Training Log Archive: vlin

Run at Accotink, wet conditions. Ran powerlines behind houses, muddy trails along stream with stream crossings. Explored paved paths in woods between houses. One path leaves a playground, goes into woods, becomes overgrown, and just stops at a sewer manhole deep in woods. Options were go back, bushwhack uphill to backyards, or follow deer trails along stream. I went with deer trails that soon disappeared, and then just followed stream. Vegetation was becoming thicker, so bailed and went up to backyards but between townhouses and back on streets.

Event: QOC Patapsco-Rockburn Branch
 

Group ride at Rockburn and Patapsco. Skills park was crazy difficult to ride the advanced rocks and dirt jumps. Stuck to the pump track and easy trail with small dirt jumps, but practiced some boulder garden skills. Then rode trails at Rockburn and Patapsco - really nice. Haven't ridden there in over 5 years.

Blue course at Rockburn. Didn't feel like I was moving particularly fast. One big mistake where it seems like I was wandering in a small area for almost 10 minutes. The flag was tucked in deep and very hard to see from most angles. Dave saw me standing right near it while I was reading the map, just looking the wrong direction. So my initial navigation to the control was accurate, just did not notice the control, and started wandering and relocating and reattcked but still missed. Eventually found it by luck while following another runner who showed up later and also initially missed. Other early mistake was a few minutes lost on a badly mapped feature. Everything else was clean with only minor corrections. Then really slowed down on the last several controls, very slow jog with no energy and bonking. Sat down right away at the finish and laid in the grass, ate Clif bloks in 30 seconds. Was tired from the biking earlier and not eating enough before the o course. Bonk training may help for ultrarunning.

Blue - Splits

Fountainhead loop, taking the bypass that cuts off some of the far loop beyond picnic tables.

Difficult run loop, with a bit of extra singletrack at Lake Fairfax. Went fast to practice technical handling on easy singletrack, and pushed hard on W&OD.

W&OD medium effort, still testing out legs

Lake Fairfax singletrack. Ran into meetup group riders throughout. Figured out a good sequence of loops for future training rides.

C • Share 1

Wakefield to Accotink and neighborhood trails and powerline near the school.
Easy effort to test legs.

Easy ride around Andy Guest after awards ceremony, no map. Saw 3 checkpoints along the trail that still were not picked up. Rode the lower portion of Bear Bottom for the first time and it was really scenic and fun. Visited the horse stables, RV campground, and overlook, then back to Low water bridge via Shale Barrens. Perfect weather for riding.

Event: QOC Rosaryville - MTBO Part Cancelled!!
 

Event: REV3 Shenandoah Epic Adventure Race - 26hr
 

Still in recovery mode. Not too difficult run at Rosaryville. Only one real mistake losing a few minutes, had to turn back after overshooting. I lost contact with the map running fast leaving a trail and followed contours but was a bit unsure of where I was and missed the control. Basically spiked everything else. A couple times I had some poor routes exiting controls, or had trouble with compass directions at trail intersection and lost some time. One leg I avoided a faster and long road run to try a option with more trail and navigation to make it interesting. Another leg I was going to take a trail around but halfway through I decided to go straight instead through some thick vegetation. Also got stuck in a stream I couldn't climb out of due to steep banks of slippery mud and rock. I was lazy, walked every hill, and didn't run too hard until the very end. I ran with Dasa for a while, who kept up with me while I made several small mistakes, then I eventually caught Jan. Afterward went to Elizabeth Furnace to see the REV3 race.

Blue - Splits

Race recovery coming along well. First day after Bull Run that my legs are not sore. Quads still get tired going up stairs. Suprised at my weight at annual physical, heaviest I've ever been. Also may be dehydrated - they had trouble drawing blood, which never happens.

Short easy road run on W&OD to see how legs and knee were holding up.

Red course at Combat Village. I wanted to drop down to Brown or Orange but already pre-registered for Red. Planned on cutting the course short depending on how slow or bad I was doing. I had difficulty with the subtle terrain even at a slower pace. Avoided a big mistake on 2 by backtracking and going back up high. Lost contact with the map several times, but had a general idea so just kept going and felt confident I could figure it out later. Didn't work out well on the long leg to 8. Lost contact, ran down the wrong re-entrant and terrain didn't match where another re-entrant joined. Another runner started following me at this point, and I decided to go up and down a ridge searching but not finding a saddle. The other runner was still following. I went up even higher and found a control but the wrong one and not on my course. At this point I figured out it was a parallel error, gave up and skipped straight to 10, which wasn't too far. I found Barry there and we discussed strategy for his next leg for a few minutes, while other runners ran in and out. I hiked slow to 11 and went through some unmapped thick grown up cleared areas. Then chased and passed Baker on the last few controls to the end. Later I found out Barry gave up too and decided to explore Combat Village instead of doing the rest of his course.

Red - Splits

Bull Run Run 50 mile. 30 seconds slower than last year, 1 minute faster than 2010. Very consistent results, but much different pacing. I ran much more of the final 10 miles than in previous years, when I walked almost all, stopped to take breaks, used hiking sticks, and could barely run down hills. Good endurance this year due to 2 long runs in the previous weeks, but not enough taper. Legs were heavy starting at mile 17, which is typical, but downhills did not feel strong a bit earlier than in past years. Getting very comfortable with ignoring all the steady pace runners passing me between miles 12 and 49 and at aid stations, where I take my time. Almost gave up on getting in under 10, but as usual I hit the final climb up to Hemlock with minutes to spare. No foot injuries, but knee is a bit sore.

Easy spin around wakefield, no berms. Discovered a short bit of singletrack along a stream near baseball fields I have never been on.

Orienteering training with team, rogaine style in rock creek park, plus picnic afterwards. 46 points to be found, streamers and question/answer format. I decided to use only the USGS map and not the PATC supplemental to add to the challenge of using the old map and old trails. Did the northern half in 2 hours 20 min, not a fast pace and carrying extra weight in pack. Forgot to get a point and wasted time deciding how to cross the knee deep creek while staying dry (ultimately unsuccessful). One other sub optimal route trying to stay high skirting around the golf course then looking for the 17th hole tee.
Second half, decided to do some of the southern half, but started making lots of mistakes. Overran 1 point that I had to get on the way back, wandered around a stone yard for 15 minutes looking at pieces of the capitol building. Had trouble searching for some other streamers and looking for the correct sign. One point was on a tree on a cliff face that required a sketchy step-across above a sheer but short vertical drop. Didn't like running down the narrow road Broad Branch Rd with blind curves. Old bridge at Pulpit Rock is long gone, and had to cross further south. Thought about crossing on a big fallen tree 6 feet above the creek but just went a few 100 meters extra to cross a bridge. Thought about getting more points further south but wanted to get to the picnic. Took 2 hours to go half the distance as the first half.

C • Getting to the picnic 3

C • Missed it 3

More walking around at Joint Base Langley

Walking around old landfill sites at Joint Base Langley.