Training Log Archive: piutepro

US long-0 champs at Thacher State Park. I have a good run, some route choices could be better. The legs feel much better than yesterday. I sense some speed on the trails, the pay-off of the tempo runs. I am glad to find that at my tender age (49 as of today) I can improve my speed.

A pleasant weekend, with a better race on Sunday. I enjoy the long race. There is room for improvement on the map. The course setting and control pick-up of the last week was a lot of time on the map, but in at a slower speed and many hours in the woods. Exhausting for the body, like the almost four hours in the woods on Wednesday. Race map reading is fast, just a glance and a decision. As course setter I have to check all the elements. As Spike comments later, 'you got to change your mental attitude for the race'. Right.

I meet Max, a sweet boy with a hearty appetite for bananas and dirt diving. I sort some gravel rocks with him and we also have a course review together. He is understands the route choices right away and points them out on the map. So far he seems to like orienteering. Definitely a better choice than becoming president, the other option when growing up in Washington.

C • Meeting 1

I run away from the camp, along the road, to do a thorough warm up. 20 minutes of steady running, some martial arts, stretching, than more running. I need time to wake up. The body seems slow and resists running. I keep running, since I know after 20 minutes or so I feel better.

Red Y 2 - Splits

Short O champs at Thacher State Park near Albany. I warm up well, but I still don't have much punch when I start. I am not moving aggressively enough.
I have a big error at #9. I know it is a tricky area. This alone is a dangerous thought. The expectation of trouble leads to trouble. I navigate carefully when approaching the control, but I rely too much on seeing the white hill. From this side it is rather indistinct. I can't figure which cliff is which. I invent a paralllel error where there is none.
I am glad there is another race tomorrow. Short-o races are unforegiving. It is difficult to make up for a mistake.

I run to the start instead of taking the bus. I want to be fully warmed up and ready. I need to do this, since I am slow in waking up from the vegetative state of sitting in the car. I need a good 20 minutes of running and some stretching, martial arts and focusing before being warmed up for the race.

Red - Splits

The short and easy 7k warm up and warm down. I still feel the 20 k control pick-up and control scouting from Wednesday. Maybe I should have a juicy turkey sandwich to re-energize myself.

An easy run to recover, with some fast speed elements, just to wake the energy up.
Spend most of the day successfully procrastinating some accounting, instead I finish one adventure racing map, sent the sprint map to Mr. G and cleaned up a bunch of files. All the excuses make a good day of work. And in the end I begin to sort a pile the receipts, dig out the paper work, the files and really begin setting up the accounts. What a beautiful numberful work, all so clean and almost satisfying.
This leads to the question (not to emulate Spike's ruminations of how to get from any issue to orienteering): Is there procrastination in orienteering? Maybe getting lost is a form of procrastination? Is a long slow race the procrastination of the unavoidable fact that sooner or later one gets to the finish? Or even more philosophically: Is writing on Attackpoint procrastinating?

Control pick-up at Silvermine. Beautiful weather, blue sky, black flies, spring fresh blue berry leaves.

Course setting at Ringwood, checking controls sites which work for an AR. The controls need to be clearly defined, not too much intricate map reading yet still something to think. I like to put them spectacular features, a cliff with a view, on top of a boulder, an old building, something special. I check out a bridge, but the water is 3 feet deep. Decide against it, for now. Or does anyone out there request an underwater control?

Tapering off. I could do another hamburger training, but I don't. Need to hold my horses and build up some energy.

I don't play golf, so I guess I have to do what I can. Like doing work for example. Invest my surplus time in writing on a new chapter. In the evening I plant 12 different kinds of plant and vegetables seeds.

I start trying out a the MapStudio plug-in for Adobe Illustrator. Gives me all the map symbols. I figure how to scale the contours. So I will try to get the printing improved with more legible contours and maybe other symbols which were not scaled correctly before.

Easy run on the river, day light and no rain, just a pleasant run to begin the tapering off before the EMPO meet. - I have been moved up from HVO vice president to interim or acting or whatever HVO president, so I need to get used what to do. Maybe I take a pointer from the great leader: Delegate, choose a laid back attitude and make uninformed & rushed choices. I am still waiting for the castle which comes along with the job plus the limousine service.