Training Log Archive: PG

Snowing, about 30. Old Sunderland Road from Fosters to Montague Center. Traction was fine. Never did really warm up.

Road trip with Julia and Phil heading south in search of bare ground, successfully found at Hurd SP in Connecticut, coincidentally site of the 4th of the WCOC/HVO winter series. Not a bit of snow or ice to be seen there, the sun was out, and the temperature was a balmy 35F. By the time we got there it had already been a fine outing, and we hadn't even done any O' yet.

That was to come. We all planned to do the same course, the middle of the three on offer, a Green, 4.8 km, set up by George and Lyn, so there was clearly something at stake, certainly the possibility of a scalp. Only one possible scalp though, Julia being the only person with good enough credentials to be a scalpee.

So we did the course, nicely staggered starts so we were all on our own. All got around without any serious problems, all pretty close in time, me getting a scalp by a narrow margin. At some point Julia will figure our O' in New England forests, and she'll no longer be going places she's never been but Phil and I have many times, and then that will be the end of scalps. But until then.... :-)

As for my run. navigation gets an A+ again, no mistakes. Physically also an A+, though one might question that. But no falls or even stumbles. And as far as how fast I was moving, well, the question is not how fast compared to what I used to do, or how fast compared to what I might maybe be able to do in the future, but what is possible right now. Yup, A+ it is. Doesn't mean I did feel pretty tired out there most of the time. But that's they way O' has always felt....

Only place I would give myself a lower grade, though I'm not sure what grade is appropriate, is for the 30 seconds or so I spent looking for my glasses after a branch had flicked them off on the way to #14. Seems like I should get a really bad grade for losing them, but a pretty good grade for finding them before too long.

A really fun outing in all respects. So nice to have Julia in the valley (and not doing track so she can go orienteering).

Splits

Route gadget

C • Orange Streamer 5

C • 1

C • Credentials 7

Medium WS#4 - Splits

Map from Tuesday's outing. Contours are really good (says the mapmaker, but the credit goes to the lidar and Eddie). Runnability hasn't changed much, except the area in the 100 yards or so north of #7, where it seemed there were a lot of trees down. And also the open area around #1, used for the finish for the first two days of the 5-Day, and then also the Billygoat. They haven't mowed it for some time, and the briers are flourishing.

Actually ran the whole time, and without struggling. 9:50, 9:30.

Progress. When I started to do a little running three months ago, just doing a minute was hard. So this is real good.

C • Yay! 2

Jackson Hill Road.

Brown course at Earls Trails from last May. Went with now lavender-tressed Julia. She did the Green course, which was more than I wanted/needed, plus I had Phil's time from a couple of days ago (37:10) as a target. :-)

A+ for navigation. Only had one instance of being off my line and corrected immediately. The virtue of using a compass properly and frequently, a skill that seems seldom used or appreciated.

B for physical effort. Would have been an A+ except I fell once, not supposed to do that. Was going down the steep but short hill on the way to #2, being careful, when my feet went right out from under me and I was on my back before I knew it. Must have been ice under the leaves. A rather hard landing, but at least it felt jarring more so than damaging. Didn't notice it during the rest of the course, which is a good sign, but it feels a little sore now.

Otherwise the effort was good, though I seemed to run out of gas about halfway. Right about where the course changed from going down to going up. But at least I am managing to run some.

Julia is planning a second training this evening, rollerblading at the mall. I think I'll show some common sense and pass.

C • nice! 10

Brown - Splits

Pine Nook Road.

One loop of the Mt. Warner trail, clockwise. Excellent mid-winter conditions, just a few spots with frost heaves and even fewer with a little mud/ice.

Focused pretty much the whole time on picking my feet up, figured that was the best way to avoid tripping on a root (of which there are many). No falls, no close calls.

Went about as I expected. Walked a few times on the longer uphill and the whole thing was reasonably hard work, but I got around at an acceptable pace. Slowly getting a little better.

7 on, 1 off. Moved the walking breaks a bit so I get to jog all the ups.

The running a little every other day seems manageable, so far, alternating with hikes with Gail. I think the latter helps a lot. My butt is certainly doing better.

Got to keep the goal in mind, which is to be able to run just enough that orienteering becomes fun/interesting again, in the process not getting hurt. The goal is surely not to run fast, or run a lot.

A daily check to make sure I am not pushing things is how it feels walking down the stairs first thing in the morning. If it doesn't feel easy, then it's time to back off. There have certainly been times in the past when it was not easy. So far it feels fine, though I always hold onto the bannister. Trying not to be stupid.

Jackson Hill Road (dirt).

Map from yesterday (Westmoreland) --



While I'm at it, map from Huntington (January 15) --

C • looks so easy 6

Green at Westmoreland, 4.9 km.

The reports were that there was bare ground at Westmoreland Sanctuary, and it was a nice day, so it seemed a good time to go do #3 of the winter series. Seemed reasonable to do the Green again (as I did at Huntington, #2), not too long, not too short, just right.

I'd looked at Charlie's route and comments, so an advantage I suppose, even though it's remarkable how little I remembered once I got going. I remembered that the route to the first one started off going down a trail, and that there was supposed to be a really steep slope just below #10, but not much else.

On the way to 10 it occurred to me that what I should do was go up the slope that Charlie did, just to see what it was like. But as I was getting close, a still steep but I'd guess much nicer slope presented itself, so I climbed up that and then there was the control in plain sight some 50 meters to my right, right on the same control. When I got there, I did look down, and it did look rather steep. I was happy not to be going up it, and especially happy not to be going down.

My orienteering was just fine. I could find a few seconds here or there that could have been saved, but not much. Every control pretty much popped up right in front of me, and there really wasn't any foolishness along the way. So an A+ for that.

As far as moving, I certainly put out a good effort. Ran what seemed to be quite a lot, though hardly at all if the ground tilted upward even a slight amount. Climbed a lot as it was not a flat course. Put a hand or two down twice but no real falls. Legs (especially quads) were very tired by the end -- the walk back up to the parking was very slow. Still, an A+ for this too.

The one place I would give myself a lower grade, actually a much lower grade, was on clothing. I was dressed just right for the weather, breezy and upper 30s, so that wasn't the problem. I believe the general term for my problem was a clothing malfunction.

I took my phone along for safety in case I got hurt, as I did at Huntington. I zipped it securely in the rear pocket of my O pants, as I did at Huntington. But today -- had my phone gotten heavier? Had my figure changed in some way. Had the elastic in the waistband of my pants taken the day off? Because my pants were really not wanting to stay up whenever I jogged, and especially whenever I jogged downhill. I managed to cope, and I suppose a good training program trains for the various things that might go wrong (a busted compass, a lost contact), but it got a bit tiresome holding them up. Give myself an F for that, not necessarily for any time lost but certainly for style points. Or, more accurately, a lack thereof.

But overall it was as good as I can do for right now. Very satisfying.

And the pants can be fixed.

Green WS#3 - Splits

Shorter than usual session because the computer was acting up. suited me just fine.

Getting even quicker. And I was not the one setting the pace. :-)

Loop out along Falls Road. 6 on, 1 off. The uphills are hard, but then that's nothing new, always have been. Though maybe not this hard.

Another critter report -- seems that often it's the males that dress up fancier than the females, as opposed (in general) to humans. First photo is the guy, second the lady, both Hooded Mergansers. Though her hair is classier.

Four Mile Brook Road. Mix of ice and sand/dirt, footing mostly fine, just had to be careful in some spots. 12 minutes faster than 3 months ago. :-)

Well, did two miles without walking, but not sure that bears repeating for a while. Too much of a struggle on the ups. Best to just keep taking walking breaks, because that's what I'd do orienteering (with a lot more walking than running). Just trying to get so I can run some.