Training Log Archive: TomN

Event: NEOC: Mt. Tom
 

Mt. Tom Green. Second stage of the New England Challenge series. I made a bad mistake on an easy control #3, not being careful enough on the attack, mistaking one rock for another and getting way off course. Got all the way down to the trail crossing the marshy area before relocating. Only on my way to 4 did I learn where I had been. At least 12 minutes lost.

Other than that, I went remarkably well. In control all the way to 4, just past the reentrant a little before realizing it. Very careful to 5, came to the cliff band a little high and knew where to go. Guided in to 6 by the cliff features. Descending to 7 it took me longer than expected to get past the first pair of cliffs, momentary confusion but then no problem. Solid on 8 and 9, a little slow recognizing where I was nearing 10, then trail to 11 and trail and field to 12.

Nice area, no problems with the map and terrain, and the woods were lovely for running. Clouds of mosquitos at the registration area, but I never saw any in the woods once I was running.

C • NEOC 3

Green - Splits

Easy run on the trails.

Pawtuckaway. It was supposed to be a re-run of a few legs in a previous event. Instead it was run into the forest and promptly get lost, then spend the rest of the time avoiding swamps coming back out.

There were mosquitos and black flies. I don't know why I didn't anticipate that, but they weren't around the last time I was there.

Put in at the cannons and paddled upriver to the Rt. 108 bridge, then back. Made one wrong turn at Great Brook, which pretty quickly looked different -- more vegetation in the riverbed. It dead-ended at what looked a lot like a beaver dam, which had raised the level of the impounded water by more than a foot. A surprising number of people in the campgrounds down by the bridge, settled in for the night, or maybe the weekend.

Intervals at PEA track. 4x800 with 1-lap slow jog in between. Goal was 3:20. Actuals:
3:25
3:18
3:19
3:20
Hey, I'm an orienteer -- we always take the first control as a warm-up, right?

Partly sunny and 60, with a pretty good breeze, a headwind on the backstretch. It's funny how the tailwind never gives back as much as the headwind takes away.

Same trail run as yesterday. Back in before the afternoon rain.

Trail run, XC loop plus black trail.