Training Log Archive: PG

Event: O Marathon II - Fair Hill NRMA, MD
 

Fair Hill O' Marathon (course distance as the crow flies was 26.2 miles). Good (probably real good given age/weight/training) run, some aches and pains but nothing really bad, no blisters, no chafing. No mistakes, nada, not even 50 meters. And totally in control mentally the whole way.

Finished 5th. Ross first about 4:05, then Clem maybe 4:20 or so, then Samantha maybe 4:50 or so, then Jim Rayburn several minutes in front of me. And after was David Onkst maybe 5:25. Joe maybe 5:45, Jeff Saeger maybe 5:50, Pavlina a little under 6. No sign yet of Fred when I left.

Smartest thing I did was getting a cheap room nearby instead of trying to drive home.... :-)

I'll put the map up in a little bit.

C • missed one 7

C • Fred 1

Time for an active recovery, so a couple of widely spaced intervals, 2x170 with dinner in between. Hey, normally I would have driven. Route. Included over a couple of curbs. No falls.

Here's the best I can do with the map right now, lots of pieces --

Start-1
1-2
2-4
4-5
5-6
6-8
8-13
13-14
14-16
16-20
20-23
23-24
24-29
29-35
35-39
39-42
42-Finish

A few more comments about Fair Hill....

First, a big thanks to Tom Overbaugh, meet director and course setter, for a brilliant job, everything right, even the weather. I think he had a few helpers. The ones that impressed me most were those out at the remote aid stations, they must have been out there quite a long time on a chilly day.

Fair Hill is an amazing place. At one point I was going through a particularly pretty spot ("pretty" to an orienteer's eye meaning interesting topography and nice open woods), and it occurred to me that most anyplace else this nice would be part of some big private estate and totally off limits. But at Fair Hill they seem happy to have us.

It is also unusual in that, with the exception of a city sprint, it's the only place I can recall where you could put out (and later retrieve) virtually all the controls by car, as long as you had a car that was happy driving across fields. The park managers didn't seem to mind.

The course distance was 26.2 miles (42.2 km) measured the traditional way, minimum possible distance. My 305 says I went 28.95 miles. I think Ross and Sam both went about 29.5. The fellow who finished just ahead of me, Jim Rayburn, very good runner, not so good navigating, said he did 31 miles. It was quite nice wearing the 305, a little bell ringing every mile. I was figuring on 30 miles (and hoping for 5 and a half hours). Hit the first half in 14.6 and 2:31, the second half was 14.4 and 2:44. Yes, the legs were going. Glad the race wasn't 2 laps, even though if it had been, you never know, I might have won.... :-)

The first and second halves felt quite different. Not so much the orienteering, even though the second half was easier (on purpose). More in that I had company almost the entire time on the first half, always people in sight ahead of me. Whereas on the second half I was by myself almost the entire time. And it was very nice to plod my way up at the end and not have to worry about anyone coming up from behind.

Weather was perfect. Wore gloves and a second shirt to start, but left them at the first aid station, the rest of the way with just a long-sleeve shirt and no gloves. And the MudClaws were great, very solid on the very uneven fields.

Not sure if/when the next O' marathon will be. If it's another 2 years from now, well, hopefully I will still be firing on all cylinders above the neck, but I'd expect the legs to be even more feeble. But hopefully I will still make it to the starting line.

Full Marathon - Splits

Heading south in advance of Fair Hill tomorrow. Sandy is kind enough to offer beds to me and the Saeger clan, so the first stop is Philadelphia. And since I could leave early, it seemed sensible to figure out a little something else to do other than just drive a bunch of miles. And though I have my clubs with me, there was no way they were getting used today as it was about 30F and very windy.

We'd been to Philadelphia last year this time and seen some of the historic part (Liberty Bell, Congress Hall), and driven past the art museum, but it was too late to go in. I took a look at their web site last night, and they were having an exhibit of an artist I'd never heard of, Arshile Gorky, and it looked interesting enough, so I figured why not.

I took a course in "modern" art in college, maybe the best course I took, the other candidate would be "game theory" (an economics course). And modern meant 20th century, well, 20th century up until the '60s because at that time that's all there was. I'd never heard of Gorky, but the little blurb listed a bunch of influences on him and they were mostly familiar names.

So I got to the museum about 3:15, got my ticket, asked where the exhibit was, and then the guy asked me if I was going to watch the explosion.

Huh?

Yeah, serious, 4:15, outside the front entrance, explosion art, this one called "Falling Petals" by a Chinese guy named Cai Guo-Qiang.

Why not?

So I went through the Gorky tour, got the audio tape to make it more interesting, quite nice, that got me done about 4, so I figured I better head out, didn't want to be late, also didn't know what the viewing arrangement would be, whether getting there earlier would mean a better view.

Did I say it was cold? Did I say it was windy?

Got outside and around to the front of the museum, the side you see if you're Rocky running up the steps, and there superimposed on the facade was this really big "flower," or at least the outline of a flower with lots of petals, the whole thing maybe 40-60 feet high and equally wide, all held up by some scaffolding behind it.

4:05. Lots of people out there. Lots and lots of cameras and video equipment. No problem with the view because it was all up above us. More and more people arriving (I'd guess there were at least a couple thousand there).

4:10. Five more minutes. Is this thing just going to explode without warning? I have no idea. I look around for a friendly face, everyone is quite bundled up but I manage to chat up a fellow, very friendly, knows a lot about the museum, knows about the "artist," knows that the artist was involved in the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics and is also supposed to be blowing something up when they open the world's tallest building in Dubai, but he doesn't know what's going to happen here and now.

4:15. And just when I think it's about to blow, a guy appears in front of the crowd with a microphone and and via a very good sound system introduces himself as the director of the museum. And talks a little about the project we are about to witness. And then he hands the microphone off to a women who has been responsible for making it happen, and she talks a bit, and it's all interesting enough, but the sky is starting to darken and jesus it's cold and how about hurrying up.

4:20. And by now the artist himself has been introduced, and he talks some, with a young woman translating very efficiently into English, and he is quite charming and funny.

And, he says, here is what's going to happen. First there's going to be a bunch of explosions that's going to light up the whole outline, and that will take 4 seconds. And then the whole thing will be on fire, with white sparkles falling down, and that will take 50 seconds. And then there will be a bunch of really big booms, like thunder, and that will take 2 seconds.

Big anticipation now, also big applause.

4:25. And the last thing he says is that it will happen at 4:30.

It is still not getting warmer. But, considering the fact that so far nothing has happened, it is still really exciting. More people than ever, the sky is getting dark, everyone is checking their cameras.

4:29:30 (on my watch). Another announcement -- "2 minutes." And then "1 minute 30 seconds." And then counting down every ten seconds until we get to 10-9-8.... and the whole crowd is counting down together.

And then wow! Booms and flashes and fire and smoke and more booms and more flashes and more fire and more smoke, and the whole thing is now burning. And that was just 4 seconds.

Lots of oohs and aahs from the crowd. Lots of fire, lots of smoke rising up into the sky. Slowly the fires mellow a little, and mellow a little more, and then, I suppose it's probably right about 50 seconds, the fires are just about out, and then suddenly, and really really loud....

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM (I think there were 5 of them, sure am glad I knew they were coming or I might have peed my pants).

More oohs and aahs and then a huge round of applause. And then we all rushed back into the warm museum just as fast as we could.

Art was never like this when I was growing up.

About 6" of snow followed by rain, so back to the treadmill, nothing special, just warm-up and then set it at 8:30 pace. Marathon pace? CarTalk on the ipod.

Also 20 minutes of shoveling plus maybe 45 seconds of crunch-type stuff. Will probably feel the former in my forearms tomorrow.

If occurred to me that I were a bit younger, the obvious and virtually irresistible plan for the coming weekend would have been to follow the Fair Hill Marathon with a quick flight to Kansas City for the Possum Trot on Sunday.

Just 15 years ago a similar situation, two appealing events on the same weekend and a time zone apart, a 12 hour rogaine at Mammoth Cave NP in Kentucky on Saturday and the Billygoat on Sunday at Townsend, Mass. Fred and I did the double, it was memorable even if we sleep ran through the Billygoat.

Hard to believe no one is doing it this time.

(Before the moved the date of the Trot a week later, the first half of the double would have been the Trail-O' champs in California. Yes, I know, not quite the same sense of macho....)

C • Fred and I did the double... 3

Just went to vote, not that it matters. U.S. Senate primary, choice on the Democratic side was a lawyer who isn't too exciting, or a politician who might be effective but is really annoying, or a businessman who seems to have no qualifications, or the guy I voted for, Alan Khazei, who has done lots of good stuff but has no chance of winning.

Or maybe I voted for him based on a decision not to vote for anyone whom I got robo-calls from, although eventually that would have disqualified all of them, but since I only got one from Khazei, it seemed only right to give him the nod.

Seems like the attorney will win.

C • Like 14

Thought I had time to run before dark, but it didn't happen. Ans since I didn't have my light with me, went on the treadmill. Included 2 x 1/2 mile (10% @ 5.4 mph), the rest about 8:20 pace after I got warmed up.

Got the heart going. I wonder what my max rate is these days, I'd guess about 170 or so. Will have to test it at some point.

I've been doing a little cleaning/organizing (in the hope of once again being able to see the floor in my "office") and I came upon a brief report from a study I was a guinea pig for. It gives the following numbers for me --

Weight: 142.6 pounds
Height: 66.3 inches
% fat: 7.1
Lean weight: 132.5 pounds
VO2max: 71.9

I think this was in 1988 (possibly 1987), when Swampfox and I offered to be subjects for a UMass grad student's research into something or other. Obviously all we cared about were the numbers we would get, though it was hard not to notice at the time that she was very cute.

The body fat was determined by underwater weighing. She'd lower you under, tell you to breathe out, yell at you to breathe out more, bring you up just when you were ready to croak, then say you can do better and send you down again. Took about 4 times until she was satisfied that we were really trying. I'm pretty sure I had a lower % fat than SF.

The VO2max was from a treadmill test. I think she set the treadmill at a reasonable incline and then jacked up the speed every 2 or 3 minutes. That was a painful exercise. I'm pretty sure I had a lower VO2max than SF.

And then I think the only other thing she did was take a blood sample. Only one of us passed out, and it wasn't me.

I think 71.9 is about right for a journeyman runner in his mid-40s. 7.1% isn't bad, though I am curious what it would have been when the G bottomed out around 131-132 a couple times in the last several years and I was really ripped.

The only other time I got tested was a few years before that, in the early 80s, on a bike. Have to see if I can dig out those numbers.

Once around the Greenfield course, an inch of somewhat crusty snow, low 30s. Probably about the temperature we'll have on Saturday. Reasonably pleasant. A lot of crows.

Tried out the heart monitor. It seemed to work pretty well, just a couple wacky points. What totally surprised me is that they make it virtually impossible to read the number on the run, at least for my eyes. It's there on the screen, upper right corner, but just insanely small. And no option that I could find to make it display any larger. Strange. You still get all the information, but it makes it hard to see the data in real time, whether you want it for training purposes or entertainment.

Run. Note that I ran around all the greens and traps, despite what the map shows....

C • Wimpy Eyes 15

I should make a note about yesterday morning just as a reminder.

Rhonda's morning class at Ratlum Mountain, a quite vigorous mix of yoga and pilates, I think. Quite a few people there -- Charlie, Mike and Marie, Jeff and Judy, Ross and Sam, Kissy, Barb and Dave -- displaying various degrees of coordination and/or uncoordination, all seemed to be very much into it, working hard, and having a very good time.

Except me. I just couldn't get with the program. I don't think it was because I feared looking foolish (I dealt with that at my first few yoga classes by just taking my glasses off, under the theory that if I couldn't see the others, then they couldn't see me, I know, silly, but it helped, and pretty soon I didn't give a damn).

I think things went downhill when we started the 10 minutes or so of abs work. And I was pretty sure that I was capable of at most a minute or two of abs work, and that if I was smart I would do even less, because why did I want to spend the next few days with sore abs. So I stopped pretty quick and just lay there and waited for the next body part to get assaulted.

And then did just a little of that, and lay around some more, really wondering what I was doing there, and feeling quite pathetic at the same time.

And then just a little of whatever the next section was.

Eventually I got up my gumption and walked over and grabbed my clothes and headed out. And had a nice little walk, took a few pictures, and felt much better.

To be remembered --
1. If you are feeling miserable, do something about it, otherwise it will only get worse.
2. You might try doing a little core work on a regular basis. It wouldn't hurt.
3. You are not supposed to be able to keep up with the young ones. Deal with it.

C • Core DVD 4

Splits from the Ratlum Mt. night-O.

Photo's from yesterday evening's night-O' --

Nicest were the trails...



Worst was probably going through hemlocks as they unloaded on you....



Of course the mountain laurel wasn't so great either....



Matter of fact, the white woods were a little scruffy too....



But the controls were all there. This one, 20 meters off the trail, was totally visible this morning, but last night I could not see it or the reflector from the trail. I think it got a lot more visible after I knocked a bunch of snow off the reflector.... :-)

C • That looks awesome 3

C • more night o pictures 3

Somehow I wanted to get in a run, but didn't want to run outside, even though it was perfectly pleasant (35F, breezy, an inch of snow on the ground, in other words conditions a month from now that would be considered unbelievably fine). So off to the gym, where I wanted to run 5 miles, got there at 3:10, it closes at 4 pm, just made it, changed, ran, showered, dressed, out the door at exactly 4 pm, brought back memories of Army days when you learned to move with a sense of urgency.

It did mean that I ran a little faster than I might have otherwise, but that is not such a bad thing. I've thought for a long time that the key for maintaining some running ability as you get older is to (1) keep your weight down,and (2) do some faster running on a regular basis. I supposed a mild effort toward the latter is still better than striking out on both things, which is where I've been since late summer.

9:02, 8:00, 8:00, 7:30, 7:25.

Was also testing shoes, the Mudclaws seemed reasonably comfortable, perhaps a little more so that the Roclite's have been, so I think I will wear them at Fair Hill.

Anyone who ran the Ratlum night-O' should enter their splits!

My routes from last night.

The only ones I saw from more than 10 meters away were 5 and 12. All the early ones I was the first one there and the reflector was totally covered in snow. Made it quite interesting, and a bit surprising sometimes to get so close before I saw either flag or reflector.

A totally fun outing.

And then a great dinner and fine company.