Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

Team Trials- Long

Gorgeous day. Clint Morse convinced me, before the start, to wear shorts on the course which was a great idea. the woods weren't exactly open, but there was no reason to wear pants, and shorts make me feel quick.

I was a bit hesitant on the first control, not seeing the indistinct trail on the way down the hillside, and thus being unsure about how far down the slope to go, and in which direction. I think I let this unnerve me too much, and started pelting down the hillside towards 2 with little regard to exactly where I was going. kept checking my compass and realizing that I wasn't on the right bearing, but never stopped to fix my bearing either. just got down to the bottom on the hill, and worked my way over to the control. Saw Ian Smith for the next couple of controls, in the loop, and then went pelting across the hillside towards 6 without a really great plan which had the potential to be a real disaster. I ended up over shooting 6 by a little bit, and I think learned my lesson about needing to stay in better control. was solid on 7-8-9-10, I think I chose well for me on my route over the top of the hill to 11. certainly talking to others, contouring around was a mistake. Erin Schirm had a pretty stellar split on this one. I saw Clem headed to 14 as I came in to 11, and that helped me keep pushing. I was reading the terrain very well on 12-16, 17 and 18 were okay, and then I stayed low through the campus to 19 which I thought was good, but again there were some pretty fast splits by other runners. I think I was getting tired at this point, and was off a bit on 20 ( hit a red control first) and slowish on 21. was very glad that the finish came up so quickly after that.

ended up 2nd on the day behind Eric, just a little ahead of Erin. But a good enough race to get me a spot on the WOC team. really thrilled about that. have been smiling ever since I finished.

many thanks to all those who put lot's of time into DVOA meet to make it such a success. apart from all the people that normally get acknowledged a big shout out to the start and finish crews who I found to be super encouraging and friendly. It was very nice to have happy helpful people at the beginning and end!

C • outcome 11

Blue Long - Splits

Team Trials- Middle

gorgeous day. I was careful on the first control, seeing that it was potentially a tough area, so I was cautious. This paid off, and I found the first control quite well. I was wobbly on my compass on the way to 2, and feeling very rushed for the whole first loop. I had a quite big error on 6, that was a result of me drifting quite far right on my line, hitting a pond much lower down the hillside, and then being quite bad about actually relocating. I panicked instead of relocating, which is especially embarrassing because the road was so close, and it would have been so easy to do. I did eventually figure out the terrain, but a lot of that was luck. Not great. But I resisted the temptation to run really hard and stupid on the next couple of controls. I was a bit sloppy on 9, which involved running past the control, and then looping down to the reentrant to the south of the flag to find myself. Then again on 12 ( maybe too tired from running up the hill to think properly) hit the wrong reentrant and had to correct.

too many mistakes. though only really mad about the one at control 6.

guess I ended up 14th on the day, don't know if I could have run Wil's time even with a cleaner run. I think 34-35 was possible just on leg speed though. so room for improvement.

Blue Middle - Splits

Team Trials- Sprint

Gorgeous day. longish downhill course. Felt odd not wearing spikes, but so much pavement and so many sidewalks so sneakers were probably best anyways.

to me it felt like the city sprint in Zermatt during the Swiss Six day. I felt very confident on the first control, which i spiked and which is a good way to start any race. my overall feeling during the race was one of not really moving so fast, but not being able to think any faster. When I finished and looked at my watch I was initially disappointed, because I was expecting the winning time to be closer to 18. I had one real route choice error, going left on the way to 15 when either middle or right would have been okay.

ended up 1 second slower than Eric Bone, but in 2nd place overall. Eric ran 1 second faster in the chute. I was quite pleased to have a good run.

Blue Sprint - Splits

CSU park-o. Franklin Park. Set by Vanessa.

A very nice sprint, and the rain held off, so that was nice too. I had seen a bunch of people leaving the start before me, and I left the start in that direction planning on getting my bearings as I went. Not a great idea actually, took me awhile to find the triangle and I think if I hadn't seen people leaving one way, I might have gone right instead of straight. Got bogged down in light green on the way to 11 and number 12 was very sneakily hidden behind the stone wall.

I might have been able to push harder, but I was happy with my run.

Today I just wanted to have a relaxing run home. My backpack was pretty heavy so that didn't help very much, and my lower calves are a bit sore from the track yesterday. It felt nice to be moving, though I did feel a little guilty for not pushing harder. I kept looking at my watch and seeing that I wasn't running as fast as normal.... some days can be running without intensity though.