Training Log Archive: syd

SMOC Haven Hill Score-O

Planned a roughly CCW route that included all the CPs. Went back and forth with Tim for a few controls. Small bobble on the way to 49. I got turned around on the trails in that little section of woods, in hindsight I should have just taken the trail around. Other than that things went pretty well. My legs felt good and my navigation was solid. Saw Tony Maletic and Greg? quite often throughout. Overshot 35 - thought it was misplaced and was going to skip - then talked to a nice guy in a blue rain jacket that told me where it was so I went back to get it. Thanks random guy! Afterward people said there were extra trails that caused the confusion...either way, glad I didn't skip.

From 56 to the finish was pretty slow going. Just a lot of off trail travel. After 43 I decided to head E to take the trail S to 41/73. It was a lot harder to find than I anticipated. I did eventually find it, but I think it would have been faster to just take the road around. Both 41 and 73 were in such thick woods with pretty minimal features. Luckily I hit both right on. Glad I wasn't running short on time or those would have been quite stressful. Grabbed the last 2 and cleared the course with 10 min to spare. Fun course!

Weather was not ideal. Rainy and mid-40's. Wore: Tights/long sleeve. Borderline cold for the second half, but never got too chilled. Should've worn a pair of gloves, couldn't really feel my hands by the end.

Flag pickup: 43, 52, 54.

Wanted to get in a few longer rides before Ludington. Light pack. Roads were a little busy in Whitmore Lake, but everything else was nice and quiet.

To the Arb from Gallup to run a few hills and then a loop of Gallup. Quite windy.

Evening paddle with KFish and W4J. This weather is awesome!

First road ride of the year. So nice out! We were running out of daylight toward the end.

Event: SMOC Silver Lake
 

SMOC Silver Lake - Red

Felt decent about my navigation. A couple bobbles, but nothing major. Didn't feel that confident though, not sure why, so hesitated a number of times even though I was headed the right way.

1: Smooth sailing.
2: Went W around the swamp. The side hill was steeper than I expected so not sure that was the most efficient route.
3: No trouble, but my route here wasn't great either.
4: Biggest error. I planned to head straight for it, but drifted pretty far W. Ended up spotting the bike trail and reattacking from there.
8: Went N around the swamp, which after talking to KFish seemed the better route.
9: No troubles. Heard that it was misplaced so a little concerning that I didn't even notice....
10: Was a lot father than I expected (which now makes sense knowing that 9 was off...) so hesitated for a while before continuing on.
11: Went straight instead of cutting back out to the trail. So thick.
F: Crossed the swamp this time.

SMOC Silver Lake - Orange

Rested for 10-15 min and then headed back out on orange for endurance training. Legs were tired. Navigation was smooth, but route choice was subpar.

2: Crossed the swamp too far to the S and had to trudge all the way up the hill. Probably would've been faster to pop back out on the trail.
3: Took the road/trail all the way around.
4: Found the indistinct trail. Saw Tizoc.
7: Went E around the lake and then took the trail. I should've gone around to the W to save a little distance.
10: Nice mental break.
11: Saw Angela/Phil.
F: Took the trail around to compare times. Swamp was slightly faster.

Flag pickup.

Red - Splits

Orange - Splits

Preran the GYB course with Michelle, KFish and W4J. Fun stuff!

5.9
5.10+
5.11- one fall
5.11+ didn't make it very far
5.11- a couple falls
5.10

Trot down Green.

Maybury singletrack. Lap 1 with KFish, W4J and Cris. Lap 2 with KFish. Fun fun!

Conquer the Crossroads 12h Rogaine

Teamed up with W4J and Andy Brown as Topo the Mountain. Received maps when we checked in at ~7:30 and had until 9 to plan. Decided on a CW route, heading N first to hit the higher density points and then looping S. Had a plan to clear, which we thought might be possible if we kept up a good pace.

After a brief pre-race meeting we were off! Chugged up a big hill to the first CP. Whew! Didn't quite go far enough for the second flag, but after a couple minutes of confusion, figured it out and found the CP. Took me a while to adjust to the 1:24k scale after racing the 1:5k sprints last weekend.

The first section was very hilly, lots of climb that couldn't really be avoided. In hindsight I'm very glad we tackled the hilliest section first. Saw a few teams behind us on the out and back sections. We were moving really well through here, my navigation was solid.

After a few hours it started getting hot. High for the day was mid-80's. Andy started having some trouble with cramping, so we slowed it down and tried to work that out. Unfortunately he felt pretty bad for the rest of the day. I took his pack and W4J took the punch and we kept moving. Throughout the rest of the race I tried to minimize climb as much as possible. There were lots of ridge lines through the park that we travelled along and just dropped down to grab CPs.

About half way through we decided that we weren't going to be able to clear, so we took a look at the map and dropped a couple points that required a lot of climb. At some point in here we ran into the RD as we were trekking along a road and he gave us a gallon of water - that saved the day for us!! Allowed us to drop a low point CP with a ton of climb that we otherwise would've needed to grab just to refill on water.

After 8ish hours my feet really started to hurt, first time I've had this problem in AR. And Andy was beat. So we dropped 2 more CPs and just headed for the finish. Luckily, there was a trail that headed right where we wanted to go! I'm not sure we would've made it without that trail... Finished in daylight with a little over an hour to spare.

Great race organization. Maps were nice, all the CPs were accurately placed with descriptive clues. There were no trails on the map, which lost us some time, but it was likely the same for everyone. Really impressed with my teammates! Andy powered through, if I felt that terrible I would've suggested heading back long before he did. And W4J did a great job punching all the flags! Also happy with my navigation, it was solid throughout.

C • 8 hr foot discomfort 2

Easy spin. Started watching the BFG.
107W/56RPM

Out and back down Plymouth. Did a few intervals on the way out.

Flying Pig - Urban Sprint - Red

Urban sprint through downtown Columbus. I really enjoyed this course. Ran through the parking garage to 5 so never saw the crane. Hesitated a bit on the way to 9 until I realized it was down a level. Just one error on the way to 10, ended up on the wrong side of the building before quickly correcting. Need to do some speedwork before my next sprint!

Flying Pig - Mill Race Sprint - Red

Fun sprint, very easy navigation. Poor route choice to 3. I misread the railroad tracks as being uncrossable for the entire length, so I took the long way around. Clean run throughout. I was struggling to think at speed, actually surprised I didn't have any bobbles. I was beat at the end!

OCIN_Flying_Pig_2017_Sunday_Urban1_6 Red - Splits

OCIN_Flying_Pig_Sunday_MillRace2_6 Red - Splits

Flying Pig - Long - Red

So many hills. The route choice for this course was great! Not happy with how long it took me to select routes, I was so indecisive. And I definitely picked some poor routes even after all the deliberation.

1-4 were clean and it felt like I was moving pretty well. Went around on the road to 4. I think it was faster to take the creek - I didn't realize how open it was down there. On the way to 5 I took the creek and climbed up a ridiculously steep hill. I must have been in the circle when I decided I was too far S. Wandered for a bit. Then saw Igor punch, right where I had come up the hill in the first place...

Fine to 6 and then the next few didn't go so well. Decided to get to 7 I would climb all the way up a huge hill and then all the way back down instead of taking a nice flat road....what was I thinking? Went slightly too far down the spur and had to backtrack to grab 7. And then nothing like making the same mistake twice in a row. Did the exact same thing headed down the spur to 8. Looked at the map and thought 9 was on a hill. Great, I can just run that general direction and I'll see it! But it was actually in a reentrant...went up one too early and then hit the correct one. Smooth sailing after that.

All of my mistakes were minor, I always knew roughly where I was, but there were more than I'd like. Tough course - those hills were huge.

OCIN_Flying_Pig_2017_Saturday_Long_6 Red - Splits

Event: OCIN Flying Pig XXI
 

Flying Pig - Night Champs - Red

Started off cautious after all the warnings of how difficult the middle was earlier. Small error on 3, cut in too far E. 4 was my favorite control. It was in a little room in the side of a hill, kind of creepy at night though. Exited 4 and didn't realize there was an uncrossable fence to the S. Slow going as I bashed around it. I then cut in to 5, but didn't hit it on and couldn't quite figure out what was going on with the map. Wandered for a bit.

Went pretty smoothly after that, just had to get warmed up I guess. So wet on the way to 10. Overshot 15 and hit the depression just N of the flag. It also had a flag. Turned around and hit 15 right on, I must have walked right by it on my way through. Saw W4J at 18. Then saw Brenda and Joe after 19. One more small error to 20. There was more green than I expected and I hit the water hole to the E before correcting. Fun finish zooming around the open area. Fun course! Legs felt good and pretty happy with my navigation.

OCIN_Flying_Pig_2017_6 - Red Night - Splits

Easy spin on the trainer.

5.9
5.10+
5.11- Finally got this one!
5.11+ Figured out the move, but too tired to do it

So nice out! I was worried the dirt roads would be wet, but they were great - only a few puddles here and there. Way overdressed, had to pause after a few miles to take off my jacket.

KFish didn't want to go back inside, so we went for a short trot.

Checked out the new trail at Island Lake...missed a couple turns. Could definitely tell it's new, fairly rough with lots of roots/small stumps. Good orienteering practice! Nice day for a run.