Training Log Archive: expresso

EW path (Milwaukee to Carmel). A bit "nippy" after dark. Wanted to get into some different shoes to exercise some slightly different muscles so I picked a route with little snow. There was a dusting of snow on the path with only a few slick spots but I did not like using the running shoes because I felt that I was being too careful with each step due to the missing support. It's back to the Montrails for these conditions, they are MUCH better. I think I'll balance with the occasional "mill run" to get into running shoes.

Decent run on the treadmill (flat). I had to start slowly and later tried to get under 10 min/mi average but ran out of available time to run. I did keep my pace below 9 min/mi for a while at the end. While this sounds slow, it seems hard for me on the mill. Ankle/shin seemed ok, hope for a real run tomorrow.

Good swim workout but a more kicking and much less total yardage than last Sunday. I guess there are good workouts and not so good workouts. I decided to set back my next run by a day and try to do more swimming next week.

IG Lap with Brainard tail. Cloudy but nice morning for a run (slight breeze). This is the first time I've been through IG since the snow. The footing on the gravel path is not good (but I ran it anyway) and the upper bike path is clear. This part really slowed me down but I had a long song on iPod to carry me through most of it. Once I got back on the packed snow of the DRT it relatively felt like a running track. I ramped up my pace and cooked all the way to 176 to a few more musical "psyche tunes." This was a good run for me but I've had some (minor) lower L shin pain for about a week now and may need to drop my mileage until it goes away. TBD.

After years (and years (and years)) of taping my ankles I finally broke down and bought some Active Ankle braces. They are bulky (look like ankle weights) but surprisingly light. I went for a run in them and (although I squeaked like the "tin man") I eventually forgot that I had them on. Of course the "proof is in the pudding" and I won't really know until I step in a hole or on a rock at high speed. Run was good, snow was slushy, weather sunny.

C • snow shoes? 6

OS Lap (2 x tunnel). The packed snow footing got a little old by the end so I returned via Rockland.

Hard last 7 days of training (for me) and I seem to be handling the load pretty well, however I decided it would be smart to give myself a full 2 day break from running to fully recover and then try another hard week. I plan to swim and jacuzz a little more.

Up-tempo lap around OS.

Good long swim workout. Nothing fancy, lots of 300s & 400s. I tried to stay focussed on my technique, it's not bad considering...

Old School Lap to Adler. Started-out a bit nippy but the sunrise was beautiful and it warmed me up nicely. My iPod entertained me through the bulk of the miles. It was a great run and I felt very good about it.

Putzy swim but at least something.

A few laps around the preserve.Good run, nice weather.

At least it was not nothing. Flat. Had it "up" to a 9:20 pace. This sounds slow but is always harder (for me) on a treadmill

Short swim to loosen-up. Had a planned workout but mind was just not into it. Pretty sore (but not broken) after the weekend so I quit early and took a long hot tub. I think it helped a lot.

Back to Chicago after taking the "red eye" home from Anza-Borrego desert B-meet. I will have more specifics to say when I log my four races but here are the highlights (or lowlights):
0) Deserts can be cold (even during the day).
1) Beautiful location to orienteer (or do anywhing for that matter).
2) Dangerous flora can ruin your whole run with a single misstep.
3) I still have difficulty in areas of heavy rock features. My middle run was poor due to three bad legs through the chasms and cliffs.
4) My aerobic fitnees still has a long way to go (but I knew this). The 14k course on Sunday was pretty grueling for me and I flagged quite a bit near the end.
5) Don't take ePunch for granted as a compeitor or meet organizer. When not properly administrated, it can almost ruin a whole meet.

Event: Anza-Borrego Desert O-Fest
 

Warmup run with Jeff through the desert. It was cold and a bit breezy but quite beautiful with all of the brown rolling hills and unique flora. I wish I remembered the name of these interesting species, I had been warned about the "jumping cactus" and thought I identified it properly as the really tall spindly ones. These would be easy to avoid because the were so obvious. The lower ones look like large versions of what you might find at Geimer's nursery and I predicted that my gaiters would plow through them. Boy did I have much to learn.

Had a later start but I was warmed-up and ready to go so I slid into Maricel's spot (he decided not to attend). I got my map and immediately saw that (although I knew it would be technical) the course was going to start hard by heading into this "maze" of chasms and cliffs. Although I can handle climb pretty well, my navigation normally degrades when black (boulders & cliffs) obscure the contour lines. This is exactly the problem that I again had with the first few controls. Where I should have just stood there until it clarified, I decided to analyze the map on the run (normally a decent skill of mine). I paid dearly for this "penny wise, pound foolish" decision by immediately making the wrong route choice and staying on the road too long. I compounded this by taking the left fork instead of the right because I still hadn't a good look at the map yet. I found another course's control and was forced to relocate all the way back to the road, stop, analyze and then move easily to the control. I lost a ton of time right out of the gate but didn't let it rattle me. My route choices through 4 were ok and I kept good map contact so I was starting to get comfortable with the terrain and map. To five I again had difficulty reading the map (or stopping to take the time to) and made a suboptimal route choice to stay in the gully. Although the speed was good it lacked a good attack point from which to climb up to the control. Plus the control was on top of the cliff but I could not really discern that from the map (it's all so clear now). So I floundered about the bottom of the gully for a while and finally climbed up where I thought it was... "lo and behold." I did a 180 in the chasms to 7, 'nuf said. The rest were fine and note that there was no black on the map on these.
Good stuff:
- kept cool despite horrendous run (i.e. nav).
- executed everything correctly when I could (or took the time to) read the map.
Bad stuff:
- rocky nav skills
- impatience, sometimes I need to stop to accurately read the map.

Just as I finished my middle run, I saw Jeff climbing into the first aid RV. I didn't think too much of it because he did not look hurt. However, he did not come out of there for over 30 minutes and I began to get a little concerned. When he finally got back to the car we decided to make the 20 minute trip back to Borrego Springs for lunch before the sprint race. On the way I heard all about his encounter with the ochoa (i.e. "jumping") cactus. It sounded horrendous because its spines very easily insert themselves deep into your flesh and are barbed and nearly impossible to extract without pliers. His story was almost unbelievable (at that time) and I still couldn't imagine them getting through my gaiters. So we had a decent lunch and returned just in time for the sprint.

This sprint race was another poor one for me, primarily because I did not execute the race that I planned. I started my overrunning the first control because I did not adjust to the smaller scale. While looking hard at the map on the way to 2, it happened!! I hit the unholy ochoa cactus and felt shooting pains in my outside calf. Contrary to my predictions, the spines pierced my gaiters and skin like a "hot knife through butter" and embedded themselves in my muscle. The cactus "node" detached from the main plant (like a big burr) and my first reaction was to pull the thing out of my leg. However, when I touched it the spines slid deep into my fingers. I stood and looked that the thing and wondered what to do. I decided to try to knock it off with my map and I eventually got the plant portion off of me and this left about 30 spines sticking out of me. I was only able to pull a few out and the rest were stuck in there tightly. I could see the starting line and first aid trailer from where I was and almost quit the race, but I didn't and instead hobbled through the rest of the race. My technique went out the window and I just plodded on with very little advance planning or effort to track my location. To add insult to injury, many of the points had no ePunch unit nor punch. When I finished the course the ePunch computer was down and I thought, "figures" and went to my car. I guess they got it working later but I never downloaded this disaster.

As compared to 2005, 2006 was not a great year from the perspective of training hours and results (mostly because of my injury). However, I had a lot of fun orienteering and with some CAOC initiatives (e.g. ePunch, sprints). As I read my log from last year, it's pretty generic and none of this good stuff comes across. For 2007, I have decided to use the AP as a combination training log and journal. I expect a lot of it will be pretty boring for others to read (and at times unintelligible) but it will be a lot more accurate picture of the whole 2007 orienteering experience and fun for me to look back over the year and laugh. Not to mention the fact that (at my age) my brain cells need some external storage.

Some airline delays are decisive and there are some where they "nickel and dime" you with small incremental delays. Jeff and I experienced the more annoying later variant while flying to San Diego. This nuisance set us back almost three hours and we knew that we would miss the model event. However, with the two hour time change, we still got in early enough to miss rush hour. We rented this little Chevy HHC that was a PT Cruiser knock-off. The short windows made visibility poor and like looking out of a slit in an APC. We took a windy road across a range and into Julian where we dined at an excellent Italian restaurant, a perfect timing & volume of rolls & pasta. Did I mention that it was cold (sub freezing & windy) and there was a blanket of snow on the ground. Some desert...
The Stanlunds was fine, nothing special, and about the cheapest lodging around at $100/night (yikes!!). Borrego Springs is a tighly controled (via zoning) vacation area with a few big resorts (no super 8's).

Found a nice pool (bit expen$ive) but put forth a pretty lame attempt at a swim. Had a well-planned workout but forgot to bring it with me. Wallowed around a bit with some alternating swim/pull intervals. Blah. Loosened me a bit for the weekend though.

Oak Openings. Nice area, too bad I have to drive there. Bit nippy at the beginning as I was underdressed and running into the wind. "Eyes of the World" came on my iPod through the middle third of the run and I lost myself remembering hearing it live at Alpine Valley. My memory is foggy but I distinctly remember the sensation of feeling the bottom of my feet sweat (no other parts though). I laughed out loud as I ran, funny. By the time this very long rendition was over, I had only a mile or so to go and I was "stoked" and running with the wind behind me. My iPod treated me to an encore with "Fire on the Mountain" which (of course) starts with the appropriate words "Long distance runner what you standin' there for." I kidded myself that I was one because a "real" distance runner would run 3 times as far and do it in the morning when it's even colder. Nevertheless, it was a good run and I'm resting until San Diego.

Complete bust finding another pool. Toured one at a local gym but its gnarliness quotient was way off. It was more like a Roman bath than "real" pool. Bummer, will try another one Thursday.

C • pool 2

Adler Lap. Nice day but I didn't feel well.

Long workout- lots of 200s with little rest, a tough workout to return to after a one month hiatus. I've dropped a stroke of speed but my technique is pretty much still there- same stroke count (+/- one sroke) every lap. I'm concentrating on keeping my head down but it feels like "driving with my eyes closed."

Easy run around IG from Adler. Nice day. I neglected to log a lot of workouts over the holidays. I will probably get to it soon. I can't wait to start swimming again tomorrow. Sadly, I can only swim one day a week with my new "schedule."