Training Log Archive: TomN

What a difference a day makes. Everything felt good today. Only one significant loss of time, at #3 on the little cliff near the top of the rise. I had trouble understanding the mapping inside the circle, and lost 1.5 min looking in various places. I made up enough time to take 3rd in M65 for the weekend, but my group was outclassed by the F55-60s and M70s. Little things made a big difference here.

Brown X Sunday - Splits

Older Dash Day 1 (Brown X). It was a spectacular day -- clear blue sky, full sun, light breeze, temperature hovering just below 60 at 11 a.m. The course was interesting. The controls were not hard to find, but getting from one to another was pretty tough. The network of ski trails was a constant source of confusion, and it was hard to hold a bearing on the steep slope. There was a lot of ankle-height crap in the way, which kept your eyes off the map. At least I enjoyed powering up the hills.

But my real problem was I just wasn't in an orienteering mindset. I made 3 or 4 hideous mistakes, going 180 degrees in the wrong direction, going up or down the wrong slope, failing to notice big terrain features. Basically in a brain fog the whole time, either making a mistake or second-guessing because I was afraid of making a mistake. Should have been able to do this in well under 50 minutes.

Brown-X Saturday - Splits

Highline Canal Trail down to Santa Fe Drive and back. Last run in Colorado. Next run is in New Hampshire.

Centennial-Highline trail out to Broadway and back. If you don't count the 3-min pit stop the pace was around 9:15 per mile. It was in the high 70s today, but still cool in the shade. It's weird running through a low spot and feeling cold air on your ankles and hot air on your face.

On Sunday I missed the turnoff to the Highline Trail in the dark, but I got it this time. It's much nicer than the Centennial Trail, natural surface instead of cement. Lots of joggers and dog and baby walkers.

With a free day, I hiked up Carpenter Peak at the edge of the foothills. A lot of sunshine, but the air was cool. A great view out over Denver, and high enough to see a couple of snowy peaks in the Front Range. A little bit of snow left over from last week's snowfall but it didn't affect the trail. I also took the Elk Valley trail out and back, not much there but the valley is lovely.