Training Log Archive: Anna

Event: 2013 IS IC Championships
 

Had a pretty good run! I was worried because it looked like it would be a runner's course and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep up a good pace the whole time. But I felt surprisingly good! Tempos seem to be paying off:)

What I could've done better:

a) committed to my exit out of #2. (5-10s) I ended up going a fine way, but there was too much indecision. While I have been focusing on exit direction lately, it's really only been a compass-based decision. Maybe I could do some long legs at Hammond Pond with technical exits?

b) trusted my location on #4 when I was coming down by the cliff, or decided where I was supposed to go before trying to climb down. (30-45s) I have a feeling my dumb mistake came from being frazzled by the footing.

c) read the contours in addition to the trails on my way to 6. (30-45s) Spike pointed this out, and it's a bad habit I know I have. Contour-only and armchair can help with this. (That being said, I did a really good job of recovering.)

d) paid more attention to my compass in the open area on the way to the stream crossing. (30s)
I also need to get better at picking a tree and running to it when I'm following my compass in the woods. (10s)

e) either aimed off on 11, trusted my compass more, or been more confident that it was at the very top of the reentrant. (25s) I was actually not far off, but the control was behind a tree and I ran in the other direction first.

f) kept going towards the lake—that's what I'd aimed off for! (20)

[And: nothing I could've done about this, but the stream from 13-14 was deeper than I thought. So my route choice wasn't great. 15s]

Total room for improvement: 2:40-3:10

In general, I felt like I did a good job making confident route choices and reading ahead. Hopefully that will continue tomorrow! I have almost a minute to make up on Rick Breseman.

Cooldown on the model. Didn't do all the controls, and I walked up some of the hills.

Warmup, some of it with Erin. Talked about spiking the first control. Also, Erin knew just about every junior we passed on the way to the start.

Day 1 - Green Y - Splits

Just registered and booked my flight to the Pig, where I'll finally be running my age class. Excited for the spring season!!!

Unplanned rest day due to flight being delayed. :( At least I got here!

A course from a Finnish map I stole from my mom.

Ran a few controls on the longer course as a warmup/cooldown.

Warmup

Tried to go fast. Succeeded in some places. Got lost in others.
Straight line distance was about 3k.

Warmup, cooldown, and rest for the trail hills

The goal was to get better at running faster in terrain without hesitation because I didn't feel so smooth on the last terrain loop I did. I decided it was best to do something when I was fresh-ish with lots of rest, like hills! These were challenging, but it was easy to focus.

This is my rest. The intensity is a 4 bc even though it was easy, my HR was wayyyyy up.

Did some shorter reps after the longer ones, this time on trails. Fun workout. I should do longer hills or more reps next time:)

Still getting the hang of the terrain loop. There were a few times where I wasn't sure if I was going the right direction, and a few times where I couldn't run hard enough bc of deadfall, etc. I'm sure I'll get better at it soon, but in the meantime I'm thinking of adding more hills.

Warmup and cooldown on trails. The trails were worse for running than the woods!

The good news was that I was finally un-sore from hills:)

There was a control-picking course drawn on the map with my terrain loop, so I did a quick section of it as part of my cooldown. Fun!

This also got me thinking about how to make my Hammond Pond trainings better translate to good results in less familiar terrain.

1. Identify the errors I make in less familiar terrain.

2. Use this info to design training around a very specific task (today: estimating my exit angle) that, ideally, isn't made easier bc I know the map. (An example of a bad task would be simplifying, bc I've learned what the most prominent features on the map are from using them a bunch.)

3. I can also set myself up for Hammond Pond trainings by doing an analogous armchair exercise a day or 2 before to prepare. I haven't tried this yet, but I think it'll help keep me from going on auto-pilot as soon as I get to the woods. This is a very common problem for me at HP since I know the map so well.

4. Focus on physical training!!! I have a long way to go in the terrain running department.

Ugh hard! This was after training, and I focused on core and hamstrings.

Before training