Training Log Archive: Leon

Event: Triple Gloucester Weekend
 

Event: YHOA Urban League
 

Various warm up/warm down/jogs

SYO Ponderosa sprint - 7th, 20.31

Disappointed to arrive and enter and find no maps left
Given the relatively late appearance of any details other than date and location online, it didn't appear there was any onus on entering in advance (much like Nottingham and unlike Gloucester) so you'd think they would have gone with an excess of maps rather than cut corners.

So had to hang around a bit.

Anyway, started off OK, first 3 fine but legs really struggling with incline, can't have been the only one

Messed up 4 by trying to approach from SW but uncrossable, and so was caught by 30s man on exit, held him off to 5 but legged it off the wrong away under pressure and then misread CD at #6 and he was away and gone.

7 - 12 all fine, but had caught up with myself planning ahead by this point, so started to go to 14 instead of 13, thankfully realised or would have been another sprint mp disaster

Was then slow at 13, and to 14

Very crowded round 15/16 so not sure route choice to 17 was the best might have been easier on road to south

Didn't clock CD at #19 but not sure how much difference this made given this was only way in anyway

Fine to finish

Not as bad a run as initially thought.
Didn't cope well with being caught but more unhappy that legs didn't go as fast as I liked.

Ponderosa sprint final - 5th (2nd for this one) 17.28

This was good.

#3 - stood by control without seeing it low down for a few seconds, had caught man ahead at this point
#5 - almost overshot until saw it from corner of eye
#7 - almost went easterly route, not steps. But saw everyone else ahead going steps and so put foot down to get on tail of bunch
Slow on exit of #10 whilst adjusted direction on exit

From #11 to finish was great head to head racing

Remembered where #14 was from last event here, and gained some time, then got a couple of place by using ramp not steps to #15

But lost a bit by gambling on east route to #19 which was slower and bad entry to control

Finished strongly

Was helped by having people ahead but think still was in control of planning and running hard for 95% of this


Only afterwards realised I should have jumped some of the fences round the blocks of flats etc rather than slowly clambering underneath

Well earned rest day.

Allens West to start

CLOK Coatham Woods event - 6th, 46:29

Strange area, new woods basically so not fully formed, either very runnable or not runnable at all.

Four big errors
#3 - couldn't see ditch crossing at first junction so convinced myself I had took path to left (hadn't) and so went right and dived into trees after that, which was wrong as I was right in the first place, ditch crossing must have been in there somewhere
#7 - had veered right more than I thought to stream, an understandable mistake
#8 - misread map, which was a bit unclear really and couldn't cross ditch despite path being either side, as thick hedge in way, had to go round
#9 - stream looked uncrossable where I went, faffed about before crossing somewhere shallower.

Planner made the best of the area as there weren't too many features other than the boundaries and paths and streams. Tried to run a bit harder in places but map contact should have been better in a well defined area, mistake to #3 was very avoidable.

Train to catch! Not helped when Urlay Nook crossing was down...

River south. Waited for the hail to go. Started feeling good but leggy by end.

Out to Bramley on the canal. Tired.

Bramley Fall O - 6th, 27.34

3 big mistakes, the rest was fine, but the last mistake was shocking really. Always have one shocker per series, lets hope this was it.

Slow on the canal, feeling tired but getting it done.

River north, very windy

Track - 10x 500 (60s) 5 x 200 (40s)

Really good - a bit tentative at first, 1.34 but moved through the gears and last 3 were 1.27
Dead on the 2s but never mind.
Felt good, worked hard.

Feeling flat but hung on to Tom and Dom, just.

Long run on Plym Valley trail disused railway, 6mi out and back.
Quite a climb for a disused railway, long tunnel just before turnaround point was fun.
Spectacular viaducts and wooded sections.
Cruised back far faster than on the way out.