Training Log Archive: Kat

Event: OK Nuts Trophy
 

Fast walking and then jogging with all of my stuff to the start when I realized I had less than ten minutes left!

EVENT: SLOW OK Nuts Trophy (regional event)
COURSE: W21L, 7.51 km, 320 m climb, 16 controls
MAP: Winterfold & Pitch Hill, 1:10,000, 5m contours
TERRAIN: This area is close to Leith Hill, and contains some similar technical contour detail around the southern part of the map. The central area is entirely made up of big reentrants (and noses), with paths and some blocks of green. The eastern part of the map is white, with mostly good running except for some areas of bracken and occasional knee-high green stuff. The steep-looking reentrants at the bottom of the map are in fact *steep.*
MY RUN: Since I ran my heart out yesterday, I knew there wasn't much hope of winning W21L today. But I also knew that I could still do reasonably well if I had a clean run. So I set off with the goal of being technically accurate. Already at the first control, after a 20-meter climb to the flag, I was breathing hard and my legs were tired. The rest of the course was much the same - I forced myself to push on the downhills and go steady on the uphills, walking fast on the very steepest parts. It was really tough, but I enjoyed it. It was a good course, with some pretty technical controls at the end and a ~2km long leg to #5. My route choice for that wasn't perfect, but I'm happy that I thought of a plan and executed it without wasting too much time thinking.
RESULTS: 3rd out of 24 women. The two people that beat me were Sarah Rollins (Great Britain senior squad) and Anne Edwards (Great Britain junior squad). Also, Abi Weeds beat me by a minute, but she was non-competitive because she helped out with the event. Results: http://www.sloweb.org.uk/events/20061126/Splits.ht...
MISTAKE ANALYSIS:
#2 - going on a bearing to the control, saw an orienteer a bit right of the line and strayed off the straight line. Ended up climbing up several extra contours, relocating reasonably quickly, and climbing back down - 1:30 lost.
#5 - the long leg. Didn't go completely straight through the bracken in the beginning of the leg, one micro-route choice in the middle was sub-optimal, and once I was near the control, I confused a grassy straight for a big trail and attacked too early (realized almost immediately, though). 1 minute lost.
#6 - Didn't look at map enough and took sub-optimal route to control. ~15 seconds lost.
#10 - I must have been delusional by this point. Though I was going due south but then saw a fence which was about 45 degrees in the wrong direction! Didn't panic and adjusted accordingly, but wound up losing ~1:45.
#13 - This was a leg across a steep ravine to the south of the map. I started going around on a trail, then saw that the trail bent and thought it might be faster to cut the corner. I started doing that, but it absolutely sucked to contour around the side of the ravine - too much undergrowth even though it was mapped as white. So I slogged back up to the trail and continued. Lost ~45 seconds.
TOTAL: ~5:15 lost. Achieved my goal of less than 1 minute of mistakes per km, so this was a good race. Looking at the splits, I couldn't have beaten Sarah Rollins, but could definitely have gotten Anne Edwards with a cleaner run.

C • Sarah Rollins is ranked 40th i... 3

Cool-down jog by myself on some of the big paths.

After agonizing all week about whether to run today, I asked Boris for a final opinion late on Friday evening. He told me that the choice would probably not affect my knee too much in the long run and that if I didn't go, I would be upset about it. So it was decided I'd go.

Warming up with the other Oxford girls. The bottoms of my feet hurt when running on the uneven grass, but were ok on the paths.

The Cross-Country Varsity Match! For the second Saturday in a row, I made the 2.5 hour journey to Cambridge. It was absolutely pouring and windy when we got there, but by the time we'd walked to the start and set down our stuff under some trees, it was beginning to ease up and the sun came out! I was really excited about running and felt I was completely ready at the start. The organizer yelled "GO" and we were off. The Cambridge girls started out way too fast and then slowed down so Christine and I had to work extra in the first few minutes to try and get ahead of them, as the path was rather narrow. Finally, Anair was leading the field, with three Cambridge girls and me behind her. I was feeling ok and wondering when I should make a move to pass the Tabs. But then the trouble started. Usually I don't really start feeling the hurt in an XC race until about 15-20 minutes out. Today I began feeling tired after 5 minutes and by 10 it was unbearable. I felt really lifeless and I couldn't do anything about it. It was a lot warmer this weekend than last, but the part of my arms from the elbow to the wrist still felt stiff from the cold and my legs felt heavy (perhaps from having my period or perhaps from being sick). To make it worse, I was having a really bad stitch/cramp right under my ribcage and after about ten minutes out, I was pretty close to crying from the pain. I must have looked really pathetic because one of the Cambridge marshals actually quietly cheered me on before loudly yelling "Go Cambridge!" to my pursuers. On the slight uphill, Christine passed me and I could do absolutely nothing about it as my calves were cramping up and I had nothing left. I seriously considered stopping after the first loop. Plenty of stuff was wrong with me - people would be sympathetic if I collapsed to the ground. But I kept going, knowing that I'd feel lower than dirt if I stopped and determined to at least make it around the course. Then, at the end of the second loop, with about 3-4 more minutes to go, I was going on a slight downhill and could see Christine's back. She has not been ahead of me this late in a race ever since the very first one we did together and I didn't want to let her beat me now. So I pushed myself even harder and could see the distance between us shrinking. It was pain and once I passed her, I had a moment of panic about whether I could keep this pace up for the rest of the course, but I kept at it, pushing up the slight hill to the end and racing down the uneven ground to the finish. Psychologically, this was one of the hardest races I've ever done and I am very proud of myself for having finished it well. After I stopped running, life was wonderful. I was happy to have finished, Oxford beat Cambridge on all counts, and SGB won the men's race with a spectacular run-in. =)
[As usual, exact distance is unknown. Cambridge said the course was "a bit over 6km."]

Cool-down jog with Christine.

My left knee has been hurting since last weekend and despite taking it easy this week, it was still puffy today. I didn't feel like going to the pool because pushing off the walls would remind me of my knee pain, so I decided to stay home and ice instead.

Woke up feeling even more sick than the previous few days, but breakfast and three cups of tea helped. I hope it's just a cold and not something that's going to get a lot worse before it gets better.

C • I assume you saw this. 2

Spent an hour moving my legs and reading over some GRE vocabulary lists. Left hip felt a bit tight.

I thought about taking today off since I woke up sick (sore throat and headache), but figured that doing an easy swim couldn't hurt. It felt good to stretch out and glide across the water. There were only a handful of people in the pool and it was raining outside, so it felt really calm and peaceful.
3x200 free easy
8x50 free on 55 sec
50 back easy
3x100 free on 1:45 (coming in on 1:35, hard to motivate myself to go fast amidst such stillness!)
4x50 free on 55 sec
300 free/back easy
TOTAL: 1,850 meters

A long run by myself out and back along the river, with two loops around the Nature Reserve. For the first fifteen minutes everything hurt - hamstrings and calves were tight, knees and shins twinged, and the bottoms of my feet felt sore/bruised. After that, it got a bit better. Then stuff started to hurt again for the last fifteen minutes. I think it's mostly a result of Saturday's sprint-O, when I would stand around in the cold for over half an hour and then start running really fast without any warm-up. My orienteering shoes might be to blame as well - I've worn the orange O-shoes for a year now and although they are still wearable, perhaps it's time I get a new pair.

This term I've been taking rest days whenever I've felt the need for them rather than scheduling them ahead of time, and this seems to work well. Today is perfect for a rest day. My body needs a break - there are bruises, scratches, and splinters from the weekend, as well as soreness, aches, and pains. So I'm pretty beat up physically, but at least I feel great other than that. I'm amazed at how well this term has gone so far. And it's not over yet!