Training Log Archive: jennycas

Last of the races at Hill End, covering some of the same terrain as yesterday, and running in a W21E team with Bridget then Liv then me. Was a bit nervous about the possibility of being up against Krystal & Tash on 3rd leg, but Tash was sick & didn't run, and Krystal passed me and was gone before the 2nd control, then I saw a couple of junior boys (from the mass start) around me for the next few controls and ran the rest of the course on my own, taking the erosion detail fairly cautiously and with small hesitations but feeling physically quite good, and buoyed by Bridget's excitement when I went through the spectator control. Perhaps I could have been a couple min more efficient all up, but the really nice thing was that we finished in 3rd, same as last year :)

Can't believe how much I've enjoyed this carnival, partly because of nearly-clean runs (maybe 5 min lost all up across the week's races) and also because my knees handled the goldmining terrain much better than I had anticipated - so this weekend's results have kind of made up for the disappointment of NZ.

Now to think about summer training in advance of next year's WMOC in Denmark...

C • Awesome Jen! 5

Boot-camp paid off :)
Somehow I managed 2nd in W40; 5 minutes behind Tracy but just ahead of Allison who'd had some trouble. I really enjoyed this course, and although I would have liked to be about 1 min/km faster, managed to keep running up all but one of the hills, and achieved my goal of finishing before Johnnnn who had started 6 min behind me (M21AS had the same course, and I saw him in the distance behind me about 4 controls from the end). Also managed not to stuff up the first control - it was straight into the goldmining - or lose more than a couple min all up on small faffings-about in the control circles. Happy with my decision to go straight on the long leg, too.

Aus Long Course 7 - Splits

Made hard work of a run around the bike paths alongside the (nearly-empty) Macquarie River - but it was a nice crisp morning and I'd never had the opportunity to check out the town the last time I was in Bathurst. Knees didn't like the stairs when we went out to Kanangra Walls later in the day but the views were spectacular.

Terrain boot-camp part 3: Hills! The last time I ran here was the final day of the 5-days at the start of 2007 (when all the international juniors were here in advance of JWOC in Dubbo) and it was raining then too. Today's precipitation didn't dampen the enjoyment of watching the schools' relays and cheering on the South Aussies (no outstanding results, but some fine efforts) although the steep uphill spectator leg led to some apprehension among the public who were to run later. With a mass start grouped by course, there were plenty of people around to keep me running up hills, and although many of them got away initially, I reeled a few back in, partly because I think I got the long leg route choice right although I wish I'd thought of going further east to the big track even sooner.

Bathurst 3 Day - Day 3 Middle - C2 H2 MenB WomenA - Splits

All Saints' School, Bathurst. The general public ran before the schools' kiddies did and there were some issues with people's routes automatically uploading from Garmin to Strava - oops. I myself did not have any oops; despite many many changes of direction around the boarding school and a total of 70 controls out there I only once popped out of the wrong corridor to that which I had intended and therefore started looking left instead of right. Legs were a bit dead from yesterday so wasn't running particularly fast but felt I navigated fluently, although I can see just how much time someone with an SIAC would have saved on 28 controls, compared to me!

In the afternoon I convinced our household that we should drive out to Evans Crown (scene of 1993 Aust Champs) near Tarana and walk to the top to play amongst the giant balancing boulders :)

C • Strava 6

Bathurst 3Day - Day2 Sprint C2 H2 MenB WomenA EODH - Splits

Terrain boot-camp part 2: log-jumping! Aust Schools' Champs individual on lovely subtle spur-gully forest out near Wyangala, with granite rocks which are the same colour as the trees, and termite mounds which thankfully stand out as rather more orange. I really enjoyed this course once my arches stopped being so painful (they were excruciating for the first 20-30 min and I kept having to stop and stretch) and through the middle part I was trying and failing to get away from a girl in green who had caught me when I had to walk the uphill leg because of my feet, but somehow on the long leg after the spectator control she didn't keep in contact with me and came in 7 min after I did. Quite pleased to have lost only about a minute on the whole course, and at least I wouldn't have been last in senior boys!

Bathurst 3day - Day1 C2 H2 MenB WomenA - Splits

Made hard work of a bridge-to-bridge river loop in Penrith before a day of family stuff which was finished off by going to the drive-in @Blacktown to see Captain Underpants (12-year old nephew's request).

Here beginneth this week's terrain boot-camp; part 1: erosion-scrambling.

This was fun, and justified running elites - a middle distance course which was over 80% in the complex gold mining erosion detail stuff, which I managed to read pretty well with no major errors although I probably still frittered away a couple of minutes on route choices where I went a bit too wide, not always intentionally. Given how slowly I was actually running, as evidenced by a finish split of 50 sec when everyone else was in the 30s, I'm quite surprised to be not much more than 10 min behind the winners, which used to be my goal when I was younger and fitter. Really enjoyed focusing on the detailed stuff and am especially proud of having spotted the route through the 'tunnel' while the girls who'd caught up to me were milling around going "where did she go?" although I don't think you can technically use as a control description something which isn't on the map (the creek went underground through a small spur, so the map just showed a watercourse end on either side of the spur but the control description was something they'd made up, I think - unless it's in the proposed new control description set?).

Lovely terrain, but I'm not looking forward to travelling the road to/from Hill End twice more...

C • Comparing routes x2 3

Middle Dist Champs Course 3 - Splits

Event: Australian Orienteering Carnival 2017
 

Charles Sturt University, Bathurst. A fun campus with lots of little buildings and the possibility of going the wrong way around them, even at the very slow plodding pace with which I was afflicted from the get-(stop-and-)go. First really short leg was fine, compass wouldn't settle for the next couple of controls and I was all over the place; Liv ran past me on the way to 3. After that it was mostly ok apart from the heat and my unfitness, but I was annoyed at the 'passable wall' on the way to 15 which had 8-foot high mesh behind making it impassable. Guess this is a similar result to about how I was running at the 5-Days last December; certainly there wouldn't have been anywhere to hide if I was in 40s this weekend, either. And at least my not hiring a SI Air card made no difference to my placing because I was so far behind.

Aus Sprint Champs Course 2 - Splits