Training Log Archive: Mess Engineer

Didn't feel like a run this morning and the constant rain sealed the deal.

Legs fairly sore from the weekend.
Skipped gym so left dressed ready in work clothes.
Been driving through Brandy Hill to avoid roadworks at Morpeth.

Must have been half asleep this morning as missed the turn off and ended up at Seaham before I noticed so took the scenic route to work.
Then once at work I went to the change room at work and started stripping off to get changed ... only to then realise I was already dressed ready to go.

Woke up more during the day!

Event: Newcastle Minor Event
 

Arrived just before 8 am to set-up.

Put out signs on the main road and at the first roundabout.

Set-up the start and finish controls.

Ran the Very Easy 2.1 km (9 Control) course so put out all the "Wrong Way Turn Back Signs".

Got my Partner started doing the Easy Long 2.9 km (20 Control) course. When she returned no controls missing so OK.

So with my Partners check, and mine of the Very Easy that was all the Controls on, or near, roads checked with no issues overnight.

By the time I was back helpers had arrived.

Shane and I had problems working out the computer but it ended up just being out lack of experience as there was no actual issue ... just our interpretation.

Did about another 3.5 km carrying about 2 x 6 kg of water in each hand out to two Control locations in the middle of the map. Arms were well and truly stretched. Next time I will choose controls near a road or get someone else with a 4WD to put them out.

So upon my return let Shane go out and compete and I manned the SI computer. This meant I got to greet people coming back but would have preferred to have been more freed up to talk to competitors.

Overall 72 Competitors came out in the glorious sunny day to see what event I had in store for them.
First time setting a Bush Event (in Newcastle ... set one in Whyalla probably 15 years ago).

6 Very Easy
8 Easy
4 Easy Long
4 Moderate Short
7 Moderate Long
16 Hard Short
9 Hard Medium
7 Hard Long
6 Medium Score
5 Long Score

Happy that some people moved across to do the Score variants.
Comments ranged from some people said "I hate Score I will stick with Line" whilst others wanted to "Choose my own adventure". For future reference ... if I have a choice of Score or Line I will choose Score.

Almost got a clean slate with mistake free. Turns out the electonic units for Stands 220 and 221 were swapped around (so Stand 221 had SI Unit 220 and Stand 220 has SI unit 221) when Greg Bacon rebuilt them all between last event and my event. Can't remember which of the two numbers I read when I checked placement. If you zoom in on the picture below of the back of my station wagon can see the problem! Anyway physically in correct spot on totally different features so only issue was mine in having to amend the course files.

Only issue with one Control 222 was didn't state which side of the earth bank. In physically laying out and walking the course, and putting out the controls only ever approached from the North so never considered having to state which side of the earth bank it was going to be. The original location was going to be at the pipe so "Man Made" but it was too boggy so we moved it up the bank.

At the end re-ran the Very Easy (2.1 km) course to collect 2 of the "Wrong Way" signs that had been missed.

Thanks to ....

Carolyn and Russell Rigby for help in set-up and packup

Viola O'Connor for help in set-up

Denis for guidance through the process

Joy Guy for manning the Start Desk

Shane Jenkins for manning the computer until I was freed up

Denis, Russell, Shane and Caroline, Joy Guy and friends, The Roberts family to sparing me the pain of having to go out and collect all the controls.


And barely made it through the final of "The Block" before crawling into bed around 9 pm.

C • well done 3

From Orienteering

Putting out 52 Controls for Sundays Event.
Predicted in advance it would take 8 hours so reasonable guess.
Had predrawn loop maps and moved the car around four times.
Ended up locking 42 of the 52 Controls to be doubly sure so carried a lot of weight in stands and padlocks today.

But glorious sunny day. Was 4 degrees when I left home so had jeans and two skivys on. Was regretting the jeans by 1 pm. Weather to continue on Sunday so hopefully that will boost attendance.

7:55 - 8:40 am
SE Loop 1. 1.0 km (plus 1.0 km loop from / back to car). 4 Controls.
8:40 am - 9:50 am
SE Loop 2. 2.3 km (plus 1.0 km loop from / back to car). 7 Controls.

Get in car and drive to West side of map.

10:00 am - 11:10 am
SW Loop. 2.7 km. 7 Controls (all Red / Hard so bush bashing)
11:10 am - 11:30 am
W Loop 1. 1 0.7 km. 3 Controls.
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
W Loop 2. 0.8 km. 6 Controls.

Get in car and drive to North of map.

12:15 pm - 12 :55 pm
N Loop 1. 1.5 km. 4 Controls.

Get in car and drive to North West corner of map.
12:55 pm - 1:30 pm
NW Loop 1. 1.1 km (plus 0.5 km from car). 5 Controls.
1:30 pm - 2:05 pm.
NW Loop 2. 1.3 km (plus 0.5 km back to car). 5 Controls.
2:05 pm - 3:25 pm.
Centre Loop. 1.5 km (plus 2 km from / back to car). 11 Controls.
Carrying this many controls at once and all the locks was a pain at the end but I didn't want to have to go back again!

If you link all the controls up for the score course its only about 8.5 to 9.5 km but all the backtracking due to carrying stuff effectively doubled the distance.

So hopefully tomorrow
(a) decent numbers turn up
(b) people volunteer for control collection as I don't want to have to repeat today
(c) no issues since everythings been vetted and I triple checked control numbers versus position today

Packed the wagon when I got home to return all the unused controls, blocks etc. Club laptop now on the charger. Have to transfer the OCAD file to SI unit tonight.

In the morning I still have to :
(a) put up road signs on the way in
(b) put out the start / finish controls
(c) put up the "wrong way go back signs for Very Easy"
(d) put out drinks (which is in the centre of the map!!)

Only got about 4 hours sleep ... combining with a week of not much sleep each night means fairly tired. Looking forward to a full busy weekend.

Was meant to be alternating with burpees but couldn't be bothered.
Didn't stick around for the remainder of the class.

Legs feeling yesterday when doing lunges. No left shoulder issues.

On Orienteering front for Sunday event
1. Picked up laptop for sport ident last night.
2. Picked up all the controls / flags last night.
3. Picked up more tethers and locks this morning.

Still got to email the map for printing and the start layout to helpers.
And then spend all Saturday putting out 52 controls.

54 cards (so all 4 suits and 2 Jokers) x 2 = 108 flights.

Having the cards numbered made it better.
When I got to 39 (like last Thursday) I was no where near as wrecked.

Also started to pay attention to speed.
First suite about 6:12
Second suite about 12:35 or something (so about 6:23)
Third suite about 19:42 (so about 7:07) (so faster than Thursday)
Last one has be multiplied by 13/15 so about 7:24
So slowing up slightly but not much (15%)

So next time target is sub 26 minutes.

It was 3 degrees when I started and lungs were burning with cold air.
By the end sweat was mass dripping off forehead.

C • you'll know you're really fit 2

Last opportunity to sort out maps for next weekends 'First Time Setter' event.
At Kurri Kurri with Denis.
1/2 to 2/3 of the time was sitting in back of station wagon going through everything on laptop.
Moved 1 or 2 controls slightly.
Added 2 new ones to sort out issue with too many competitors going to same control at start.
Distance a guess.

Denis has now :
- vetted every marked control location.
- vetted every control placement on the map.
- vetted every control description / symbols.
So I can now confidentally tell any whinger on the day where to go
(assuming I put the correct number at each location).

Will have to finalise and send off maps for printing Master copies.

Found that the road out to the event partially blocked with huge concrete blocks.
Passable but means have to drive in the centre of the road.
We were both happy to come back to the start to find our cars hadn't become burnt out wrecks while we were away (there was a burnt out car (and signs of another removed) on the way in).

Jackhammering at twin brothers on his staircase project.
He had hired an industrial scale jackhammer twice as big as the 'kanga hammer' borrowed from work so we took turns using each.
He had been at it since 8 am but my interest level ran out after 2 hours (didn't want to aggravate left shoulder or lower back).

Legs were on fire from yesterdays efforts so struggled.

Straight from Cycle Class to treadmill.

Continued to struggle.

Climbed up and down 39 times.
So 39 x 2 = 78 Stories.

Like yesterday the first 10 minutes seemed easy.
But today the extra 10 minutes got hard and the last 3 minutes was a total sweat fest. No intervals afterwards today!

Today I had a very small pack of playing cards in right hand and dropped one in a bucket at the top after each lap so I know I counted correctly! Next time I will write a number of back of the cards so I can count down.

So the challenge is to run out of cards.

And there were 4 extra stories walked anyway - 2 at the start to put the bucket etc at the top and 2 at the end to go and retrieve it.

C • preparation 3

Was walking with dogs to do a loop around the back and I could see an animal from about 100 m away which looked sort of like a big hare.
As a joke I pointed in its direction and said to the dogs "go and get it" but they did nothing.

When I got down there (by the trench) it turned out to be a koala which rapidly climbed the tree whilst I stood in front of the dogs blocking their way since they wanted a piece of it.

It stayed on about 2 m up initially but by time Partner came down it was at the very top of the tree.

Been looking for other morning ideas since it is too dark to run on back streets and parks.

Gym 2 Story Carpark.
Stairway has 8 steps, landing with 180 degree turn, 8 steps, landing with 180 degree turn (First Floor), 8 steps, landing with 180 degree turn, 8 steps then landing to Second Floor.
So 32 steps in all.

Run up and down approximately 25 times (so 50 stories).
Not as tiring as I expected but was hard to remember which number I was up to.
Need an abacus or something at the top to mark each one off.

Would have been a good exercise for the heart monitor but found battery was flat when I picked it up.

My "first ever" attempt at Sprint Intervals.

On First Floor of Gym Car Park under decent lighting.
Almost no cars as majority of people park on ground level ... or turned up prior to 6 am opening time.

Sprinted from one end to the other and then walked back.
Using geodistance on satellite image said 0.0936 km so for simplicity will claim as 100 m.
Repeat 10 times. Really felt the last one.
Not sure how long it actually took and no recovery apart from the walking time back.

17.13
17.06
16.89
15.41
15.59
15.53
15.77
15.90
15.52
15.29

C • Intervals 1

Mix of weights from 30 kg, 25 kg, 20 kg, 15 kg depending how shoulder was playing up. Returning to 20 kg for chest was a killer.

Event: NOY7 - Heartrate Hills
 

Run previously on this "Heart Rate Hills" map and had very mixed results with some long periods of getting lost ... and some faultless runs. Contours, contours, contours everywhere.

#1 So close to the start that the circle overlapped the triangle. I still managed to overshoot and had to come back. Almost the slowest competitor to this control losing about 2 minutes looking at the splits. So great start for me ... again.

#2 South down track. W following streamer trail. Cut through the bush. Came to watercourse low. Chose the wrong arm so lost some time. So two screwups already so wrote this event off.

#3 Really struggling on the hills so resorted to walking some. Up to track. NW along track. Then diagonal to correct water course. No issues.

#4 NW to other track. Took the 2nd branch off to the west. Down to watercourse and along to control. No issues.

#5 NE back to main track. Up to track Y intersection. North to minor track. Followed minor track around W to Y intersection. Then N. Started off E on track before realising error so back track 10 m then N to water course. Round to dirt mound. No issues.

#6 E past first track, across water course to come across minor track ? Guessed it must be the one N of water course that 6 was in. Up water course and could see 6 from more than 100 m away. Lucky.

#7 S to main track. Walked up this entire hill. A Long Hard competitor next to me did the same. Followed main track to Y branch. Took branch to W. Minor track S past rise. Been here many times before. Made sure I took the correct spur down to gully. On to control no issues.

#8 SW up to track and down other side straight to control. No issues.

#9 SW down across creek, track, creek and up again to control. No issues.

#10 E back to main track. Run parallel to water course but up out of the green. To power pole. Around track to bend. Then E from bend to see control from 50 m away. No issues.

#11 NE to control. No issues.

#12 NE to track. Down to control. No issues.

#13 E to control. No issues.

So came back expecting my time would be terrible but ended up coming 9th of 24 as multiple other people had major shockers. My two screwups ended up not being significant enough to knock me down the bottom.

C • Route choices 1

Didn't do a 2nd course today as was struggling. Spent the 2 hr gap in between talking through maps for my upcoming 'first ever' Bush setting event in 2 weeks with Denis Lyons, Carolyn Rigby and a few others.

Control Collection - 9 Controls.
Distance a guess.

Started off doing the Moderate Short Course backwards looking for competitors 15 minutes past the course closure deadline. Found them at Control #9 with Carolyn Matthews who had found them and was guiding them back. So went on to control collection.

3 of the 9 Controls were on my previous course (as #3, #9 and #8). Approached these from totally different direction. Spent a lot of time mucking around trying to find two of the ones I had not previously visited as was not reading the map as walking carrying too many control stands. A time loss that major would have been a problem on the real course.

Hard Medium - Splits

Still trying to get back from 2 weeks sickness.

Bailed out early as despite doing nothing for 2 weeks left shoulder immediately complaining when doing tricep pushups. And I wasn't really motivated so used that as excuse.

Still struggling with motivation so forced a slow run.
Way too dark in the mornings for usual Throsby Creek run so had to move to somewhere with adequate street lighting.
Wickham Railway Station to Nobbys Beach Carpark and return.
Stopped at 10 minute mark to strip off two layers of skivys since had warmed up by then.

Dropped back 5 kg to ease into return to this class.

Trying to get back into Gym after sickness.
Motivation extremely low.

Walking at 7.5 kmph only.
Trying to get back into Gym after sickness.
Motivation extremely low.

Doing a walking lap around the back block this afternoon found there is now a herd of cattle in the large rural block behind us. Saw about 5 - they freaked out and ran away when the dogs and I came near (based on the dogs normal 'attack everything' approach I had picked them up off the ground by this stage).

Apart from one person riding a horse ages ago this is the first time I have seen domesticated animals on this block in over 3 years.

The (350 acre?) block has been subdivided up into two block recently and new fencing put up to separate the two .... so maybe this is a sign of things to come.

2nd version of course setting for Event in 3 weeks.
Distance a total guess.
Mostly over sickness but still not up to 'unlimited' activity.

9:40 am - 11:30 am
Walking around Easy Short / Easy Long Course and selecting new control locations off the tracks as first version was too simple.
Partner followed for entire duration to critique to make sure they didn't become too hard.
Have to move the start as some bastard dumped a trailer full of rubbish including wooden planks with upturned nails in it, and other nasties in the centre of the track. Also going to have to mark some areas out of bounds as full of broken up asbestos sheeting. Burnt out car wreck on one track a few weeks back has now been removed.

Returned back to car to drop off spare gear and get the Hard maps.

11:30 am - 12:40 pm
Going out and reselecting one of the Hard Long Controls as I considered one of the previous ones next to impossible without Map corrections.
Dragged Partner along out in the bush, up a watercourse, in the middle of nowhere to confirm location. Not much complaining as she was warned well in advance.

Gym still a no go.
Slept in until 6 am.

Semi relapse from yesterdays efforts.
May try gym on Tuesday morning.