Training Log Archive: iansmith

I enjoy challenges, and I like to think that by pushing ourselves to our limits, we discover new facets of ourselves - new aspects and contexts that would have otherwise been undiscovered. I had a very bizarre experience today, probably as some combination of sleep deprivation, poison oak, normal life stress, caffeine and so on, where I found myself in an unfamiliar state. But it was a very dark, troubling, disconcerting place which seemed to threaten to scour me from existence like a sandblaster. Like a dark menace looming over my mind; it was terrifying to behold. Any description I might make would be almost nonsensical. I hope to be able to endure any trial and come through, but I hope to never find myself in that place again. Sharing that crisis brings me some comfort, and surely I will find other remedies.

C • :( 6

And so another team trials has come and gone, and again I find myself on the outside looking in. I had some good results, but nothing spectacular, nothing to definitively make the case that I deserved to be on the team. All my race scores were in the [90,95] range, and my strongest showing was surprisingly in the long. I just didn't have it this year; neither my technique nor my physical abilities were up to the standard. I'm especially confused at how poorly I sprinted; to finish so far back (2 minutes behind Ethan?) is just unacceptable. Ethan isn't that much faster than me over a 5 km time trial (e.g.), so I must be losing the time elsewhere. I will take some time to evaluate, and my sights are set on the October A-meets and 2015. My goals are unchanged, and while this outcome is disappointing, the prize is now all the sweeter for the challenge it has been. It was wonderful seeing everyone this weekend, and thanks to the many who made this fun and challenging weekend happen!

Congratulations to the 2014 WOC team, especially Ethan and newcomer Tori!

C • Making the Team 6

Sprint Blue - Splits

Sprint Relay Variant Q - Splits

Warmup jog over to the start. I arrived with about ten minutes to spare and got to stop by the bathroom at the start. I had forgotten my bib. I took a Gu before my start and brought two more, which I took at controls 7 and 15.

Team Trials long course - Shell Ridge, listed as 10.75/635. Course by Erin Schirm. Executive summary: an acceptable if not stellar result, somewhat better than yesterday's middle. Technically, it was fine though I made some adventurous route choices, but I didn't have enough physically to compete for the top spots. Eight minutes back of Eddie, and Ethan'd and Matej'd.

My cold seemed to be improving, though I still consumed half a dozen puffs clearing out my nose this morning. I took the standard pseudoephedrine dose and drank about 200 mg of caffeine with breakfast. Coming in, I was apprehensive about my physical state; the terrain looked much faster and more physical than yesterday's.

I started comfortably hard, but felt good on the long leg climb and descent into 2. Physically, I started to fade a little after halfway through - I felt drained around 14 in particular. In the middle of the race, I imagined myself as a bold mountain cow (bull) gallivanting across the rugged terrain. Would bold mountain cow mispunch? Would bold mountain cow take anything less than a brazen and decisive route choice?

The first major decision was at 5 (19:55 - 35:36 on my track): plausible routes were far right on the trail, left around the right, and what I ultimately decided - up and over, then contouring around some mini-ridges. Nikolay went left, Eddie also went straight, and Matej and Ethan took right. All three times seemed comparable, and I'm ok with my decision. The right route had a great attack and a gentle grade, but didn't have that much less climb than straight.

The loop on the northern section of the course was uneventful apart from a fortuitous trail route from 7-8 that everyone seems to have taken. Controls 10-11 were quite a slog, leading nicely into the long leg to 12 (59:11-1:17 on track). I again elected to go straight over; while slightly right of that seems to have been better, my route wasn't appreciably slower than wide left or right and had a very solid attack. The rest of the course was uneventful but demanding of focus and tenacity. I'm disappointed to not be in the 98-100 minute group, but I don't think I could have run much faster at present. I hope that my cold accounts for at least 2-3 minutes of lost time.

Easy cool down run around the finish area. ("Hey Mats,") One day, I will figure out how to not trip buttons on my Garmin.

Long blue - Splits

Event: Run Black Diamond
 

I forgot my ANT stick, so this is a placeholder entry until I import the actual data.

My race was adequate but unremarkable; I finished 7 minutes behind ebone, 4 back of Wyatt, 2 behind Kenny and Matej, and 1 behind Ethan. Given my cold, my run could have been much worse. I felt like getting oxygen was my limiting factor rather than muscles fatigue, lactate, or stamina. I had one 2.5 minute error where I navigated to 4 instead of 9, and another minute at 10, where I marched too high on the hill rather than taking the control straight. I suppose I have to hope that this run gets dropped.

C • ant stick 2

After the walk to the arena, I jogged the 1.4 km to the start and ran a few quick reps in the terrain. I arrived at the start 15 minutes before my start time.

Cool down in the parking lot commiserating.

Middle Blue - Splits

Running around on a BAOC Morgan Territory course to get a feel for the terrain; Anna was part of my posse. Ran into Taco-C in the parking lot. This was my first real running in almost a week.

March has been a huge disappointment, logistically and physiologically. A combination of poor planning, busyness, and weak body have resulted in a poor performance. On the plus side, my legs feel very good, and I was running well last week. Unfortunately, I seem to be dying of a miniplague that I hope to crush with pseudoephedrine, drown with fluids, and sleep off tomorrow.

C • Feel better 4