Training Log Archive: Craig

Australian Relays, Moondyne Road.
Third overall well behind Denmark and about a minute behind Victoria.
Oscar came in with the lead group and I set out with Bruce on second leg. Stayed with Bruce on the first loop thanks partly to a shorter split on the first control but once we started going uphill Bruce steadily pulled away. Saw the Danish runner a few times as he kept making mistakes but he was running a lot faster than me and got well clear in the last third of the course.

I had a pretty solid run. In hindsight I could have done a few legs a bit better but didn't make any real mistakes, just need to get fitter.
I was a little disappointed to let Bruce get so far ahead (4 minutes) but there wasn't really much I could do about it. Tomas pulled back a bit of time on David Brownridge on the final leg but couldn't quite catch him.

It was nice have a competitive team for a change and maybe we can do it again when Henry returns from Sweden. I'll need to get a lot fitter if Iwant to contribute again but Tomas is considering sticking with the Nomads and Cameron was only a couple of minutes slower than me today so maybe they won't need me.

C • We still need you 7

Australian Long Champs, Warranine Brook.

Had real problems adjusting to the 1:15 scale at the start. First control looked easy but I just couldn't make anything fit leaving the start so I was really hesitant and checked the compass heaps. No problem finding 1 in the end but I was still really shaky leaving 1 and didn't really have any map contact until I passed Wayne running across the paddock most of the way to 2.

Felt a lot more comfortable into 2 and across to 3 where I found fletch coming back into it as I left. 4,5,6 was ok without being super smooth. Steve started to pull away up the hill to 7 but was missing the controls so I was ahead into 8,9,10. He passed me again climbing up to 11 and got a bit of a gap but we were back together at the control.

Leaving 11 I planned to drop down the hill to the left early but I was drawn a bit right by more open running and kept trying to read the map as if I was leaving 17 instead of 11 so got caught up a bit in the green S of 17 before swinging a bit left. Steve ran past me climbing the hill to 12 but missed it once again so I had a bit of a gap heading to 13. I thought Steve was right behind me again at 13 so I was surprised when he wasn't there leaving 14 but it turns out he didn't see me punch 13 and lost a bit of time there. That was the last I saw of him and I was alone the rest of the way.

I ran pretty straight to 15 and 16 and got them fine but I was getting very tired climbing up to 17. I had a gel here but it was maybe a bit late as I was having real problems thinking clearly on the way to 18. I was stumbling through pretty straight and having real trouble making the map fit and unable to maintain focus. Eventually realised I could just bail out W to the fence and come in down the creek so I did that. Not a major mistake but definitely slow.

Kind of switched into survival mode at this point. Didn't drop the pace too much but more concerned with just getting home without a blowout rather than trying to be really efficient. Decided to straight line 19 as the light green was mostly pretty fast. Went a bit wider left than intended on 22 as I just couldn't get up the hill but from there I felt pretty comfortable and in control to the finish.

Happy with the run and the result. Feel I could have gained a lot of time with better fitness, especially up the hills. Might try to do some proper training for a while and see if the speed starts to come back.

Making up a 4 for Rachel's pennants team training. Tried to play like a girl.

Easy run around KP with Rachel. Felt pretty good.

Aus Sprint Champs, Curtin Uni.

A couple of laps of the oval with Tomas to warm up plus a jog to the start and I was wondering why I entered this. I really wasn't looking forward to it at all.
Once I got out there it actually wasn't so bad, almost enjoyable even. Not too difficult to find a reasonable route on every leg and always busy enough to not have time to think about how slowly I was running or how much better some other route might have been. No really significant problems, just a small unnecessary double back after 12 to make sure I avoided some out of bounds (5s) and a dud route from 15-16 where I had to double back a bit to get onto the right level (15s).

Feeling a lot happier at the finish than I was at the start but still glad that I decided to switch to M40 for the sprint in Tasmania.

C • 15-16 6

M21E - Splits

Aus middle champs, Lover's Ridge.

Didn't do much of a warm up but felt much better than I expected to running up and down the gentle slope on the track near the start a few times. Continued to feel pretty good through the first half of the course which was mostly downhill and pretty open. First 8 controls of very fast simple spur gully was easy but good fun. Saw NSW guy who started 2 min in front on the way to 3 but didn't catch him until 8. Saw Joanna Maynard sitting down crying just above 7 so I asked if she was ok but didn't really believe her when she said yes so checked again that she could get herself back. I was thinking more about her than where I was going leaving 7 and lost contact with the map for a while but ended up going pretty much where I intended to I think.

Next section from 9-15 was completely different with a bunch of short legs in small rock on a gentle slope. I was really enjoying this bit. I got past NSW guy when he went in too high and hit 10 before 9 and was feeling good about my execution up to 12 but started to lose it a bit at 13. Hit the boulder on the S edge of the circle as most did I think. I recovered reasonably quickly but started to struggle physically from there and never really got the concentration back.

Across to 16 I thought the best approach would be to climb early and come in left of 20 above the steep rocky slope but I couldn't convince my legs and I left 15 well right of the straight line. I found a reasonably route up through the rocks but I was struggling to maintain concentration. I kept thinking 16 was on the boulder cluster and kept looking at 17 on the map instead of 16. I got to the circle ok and ran around the boulder cluster before stopping to read the map and description carefully enough to see the boulder. 17 and 18 were ok but I was losing efficiency. Had to jump down the cliff at 18 instead of running left of it. Hesitated at the boulder field on the edge of the circle at 19 then made my biggest mistake of the day on 20. Looked easy to run below all the rock until out in the clear but I climbed a bit early to avoid a tree with low branches and then wasted time looking on the boulder cluster just W of the control as the right boulders were just out of sight around a little spur. A result of a general fatigue induced loss of concentration I think.

Spent the long grind up to the spectator control trying to regathering the concentration for the final loop making sure I had a clear plan for every control. Happy with 24 and 25 but got a bit distracted heading to 26 with a lot of other people around and lower visibility. Didn't really execute my plan but found it ok and then it was just the trudge up to the finish. I thought I did a reasonable job of pushing myself on the final sprint to the finish but I still took almost double the fastest time (42 vs 23). Nothing left in the tank.

Really enjoyable course. Not super technical but each group of controls tested you in a different way which kept things interesting. Pretty happy to get another M40 win beating Bruce by a minute. Tomas got me by a minute despite losing a couple on 26 and fletch might have got me if he hadn't lost 5 minutes on the same control.

Aust MDC, Course M21E - Splits

Event: Karrak Karnival
 

Warm up jog to the start, back up the hill and back to the start again. Feeling quite good.

WA Long Champs at Spice Brook.
Felt pretty good from the start, definitely better than I have felt at any recent events. Had a pretty clean run, just drifted off my intended route a bit a couple of times, particularly 8-9-10. Planned to go out to the track on 15 but made a last second decision to straight line it, not sure if it was a good one, felt fresher at the start of the leg than I did at the end. Took a few seconds to spot the boulder at the end and was also a little shaky coming into 16 but didn't lose much. Lost a few more seconds on 18 running to the higher boulder field which I hadn't really seen on the contour on the edge of the circle.
Overall pretty happy with the run and my position relative to others.

WA Long Champs, Course M21A - Splits

Bumped into Ian Finnie on the street at lunchtime. Turns out he works at the other end of the same block as me. Had a good chat and offered to lead him around a course some time. I suggested he should talk to people in advance before deciding to follow them around as a learning exercise as it seems to bother some people.