the uneven path to 12. Found Harrison again at 13 going to 17, but I didn't bother taking the split. Wasted maybe 20s doing the same thing I did to 5 here, and then fell in another bush at 14. The pain from scratches was getting to a very bad stage, which meant that falling and sitting on a barbed-wire fence on the way to 17 almost did it for me. Absolutely shredded my lycra and punctured my leg in a few different places, this was ridiculous!

Thankfully I managed to forget about the niggles when I went through spectator and it seemed like I was doing alright. Found that extra gear on the last loop, somehow, and cruised into the assembly again feeling good. Daniel and Tam jogged alongside me on the looong run in, told me I had done it - except I misheard and ended up nailing it.

Harrison had messed up the long leg. If he hadn't things might have been much closer. But can't complain with that. This is a win I have been eager to get all year, as it wraps up all M18 titles for jircs/jhis for the last two years, as well as it being my last ScotJOS race. Really pleased with the result, not so much with my orienteering/shape.

The rest of the squad had done well, and we were within touching distance of England for the relay. The W18s suffered the most, as we only have the one actual w18, with 3 w16s running up. This was understandable though, and a similar thing had happened last year. But the girls managed to smash it in the relay once, so why not again?

Post-race we removed a large amount of splinters, and headed out to Giants Causeway. Got totally soaked by a huge wave and spent the rest of the time before dinner being pretty wet and cold.

The Scottish team took over from the grannies in charge of the ceilidh and got pretty much everyone involved which was great! Never seen so many kilts at a JHI ceilidh before, and it was a very nice evening. The boys made a tetris formation with our dorm beds which made for some good team bonding ahead of the next day's relays....
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C • Forceful hands 2

WD
With Harrison. Hip Flexor feeling dodgy.
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Tried to fit a run in but couldn't, high security army base accomodation didn't help... Long WU required tomorrow

Tempo
Cycle over to Olegs with some BIG climbs. Smashed my way onto some Strava top 10s at the cost of a nosebleed from pushing so hard. Tried to snot-rocket but just exploded blood all over my white top and face. Ma's reaction was priceless upon my arrival.

18.2km, 371m
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C • love 2