Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Stage Two, Point Lobos, Golden Gate NRA.

An enjoyable race on the same map as Stage One last year. I started in a group with Tori and some other folks, but didn't see anyone after the first group of controls. I had a couple bobbles but was basically clean, and didn't make a mistake where I did last December.

The finish led us from the woods into an open paved terrace, and it was sunny and warm and lovely and almost felt like summer. As the first to arrive, I got to enjoy it in solitude for 2-3 minutes.

Stage Three, Adolph's Bathing, Golden Gate NRA.

A near catastrophe! The venue was extremely small, such that the map was double-sided with half the course on each side, and thus there were many controls, short legs, and direction changes in a very tight space. I made errors on 3, 6, a massive one on 8 where I punched 9 thinking it was 8, 11, and 17. I was having real problems flipping from the map to the control descriptions (only printed on-map) and re-placing myself in time to not cause delay. I was also stressed out by the five people behind/ahead of me I couldn't shake. I think I was in last place in the heat after the episode at 8.

Something weird I've noticed - when there's a group of 4/5/6 simple, fast controls that loop around on each other, I've had a recent tendency to get "dizzy" and mess up my exit direction coming out of the loop. Happened first at NAOC and now here as well. Not sure why this seems to be a thing or how to fix it.

Stage Four, The Lost Herd, Golden Gate Park.

The final, consisting of Ali, Mikkel, Martin, Rex, Nadja, and myself. I started out fast to break free of the herd, with mixed results. I was running and navigating alone, but I think at least Mikkel and maybe Ali stayed in contact, learning from my micro-route choices. I was also waking up the units, which siphoned off a second or two each time. Made a mistake at 13 and Mikkel took the lead by about 5s, but caught back up by 14. We took different routes to 16 and I lost contact, but ended up coming into the finish some 30s clear.

It's unfortunate that Erin (food poisoning), Matej (finals), and Will (?) weren't able to run, as it would have been an even better race with those cats in the mix. Still, happy to win!

Stage Two - Splits

Stage Three - Splits

Stage Four - Splits

Event: Sprint the Golden Gate
 

Stage One, The Black Point, Golden Gate NRA.

A generally decent race, but with ~30s total lost on 14 and 17, the former due to pure navigational laziness and the latter due to failure to read ahead and locate the most favorable route choice in a tricky area. I felt okay physically - should have gone for an easy shakeout run yesterday evening though. On to the tourney!

C • nice one! 2

Stage One: Men - Splits

Today, in my garage, I discovered a booklet entitled "O-DOKU." I have never seen this booklet before.

The inside cover:

"Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of the first ever O-doku book to be published.

O-doku's history started in august [sic] 2005. During the World Championships in Japan members of the Danish national team changed the numbers of a sudoku to control description symbols and the first O-doku was born. Since then others have done the same and O-doku's have appeared in several magazines and on the internet."

The back cover:

"WARNING!

This book contains time-consuming and addictive material. There will be no turning back - once started you will be hooked, but it is fun to solve O-doku! Some might call you a nerd as you work through this book, but remember - you are just an enthusiast."

Well, then.

C • Garage 3

Want to...train...but...must...rest

Regular 5xK track workout. One of my better ones.

3:21
3:24
3:25
3:22
3:15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lK8gYGg0dkE