Training Log Archive: JanetT

Saw a display on local National Parks at the Maritime Museum at Fishermans Wharf in SanFran, so we altered our last day plans to swing down to Pinnacles, about two hours south of SF. Possible interesting things were a trail through caves made from giant jumbled rocks piled together (rather than underground), and the condor gulch trail.

This track is for our hike from the Peaks View Trailhead (where we parked when closer lots filled up earlier in the morning), up through Bear Creek Gulch and through said caves, using my phone's flashlight app as a light source when needed (while I had my camera along, it doesn't take very good photos so I used my phone's camera instead). Once we finally figured the not-very-well-signed trails, we made it to the reservoir at the top.

Took the more open trail back down to the Nature Center, past the Monolith, on switchbacking trails near the end. Saw multiple red headed woodpeckers (including acorn woodpeckers), Black Eyed Juncoes, and Swainson's thrushes near the picnic tables.

We decided we had time to hike the 1-mile-each-way Condor Gulch trail to the Overlook, and made it there in about a half hour (Glen could have gotten there sooner, but I'm not a fast climber).

Once there we ran into others from whom we learned the critical info that condor wing undersides have whitish areas toward the forward part of their wings, vs. the multitudinous turkey vultures who have whitish feather underparts but black forewings. And we saw two California condors circling the highest peaks now and then, among the many vultures! Made the hike that much more worthwhile.

Because it had been such a busy day despite not being a weekend, they were running a shuttle back to the visitors center, which stopped to drop us off at the parking lot where we ended up, saving us another mile or so hike. I can't imagine where everyone would park on a weekend, or how quickly the lots would fill.

AOWN: Taking an extra day before heading home, we drove down towards Hollister and Gilroy, planning to visit Pinnacles NP tomorrow. On the way we stopped near Pacheco Pass (overlooking the San Luis reservoir) and were rewarded with the sight of at least three dozen elk (on the far hills, but we had binoculars), and western kingbirds flitting around the budding trees below us.

On the drive down we saw burgeoning fields of CA poppies but mostly widespread poppies, not complete hillsides of them (yet).

Jogging about just a bit before today's run (AP thought this was walking....)

Stage 7 Brown middle at Deer Creek Hills. Only mistake was route to 12.

Temps were a bit cooler than yesterday, but not much. More sun and no rain, too, made for happy campers after the run. :-)

Nominal stats: 3.6 km, 90m climb, middle format, using the SE portion of the mapped area, where we didn't go yesterday, though we used the same start control (shared run to a trail jct over the hill from start) and finish control as yesterday.

Good navigation and good visibility, plus I was more used to the mapping. More live trees (green circle) used as control points, fewer distinctions to be made between green X and brown X (both denoting dead trees of variable decay).

Only thing was that after 11 I got sloppy and didn't check direction leaving and heading to 12 so went to the wrong side of a spur (that 9 had been near the end of) and looped way out of the way. Once near 9 though I realized what I'd done and corrected. 2-2:30 lost in this stupidity, leaving me in 6th place F65 for the day (Hilary Andersen, Christin Lundgren, Marg Ellis, Penny DeMoss, and Johanna Meriss were ahead today, though Johanna only by a minute or so; I still would have been in 5th with no error).

Due to distribution of runners/courses and the point grading system (best 5 of 7 scores), though, I won F65 overall for the week. Top three in each class received nice gear bags with the event logo, and a carabiner clip (colors determined by place: 1-blue, 2-red, or 3-black).

Nice to be there for the announcement of the JWOC team; I got a few photos on my phone but don't know if they'll be good enough for the website.

Middle - Brown - Splits

Apparently, running "fast" (for me...Mills College and Sierra College sprints) is something my left hamstring doesn't like, especially when I don't warm up much. Not really super sore, but noticeable, especially when I just get up after sitting. More strengthening/stretching will be in store this week. This is the one I pulled near the end of a snowshoe race ~7 years ago, which isn't a problem unless I'm doing "faster" running than my normal.

One more day. Control count for the week is 107, with ~16 more coming tomorrow.

Today's WinSplits (all courses). Watch / Garmin Connect / phone did not give me a problem today.

Hints to myself:
Phone Bluetooth off
Be sure of good wifi or cell connection first
Put watch in Run mode
Turn phone Bluetooth on
Transfer?!

Brown Long at Deer Creek Hills south of Folsom, CA, an open space preserve managed by Sacramento Valley Conservancy. Car needed to ford a stream on the drive in; less "adventurous" folks parked before the ford and crossed on a wooden bridge. Nissan Rogue did fine even though water was a bit deeper on the way out. Low 50s and intermittent lght rain showers.

Nominally 4.5km, 95m climb (1:10000/5m map); lots of open areas with mature oak trees and not much undergrowth (and no poison oak!!). It's been wet so mapped ditches had water in them (and some mapped trails did too). The map was huge, printed on 11x17" paper although our course covered an area about 4x7", so I spent the time running to the common first control to fold my map to a more manageable size.

I had speedy Brown runners starting ahead of me whom I could see off in the distance so the first few controls were easy. #4 was the first one I navigated on my own, and did okay. To 5, I wanted to cut through the wide saddle leaving 4 but was a bit left and ended up farther up the first spur. There were so many of what they like to refer to as "tombstone rocks" there, in rows, that it looked like a cemetery...it was neat to see.

Made my way to the trail as Geraint receded into the distance, then left it too early and mistook one spur for another and hesitated (on seeing the rock with flag) before realizing yes, that was my control. Sari, the Finn who's been fastest woman on the course most days, punched and flew away here, but not so fast as to not help on the short leg to 6.

To 7 I climbed the reentrant and purposely found the trail junction but then hesitated in one tiny (unmapped) reentrant before correcting. To 8 it was just "cross the trail and climb the hill", and 9 I could see from a distance once pointed in the right direction. I heard steps and huffing as I neared the flag and let Geraint (!?!) punch a second ahead of me. Partway to 10 I could see a group (and Geraint) on a hilltop NW of the cliff, checked my map and saw my cliff was on the near side of the ditch (whereas the hill was beyond the ditch) so kept going my way as Geraint corrected and again took off.

10-11 was through the wide clearing I remembered from 3-4. 12 was "cross two small spurs, a stream and a trail, and it's a big tree behind a hill." With people heading into it. 13 was a slog/run/walk across open land to rocks on a spur I could see from 400m away...and 14 and the finish were easy from there.

Fun course. Top times on Brown were in the 35-39 minute range so the course was too short for a Long (but I wasn't complaining).

Behind Hilary A, Christin L, and Penny DeMoss, and I'm not sure about Marg Ellis in F65.

Long - Brown - Splits

Event: GCO: California Orienteering Week (COW), Part 2
 

Today's WinSplits

Had GarminConnect/Bluetooth problems again. It's a nuisance uninstalling/reinstalling the app to get the devices to talk to each other.

COW Stage 5, Brown sprint at Sierra College in Rocklin, CA (north of Folsom). Map is 1:4000, 2.5m contours (but features look awfully tiny for 1:4000). Nominally 1.9 km. Temps were in the mid 50s, sunny.

No trouble with the navigation, though in discussing routes afterward a different one from 9-10 would likely have been faster, being more straightforward. I worked my way between buildings, and read the description for 10 (SE inside corner) and used that to inform my route choice to pass the building to the north. Going wider right would have been simpler to execute and most likely faster. Not that it would have moved me up any places, just made my differential (4 minutes!!!) behind Hilary Anderson a bit smaller. I was hoping for a time under 20 minutes and am happy being under 19. 3rd F65 since Christin Lundgren is also here and was faster.

The same bird I disturbed going into the vegetated area at 1 was disturbed by a different runner as I passed by on my route from 11-12 (which took me close to 1). Poor thing probably has a nest in there.

Sprint - Brown - Splits

Today's results

Hilary Anderson from GVOC ran F65 so I'm in second for the day. Penny DeMoss vetted and didn't run.

Brown "spriddle" on 1:4000/2.5m sprint map at Mills College in Oakland.
Nominally 2.9 km, 80m climb. Great course by George Minarik.

Temps were in the low 60s, and we didn't start until after most of the showers had ended for the day (may return this evening).

We had looked at the "sample map" linked from the BAOC site, and I didn't see any major traps or potential problems, so it was just a matter of quick decision making and execution. The only one I missed was 19-20 where I needed to exit down a short flight of stairs to the ENE. I ended up along a different road and buildings weren't in the "right place" so I figured I'd ended up one road over and corrected. I seem to have lost about 40 seconds (based on time differential comparing with Glen's splits).

I'm wondering if there's also a stairway under the canopy at the N end of the building SE of 19? I was just looking for "stairs" and descended the ones I saw. Shoulda known they also needed to be in the open. EDITED: No, I went down the correct stairs but missed the left turn at the bottom (knew I didn't want the sharp left).

I took the right-hand route from 10-11, and the left route from 14-15.

14th(?) of 28, first F65 unless Penny DeMoss ran (we saw her helping pack equipment up, so I'm not sure). Guess I'll find out later. Not that far behind the fast runners either...Sue K was 3:30 ahead; Clare less than a minute (but still recovering from the flu); and ahead of the Finnish woman, Sari Jetsonen (who has beat me the other days). :-)

Urban Middle - Brown - Splits

Walking at Redwoods Regional Park and then Pinole Regional Park.

At the first one we were warned about breakins (from a park worker trimming branches). At Pinole (to save us a trip across a bay bridge on a rainy day), we saw bluebirds, dark eyed juncoes, ducks, and some robin-type bird. Poppies didn't like the rain and were mostly closed up.