Training Log Archive: Mr Wonderful

Free lessons via SMOC page are now finally suspended. My intended replacement is informal - if people look like they want to get better, then we can work something out. Free lesson new people almost never came back. In fact, I don't think any of them come back since Paul S got hurt. Versus people who banged around a bit, then got a bit of help - they are now among the most die hard of attendees.

Considering the freep international half again. If the running group will get me to some regular cadence, and I can figure out how to work in a longerish run+o training, I could see if I could be nearer to 30 mpw by the time the fees go up, which would be a month before needing to start a 16 week build (may/june). Target time is modest; I only need a 1:40 to take back the PR from my old friends. That's only equivalent so a ~21-22 min 5k which doesn't seem crazy. One wonders if structuring it like:

M: easy 3
T: 7 (group does 5 generally)
W: easy 3
R: 5 modestly up pace
F: easy 3
S: easy 3
S: high effort orienteering, 1 mile warmup then 5-6 ish either a meet or sketched to-distinct-feature training or old reruns

Perhaps when o season ends in the summer depending on class, swap o for midweek, then make S or S be an increasingly long trail run.

Of course most important would be first slimming down.

And the real half marathon prize is not a time but being able to run hard and maybe get less stupid on a typical red!

After spending two hours staring a test I know not very much about, it was nice to get out and do something I do know something about.

Waterloo HQ red makeup, from Igor's memory. Thanks for preparing the pdf, it was great to do a make up; it hurts to miss a meet!

He must have miss-remembered something, as my time turned out okay.

I do notice a technique improvement on no flag days - I get deliberate near the control and run to the center rather than trolling for a flag I'd easily see if I went to where it's supposed to be instead of scanning for it. So maybe I ought to do that more often...

Also, the woods were fantastic today, just gorgeous. 51, so I only slightly overdressed with a sweatshirt (didn't have any brightly colored regular shirts with me).

1. Took road easily, looking at a few legs. Quite slow! ~8th
2. Charge! 1st
3. Should just get up on ridges for easier running than side hills, 4th
4. Road, but not enough vigor. 5th
5. Trying road for speed, that bee line can be thick. 3rd
6. Fun mostly downhill, 3rd
7. Tough up that hill, and thicker than expected on the flat north of road. 2nd
8. A little reading ahead, using swamp then hill for turn in. 1st
9. I chanced the uncrossable swamp, high reward, low penalty. 1st
10. Should have left straighter rather than grabbing trail. So tricky in the area near 10, I slowed and applied caution. 1st
11. Straight, swamp fine and not too green where I hit. 1st
12. Hammer trail, almost botched it but not correctly reading the junction of reentrants at the top, saved by the rock pile (I was ready to go one too far). 1st
13. There's a better, flatter way. Mostly wanted to get close, then hit the dot ditch and let it guide me home. 2nd
F. Such a soft grade but it felt brutal. 11s back to Igor at 13, got it back in the kick. (if flags match) 1:10:30 1st (if matching)

C • Quite possibly a win -- I r... 1

From blue crossing of Teahen (near Bauer) to start.

Igor's Bishop sampler mostly in the dark, magicshine on low. Started just before 6 am.

S - appreciated the streamer
1 - didn't find the streamer, did a few sweeps. Confirmed more or less right spot
2 - Oops, missed high in the circle, then mucked around a bit. And I thought I tried to use a safer AP by going around the long way (on purpose). Night o w/ reflector, I think I would have had it. Need to be more deliberate about circle center than trolling edges, but there were some sort of very soft saddle-y type things (from a distance in the dark) that lured me around. Hill I ran by should have been my strong giveaway.
3 - woo woo, made sense
4 - Per plan, use the bottom of the swamp to head up the hill
5 - no streamer found. Deer? Hunter? Checked high hill to confirm, pretty sure was in right place
6 - Oops, parallel error - went south on wrong hill back to trail, easily corrected
7 - I got lucky. The more I practice, the luckier I get!
8 - Slow and steady, use that NE reentrant from the depression
9 - Dagnabbit. I saw a trace of footprints, counted that as trail #1, but it wasn't a trail, just tracks, then tried to relocate off a marsh, thought I was on the other marsh (NE of my turnaround). A good reminder to stay stron on your compass even when exiting to a trail. Easy walking made me drift too much!
10 - I tried to respect it, using the swamp, but then I lost count of hills and reentrants. My concentration seems to wane at this point in races - need more fitness or rather more deliberate, "alright, it's over 45 minutes, time to get very deliberate" I am proud that I recovered while still in contour chaos without going back to the trail.
11. Used the erosion gully as AP
12. woo woo
13. woo woo
14. woo woo
15. fast woo woo
16. yes, trails are different, but features are so big no worries.
17. Fun climb
F. sprint F

Right around 10 it transitioned to dawn and got a lot easier. By 12 it was pushing day light, by 14 I could see quite aways.

Thanks, Igor!!

C • #5 1

Back to the car. Two runners headed other direction. They must have gotten an early start as well; they weren't parked where I parked.

Reports of road conditions from my original destination didn't encourage me, esp. still on old tires, so I deferred that a day and slept three extra hours and then hiked around what might be an interesting sprint type venue - copses, hills, lots of black X items, small marshes, the odd occasional stream....

A couple rounds of pushups, squats, situps, with a few bonus lunges and curls. Time for more weight.

Will I regret shorts + long sleeve at ~37°F?

No, it was fine. Frozen B acclimation progressing nicely. But one guy was in short sleeves, so I got no cred. Threw in two strides at the end so I can remember how to run fast in case I get thin by spring.

I thought I heard a runner on Tuesday say their target marathon was 4:15, and someone a while back was shooting for...sub 4? Which means that they do every run I see sub MP.