Training Log Archive: BorisGrIn the 7 days ending Sep 23, 2016:
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Friday Sep 23, 2016 #
Orienteering 20:00 [2]
This was NAOC, and a middle distance WRE, so I approached the race as seriously as I could given my lack of fitness and preparation. I did a long warm-up and took the time to walk and jog around the warm-up map, which made me think that the woods would be pretty green.
Orienteering race 49:32 [4] *** 5.5 km (9:00 / km) +260m 7:17 / km
26c shoes: VJ Supra Fall 2015
NAOC Middle Distance.
26th out of 55 - just barely in the top half of the field; 14th American. WinSplits shows me as having made just over 3 minutes of mistakes, which is way too much for this race.
I was the first starter, which I think was a sizable disadvantage in terms of terrain tracking up. But none of that is enough to explain away the fact that I am simply to slow to be competitive these days. Although I felt like I was racing a little too rushed and never quite in synch with the map, there were a few legs that I felt I executed well, but I still managed only 3 top-20 splits.
Still, I really enjoyed the course and felt that Glen Tryson did an excellent job with the area he was given. I had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the control-pick nature of the course.
There was nothing I or my countrymen could do to stop the Canadian dominance on this day. Still, while this would not really change the results for the purposes of the BK Cup, it is disappointing that rules dictated for Thierry to start at the very back of the field, as opposed to separately from the Regional Championship field. The result was that Damian got a massive ride for most of the course, all the way to a North American title and a guaranteed WOC position. It is entirely possible that he would have won anyway - he raced extremely well the entire weekend - but this outcome leaves a slightly unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth.
My route is on RouteGadget: http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...
26th out of 55 - just barely in the top half of the field; 14th American. WinSplits shows me as having made just over 3 minutes of mistakes, which is way too much for this race.
I was the first starter, which I think was a sizable disadvantage in terms of terrain tracking up. But none of that is enough to explain away the fact that I am simply to slow to be competitive these days. Although I felt like I was racing a little too rushed and never quite in synch with the map, there were a few legs that I felt I executed well, but I still managed only 3 top-20 splits.
Still, I really enjoyed the course and felt that Glen Tryson did an excellent job with the area he was given. I had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed the control-pick nature of the course.
There was nothing I or my countrymen could do to stop the Canadian dominance on this day. Still, while this would not really change the results for the purposes of the BK Cup, it is disappointing that rules dictated for Thierry to start at the very back of the field, as opposed to separately from the Regional Championship field. The result was that Damian got a massive ride for most of the course, all the way to a North American title and a guaranteed WOC position. It is entirely possible that he would have won anyway - he raced extremely well the entire weekend - but this outcome leaves a slightly unpleasant aftertaste in my mouth.
My route is on RouteGadget: http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...
Note
My middle distance results at NAOC:
2010 - 8th
2012 - 4th
2014 - 9th
2016 - 23rd
Not a good trend...
2010 - 8th
2012 - 4th
2014 - 9th
2016 - 23rd
Not a good trend...
Wednesday Sep 21, 2016 #
Cross-Training 45:00
Intervals on the elliptical, 8x2 minutes, with 1 minute rest.
PT 10:00 [1]
Some stretching and leg raises.
Tuesday Sep 20, 2016 #
PT 30:00 [1]
Some needling in the hip and glute today.
Monday Sep 19, 2016 #
Cross-Training 30:00 [1]
T.rex training 15:00 [1]
Sunday Sep 18, 2016 #
Note
There are many things I keep thinking about the US Classic Champs weekend: the great racing, the AGM and the Board elections, the many good friends I was lucky enough to see, the seemingly endless burrs on my legs that juniors helped remove, the smiles on the faces of orienteers - young and old alike - as they posed for a picture with the always-obliging and gracious Thierry.
But the thing my mind keeps coming back to is that on Saturday I chatted with a guy - Paul - who lives in the area and saw that there was an event in the park. He went and ran the recreational White course. Loved it. Said he would come back and bring his daughter the next day. I saw him again the next day at the finish with his daughter. He was all smiles - they had a great time on Yellow and wanted to do the Orange course. Time was running late, so I said "Forget going back to the parking lot for registration. Just go up to the start and ask for a map." So he did. And I saw him again as we were leaving the arena - they were back from the Orange course, had a great time again. They were asking how to find more meets and get involved in HVO. Not sure if they'll be back, but I think there is a good chance.
This is what I want from our sport. Having it be open and welcoming and flexible that people can turn up, have a great time, and be hooked. I know it's not for everyone, but surely there is more people out there who would also see that this is the best sport in the world if they were only exposed to it.
But the thing my mind keeps coming back to is that on Saturday I chatted with a guy - Paul - who lives in the area and saw that there was an event in the park. He went and ran the recreational White course. Loved it. Said he would come back and bring his daughter the next day. I saw him again the next day at the finish with his daughter. He was all smiles - they had a great time on Yellow and wanted to do the Orange course. Time was running late, so I said "Forget going back to the parking lot for registration. Just go up to the start and ask for a map." So he did. And I saw him again as we were leaving the arena - they were back from the Orange course, had a great time again. They were asking how to find more meets and get involved in HVO. Not sure if they'll be back, but I think there is a good chance.
This is what I want from our sport. Having it be open and welcoming and flexible that people can turn up, have a great time, and be hooked. I know it's not for everyone, but surely there is more people out there who would also see that this is the best sport in the world if they were only exposed to it.
Orienteering race 49:25 [3] *** 5.0 km (9:53 / km) +165m 8:29 / km
11c shoes: Old VJ Falcons From Online Auc
Day 2 of the US Classic Championships at Ward Pound Ridge.
I saw at the start that Kristin Hall was starting 2 minutes behind me on the Green Y course and, after a bit of trash-talking, I was pretty pumped.
The goal today was to be cleaner, pick better lines in terrain, and to not forget to orienteer all the way to the flag, rather than just to the circle.
I think I mostly succeeded. I had no real problems in the control circle, apart from not seeing #4 for a few seconds despite standing right in front of it. It just didn't look like a boulder from the side I approached. My biggest time loss was the long leg to 5. Looking at it, I was sure the best route was to go right on the trails, but Kristin went left and took nearly a minute out of me!
Besides that I think I had a good race and hit most of my technical goals. And most importantly, I really enjoyed myself. I really hope that I can get back to being competitive at least at the M21 level in the US again, but even if not, I feel like I will keep enjoying orienteering at whatever level of competition I am able to put up.
My route is here: http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...&
Thanks HVO and WCOC for a wonderful weekend of orienteering!
Also, how awesome are my wife and dog?!
https://photos.smugmug.com/2016-Journal/09-Septemb...
I saw at the start that Kristin Hall was starting 2 minutes behind me on the Green Y course and, after a bit of trash-talking, I was pretty pumped.
The goal today was to be cleaner, pick better lines in terrain, and to not forget to orienteer all the way to the flag, rather than just to the circle.
I think I mostly succeeded. I had no real problems in the control circle, apart from not seeing #4 for a few seconds despite standing right in front of it. It just didn't look like a boulder from the side I approached. My biggest time loss was the long leg to 5. Looking at it, I was sure the best route was to go right on the trails, but Kristin went left and took nearly a minute out of me!
Besides that I think I had a good race and hit most of my technical goals. And most importantly, I really enjoyed myself. I really hope that I can get back to being competitive at least at the M21 level in the US again, but even if not, I feel like I will keep enjoying orienteering at whatever level of competition I am able to put up.
My route is here: http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...&
Thanks HVO and WCOC for a wonderful weekend of orienteering!
Also, how awesome are my wife and dog?!
https://photos.smugmug.com/2016-Journal/09-Septemb...
Saturday Sep 17, 2016 #
Orienteering race 46:22 [3] *** 5.3 km (8:45 / km)
12c shoes: VJ Supra Fall 2015
I ran the M-Green class on the Green-Y course at Day 1 of the US Classic Championships at Ward Pound Ridge Reservation on the border of New York and Connecticut.
This was one of my favorite places to orienteer when I was younger and lived in New York. It was then off-limits to orienteers for a long time, so I was thrilled to come back and get to run here again, even if I am far from 100% able to compete.
My route is here: http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...&
The Green course was a good challenge for me, and it was very clear for me that my orienteering skills were rusty. I opened well, winning the splits to 1 and 2, but was sloppy after that. I lost around 30 seconds in the circle on 3, and picked an atrocious route choice to 4, climbing up the steepest, rockiest part of the slope. My route to 6 was good on paper, but the woods were much junkier in reality. It might have been better to go around on trails to the west.
I was clean from 7-11, but slow on the climb to 10 - I lost that split by 3 seconds despite hitting the control right on.
I then did a stupid thing to the last control and ran straight through the field, picking up lots and lots of burrs in the process - as can be seen in the picture on Thierry's log: http://tero42.free.fr/AP/20160918_theman.jpg . Kristin Hall got 20 seconds on me on this leg.
Overall, it was a solid run given my physical limitations right now. I won the Green Y course by about 4 minutes over Kristin, but she had a 2 minute mistake, so our speeds were pretty close.
This was one of my favorite places to orienteer when I was younger and lived in New York. It was then off-limits to orienteers for a long time, so I was thrilled to come back and get to run here again, even if I am far from 100% able to compete.
My route is here: http://www.vmeyer.net/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?ac...&
The Green course was a good challenge for me, and it was very clear for me that my orienteering skills were rusty. I opened well, winning the splits to 1 and 2, but was sloppy after that. I lost around 30 seconds in the circle on 3, and picked an atrocious route choice to 4, climbing up the steepest, rockiest part of the slope. My route to 6 was good on paper, but the woods were much junkier in reality. It might have been better to go around on trails to the west.
I was clean from 7-11, but slow on the climb to 10 - I lost that split by 3 seconds despite hitting the control right on.
I then did a stupid thing to the last control and ran straight through the field, picking up lots and lots of burrs in the process - as can be seen in the picture on Thierry's log: http://tero42.free.fr/AP/20160918_theman.jpg . Kristin Hall got 20 seconds on me on this leg.
Overall, it was a solid run given my physical limitations right now. I won the Green Y course by about 4 minutes over Kristin, but she had a 2 minute mistake, so our speeds were pretty close.