Training Log Archive: PG

And then right after yoga class a nice run on my 13 hills loop on Poet Seat ridge in Greenfield. Started a bit slowly but then gradually increased the pace and was working reasonably hard at the end.

A couple of years ago this time would have been a more relaxed pace. I think the difference is just tighter legs and a shorter stride, so the same effort covers less distance. It may be a permanent condition. At least my breathing was good.

And then a visit to the sauna at the gym, and then a cold shower, and then a stop on the way home at the farm stand for some fresh corn for dinner, about the last of the season, and then even a stop at that den of sinfulness, Dunkin Donuts, for a couple of raisin bagels for a late breakfast.

A fine morning.

On Saturday's entry, I've put in better scans of the 3 map segments. And here's the whole course.

So the plan for today was similar to yesterday, except just to execute 100% of the time and not 90-95%.

And the results? Better, maybe even much better. Still missed about 20-30 seconds at maybe 4 points, but was always under control, always knew where I was, always had a plan, always simplified the navigation, and almost always executed well. Despite legs that were totally dead, like yesterday, the mind was on the ball.

Not quite perfect, but very satisfying. And a great forest (especially for summer vegetation conditions) and a wonderful map. Thanks Mark.

So here's my course, Green Y (M60), 6.8 km. Haven't drawn my routes in yet.

And here is my route. A few comments --

1. A scary control to start on, but right on it.
3. A left swing to avoid the green. Couple of short marsh crossings were quite bad, made me want to avoid marshes thereafter.
5. First miss, just a little careless, control was so easy.
6. Safe route.
8. Easy running but not an easy approach. Careful on the bearing, had a very precise picture of the terrain before the control, right on.
9. Trails were too much out of the way. In control all the way and moving well.
10. Approach using the elongated knoll. Just about to stop to really read the map carefully when I saw the control 30 meters in front of me.
11. Reading the map well, knoll-knoll-knoll then drop to the control.
12. Ran around, then careless on the approach.
13. Right swing offered more white woods, little marsh or green. In control.
15. Woods were real nice until the last 100 meters, then visibility closed in. A little off to the right but not much.
16. Only bit of mental laziness. didn't really read map carefully at the end. Across the narrow marsh, knoll, knoll, and then not sure. Saw a control ahead but it was up high, knew it wasn't mine. Probably stood still for 15 seconds being sure, then went right and saw it.

Really wonderful terrain.

C • route 1

A little before and after.

Another good day for Gail. Last night she thought it likely that she wouldn't go out today. This morning, well, maybe she'd start, but probably just do a little and then come in. We started about the same time, and when I finished I didn't see her, so I asked the results crew if she had downloaded. Nope, they said. Good, I said, and they seemed a bit surprised as usually you hope that your spouse is already in. But I was hoping that she was feeling good enough to do the whole course. Which she was. She came in about 15 minutes later, once again beaming, 5.2 km in 84 minutes, just walking all the way.

And told the following story. She'd had my #5, but going the other direction, so after she punched she needed to head east out to the road and then south. Just as she punched, so did Eddie Bergeron, very fast she said, also very fast leaving, just a flash and he was gone, but WTF, heading northeast, did he know something she didn't?

But she followed her plan, walking out to the road and then heading south. And much to her surprise, a little ways up the road, here comes Eddie again, still very fast, zooms by her again.

Eddie it seems had not meant to do his WTF route to get out to the road. But he was careless with his compass, and when he popped out through the bit of green forest, he could see the road right in front of him, just this narrow marsh in the way. WTF, he was almost there, a moment later, WTF, he was in up to his neck. Got across, pulled himself out, took off up the road in pursuit of Gail, by now well up the road.... :-)

A side benefit of the weekend is that it raises the possibility of more future O' trips, like maybe Europe next summer?

C • Swamp 3

In case you didn't see, this is what all the fishermen were after...



In this case, it was catch and release, and the fish went back in as soon as the photo was taken.

C • What is that thing?! 6

Green Y - Splits

So a change is clearly needed for today. How about -- let's have a plan for each leg. How about -- let's remember that there are things like attack points and handrails. How about -- let's try to know where I am and where I'm going 100% of the time.

And let's try to avoid the euphoria of just heading off in the general direction of the next point and winging it, and then inevitable consequences. Reminds me of the joke that seems to characterize my orienteering currently -- The pilot radios back to the passengers: I've got bad news and good news for you. The bad news is there's a terrible storm out there, and we have no idea where we are or where we're going. The good news is, we're making good time.

We shall see.

OK, so first things first. Highlight of the day without question was seeing Gail finish the Brown course in a decent time on a wet, slippery, hilly course, a couple mistakes to be sure, it's the first orienteering for her in probably two years, and it looks like she might have been 3rd in F60. Hooray!

C • Gail 4

Next, in M21 and F21, seems like Canada whomped the USA (again). It would be nice to see a big rally tomorrow, but, seeing as how we last won the BK Cup in 1982 (when Gail was on the winning team!), I would not care to wager on it....

Results for M21 and F21 are in the discussion thread on the BK Cup.

And finally, my run today. An improvement, for sure, but still a couple of brain farts. But progress nevertheless.

I'll post more later, plus the map, but we are heading off for dinner and maybe a beer or two, and then maybe raise a little hell, or whatever. Until then, I'll just say that before the start, besides reminding myself to have a plan, etc, etc., I was also, as I contemplated the gloomy day, the steady rain, and the task at hand, reminded of the following -- just think, I said to myself thinking back to 3 weeks ago, it could be Pawtuckaway (a really tough forest in NH), it could be raining a whole lot harder, and it could be dark. And that kept me smiling while I waited to go....

So, my run today. I think I'll play a little game. I haven't looked at the map since I ran other than a few seconds looking at where Gail's Brown course. The game is to see how well I remember things, which will indicate how much I was paying attention. So I'll write the commentary, and then go add the map segments. We'll see....



#1. Around the pond, headed up the hill SW, over a little spur, up past the top of a reentrant, turned right a little, climbing straight up, past a little knoll on the left, first plan was to head right up to the top of the ridge, then turn left and over the long knoll to the saddle, but cut the corner a little when the terrain became clear. Score on a scale of 1 to 10: 10

#2. SE, dropping a little, past a depression on the right, across a flattish area, heading for a ridge that had several knolls on it, plus a sharp drop-off on the right side. Over one knoll on the right side, then another a little left, then another back a little right, then down the hill almost to the bottom to the little reentrant. Score: 10

#3. Still SE, a little swing to the right to avoid climbing some of a cross-spur, then through some meandering terrain, not quite sure exactly where I was, hit the cross trail, right where it was depressed a bit, high ground ahead on the right. So I was a little right of the line, up the hill, a little right of E, across the north-facing slope to the control. Score: 9

#4. Just right of north, generally downhill, along the left side of a spur, picked up a vague trail. Came out at the bigger trail by the SW corner of the marsh. Along the west edge, around the corner, and then a little right of north over the high ground and down to the control on a left-sloping spur. Score: quite a bit of hesitation, but still 10



#5. East, drop down to the lowlands, cross the stream, along the bottom of the ridge, east than more south. Cross the trail, climb a little too soon so have to traverse a bit to get on the main hill, then up and over the top and down to the control. Score: 8

#6. Down the hill SE, cross the trail, through the saddle and down a little more, pick up the small trail, past the first immediate reentrant on the left, another 100 meters, up the next reentrant and then turn right and up to the point. Score: 10+

#7. Due north, high ground, a couple rolls, down a slope, cross a small trail, across some flat terrain, cross a bigger trail, figure I'm pretty close to the line, also figure it will be easier to tell if I go a little farther. Keep going, small depression, see where I am, down, along bottom of a hillside going up on the left, and then just right of north to the control. Score 8 (too much uncertainty)

#8. People around, left too quickly, didn't read map well, heading NW to flattish area with boundary. Went down a bit, rough woods, not reading map any more, reached flattish area heading WNW, no sign of boundary, didn't see that I was farther south in flat area with lots of green. Reached the end of that, saw trail, hmmm. Found out from Charlie where we are. Head north, through some thick stuff, up to more open forest, then down a reentrant to the control. Yikes. Score: 0, just exactly what I was trying to avoid.

#9. Back up the hill, due west across the flats to the sharp spur heading down, SW, past a depression on the left, angled right along the contour to large trail, then straight across it, up over broad knoll and down, a little right of S to control. Score: 10+ (totally in control)



10. Up a little left of north, through a shallow saddle, down across the large trail, across the marsh very careful on the compass, a little left of north, the control popped up right in front of me, nice. Score: 10 (plus lucky).

11. NW, short leg, pit, across the trail, on compass but not reading the surrounding terrain idiot!), saw control off to the left, not mine, on well, relocated, went back and got mine. Score: 0-

12. Safe route, back to the trail, to the start of the clearing, and then back into the woods to the right. Score: 10

13. Back out to the trail, to the last control. And then the finish.

Overall, most of the course was very good, but two times still just winging it. Damn.

Guess as to climb -- 150 meters (98 advertised).

So now I'll go post the map and insert above. Note that all the white woods have a yellow tinge. Very little actual yellow on the map....

And how'd I do? Pretty good. And I figure I climbed 160 meters. So certainly paying attention better. Just need to do it the whole time tomorrow.

10 minutes warm-up, 10 minutes afterwards running back to get the car.

Green Y Middle Distance - Splits

Event: North American Championships
 

First sprint at the North Americans, not good, not bad. Ran ok, found the points ok, but seemed to keep getting tangled up in bits of bad vegetation. Not terribly satisfying.

Second sprint. Just terrible. Missed the 3rd point, climbed too high, then really missed the 6th, bunch of overgrown clearings, took almost 3 minutes on a leg of 100 meters. Sad.

Don't know what is going on between the ears but it is not good.

Or, trying to think positively, maybe it was just another day in my normal manic-depressive cycle.

A little warm-up before the sprints.

Sprints: OBG Preliminary - Splits

Sprints: OBG Final - Splits

Last night's run really zapped me -- lots of lower GI distress plus sore hip plus dehydration plus didn't sleep well. Better today. Have a late afternoon run scheduled with Phil, probably not such a smart thing to do....

It's good to see that at least one company in Corporate America has recognized the need for us to HTFU and is doing something about it. Wonder if we can get Nothing But Tears as a sponsor.

Pocumtuck Ridge trail with Phil, sort of. He ran most of the way out/up about 20-30 yards ahead of me, trying to send the message (I assume) that I should pick the pace up, sort like the guy who drives very close behind you to send the message that you are driving too slowly, and all he accomplishes is pissing you off.

But I tried. Not to run faster, because I was running as fast as I cared to given a tight hamstring that I didn't want to do any damage to by running aggressively. Rather, tried not to get pissed off, though at some point I was grading his antisocial behavior on a scale of 1 to 10 and he was very close to double digits.

But things pass. And at the turn-around point he waited and we ran part of the way back together, until he could no longer keep the brakes on and was soon out of sight. But by then I was feeling more mellow and just glad that the run was about over and done with. And glad for the company, sporadic as it might have been, it certainly got me out the door.

26:02 out/up, perfectly respectable time, 23:36 back/down, slow.

Legs are sore but not terrible, gut is recovering. the G was at a temporary low of 135, got my monthly credit-card statement and we seem to have caught the short-term low in the Estonian kroon just right (not a big deal, but everything helps), well, life could be a lot worse.

C • anti-social behavior 5

So I went to yoga class early this morning despite (or maybe because of?) all the snide remarks. And I seemed to have survived. Though it was disappointing to find that the ratio was nowhere close to 20:1, more like about 6:4 (M:F), plus 0:1 for the instructor. Old as I may be getting, I have yet to find that I've tired of looking at pretty women....

And my self-consciousness was solidly under control despite not being able to hide away in a dark corner of the room -- first because I knew a couple of folks there, and one is as much a klutz as I am, second because my general conditioning is better than it might be due to the nautilus workouts I've been doing for the last 9 months so I wasn't inflexible and lacking balance and totally weak (just 2 out of 3), and third because at some point early on when we were on our bellies I took my glasses off for comfort reasons and then pretty soon my mind assumed that since I couldn't see much of what anyone else was doing, clearly no one else could see much of what I was doing. So no worries.

And I enjoyed it. The hour went by quickly, a little sad when it was over, just the way you want. I certainly could have done better about emptying my mind out, but maybe that will come.

And I really need it. Will have to see if I can make a habit of it.

C • Congratulations 7

Finished reading Siddhartha, it got handed to me on the plane ride home, I think Barb probably read it in under an hour, all 120 pages, took me over a week of very concerted effort to make it to the finish, usually no more than 4 or 5 pages at a time was all my attention span could handle.

Now I'm certainly glad I don't have to write a paper on it, or take a test, but it was good to read. Got me thinking more about my own life, where it's been, where it's going. Not that anything is figured out, especially as to the couple of great scary unknowns, growing old and death, two losing battles where the figuring out has to do with how much you fight (in vain) and how much you accept, and where my guess is that this never comes close to getting figured out, in my case at least.

In meantime, you take pleasure out of small bits of progress. And twice in the past couple of weeks I have spoken up when something quite trivial bothered me, when it took all my courage to do so, since for as long as I can remember I have held my tongue in such situations, letting the proverbial molehill become a mountain, at least as how it affected my psyche. And the process was very stressful but also positive. We shall see if I can continue.

Tuesday late afternoon Mt. Toby run, even though now it's more an evening run, last 30-40 minutes with the lights on. Average energy, usual left butt/hamstring soreness towards the end. Entertained (I hope) the group with tales from Estonia for the first 45 minutes, then we turned uphill seriously and I had not much more to say....

Good to get out. Start of training for the next rogaine (whenever and wherever that might be)?

Rob, Donna, and Rick --

Also inquired about the yoga class at the gym. Tomorrow morning at 7:15, see if I can get there -- have get up early enough and also overcome my self-consciousness.

C • No need to be self conscious 7

Lower Road - Upper Road in Deerfield.

EMPO local meet at Grafton Ponds (between Williamstown and Albany).

So I was playing golf yesterday afternoon, special event at the club, playing mainly for social reasons to meet a few more people, and at some point after I crushed another drive deep into the trees, one of my partners asked me if I had similar directional problems in orienteering. Oh, no, never I said. I know what I'm doing there. Or something like that.

Is there some universal law that I am unfamiliar with that decrees that when you claim that everything is going really well, or is totally under control, then all hell is guaranteed to break loose before long? Apparently so. Last month my statement of pride that the Subaru has been 145K miles with not really any problems was followed 2 days later by the car breaking down.

And today it seemed to be penance time for yesterday's cocky statement. Blew the second control, maybe 6 minutes, an eternity or so it seemed, except when compared to the 8 minutes lost on 15.

Funny, the first one didn't piss me off at all, the second one did while it was happening but then not much thereafter. I think because I had a plan for the day, and the plan was focused on my running and not my orienteering. I'd been quite distressed at how slow I'd felt a couple of weeks ago at Pawtuckaway, walking at the slightest provocation, so this time I just wanted to be able to run more. Which, harking back to my run a couple of days ago, meant paying much more attention to my breathing, and then trying to keep moving even in a forest that had its share of rocks and deadfall.

And the verdict was that I did well on that, moving Ok the whole time, putting out a decent effort, breathing well. So even though my orienteering sucked, I was quite pleased with the run. And, if this makes any sense, quite pleased about being pleased, rather than sitting and fuming and pouting all the way home. Progress.

My routes.

So the first disaster was #2 --



And here I think it was just a matter of mental laziness, I just sort of headed over to the general area and figured I'd find it. Came up a little short, didn't figure it out right away, couldn't make the rock features to match. So I went up the slope a little and relocated, still having to take the rock features with a grain of salt, and dropped back down to the fault. And then moved on, a little annoyed but no big deal. And kept the focus just where it was supposed to be, on my running. :-)

On the way to #5, didn't see the first trail, crossed the second thinking it was the first, correcting pretty quickly.

On the way to #11, missed the trail junction, meandered up to the general area of the control.

But still doing just fine, happy with my running. :-)

And then #15 --



A boulder up a contour from the rocky flat, a couple of cliffs on the slope to the right. Saw the steeper slope, saw the general extent of the rocky ground. Went to where the control should be, lots of fallen trees in the areas. Wandered around the area, nothing. Checked a little one way, a little the other. Thought about just heading in. Eventually at some point spotted a control off in the distance, down on the flats. Hmm, wonder if that's mine. Went to check it out, right number! Hmmm. "x" marks about where it was, not so far off, but no reason to look there as it was supposed to be up the slope. Oh, well.

So headed off to finish the course. To #16, cranked up the running again, no idea where I was most of the way but read the terrain right at the end and dropped right on to the control. Ditto for 17. Ran fine to the finish, pleased with the run.

C • Learning lessons 3

Nice drive over to Grafton with Phil, catching up on things. And then a pleasant surprise to see Pat and Heather there, missed them at Pawtuckaway (they passed on account of the bad weather), catching up with them too. And then a chat with Tori Borish, now a freshman at Williams, nice girl, can run, should get a lot better at O' as the years pass.

A good day, worth the drive.

And if my left hamstring and butt weren't complaining a little more than I would wish, then it would have been a really good day. Though I did pass on the planned jumping drills, just one halfhearted attempt before sanity asserted itself.

Red - Splits

Old Deerfield - River Road loop. Cold, at least for fair weather (and warm weather) riders like me, low 50s. Long-sleeve shirt and T-shirt, just about right, although I was glad there weren't any long downhills.

Seem to be pretty much recovered from the rogaine. Blisters fading away and just the usual aches and pains.

Saw Vicky Christina Barcelona. Enjoyed it, had a smile on my face most of the time, never a bad thing. Don't see many movies, need to get out more, good for morale.

C • VCB 4

Out and back on Colrain ridge, heading north from the south end. I was shooting for about an hour, hadn't gone quite long enough at the top of Avery Hill, so kept going until the saddle right at "Colwell Hill." And then back. Ran up all the hills, including the south side of Avery which is not trivial. Someday, perhaps soon, I won't be able to run the hills, but today was not that day (thanks Peggy!).... :-)

Actually in a much more positive frame of mind today. Seemed easy to get going, seemed to enjoy the doing and not just the being done. Part of the reason was that I was really working on my breathing, belly breathing, sucking the air in way down below my navel, or so it felt, and I'd just concentrate on that and the next thing I knew I'd be at the top of a hill and not even close to oxygen debt. I know it's not yoga (that's coming, maybe), but it's related.

And the other part of the reason was the value I get from AP, both the way it helps me figure some things out for myself, and also the good vibes I get from others. I'm sure it helped that the day was clear and crisp, that the trail was neither wet nor rocky, and that the forest -- some old hemlock, some mixed, a few old stones walls, all vintage New England -- was as pretty as could be, but mainly I was just in a mood to enjoy myself. And I did.

In anticipation of the great jump-off coming at the Highlander (well, the date is not yet official, but I would guess quite likely), it seemed like some specific training was clearly called for. So, well warmed up after my run, I marked off two lines in the firm sand of the parking area. And then I backed up, took a running start, and just took off. And did it three more times, once even exceeding the second line by a good six inches. Psyched! And I'm pretty sure I didn't hurt myself.... :-)

Mighty fine, except for the fact that the lines weren't very far apart. I'm not sure what the proper standard of measurement is (feet or meters seems rather mundane). So I will use the Smoot. I do believe I jumped just about exactly one Smoot.

Based on my recollection of Barb's leaping ability, and the fact that I was trying pretty hard today, well, you might as well just send me the silver medal.

From the gym, on Poet Seat ridge. Lovely day.

Strange, before the run it was as if I was having a major case of self-doubt about my ability to run at all. Feeling old, feeling fragile, at least mentally, not sure I could make it up the first hill, and it's not that much of a hill.

Started out, and I remember imagining how I thought I looked to someone watching -- old, slow, heavy, no spring in the legs -- that's how I was visualizing myself, perfect negative self-image. Made it up the first hill, now in the woods, and then the next, and then the next, and before long got to one of my regular timing points, halfway down the ridge, where 15 minutes is a good time, and the watch said 15:45. Well, that wasn't so bad, I thought, feeling quite a bit cheerier. And then coming back on the lower trail and the hills there were OK, and I even ran a little harder at the end. And was just delighted.

And looked in the mirror back in the gym and thought, for 63 you don't look so bad.

And was thinking as I enjoyed a shower that I have to get my head on straight, that it should not be a problem to get out the door on a run, that I just need to focus on the pleasure I am going to get, if not the whole time then at least at the end. There are only so many runs left and each one needs to be enjoyed.

C • Feeling Old? 5

Managed to read a book on the trip, actually finished it, Three Cups of Tea. Really excellent. More reasons to think, as if you needed more reasons, how f*cked up this country has gotten over the last seven and a half years.

The book just deals with our policies in central Asia, but of course there's more, like the current financial meltdown, all self-inflicted, and the current political campaign. Whatever sense I may had had that McCain is an honorable person, even if I disagreed with his politics, has disappeared in the last couple of weeks. And the financial mess, it would be nice it the damage could somehow be limited to all the people who have built McMansions the last few years and others of that class. I doubt it, but one can always hope.

Found this photo (taken by Tarmo) of when we were planning our route. Was it ever cold. I had on 4 layers, including a warm jacket, plus hat, and was still freezing as there was a stiff wind blowing and we were out in the open.

Got the maps with 2 hours to plan, but the planning went pretty quickly, all done within an hour. And generally a much better plan than our last rogaine -- serious thought as to the night section. Did the first 18 hours exactly as planned, and for the rest just added a couple more controls when we had extra time.

They wanted you in the start area 15 minutes early, so at some point you had to strip down. Packed away the jacket, packed away the fleece, went to the start with just synthetic shirt and O' top, shivering. And then 20 minutes later, quick stop to shed the shirt. As long as we kept moving, and we kept moving the whole time, cold was never a problem.

Continuation of the rogaine route....



61. It was now quite dark, moon just starting to come up. In the rush to get to 51 with a little daylight left, I'd just grabbed my backup light since it takes a little longer to set up the headlamp. The backup was something made by Garrity I bought just before leaving, cost less than 10 bucks, took 3 AAA batteries, had 9 LEDs, about 3 inches long and the diameter of a quarter, weighed almost nothing, but gave out a lot of light. A whole lot of light. And I remembered the packaging said it would last for 16 hours on a set of batteries. So I just kept using it. Headlamp stayed in the pack the whole time.

Anyway, to 61, turned off the road past a house with a very loud and persistent barking dog, followed the trails toward the point, but couldn't spot the ride leading to the NE corner of the marsh. So after a couple of minutes indecision we just plunged into some rather thick woods, and pretty quickly we were going down, and then in a marsh, and then the end of the marsh and there was the control. Just right, except the kind of thing that makes you nervous and a little less trusting of the rides.



81. This took a long time. Took the trails around, south then northwest, and that may have been a mistake as the trail going south was crappy, and then when it disappeared at the bottom of the hill in a logged area there was no sign of a trail going west. Beat our way along the bottom of the hill through really crappy forest before we started to pick up little bits of a trail, and then a couple hundred more meters before it really amounted to much. Saw lots of teams on the road coming the other way, but none when we wanted them, on the final approach. A little bit crappy forest going in, no beaten paths the way we went, but a big feature and easy to find.
70. Crappy forest again leaving 81, and then really crappy down on the flats, old logged area, thick, rough, no tracks, no lights of anyone else. Finally about 2/3 of the way to the road we picked up an old farm track, it was going more south than southeast but we hopped on because it was a lot better. Rest of the way was straightforward, stopped at the water point, ran into Ken and Glen there, had a nice chat as we were refilling. Then over to get 70, simple.
71. Simple approach as there was a beaten path across the fields and right into the control.
90. Not so easy. In on the ride, then compass, but thick to very thick woods. Missed just to the right (too low in reentrant) but found it quickly.



66. Simple, just a long ways. Starting talking about non-rogaine things to pass the time, had to make sure we still paid enough attention to where we were going.... :)
82. Again, long way on the road and trails, then the approach was a little tricky, again thick woods. Control was bottom of spur, we dropped down a little too far right, but knew it, picked up a beaten path along the base of the hill, went left and got it.
46. Pretty straightforward, though last couple hundred meters were a logged area and unpleasant.



44. So we headed out the other way, east then southeast, not the best woods, no tracks, but we eventually got to the road. As we got closer to 44 started hearing loud noises, strange loud noises, pretty soon very loud noises, pretty soon lights. WTF, aliens? Nope, turned out to be a guy logging at 3 am right by the trail, big machine moving logs that had already been cut. Went past him, got the control, not too hard, some tracks.



56. And back out right past the logger again, he has to have been illegal, then ride/road/trails most of the way to 56, straightforward.
91. I was starting to count the hours/minutes to dawn, getting a little tired of the long night and definitely ready for daylight. Barb was in the lead and I was just hanging on. Road, small trail, vague ride, beaten track along the spur, no problem.
31. Out to the trail, then a quick stop at the water point for our last fillup. Going up the hill the long grass was soaking wet from the dew and feet were quickly also soaking wet again. Control was pretty straightforward.
45. The sky was lightening, but my mind was definitely in a fog. Should have just gone northeast from the 31, but looped around the way we came in. Took a while before I knew where we were but Barb had things under control. Was light by the time we reached 45, and when you don't need it so much, the woods were wide open, gorgeous, scattered pines and a thick layer of moss.
43. Added this to the original plan. Which made us a little nervous about time, so we picked up the pace, did a bunch of running. Straightforward.



80. Glad we weren't taking our original planned route from 45 to 80 as the stream on the direct route turned out to be really bad to cross. We got across on a beaver dam, but it wasn't so wide anyway.



57. Not sure how to go. Forest even when open was very deep moss. Ride just east of 80 was crap. So we went on a swing to the right to pick up trails when we could find them. Point was easy.
75. Wide open forest at the start, just deep moss still. Final approach was a challenge, we were mostly in control, though towards the end I certainly wasn't totally sure where we were. Helped that the hill we were going for was bigger, and we got it without much wasted time.



48. Rides, then across the marsh islands. Beautiful country, pretty open forest, just once again very soft heavy footing so walking fast was hard work. Got to the area of the control, didn't see it, we both said it had to be a little left, and there it was. Throughout the rogaine, every time we had to make an educated guess, we nailed it.
47. Across to the first trail, then the second one, and sometime in there I realized we should have added 33, would have been easy, and then a straight shot to 47, but by then it seemed too late. No problem with 47, except Barb's e-punch was no longer with us when we went to punch. Went back a little to look for it, gave up on that, headed on, depressed. Not angry, just wanted to cry.



23. Long walk, worked though emotional issues, got some energy back, control was easy.
Finish. And in, though without much gusto, lots of teams running by us. But then at the finish, a quick chat with the organizers in charge of problems and it seemed we were OK, no protest needed. :-)

Pretty tired. I had a couple of annoying but not really painful blisters on one foot and my big toe on the other foot was sore, otherwise just tired, but stomach was good the whole time, no problem eating and drinking thanks to the cold weather. Barb had very sore feet by the end, but not for too many hours, and her back was acting up some, but all seemed tolerable. We both were out cold on the bus going back to Tallinn.

C • Thanks! 3

Short ride up to the Bookmill, back along the river. Nice ride, good to get out and sweat.

Slept well last night, out cold at 9:30 and not up until 6, but still feeling tired.

Up at 4, not enough sleep. Didn't know where my keys were (forgot to ask last night), so waited until Barb appeared. After a stop at one of her favorite places (the Central Square Dunkin Donuts) dropped her at Boojum just as dawn was breaking, headed west, gorgeous morning, full moon setting, sky lightening up, stopped at another DD for another bagel, then home by 8.

Really nice trip, but also really nice to be home.

So I've added our route to Route Gadget.

Where it says "Choose Class/Course" either scroll down almost to the bottom, we were team 220, and that will produce our route, or scroll to the very bottom and that will display all teams who have drawn their routes, and then select us from that list.

The software on the organizers web page says we went to 36 of 63 controls, went 73.3 km beeline distance. And the software on Route Gadget says we went 10282 pixels * 10.16 meters/pixel = 104.4 km real distance. I'd guess if I drew in the route with more of the little bends and turns the actual distance traveled was maybe 106 to 108 km, or 66 to 67 miles. That's pretty good.

Of course, to keep things in perspective, the winning team went 110 km beeline (maybe 140 km actual?) and got 53 controls.

So a trip through the rogaine, so I can remember what we did....



32. Simple, lots of teams running fast and way ahead.
76. A chance to see the woods at the start of the leg (some nice, some thick), and to see a ditch at the end (knee deep for me, Barb kept dry).
40. One of the few legs almost all off trail, at least for us. Pretty straightforward, as was most of the daytime orienteering, other than choosing routes.




64. Straightforward, lots of company.
84. Approach was through thick woods, but no problem.
55. Simple.



92. A team going at our speed went north of the pond. We gained maybe 100 meters on them. Approach was our first introduction to the usefulness of "beaten paths" -- just follow the track along the edge of the field until it turns into the bushes, and then follow it in. Especially useful at night.



74. Seemed a long way around, but we weren't willing to risk that the narrow part of the flooded marsh would be crossable. Cut the corner part-way, wasn't good, very thick woods over the little hill. Approach to 74 was tricky, through thick alders, except here too there was a beaten path and several teams coming out of the control.
41. Straightforward. Skipped going by the water stop, didn't need it.
60. Trail route to the right looked shorter than the one to the left. Lots of cows.
93. Long winding trail, then straightforward approach along base of ridge. Ditch was knee-deep for me, stumbled, almost fell in completely, Barb stayed dry of course.



73. Approach was following lots of tiny trails, needed good eyes to see them on the map. Ken and Glen spent a lot of time looking for this one, unsuccessfully.
52. Straightforward, and moving pretty well.
42. Ditto. Approach via a couple of rides, somewhat overgrown but clear enough to use.



50. Pretty straightforward, hustling, trying to get this one before dark. It was in a ditch system on the edge of a big peat bog. Very spongy footing, fast walking took a lot of effort.



51. Thought about going around to the left, road/trail all the way, but there was still a little daylight and Barb wanted to go straight. Ran all the road section through the peat mining operation, actually the road was just two narrow strips of concrete, step off of them and you might sink in (as we saw someone else do). Ditch at the end of the road was an unpleasant surprise. I thought I had a bit of firm ground to jump to, and suddenly I was in waist-deep in liquid peat. Managed to get out, just. Barb stayed dry, of course. Then across the rest of the wooded bog, very heavy going, getting quite dark, pulled out the lights, just managed to get to 51 with the last bits of useful light in the sky. 15 controls in the first 8 hours. I figured if we could do one an hour for the 10 hours of night, that would be pretty good.

More to come....

C • How does Barb stay dry? 16

Heading home...

Forgot to mention, several teams lost an e-punch. Someone said the cold weather made the bands more brittle. When we finished, they just took all the data from my e-punch, plus the paper punches from Barb's map, and said everything would be OK, and it was.

Finished 77th overall out of 336, 12 in mixed veterans (over 40) out of 46.

It seemed like the quality of competition was very high, dominated by teams from the region (Estonia, Latvia, and Russia). A lot of folks (men and women) who seemed very fit and moving very strongly at all times of day and night. A very different feeling from any rogaine I've been to in North America, and that includes the WRC that was in Arizona in 2004.

C • Lost ecard 3

Got as far as Cambridge, didn't think driving two more hours was real smart as I am very short of sleep (couldn't sleep on the plane). And things hurt all over. But still a great trip, glad I went.

Am thinking of doing the Highlander at a leisurely stroll (if at all)....

C • leisurely stroll 3

World Rogaine Champs in Estonia.

Absolutely as good as we could do for 22 and a half hours. Good planning, good route, good execution, good energy, good effort....

And then we got to #47 had Barb's e-punch was no longer attached to her wrist. So the air went out of the balloon. Debated a bit what to do. Went back and looked a little, decided that was fruitless. Headed in dejected, figuring we'd be DQ'd. Talked about our mental states. Went through the five stages of grief in about 30 minutes. And then decided, shit, it was the organizers fault for not making the wrist bands strong enough, so we'd protest. And then, re-energized, zipped off to get one more control, but still just walked it in after that.

Probably would have had 6 more points without that, moved up a dozen places. Would'a, could'a, should'a.... Need to HTFU.

But still, we did great! Seriously. :-)

More later, off to the sauna.

Map/results/splits are here.

We seemed to have covered 73.9 km as the crow flies, maybe 90 km actually?? Did a lot of running.

So a bit about the hazards on the infamous waiver --

The highlights:

-- Not a viper in sight. It was way too cold for them.

-- The nettles were pretty tame. I probably got hit no more than 4 or 5 times, just glancing blows on the hands, almost no lasting effect. I did wear two pair of O' pants, which given the temperature, was actually just about right.

-- Electric fences. Well, there was at least one! Crossed a bunch of fences early on, carefully, but they didn't seem to have the power on because even when being careful I am still pretty clumsy and brushing a couple of wires elicited no reaction. Since there were no animals in most of the fields, there seemed little reason to have the power on. So I got a little complacent....

And got nailed once, I believe when I actually grabbed a wire with one hand to lift it up and it seemed to take about a second and then suddenly, oooh, that woke me up. I felt a little tingly for a couple of minutes.... :-)

-- Ditches. We didn't challenge the "wide ditches" though we did cross several on bridges of one sort or another and the ditches would have probably involved swimming. The regular ditches were mostly crossable without getting wet, well, at least they were for Barb who never went in. It helped that I tended to go first and then she would she where not to go. I went in waist-deep a couple of times, knee-deep a couple other times, not bad at all. Though one of the waist-deep ones was into a ditch right on the edge of a huge peat bog. The spot I jumped to that I thought was firm ground turned out to be liquid peat, and I was suddenly in to my waist in this really rather gross stuff, arching my feet as much as possible to keep my shoes from staying there permanently. Extracted myself, but not without difficultly.

And taking the rest in order:

We really never got lost.
We were never attacked by animals, though we were barked at by a lot of dogs and checked out pretty carefully by a herd of cows.
After my visit to the peat ditch I seemed to have a bunch of tick-like things crawling on me, which I slowly dispensed of. Did not share this info with Barb.... :-)
We were not shot by any hunters.
No trees fell on us.
No injuries from trash.
Electric fences, one but no apparent damage.
Never hit by a car, though there were some fast ones.
Sinking in ditches/bogs, etc. -- close.
Hypothermia from above. No, but got a little chilly until I dried out.
Inability to move in bog/ditch/marsh -- close.
No heart failure.
Overload injuries to muscles, joints, skin, bones -- of course, it's a rogaine!
No dehydration.
No carbo deficit.
No hypothermia.
No problem with sleep deprivation as we didn't have to drive home. :-)
Unforseen risks -- well, they might have listed loosing your e-punch. :-)
And as far as the above dangers being aggravated by darkness or bad weather, well, the weather was perfect, high maybe upper 40s, low probably low 30s, no rain except for a brief sprinkle early on, clearing up after dark, full moon. Had to dress right, but the weather was just right for a 24-hour effort, so much better than being hot.

Event: 8th World Rogaining Championships
 

Made it to Tallinn yesterday evening without too much aggravation, just a little late, carrying everything with us so no lost bags. Walked partway into town from the airport to stretch the legs, then caught a bus, then walked some more. Pretty neat Old Town section, the rest of the city that I saw seems reasonably ugly. Will explore a bit in the morning before taking the train to Tartu.

Dinner and then out cold....

It's cold here, even the guy at the hotel said so. And friendly locals, at least the two times that I chatted up young girls for help in finding our way. Who says guys never stop to ask for directions? :-)

C • Have a great adventure with... 1

Lots of very low intensity exercise -- over to the train station to check on things and get tickets, a stroll around the Old Town, then a bike tour out to the northeast along the coast, not a day you would normally think of going to the beach, also stops at a couple of monuments and museums, plus the President's house, though he was not home....

Now on the train to Tartu, very civilized, has web access, though it (the train) is quite bouncy so typing is not easy.

Tomorrow is getting closer....

C • Enjoy 2

So Barb installs Skype on my laptop and I have a really nice long talk with Gail, and the connection is perfect, and all it costs is 36 cents (actually 36 of Barb's cents since I'm logged in on her account).... :-) :-)

Whately - South Deerfield, north breeze. Needed to get some exercise to calm the mind.

Off tonight.

Good article in the Times. I like the last paragraph --

"What can one do? Go home, love your children, try not to bicker, eat well, walk in the rain, feel the sun on your face and laugh loud and often, as much as possible, and especially at yourself. Because the only antidote to death is not poetry, or drama, or miracle drugs, or a roomful of technical expertise and good intentions. The antidote to death is life."

Got to remember to keep laughing....

In a mild state of panic about Estonia. Leaving tomorrow evening. The plan is to pretend like I'm leaving tonight, get everything together today.

We're actually pretty well organized, I think, thanks to Barb. Places to stay, train and bus tickets all arranged, we even seem to have semi-booked a bike tour of the old town in Tallinn for Friday morning (one last workout?).

Now if I can just get my act together. And remember to bring some warm clothes.

As of right now, the plan does not include bringing nordic walking poles --

"Yes, you can use Nordic walking poles. In fact, these may proove quite useful (in particular, if you have telescope poles), for example, you can check how deep is a ditch ;-)"

C • poles 4

The usual, with special emphasis on muscles needed for swimming across and then climbing out of bottomless ditches....

"Indeed, the forecast has improved a bit.
The current low pressure area should move further to east by tomorrow afternoon and from Thursday a high pressure area should settle in for the week-end. This means low probability of rain, but cold air moving in from the north. In turn, that implies ground temperatures dropping below zero during night (up to minus 3)."

-3? It's still early September.... Will we find ourselves just wanting to stay in the ditches because the water will be warmer than the air? Possible question for the organizers -- can we get to all the controls without leaving the ditches?

Upper road /Lower Road in Deerfield. Perfect day, legs felt ok.

C • Nice roads 1

Tired, real tired. Time to taper. Drove home at a leisurely pace.

Event: UNO Annual Camping Weekend
 

The original plan was to go to the camping weekend at Pawtuckaway if the weather forecast was ok. Do the orienteering, hang out with friends, and maybe even do the third edition of JJ's wicked hard night-O.

A couple of things messed with that plan. Tropical storm Hanna materialized, with an arrival schedule coinciding with, or just prior to, the start of the night-O. And, as my insecurity mounted about a long and wet night next weekend in Estonia, I quite convinced myself that I really had to do the night-O, partly for training, partly just for morale building.

So I headed off Saturday morning, solo, Gail not interested in prolonged battles with the elements. Got there, no rain, but there had been a lot of rain in the wee hours, so the forest was very wet and the humidity was insufferable. "Ran" the Red course, actually walked at least half the time or so it seemed. Navigation was ok, just one mistake, maybe a minute or two.

Then off for a swim to cool off and rinse out the clothes. And hung out for a while. And got some dinner.

And then it started to rain. Seriously. And I was thinking, Is this night-O' really a good idea. But mentally I was already committed. I think mostly because this waiver for next weekend scared the crap out of me, even though I was laughing about it....

JJ's Night-O', for those who think Pawtuckaway in the daytime is too easy.... :-)

So I did his first one in 2006, got through #5 at a good pace by hanging with the crowd, and then walked the rest, very carefully. A feeling of great satisfaction.

And I did the one last year, again got through several controls at a good pace, then walked the rest, still screwed up a couple of controls really badly, one of which I was starting to wonder if I would ever find, but eventually did.

But for both of those the weather was good....

So we lined up, 13 of us, dark, raining hard, well, here we go. I am solidly in the slower pack (Ross, Brendon, Emily, and Erik are moving way faster), in the company off and on for the first few controls of Charlie, Andrew Childs, Randy Kemp, Jim Arsenault, maybe one or two others.

And even in a group it isn't easy. The visibility is terrible, the rain, the fog, all the hemlock branches are hanging low, it seems like 10-20 meters is how far you can see, at the best.

Up the hill to 5 I'm with Randy and Andrew, but they are moving much faster and not far on the way to 6 I am alone, and it is very dark. 6 is a real confidence booster, not a hard control, but my navigation is solid. For the rest of the way I'm by myself maybe half the time, and with Andrew and Randy the other half -- they seem to keep getting ahead, and then I catch back up somehow, who knows where they have been. But when I am by myself, there are a few weird moments....

Like at some point is raining so hard, and I don't have a cap on, and it's like I'm taking a shower and looking right into the showerhead with my eyes wide open, and it feels like the water is getting in my eyes, well, more precisely, in my eye sockets, around the sides of my eyes, inside, very very weird.

And a couple times there were big crashing noises very close, deer, I assumed (and hoped).

But the one I definitely won't forget is my testing of item 1.4.3. Halfway to 8, thrashing my way down a slope in dense vegetation (visibility less than 1 meter), I popped out in a grassy marsh. Not so bad, went a little distance along the edge, water maybe knee deep. And then there was a boulder in the way, so I headed out a little towards the center of the marsh to get around it, and there was less grass and more open water and then suddenly I was in waist deep, and then another step and I suddenly got quite scared because the foot I was about to pick up seemed quite stuck in the mud, and then one I had just planted seemed quite stuck too. And right away, immediately, 1.4.3 popped into my mind. Along with that, a vision of me slowly sinking into the marsh over the next few hours, blowing my whistle in vain until just my mouth and the whistle were above water, and then....

But I rallied (mentally), managed to extricate first one foot and then the other without leaving either shoe behind, and got myself out of that marsh as quickly as possible.

Isn't night-O fun!

I caught up to Andrew and Randy again just before 8, needed their help to find 10, and then on my own the rest of the way. At some point it occurred to me I was really going to finish/survive. Such a nice feeling.

Still pouring rain, no need for a shower, just stripped down in the parking and and stood there for a couple minutes. Crawled into the back of car to sleep, but I don't think anyone slept well because it was raining so hard and making so much noise.

Thanks, JJ! And hopefully Estonia won't be any worse. Plus I won't be alone, so maybe when I'm having one of my panic attacks, Barb will be cool and collected. At least, that's the plan.

C • And a couple times there we... 8

Interesting how perceptions vary.

I was under instructions from Barb not to fall down at all so I didn't hurt myself, and when I finished I thought I'd done quite well, falling only maybe 10 or 20 times. I mentioned this to Charlie, he laughed, he claimed he saw me go down at least 10 times just on the way to #1. So maybe I'll revise my count, maybe 100?

I know at least 5 or 10 times I came uncomfortably close to smashing my compass (and I had no spare), falling, putting my left hand down to break the fall, and just missing a rock. Getting out of the woods without a compass would not have been easy.

And my light kept working. That better than Ross managed, his light croaked by #1 and he headed with just his little back-up. And better than Erik, who had a good Swedish light, but that didn't stop him from running into a tree a little after leaving #5 and crunching the light....





Now, despite JJ's "rules," Erik had no backup light. So here he is, an 18-year-old from Sweden, exchange student living with Charlie and Rhonda, middle of Pawtuckaway, dark, pouring rain, no light. Think what the placement agency would say if they knew this!

But Erik is a bright kid (as well as a chick magnet, or so I hear), he was in the lead, so he just waited until another light showed up, in this case Brendan and Emily, borrowed one of their backup lights, and got on with the race.

Ah, to be young and talented....

C • Erik 12

Red Day 1 - Splits

Wicked Hard Night O - short version - Splits

Conway/Whately loop, SSE breeze. Getting pretty warm, didn't push the pace, and probably wouldn't have been able to if I had wanted to. Still worked up a good sweat.

And more from Estonia --

"And yes, nettles, stinging nettles. All Estonian rogainers and orienteers 'love' this plant, which grows in marshy forest and near ditches, and gives you a long-lasting itch when touched. If you do not like this itchy feeling, you should look for nettle-proof trousers. Two layers of orienteering trousers also provide good protection."

And among the recommended gear -

"nettle-proof long pants and/or gaiters (some nettles are 2m high!)"

Hmm, 2m high? I need to worry about more than my legs.

Anyone got any advice? Other than grin and bear it?

C • nettles 11

Hard to decide decide which of these is the least pleasant, though I think I'd give my vote to section 1.4, and especially 1.4.3.

C • Adding to the list 1

C • fave waive 3

C • Combinations? 4

Choices, choices, choices....

It looks like if we want to be able to have a "curd snack," we're going to have to scratch our plan to stay out the full 24 hours.

C • Curd snack... 2

Leverett loop clockwise. Went in the morning for once before it got too hot. Legs felt ok, bike seat is getting a little less uncomfortable.

Trying to get myself back into a regular schedule of going to the gym. Although perhaps not Thursday late afternoon again -- there was a very large guy on a stationary bike with some music playing and every once in a while he would start "singing" (really awful) or moaning or grunting, seemingly unaware that others might not enjoy the show. Really wanted to clock him.

In a generally gloomy day, made even more gloomy by the farce going on in the Twin Cities -- I would definitely be happier if I read stuff like this all the time instead of stuff like this -- the bright spot was heading off to the camera store in Hadley to retrieve my camera.

Which once again works!! :-)

It's probably my favorite present ever. Not that I get many presents because Gail and I ditched the idea of exchanging presents many decades ago, but this one was really fine. She got it for my birthday last October, and I loved it from day 1.

Despite my general clumsiness and specifically my habit of dropping most anything remotely fragile, it was still working fine earlier this month. But then in Colorado the viewing screen was suddenly marred by a bunch of lines, though they didn't show up on the photos. And then about 10 days ago it just stopped working, the lens wouldn't open up.

Off to the camera store to see what could be done. Hmmm, the guy said, signs of wear and tear but nothing unusual like if you'd dropped it (little did he know). Hmmm, seems like it's less than a year old. Let's send if off to Cannon and see (1) if they can fix it, and (2) if they'll cover it under the warranty.

And today the guy called with the answers, Yes and Yes, no charge at all.

-----------------------------

Interesting article/opinion.

C • Canon 2

Sent in entry for NA Champs, last day before the price goes up.

And also sent in an entry for Gail. Even if she does just walk one day, that's progress.... :-) :-)

The word for the outing, or at least the last part of the outing, might be "wasted" or "depleted" or "bonked" -- though I believe that last term has quite a different meaning in some other places....

Tuesday evening group run on Mt. Toby. Donna, Dave, Rob, Sarah, Todd. Unpleasantly warm and muggy, enough so that I planned to short-cut the route, knock off about 25 minutes, one long downhill and one long up. But I was chatting with Todd as we passed the turn-off spot and it was several minutes down the hill before it suddenly dawned on me that I was going to have to do the whole loop. Shit.

Made it up the long climb on South Mountain Road (15 minutes) without walking, but then walked a little more than usual in the vicinity of the S curves. By the end I was really struggling, plus it was getting quite dark. Very glad the be done, wrung the sweat out of my soaking shirt, and headed home without much delay to get some food and drink, all the while thoughts of a chocolate milkshake at Sugarloaf Frostee were floating through my mind.

The scale says I sweated off 6 pounds. Should have taken something to drink.

Leave for Estonia in 8 days. Plans are getting made, conditioning is OK. Getting nervous, the nights are getting longer.

Earlier in the day, after the usual 3 hour early morning walk.

To South Amherst (47, Bay Road, Middle/SE/NE/Henry Sreets, Leverett/Depot/Bull Hill Roads, 116, Silver, 47), pretty nice ride, still mostly flat.

Saw one of these today on the 12th green, probably pretty young, very small, and looking a bit out of its normal habitat