Training Log Archive: PG

Loop over Stratton Mountain (uses the AT/LT) and by Stratton Pond. Route and description.

Nice day, actually on the cool side, and definitely cold up on the fire tower -- probably in the upper 40s and a stiff NW wind and I didn't stay up there very long.

Parked at the south end of the Stratton Pond Trail so as to do the road section first, a little over a mile. Then up Stratton Mountain, not particularly steep, but the usual wet and rocky and rooty, so a number of short walking breaks, about 10 minutes total. Then a little detour, over to the top of the ski area and back, more good views, still very windy. Then down to Stratton Pond, again the usual wet and rocky and rooty. And then back the Straton Pond Trail, quite flat and not so rocky, but made up for that with the mud. A lot of mud.

Overall a good run (despite 5 falls). The mud on the last section was an unpleasant surprise, but also a good test for the legs, and they felt mostly OK at the end. So I get to move on to the next test, which turns out not to be Glastonbury Mountain, 20+ miles of the same sort of crap, planned for sometime next week. Before that will be the Wapack Trail race on Sunday, 17.5 miles, and not such bad footing. Assuming it is not wicked hot on Sunday. I've run that course in cold pouring rain and strong winds, and also in hot and humid conditions, and the cold rain and winds were a whole lot more pleasant.

Road section, 1.1 miles, 8:56
To top, 3.8, 52:13
To ski lifts and back, 1.4, 16:18
Down to pond, 3.2, 37:38
Back to road, 3.8, 40:59

From the gate, run over to the bottom of the power line power climb (6:18), then up it, 800' climb, all walking (15:41), then run back down the jeep road (21:38). Nice outing. Legs still a little sore from Friday but better by the time I was done.

The weather forecast is good, probably Stratton tomorrow.

Eating is again out of control. Time to buckle down.

C • Me too! 4

So, the report from the golf course, where, as with life in general, things are rarely as bad as you fear, or as good as you hope.

On the good side, probably, was the fact that it rained really hard Friday night and Saturday morning, so much so that the course was unplayable on Saturday, and the tournament was reduced to just 18 holes. That's good, not for competitive reasons, but just because it would seem to reduce the possibilities for meltdowns. And if it was really questionable judgment to sign up for a two-day affair, it certainly seemed better that it would now only be one day.

No rain today, so off to the course. Same partners as yesterday, at least that was the plan. I mentioned in my log a couple of days ago my lack of enthusiasm about playing with them. I hadn't occurred to me that they might read Attackpoint, and take offense, but for whatever reason, neither of them showed up. Maybe they couldn't stand the thought of playing with me? So I got put with two young fellows, in their 20s, one quite friendly and pleasant to play with. The other was having a tough day and was behaving like I have in the past (that's not a compliment), so maybe I was feeling a bit of sympathy. Whatever, the company was fine.

And my golf, well it too was not as bad as feared, not as good as hoped, though it certainly toyed with both extremes during the round -- first four holes with some horrendous shots but somehow managing a bogey on each hole, next 8 holes in 1 over par, suddenly feeling like something about 79-81 was likely, and then last 5 holes in 8 over, muttering a bit as I walked off the course, though the 85 I ended up with, well, before the round started, given the way I've been playing this year, what little I've played, I had figured that an 85 would be just fine. So there you are, you hit your goal and you're not happy.

Just another test, I suppose, that I may not have passed.

Back to the old minimal stand-by -- up to the power line and back. Legs were sore from yesterday, especially from the last 15 minutes running hard down a gentle hill, but I figured it was better to do a little something. And I think it was. 17:43 up, 13:43 back, actually a little quicker than I planned or expected.

With the weather changing, time to head for the hills. Plan is to do the Stratton Mt. loop sometime next week, and Glastonbury Mt. the week after. The former, maybe 12-13 miles, should be nothing especially hard. The latter, roughly 20 hilly miles will be a good test to see if an ultra this fall makes any sense. If I pass, one possibility is the Vermont 50 four weeks from now. And that would still leave plenty of time to recover before Turkey.

Pocumtuck Ridge to Pine Nook Road and back. Route.

I hadn't planned anything special, such as pushing the pace. It just sort of happened. Maybe it was the cool weather, about 70F. Who knows. The legs were a little stiff from yesterday's faster running, and in the first few minutes they seemed to like it better if I loosened up at a faster than usual pace. So I did, and then just kept going.

I had planned on running past the usual turn-around point at the towers, down the hill to Pine Nook Road, which gives a chance to immediately run right back up it, and I stuck to that even with the harder pace. At some point it occurred to me that I was going to be running hard for about an hour, which seemed like a long time, but it actually passed rather quickly.

No blue cap, no FDFs. The seasons are changing, and a good one is upon us, even if the sun is setting earlier. And Swampfox has started posting again. He must be lonely, and a bit envious of Boris's triumphant return. Will Eddie be next?

Power line 12:45
Picnic table 17:31 (4:46)
Second tower 24:08 (6:37)
Turn-around 29:09 (5:01)
Second tower 36:03 (6:54)
Picnic table 42:11 (6:08)
Power line 46:13 (4:02)
Finish 55:52 (9:39)
And would have been 24:08 + 19:49 = 43:57 to the tower and back.

C • Eddie? 4

Really hard to get up as I was up for several hours in the middle of the night, but glad I went.

Warm-up at the track.

The plan was to do just a little, but do it quickly, mainly just to try to remember how to run faster. So 4x200 with a slow 200 walk in between -- 38.8, 38.8, 37.7, 37.3. And then a 400 in 84.7. I'd sort of planned on 2 400s, but the first one was too much pain for the time, so I figured enough was enough. The 200s were what mattered. (And for reference, 20 years ago I did 30.6. Today seemed just the same effort as I vaguely remember that being.)

All part of my M65 and/or ultra training.

Continuing yesterday's theme, for some reason, I know not why, I have signed up for a golf tournament this weekend, the club championships at the local course. This despite the fact that my game has been like a Swiss M65 course, a veritable POS in other words. The only reason I can imagine is a need for more testing of my character and its various flaws.

The early signs are all favorable. Favorable, that is, for a really good test.

First, the afore-mentioned POS masquerading as a golf game.

Second, I have been paired with two guys I know. One is a nice enough guy, but he is mostly deaf, and also very hard to understand when he talks, and of course I don't hear so well, so any dealing between us will be something of a shouting match. The other inhabits a universe similar to one I used to visit -- he spends the whole round berating himself out loud, only taking a break when he is addressing his ball, a process that seems to catch him up in some sort of time warp such that for over 30 seconds there is no apparent motion, then suddenly he lashes at it, and then he's off to find it, the one-way conversation going on at full steam. This takes place every time it is his turn to play.

Third, it is supposed to rain.

Should I bring my iPod? I have several editions of Car Talk stored up. Or do I just bare my soul and see if I can take it with any dignity left intact?

C • This is hillarious! 1

Upon reflection, I think my golf game may be like I gather lots of folks orienteer -- one moment you are going right where you want to, the next you are left wondering, How the hell did I do that? And no clue what to do about fixing it.

And if I could hit the ball with the same consistency that my navigation seems to have, would the game just get terribly boring? One of those deals with the devil that you would end up regretting?

From the Notch out to Rattlesnake Point (15:32, 5:18) and back (4:23, 13:50). A little warmer, plus legs feeling yesterday a little, so today was a bit of a struggle but not too bad. But then there weren't any bad hills, some some smaller ones.

Whatever, still good to get out. Been doing it every day since I got back. The payoff will come.

Otherwise life goes on. I feel like I've been treading water (at best) the last couple of weeks, but I suppose, to continue the lousy metaphor, that's better than going under. At least I got a bunch of things done this morning. And then got the run in before the afternoon trip to the golf course.

Where the quality of my game requires no elaboration, though one aspect does. Just playing by myself, the course not crowded. I caught up to a foursome after 9 holes. Actually, I think the foursome took a lengthy snack/drink break, and then arrived at the 10th tee just ahead of the twosome in front of me. And I was right behind the twosome. They seem to have been willing to let the twosome play, but weren't about to wait for me to go through too.

Now I've gotten much better at adjusting my speed to the situation, in this case slowing it down so I wasn't just standing and waiting (and getting pissed). First I had a nice chat with a ranger on the 10th tee. Then several errant shots meant that by the time I got to the 11th tee it was just about clear. On the 11th I spotted a stray ball in the woods as I walked to my drive (which was in the fairway, not the woods, miracle of miracles), and then another ball a little farther in, and within a couple of minutes I had scrounged up about a dozen, mostly in fine condition, replenishing my recently depleted stock. And the 11th green was now clear. A little wait on the 12th tee, time to enjoy the last bit of my soda and the very little bit of gorp I had left over from yesterday, and by the time I was done with that, things were clear again.

See how well I was doing!

Played the 13th beautifully, walked over to the 14th tee, a par 3, and they were still hitting. I suppose I could have been assertive and asked to go through, but I just thought I'd see if they had any class. And they didn't. Maybe not so surprising, we are talking about that sub-species known as "golfers," as strange in its own ways as the sub-species known as "orienteers."

And while I was waiting, and really feeling quite mellow, the ranger came by again. Should he go tell them to let me through? No, I said, not worth the trouble, though he did drive off and I could see him saying something to them as they left the green.

So maybe they would have let me through at the next opportunity. But the way I saw it, the only thing worse than dealing with jerks is dealing with angry jerks, and that's what were probably now ahead of me. So I slowed my walking pace even more (from a half-saunter to a quarter-saunter?), played 15 and 16, and then went home, skipping the last two. Seemed better that way.

And the added bonus of not in trouble for being late to dinner.... :-)

C • Pace of play 5

Nice visit with Phil and family in central NH. No internet connection, not such a bad thing.

His hamstring is getting better.

Good run. Same route I did in Pisgah with Joe 10 days ago. A little bit cooler (though I was still soaking wet by the end) and I felt better, ran all the hills this time. They aren't that long, but they just keep coming.

Would be great terrain for orienteering, very wild, few trails, but I don't have high hopes. Not much in the way of facilities, even parking is very limited, and probably a hard place to set easier courses. But still some wonderful terrain visually just to run though, feels a bit like Pawtuckaway.

So that's two days, running felt a little better. A good omen for the fall.

Kilburn Pond 6:08
Start of Mt. Pisgah trail 16:44
End of MP trail 37:17
Start of Baker Pond trail 55:55
End of BP trail 1:04:47

C • training 1

C • PIsgah... 4

Same company, this time two times up West Rattlesnake on the north side of Squam Lake from the parking lot via the Bridle Path, all running. Trail is about .85 mile with 400-450 elevation change. Up in 10:24, steady effort, down in 8:35, relaxed, up in 9:30, pretty hard effort, down in 7:44, a little faster.

A bit less humid, felt better, legs had a little zip the second time, which was a very pleasant change.

Lengthy stops after each segment. I was not objecting.

With Phil and Adam, Welch-Dickey loop in Waterville Valley. Up Welch (or was it Dickey), 40 minutes, maybe 15 running, then down and up to Dickey (or was it Welch), 10 minutes hiking, then 22 minutes back down, running but being careful. The usual warm, humid, lots ofsweat. Nice outing.

Flat roads in town, Old Amherst Road loop. Still just feeling totally wiped out. One day at a time, I guess. Sure glad I'm not trying to race right now.

Got two books in the mail today -- Flickan Som Lekte Med Elden and Luftslottet Som Sprängdes. Thanks, Per!

Now have my work cut out for me. Though I have just about finished my warm-up, Polis, Polis, Potatismos.

From the gate on the other side of Mt. toby, up the jeep to the Link trail, back on it and the RF. Very hot once more. Was planning on running to the top but it wasn't to be. One day at a time.

Thursday evening track group. Still hot. Plan was to not push it, stick to a 6:40 pace, but I just wasn't into it. Quit partway through. Some days are like that, just seemed better to stop.

A 400 in 1:39, a couple of 600s in 2:25, a 1000 in 4:09, and what was supposed to be a 1000 that turned into a 400 in 1:39. Then walked for a while and went home.

C • 6:40 pace... 2

Three laps warm-up.

Ran from the Body Shoppe in Greenfield since I was already up there to sign up another guy for the 8K house credit. Just did a short loop, but at least ran the whole thing.

Killed another watch, so I have been without one today. I suppose I could get used to not having one. It might even be good for me. But I have a feeling I will be shopping this evening, since I also have to go replenish my supply of blue duct tape, another life essential.

And also back to the course again today, trying to make up for very few visits so far this year. My game is, well, it occurs to me that maybe I should get a FR305 to chart both my pulse and my route. Might be some interesting data. Meanwhile, I think the purpose of going is just to test myself (my character, not my golf game). Otherwise life is just too easy.

I haven't yet looked at Sandra's log, though I have seen the results of the WOC middle. I don't imagine she's happy with the run, one really bad control, though there were also a bunch of good legs. But even a really good run would not have put her that many places higher. The competition is very very good.

Anyway, no matter what the result today, it is so much better being there -- competing, getting nervous, trying your hardest -- than not having qualified in the first place. And each time you get there, it gets a little easier. So I hope she holds her head high, as well she should.

A recent favorite, hike up Toby, run back via the S curves. 41:19 up, 35:40 back, a little bit quicker on both parts as didn't feel quite so drained. Maybe starting to adjust a little, though I figure it usually takes about 3 weeks. This wasn't quite as miserable as it's been for the last week or so.

I went to Winsplits a while ago, and was quite surprised when the following appeared instead of the usual --



So I clicked on "Why was this site blocked?" and got the following (click here for a larger image) --



Anyone know what is going on?

C • Attack site 4

It is so nice to see Sandra qualify in the Middle and Sam in the Long. Good for them. So it's already been a successful WOC. And the sprint and relay and Middle final and Long final are still to come. Having someone from the team make each of those two finals is so cool.

Some good runs by others too, especially Ross and Eric. It is just so hard to qualify on the men's side.

From the Notch, out the north side trail to Rattlesnake Point, then south, then back the south side and up and over the ridge. Hung in there as best as I could, but still wilted, walked bits of the last three hills.

C • X-talon 212s 6

And then 18 holes on a hilly course, about 90F, wilted towards the end of this too -- physically that is, the golf game has been on a permanent wilt this year. Or to be slightly more accurate, it is always a mixture of the sublime and the absurd, but this year the balance has shifted significantly in the direction of the absurd. So it goes. Good ultra training anyway.

Signed up for a room at the US Champs. Guess that means I'm going. Could be time to stake my claim on the Brown course, though I may already have done that at Rochester.

Yet another woman came up to me -- this time at town meeting tonight -- did a bit of a double-take when she saw my new cleanly-shaven look, and just could stop herself from coming right out and saying how gorgeous I looked.

Gail wonders if such comments are really statements about how bad I used to look. Being the glass-half-full kind of guy that I am, I take them totally as compliments. :-)

C • As you should 6

Played 9 hols of golf late yesterday afternoon with Gail, first time out since my triumph in Sweden. I hadn't known it was a triumph, seemed like I played quite badly, broke 100 with a very slim margin. But everything is relative. I'd played with Gord, and witnessed his battles that ended up with him a few shots on the wrong side of the big round number, but it wasn't until the next afternoon when I saw Tom Hollowell and asked how he'd done.

One stroke worse, than you, he'd said, meaning that he had broken 100 by the slimmest possible margin. I'd seen him partway through the round and he was doing a lot batter, but a 10 late in the round didn't help.

So it seems I was the best North American! And therefore no need to pick up the clubs for another 3 weeks, and then rather reluctantly. Although yesterday was not the total disaster I expected,. And the company was good.

Another venture out in slow motion. Have to keep telling myself how good I will feel when it gets cooler. I had been thinking about goig to run the trail race up in Savoy, but glad I didn't, it would have been a death march.

Up to the top of Toby (42:28), meant to run back via the S curves but just didn't have much desire, so back down the direct way (21:24). As usual, took a long time to stop sweating.

With Joe Sackett (temporarily in Winchendon) at Pisgah SP. Very nice company, and his first exposure to the blue caps, which did their magic.

Early morning start, 7 am. Still could feel my energy draining away as the run went on. Oh, well. It will get better when the weather cools.

Reverse route from what I'm used to doing, plus a shorter loop -- start/finish at Kilburn Pond parking lot, did the Mt. Pisgah trail going south, then back via the Baker Pond trail instead of all the way north. Sure glad I wasn't out there another 30-45 minutes. As it was, the last 20-30 was a struggle.

Got home, took a nap, woke up, back to sleep, woke up again. Didn't have my watch, felt like I'd been out for 3 or 4 hours, turned out to have only been a little over an hour. May have to nap again later.... :-)

Too damn hot, so it was time for ultra training. Hike briskly to the top of Mt. Toby (pulse 150 at the top), jog back via the S curves. 42:39 up, 36:11 down. Still feeling drained.

Time to start doing this again.

Several dealings with the federal government this week. Mostly, several tax clients needing attention....


My other dealing with the government was this morning, right after yoga class and a quick stop at Dunkin Donuts. The place was the Social Security office and the occasion was one of those things that mark the passage of a life -- it was time to apply for Medicare.

I was not optimistic. You are supposed to do this three months before your 65th birthday, so I called them in early July, and was told rather brusquely that I was too early, that I should call back in August. Could I make an appointment for August. Nope, that was too far in the future.

So I called on Monday to make an appointment, and they would take me today, pretty fast, that was good, but there was a question as to whether I would need my birth certificate or not. And despite some amount of searching at various times, I have not seen my birth certificate for 30 or 40 years. So I took my passport and driver's license and hoped for the best.

The omens were not good. I was the first one in the door at 9 am, had an appointment, but two people after me were dealt with first. But I was staying mellow, amusing myself by trying to figure out just what the guard -- this being a federal facility, there has to be a guard -- could possibly spend his time doing. Protecting the place from violent senior citizens?

But after a few minutes my name was called, and I was greeted by older guy (not older than me, but older than the average worker) and escorted in. He was very ordinary looking, including the extra 50 pounds he was carrying around his middle, but he also had a ready smile. And that makes all the difference.

A few questions, including some I couldn't see the point of, like how long I'd worked where I do --

What year did you start there?

I don't know exactly.

It doesn't matter, just guess. So I guessed.

What month. And then anticipating my question, It doesn't matter, just guess.

Can I ask why these questions, I'm just applying for Medicare.

It's the same application as if you're applying for Social Security benefits. I just have to put something in the box, he said with a big smile.

And we moved onward rapidly and in 5 minutes I was all set. And never asked for a single piece of ID.

I sometimes see people working as cashiers at the supermarket, or in other customer service jobs, and they are really good, and I think, if I had a similar business, I come in here and hire this person away, pay them more. Because they get the work done fast and accurately, and they make the customer happy.

This guy was one of those people. I just never expected to find him at the Social Security office.

Just looking around, non-stop JFK-IST for $641 round-trip in early November, cheap hotels, maybe worth thinking about? Same price as Winnipeg would have cost....

C • Istanbul then Venice? 2

C • they are checking 1

At the track, large group, 15-20. I had low expectations, combination of a slight cold and the weather has had me feeling like I lost a lot of conditioning. But this wasn't so bad, times were better that I thought and I wasn't killing myself (especially on the last one!), most were about or just under 6:20 pace.

Distance, time, recovery
400 - 1:34.8, 59
400 - 1:32.0, 1:04
600 - 2:19.4, 1:41
600 - 2:19.8, 1:37
1000 - 3:58.6, 2:01
1000 - 4:02.8, 1:53
600 - 2:20.7, 2:34
600 - 2:20.8, 2:29
400 - 1:30.4, 1:32
400 - 1:36.2

3 laps before, 1 after.

Dehydrated, lots of GI distress last night. Sweated off 4.5 pounds and couldn't replace it.

Will be a lot of the "one day at a time" approach as long as the weather is hot.

C • distress 6

Another look back at the terrain used for the Swiss Week, in this case what was supposed to be day 6 but got used for day 4.

Here is the whole map, with the H60 course. And here is the M65 course in the NE valley.

And here is the map sample for the day --



This time it is right side up. But you won't find it near my course, or the M60 course, or any course, as the whole bottom section of the map (anything south and east of the group of buildings at 1835 meters) was not used for any course. Will it ever be? Wonder what the mapper thinks....

And it should be obvious from even a quick glance at the two courses that we were participating in different sports.

And also noted that the M60 course, and all others from starts 1 and 2 (both at the same place), had a net drop of 800 meters. Need to have strong knees.

C • H60 course 2

Slowly feeling less lousy as the day went on, so it seemed like an easy outing was called for just as it was getting dark. Twice up South Sugarloaf, once up and down the trail (8:19 up, 4:33 down), just enough light to see, then once up and down the road (13:41 up, 7:05 down). Felt more or less OK, though half an hour was certainly enough.

The nice thing about running a fall ultra, if I do, is that necessary training includes a lot of vertical, but no need to run the uphills. So an outing like this, while obviously very short, is still useful.

C • Nitpicky note 4

Read three books on the trip. All enjoyable, all easy to read, none great works of literature. In order of preference --

So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger.
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson, translated from Swedish, even mentions O' a couple of times.
The Little Book by Seldon Edwards.

And now I seem to be embarked on something tougher -- Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I remember opening up a copy of Satanic Verses and not being able to make it through a page. This seems easier, 20 pages down, 500 to go, but it will take some doing to finish. Gail, of course, breezed right through it.

C • Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 14

Here's the map we didn't get to use (originally day 4, then day 6, then nothing). The course for us (M65) looks simple/boring/whatever, just a couple choices in the middle as to whether to run along a steep hillside for a while or climb and then drop. Nothing in it looks like fun/challenging/interesting. Here's a closer view.

The "longer" courses had to climb a ways up to the start, but then at least there was some dramatic terrain.

And here was the map sample for the day....

C • sample 7

Tuesday evening group on Mt. Toby, except that I, as expected, didn't do the whole loop (went as far as Middle Mt., then left to the S curves). And even that was a struggle. Not used to the heat and humidity, not that I ever really get used to it. My preferred temperature for running is about 40F.

But at least did something....

Late afternoon run with Dave up to the town line and back. He was busy this morning, said he might try to come by around 5, and around 5 I was sound asleep, no way I was going out today. But all it takes is some company.

Felt incredibly hot out, though it was only upper 80s, dew point about 70. Just not used to it. But the legs felt good, no running since Friday and hardly any then. So the pace seemed to increase the whole way, breathing hard at the end, heart rate was around 170. Not that we were going fast, of course, just two OFs. 18:54 out, 17:18 back.

Lost just about 3 pounds in 35 minutes. The G, first reading in over 3 weeks, is 136, not quite as bad as I feared, only added a couple of pounds and that might have been towards the end when I was inhaling chocolate. Maybe being pissed for a few days helped keep it down too. But it would be better under 135, just feel better and I think it's better for my blood pressure too.

The plan for the next couple of months still needs to be formulated, but first, time for a brief review of my O' for the last 3 weeks.

The numbers -- in Sweden: 4th, 9th, 5th, 9th, 4th, and overall 5th. In Switzerland: 1st, 3rd, 1st, 2nd, and overall 1st. Right on the goal in both cases.

As far as my orienteering, I was pretty pleased. I don't think I had a mistake of more than 30 seconds in Sweden, or of more than 15 seconds in Switzerland. The problem was usually not that I didn't know where I was, rather that sometimes I wasn't moving assertively enough. Being careful is usually a good thing, but you can be too careful. And certainly both days that I lost in Switzerland I was being too careful, as well as a couple days in Sweden.

The related thing that needed to be stressed was just simplifying the orienteering. At times I was doing this very well, and therefore able to keep moving at a good pace. The problem was I wasn't always doing it. The theme certainly became part of my pre-race self-talk.

As far as fitness, it was good, and as always the case, could have been better. Overall I'd say I was pretty close to being in as good shape as I'm capable of these days. There were still times when the legs were not willing. That is nothing new, varies from day to day and sometimes many times within a day. The generic term is toughness. There were certainly times when more toughness was needed.

So stuff to be worked on. But overall I was really pleased, especially considering the progress in the last 6 months.

Back home without any significant issues.

I had thought we would be safe when we cleared Swiss airspace -- the Swiss reputation for reliability was already taking a beating in a variety of ways not connected with O' -- but I had forgotten we were flying on Swiss Int'l. About 3 hours into the flight, the electronics (the audio video system build into the back of the seat in front of you, plus lights and call buttons) for Gail's and my seats went out. George and Lyn sitting next to us were OK, but the seats in front of us for several rows had also gone dark.

We waved down a flight attendant, but nothing happened. Waved down another one about 30 minutes later. Explained the situation. She disappeared, came back, looked at it a little more.

Will you fix it? I asked.

Yes.

Will you fix it soon?

Oh, yes.

On this flight? (Maybe I was getting a little cynical....)

No. (Now a familiar situation, you can't decide whether to laugh or cry.)

Can you turn on the cabin lights? We don't want to sit in the dark for 4 more hours.

No, some people are trying to sleep. (Now the choice was between crying or screaming.)

And I'm not sure what else I might have said, but it was enough to get the cabin chief to come over and have a look, and within 5 minutes it was fixed.

And glad I spoke up, although doing so seems to get me in trouble sometimes....

C • welcome home! 5

And finally home, after dropping off George and Lyn. Best part of the trip, by far, was doing it as a foursome. They are just a wonderful couple.

The orienteering in Sweden, was better than expected, and the organization just outstanding. The 6 days in Klosters were great. The Swiss O Week was very disappointing. Would have been less so if the expectations hadn't been high. Live and learn.

Time to move on and and give some thought as to what comes next.

C • next 11

Skipped the last day quite happily. Didn't particularly care if it affected my overall standing. Turns out it didn't, Kurt finished 2nd, but enough back that I got him overall by just a little. We're basically running the same these days, fun to have good competition with someone who is also real fun to hang out with.

Instead we packed up at a leisurely pace, then headed out to explore the region where Day 4 was supposed to be, but because of landslides it wasn't used then, and because of threat of landslides it wasn't used today. The slide area was in the first km. The road switchbacked several times so the slide crossed it several times, not destroying the pavement but covering it with a mix of gravel and mud. Gail was a little unhappy about the venture -- I also had no desire to be up the valley when a new slide happened behind us -- but it wasn't raining and there was some other traffic so I figured it was safe enough. Another steep and very narrow road, only way in, only way out.

Finally up to the meet site. Only sign of anything was a row of porta-potties. Walked around just a little. Where our courses would have been looked steep and unappealing. Where the longer courses would have been, well, you couldn't really see anything but the steep downhill at the end. (We got our maps later -- nothing missed by not running ours.)

Drove back out, relieved the road was still OK, then checked out a couple of local villages and a hilltop golf course, then went off to the meet center to pick up George and Lyn and head off to Zurich. Started raining about then, got heavy pretty quickly, just about when Gail and I would have been starting. Very glad to be where we were and doing what we were doing.

Day 5, make that 4, of the Swiss O Weeklet.

A little too mellow today. Second to Kurt by 70 seconds. With a km time of about 15 minutes! Thick and rocky and rough. I didn't miss anything, but didn't feel like I was finding a good line through the stuff. A relatively early start didn't help. Fell in one hole up to my armpits, feet still not on solid ground. Had a discussion afterwards about how much good my whistle would have done me there, as it was securely tucked in the pocket in the back of my shorts.

But quite enjoyed it. Same terrain for everyone. Not something I'd like to do all the time, but doing it once in a while makes for a good adventure.

Organization was fine today, logistics were simple. Weather was sunny and hot.

C • map? 3

So first, here's yesterday's map in pieces.

They put us in a very narrow valley, with the ride up to the start going right through the terrain, so you had an advance look at where you would be going. Did not make you drool in anticipation.



The first four legs were all the same. The best running was along the stream, fewer or no rocks. So you'd run as long as you could there, often keeping track of where you were by buildings on the other side, then at the last moment duck into the rocks for the control, and then right back out again.

1. Much rockier around the control than mapped.
3. Can't believe this was in the right place and/or the map was right. Went right by the boulder just before the small depression on the map. Nothing. Saw someone dropping into a low spot about 20-30 meters uphill, and there it was. Talked to 3 or 4 others, all exactly the same opinion.



4. For variety, went through the rocks at the end, right past the 2 evergreen trees.
5. Could see it from a long ways away. Trivial.



6. Could see the knoll just before the control from #5. Trivial.
7. Trivial.
8. Ummm, OK, trivial.
9. Marked route to cross the stream, up the other side.
10. Could see this one from about 100 meters.
11. Totally trivial.
12. Ooops, nice enough leg, just to pick the best line across the slopes.
13. Also nice enough. Though this was in effect the last control, the rest was just a run in.



14. But in fact they made it interesting. You can see exactly where you are going. You can see the control. The only problem is that the feature is supposed to be a boulder group in a reentrant at the top of some stony ground. There's a reentrant, there's the stony ground, but there is nothing close to a boulder group, no rock higher than about half a meter. I'm looking all around as I climb, trying to spot what bush they've hidden mine behind. I get up to the control at the top of the stony ground, and I just can't resist checking the number, and, son of a bitch, it's mine. Couldn't have surprised me more. All the way back down I'm thinking, Peter, you really have to review the IOF control description list, they're changing things on you, now look what they're using for stony ground.

In retrospect, obviously the rain washed the boulder group away, just like it dug out a new depression at #3, and filled in the old one in the process. That's the only charitable explanation.

And now, here's today's map. The terrain was what I would normally call total crap, but the beauty of it all was that everyone got it. So the cynical pissed-off part of me thought it was just great. Though I wish in retrospect that I had pushed a little harder.



1. The "forest" was just terrible. Thick, low visibility, the ground was a mix of rocks and bumps and holes. Walked all the way up to #1, spiked it, got there the same time as the guy who started 3 minutes ahead of me.
2. Uphill was bad, downhill was bad and dangerous. But there was a ride partway, and it was fine, got me pretty close. Finished it up with a slow walk, trying not to kill myself.
3. Just heading west, got over to the "white" woods, decent visibility, could run some. Not sure that was so smart, as at one point I dropped into a hole that I didn't see, caught myself with my armpits, feet swinging free.
4. Trying to get to the trail. Just awful stuff. No so bad into the control.
5. Could move a little faster.


6. Ditto.
7. Down the steep hill, just a matter of how many risks you wanted to take.
8. Ditto.



9. Trails.
10. Trail/field.

Overall a good walk, spiked them all, just a little too slow. Second by 70 seconds. Though I'd get there were a lot of really bad times out there. and anything under 40 in our class would be in the top 5.

Best time in HE was just over 10 minutes per km. In DE I think it was about 12 to 13.

C • Holes? 2

Day 4, ooops, make that 3, of the Swiss O Weeklet.

Good and bad.

The good was I orienteered well, ran so-so up the hills but better down. Had the best time by three minutes when I left. Don't know if it will stand up.

Bad -- the minor issue is the organizers are still struggling, the major issue is we are really getting shafted at start 3. They put us in a little corner of the map, not very interesting. If I'd had any idea they would do this, I would have moved up a class (M60 is from start 2). But the web site is fully of map samples of beautiful terrain that we never come close to seeing.

Pisses me off. The answer, of course, is to just runner harder, but it still pisses me off. I don't know if any Swiss read this, and if they do they probably aren't affected because they are younger, but hopefully they are a little bit embarrassed. It really is a case of blatant false advertising.

C • False advertising 4

C • congrats 9

So a little more about today, and probably a little more bitching.... :-)

Most of the time Gail and I have had reasonably close start times, within 30-45 minutes of each other. Today I was 1:40 after her. So I passed a bunch of time reading before it was time to get in line for the military transport to the finish area. Everyone has a specific boarding time based on your start time (so families usually end up going separately to the start anyway).

My departure time was 11:07. My start time was 13:12. The program book showed that the transport should take 20 minutes, then 10 minutes walk from where they dropped you off to the finish, then 15 minutes assumed spent at the finish, then another 15-25 minutes transport to near the start, then 2 minutes to the start, called up 3 minutes early, total time required 65-75 minutes. Didn't know why they had allowed me 2:05, but they had.

The transport was a little late, the 10:54 convoy left at about 11:07, but there were a few extra spaces so I got on. So on time. Reached the drop-off point in about 20 minutes. Walked up the road to the finish in another 10 minutes or so. Lots of time.

Got organized. There had been a sign posted down below that said we would have to walk an extra 1.2 km to the revised pick-up point for the transport to the start. Took off a little before 12:00, still lots of time. Just as I was leaving, and I had been at the finish about 20 minutes, there was an announcement about delays with the transport to the starts and that we should allow 2 hours to get to the start from the finish. Say what?

So I hustled along. Got to the new pick-up point in 10-15 minutes, certainly by 12:10, got in line. No assigned times here, first come first served, though as Sandra had warned me a couple of days earlier, the Swiss are known to have sharp elbows and it took some effort to keep from slowly being moved backwards.

A few people very worried about making their start times. I had time, though it was shrinking. Waited for about 20 minutes, not many trucks coming by, then got on one, up to the start in another 20 minutes, nice conversation on the way with a guy in M70, was going to be very close if he would make his start. Got there at 12:50, he ran off quickly.

I jogged over to the start to have a look around. Very quiet. Nobody starting. A 30 minute delay I'm told, problems at the other start so they were delaying this one too (did I saw we were second-class citizens?). One would have thought they might have passed the word down. So now I have 50 minutes in the hot sun, no shade, no water.

Finally 13:42 rolls around, I grab my map and go, get about 20 meters and they are yelling at me, and pointing to the start box which I'm supposed to have punched. Not that anything had been said about that except perhaps in Swiss German (and I can understand a good bit of German, but this is impossible).

Run my course. Hard work, but most of the O' is trivial. Win by 3 minutes as it turns out.

Finish. Gail is there, also Lyn and Gorge, I grab my stuff and we take off, they have been waiting long enough. Plus they have just announced that people should head for the transport down, there is space available, and you can avoid the lines that will form later.

On the way to the pick-up point we pass a convoy of empty trucks, just sitting there. We get in line. We have just missed the convoy that is loading. I ask someone about the empty trucks. They are "on pause," I'm told (break time). We wait a while. No action. There are two other trucks parked across the road, one full, one empty, just sitting there. We are sent to the empty one, climb in. Sit there for 15 minutes. And then eventually head down. Don't pass any trucks coming up. Are they all on pause?

And what more fun and games lie ahead?

C • Ahhh! 6

Had in mind to take a very strenuous hike today, up the one on the right....



... but it was not to be. Would have been interesting, but probably just as good it didn't happen as my legs would have been trashed. Should be rested as I haven't done diddly the last couple of days. Will have to see if I have any willpower.

Seems like the road to day 4 -- now day 6 -- will be cleared by Friday, so we should have a 5-day instead of a 4-day.... :-)

Meanwhile, my diet seems to consist mostly of chocolate. No way that would happen in Scotland.

C • The Grand Mythen 2

Orienteering canceled for today, at least for anyone from our start. Need to dream up something else to do. Just might be a hike of some sort, although the higher country is still in the clouds, so few options.

C • cancelled 12

Kept trying today not to get pissed off, but didn't succeed very well.
I think the reason I was pissed, rightly or wrongly, was the feeling that if it had been the top classes that needed to be canceled for safety reasons, then there would have been an effort to salvage the situation, such as running them tomorrow, the rest day, when the streams would be down a lot. But it's hard to know because we are very much on the outside of things.

Went off for a saunter in mid-afternoon, vicinity of Ibergeregg, very pleasant, even if a little muddy. I think I have an O' map of there at home that is two or three decades old.

Then up to the meet center, got something to eat, hung out for a while, picked up my copy of today's map. Just seemed to piss me off more. Course looked uninspired.

And then, just before dark, took a very therapeutic drive up the narrow road to today's meet site. Beautiful valley, beautiful evening, sky clearing. Terrain look steep and unpleasant, but still would have been nice to orienteer there. But that was not to be.

Today's course. Up to #3 looks trivial, then to #7 is fine, then a mud slide past 10....

Swiss O Week, day 2.

What a fine day.

It occurred to me about 2/3 of the way through the course that this was real Swiss orienteering -- steep down, steep up, mud, rain, fog, terrible footing, some thick vegetation, electric fences at least one of which was definitely turned on....

What's the point of coming all the way over here if you don't get to experience the real thing?

Plus 45 minutes in an army truck to get reasonably close to the finish (and of course 45 minutes back afterwards).

But my class really had it pretty easy. Our start was just 5 minutes from the finish. M60 and younger had 2 km with 250m climb to their start.

Clearly the phrase that Glen Schorr is looking for is "Orienteering is insane." :-)

And the second thing that is also clear is that the prize for the best performance for the day absolutely goes to Gail, just for finishing her course. She had the same steep down, steep up, mud, rain, fog, terrible footing, some thick vegetation, electric fences at least one of which was definitely turned on.... plus braces on both knees. If her doctor had any idea what she's been doing the last couple weeks....

And the third thing that is clear is I had my best AOWN event in a long long time....



It really was a fine day.

As to my run, it was OK. Seemed very slow, maybe too careful, but there were several controls that I really really did not want to miss. And I didn't. Had the best time when I left by about 6 minutes, but that was with only about a dozen in.



A few comments --
#1. Within 100 meters of the start I'd already been through two serious mud holes. A sign of things to come. Easy control.
#2. Didn't want to miss this one. Steep descent, first part full of holes (that's what happens when you put cows in a wet alpine pasture), the next part waist-high vegetation, just trying to figure out which track went the right way.
#3. Really didn't want to miss this one. Slow but nailed it.



#4. Just more steep hillsides.
#5. No fun getting out of there, the rest was easy.
#6 and 7. Easy.
#8 and 9. Also easy, but now climbing.
#10. And climbing some more, didn't want to miss this one either.
#11. And climbing a lot more. Got out in the pastures and went to go between the strands of a fence (as I'd already done several times lower down) and got a few volts delivered, not enough to really hurt, but for the 15 or so fences still to come, a strong reason to opt for diving under.
#12 and 13. Easy, just bad footing. But glad to be done without any screw-ups or injuries.

The way up to the other starts....



Didn't know it at the time, but we were heading down into the woods at the left....



Just a nice runnable open area....



On our way out, looking back at some of the terrain....



And a good day for both of us....

C • Still clean shaven! 2

C • Sounds great! Gail and I ... 1

C • What is that thing?? 6

Third today. Results are here.

Guess I need to HTFU a little.

Event: Swiss O Week!
 

Day 1, sprint in the town of Schwyz.

1st. :-)

Prize was a huge Swiss Army knife.

Good run. Could have been quicker, but spent a little extra time to make sure I wasn't getting into any traps. Which I think was time well invested.

Rain, thunder and lightning. A little annoying before you start, but can't say I noticed any of it while I was running. A sign of good focus.

Legs felt good.



Course as a whole was not difficult, though sometimes reading the small detail on the map was hard, could have used a magnifier. In most cases it was a matter of there being a single best route, just a matter of finding it. And then trying to keep a step ahead on the map reading so you didn't have to stop. Still think I stopped a couple of times.

On pavement virtually the whole time. That seems to justify some training on pavement (or track). All O' doesn't happen in the deep forest these days.

It occurred to me afterwards that I don't think I used my compass once, or pace-counted once, or looked at the contours once. At yet the sense after the finish is of a very intense and difficult task -- not that the course was difficult, but difficult to do clean at a pace that was as fast as you could run.

I do love these European sprints. Been looking forward to this day for a longtime.

A very few leg comments --
#2. All the way to #1 I was looking for a better way to 2, but there wasn't one.





#11. Several controls in there, never looked at what the feature was, just got the position in relation to the buildings and definitely checked the code (checked the code on every control).
#12. A little slow, trying to refold the map so I could see where #13 was.
#13. I think left is a little shorter, but I didn't see the gap in the fence to the left of the building.

C • Congratulations 4

Warm-up in the rain. Nothing afterwards, just headed for the room which was about 50 meters from the finish line. :-)

A few photos....

The weather was a lot nicer yesterday (the view from our room) --



And the view today, right down on the finish --



Lots of controls. 3 in this photo, total distance between them about 30 meters. Didn't hear anyone complaining, though if they had, it probably would have been in Swiss German and I wouldn't have understood anyway.



The best Swiss in my class, Kurt Huber, 3rd today. Just think how much quicker he would be if he shaved!



Got together with George and Lyn afterwards, then joined by Sandra and Cristoph and Samantha, hung out in the room for a while, then across the square for some food. Very, very pleasant finish to a fine day.

Ended up not running yesterday, just seemed like a day off was called for even though a large part of me wanted to climb some serious hill, so I wanted to do a little something today. But first had to depart the great apartment we had for 6 days with George and Lyn and drive over to Schwyz, where the Swiss O Week (6 days, best 5 to count) starts tomorrow. We planned this part of the trip too late to get a place together so we are on our own... :-(

Though in a nice hotel, overlooking the main square and I think the finish for tomorrow's sprint.... :-)

Picked up all our stuff, got a training map of an area just above Brunnen, dropped Gail at the hotel, and went off to run maybe 20 or 30 minutes on the trails. Except I couldn't find the forest. Seriously. I could see it, up on the ridge above Brunnen. But getting there was another matter. The main street in Brunnen was closed (today is the Swiss National Day), and I explored various back roads with little success. Ended up going up one very narrow road that dropped me off at the bottom of a cable car up to Stoos. Might as well run a little there, I thought.

So I did. Very little, but it was very hilly and I worked up a good sweat very quickly. Route. So mission accomplished, I guess.

Sprint tomorrow, then we get into the serious hills.

Big party out in the square, fireworks coming soon over the lake. Tonight will be a real test of the earplugs.