Training Log Archive: Billenicus

Schools Sprint - Kildare College, Wagga Wagga.
Fun sprint on a 1:2000 map, so everything happening very quickly.
Went out with the intention of not racing and managed to stick to that despite temptation - Natasha started off at exactly the same time on the same course and we caught Stuart E up 1 minute quite early on. It was a real struggle to deliberately keep at a pace which let them gradually get away!

Nice and smooth most of the way, but didn't spot a dead end leaving 19 and then wasn't quite ready for 29-21 and picked the wrong route having not spotted that there was a route to the left.

Injuries all seem to be under control, and felt fine afterwards.

Course A - Splits

Oceania Relay - Split Rock - M50/45 4.2Km 270m
Really enjoyable course - very little let up in the navigation, with rock detail all the way but good running (apart from the steep up / down).
Running 3rd leg. Missed Dave Crofts coming in, but Jock also missed his runner so we were basically starting at the same time with Bruce Arthur a few seconds ahead. Missed the first control by about 20s - saw it but assumed it wasn't mine because the feature looked too small. So Jock got just ahead and Bruce got away. We had different 2nd controls. Mine was higher up so I went out to the top of the hill on the way to 3. Jock's was lower so he contoured to 3 through the rock, and I assume I got ahead of him there. On my own through the next few controls, being quite careful. Had a longer split to 7, and apparently Jock could see me going to 8. Good up to 11, but slow and not in control on the descent to 12. Lucky to see the TV camera position below 12 which allowed me to correct. Then easy couple of legs to finish with. Looked back coming up to the fence below 13 to see Bruce just behind, but enough of a gap to stay ahead with Jock coming in about a minute later. Happy!

Aus Long Champs - Split Rock (nr Cootamundra) - M50 - 6.7Km 240m
Nice area with lots of rock. Some tricky controls, and some easier bits. From 13 to the end a bit boring, but enjoyed the course overall.
Went out not intending to attack the course as it didn't count for anything in the context of the week. Concentrating more on getting it right. Largely succeeded on both counts though still quite tired afterwards. Missed about 15s at 13, but apart from that the only time losses were a few seconds 9-10 (trapped by rocks) and a few seconds 15-16 (trapped by barbed wire).

C • Barbed wire 5

Course 6 - Splits

Event: Oceania 2019
 

Oceania Sprint Champs - Charles Sturt Uni, Wagga Wagga - M50A
A mix of campus plus a fairly steep partly bush covered hill. Very difficult to decide on shoes beforehand because right heel has been quite sore the past couple of days and I didn't want to aggravate it. In the end O shoes were OK.
Quite a fiddly course - a few nasty little traps which weren't easy to decipher on the map. Felt like a pretty poor run. Lost a few seconds at 6 (ran to the corner of the building rather than the tree). Didn't see the best route to 7 ( a few seconds). Failed to spot that 9 was on top of the bridge (-10s). A bit hesitant on 10. -5s on 17. -25s on 18 - didn't realise the control was on the other side of the wall and went up the steps. Poor route and hesitant to 20 (-10s). Mostly running OK, but felt slow on the terrain. Injuries were OK while running, but heel a bit sore afterwards, and right hip sore both before and after.

Fortunately none of the Aussies did particularly well either.

Course 5 - Splits

Variant on the extended Avro-Avian loop. Missed out the section with the logging and added a loop at the far end.

Back has been getting slowly better. No pain from it while running, but left glute grumbly. Feeling pretty fit and fresh, but not sure how I'll cope with a Sprint on Saturday.

The short Avian-Avro loop
Wasn't going to run today, but after spending the whole day sitting down, really wanted the exercise. Back is still pretty sore but OK while running (though left glute a bit sore, as it was yesterday).