Training Log Archive: Craig

That was a bit weird. First it was strange that I felt like going for a run but what was really strange is that it was painfully cold for the first 10 minutes. The back of my hands were hurting from the cold until I got up near the top of the hill. Wasn't expecting that at all.
Felt a bit tired for some reason but apart from that not too bad.

NOL Long Hagaby at Chinaman's Flat.
Expected the heart to be ok for this one as long as I could stay relaxed at the start and not get caught up in trying to stay with the pack.

I successfully avoided any temptation to stay with the pack by making a complete mess of the first leg. I assumed both first controls would be in the same section of diggings SW of the start so when half the field turned north I assumed they were taking the track I wanted and the other track I could see must be the smaller track heading south. I didn't take long to realise but it did leave me nicely on my own out the back. If I hadn't done that I might have been up with the leaders at 2 because they all seemed to overrun it a bit and I found myself at the tail of the group again.

Did the next few ok but losing ground to the leaders on running speed then ran above 6 losing 20 or 30 seconds and misread the contours at 7 losing another 40 or 50 seconds. Left 7 with nobody in sight ahead or behind and struggled with motivation a bit through the thick bracken to 8 and on to the first map change. Slightly encouraged to see lots of maps still on the line as I grabbed mine but I was aware I must have had one of the shortest first loops.

Picked up Aaron Dodd early in the second loop and then a large group including some of the leaders came through after the next common control. The faster guys obviously had the shorter split next but some of this group peeled off to join me on the longer split. Can't remember clearly but I think it included Evan Barr, Piotr, Schepisi and a few others. Pretty clean all the way through this loop but obviously less maps remaining at the final change than there were at the first change. Reached the final control of the loop in 44:32 about 7 minutes down on the lead group in about 23rd place.

With Schepisi starting the last loop then caught Matt Doyle and Henry early. Picked up a few more through 25-27 including Bruce, Lachlan Hallett and Kerrin to build up quite a big group. Fairly clean through 28-32 towards the front of the group with a few of the juniors then with Kerrin and Henry coming out of 32. Kerrin took a straighter route to 33 and Henry went with him while Lachlan followed me on the track option. Didn't see anyone at the control but heard someone approaching as I was leaving. Wasn't really aware of anyone near me at this stage but knew I must have a few chasing me. The rest of the course looked pretty easy and I was starting to feel a bit stronger now so I tried to push it hard to keep the chasers at bay. Got 34 and 35 cleanly then saw Josh punching 36 a few seconds ahead. Didn't think I would be able to catch him but he drifted a bit right and I snuck past to punch the last ahead. I wasn't sure how close he was so sprinted hard extending the 7 second margin to 15 at the finish for 13th place overall.

Much happier with the finish of that run than the start but left wondering what might have been if I had started a little better. Maybe I would have just set my AFib off and struggled around a lot slower.

Long Distance ME 6 - Splits

Event: Eureka Challenge, SILVA NOLs
 

NOL Sprint at University of Ballarat.
Morning race and my heart was still feeling ok after a bit of warm up so I was feeling quite optimistic about getting through it ok. Started pretty slowly, still nervous about setting my heart off by pushing too hard. Gradually relaxed and lifted the effort as I got further though the race without heart issues but I don't think I ever really hit top speed. Had a pretty clean run, I think my routes were all ok and only a couple of small wobbles and hesitations.
Very impressive runs from Oscar and Henry. Not sure what the team results were but I felt as though I was letting the team down a bit and had some regret about not pushing harder.

NOL Middle Distance at Surface Hill.
Tried to trick my body into thinking it was still morning (it was on Perth time) by not eating lunch until after this run but it didn't work. Started a bit faster than I felt comfortable with because Vanessa was taking a similar route to me and I didn't think I should let her run away from me. Stayed just behind her to the top of the hill then took a different route down the other side and got to the first control about 10 seconds ahead. I didn't realise at the time but the women had the same first 2 controls as the men.
Did the next few short legs ok but my heart started to play up on the way to 6 which I did rather poorly attempting to go straight. Started to feel really bad climbing out of the spectator control at 7 so I dropped back to a slow jog and stayed on the track for a while until I felt a bit better. Tempted to pull out at this point but I thought I'd better keep going for the team.
Settled into a steady jog over to 9 and 10 but I misread the contours at 10 so was looking for a big knoll on my left as I ran past the control on a small knoll to my right. Lost a minute or two and all remaining enthusiasm before working out what I had done.
Plodded around the rest of the course with a bit of walking until the last few downhill legs which I did a little faster because it was downhill and I had Kathryn behind me.

M Open Elite - Splits

Middle DistanceM Open Elite - Splits

Relocation exercise at Cotty's Creek with Lachlan. Had a little trouble with one when I didn't see the control when Lachlan found his so I didn't realise he had switched to trying to lead me astray. Rest was pretty easy apart from going to 9 instead of 6. Heart good but feeling tired by the end.

A couple of short sprint courses at Damascus College. Nice little area but my heart was bad so I jogged around pretty slowly.

Jog over to creswick diggings as a warm up for the first training session.

Tempo change exercise at creswick diggings. Didn't really work for me because my heart was bad for most of it. One really bad leg which I later worked out was because I skipped number 11.

Downhill control picking course at Mt Beckworth. Felt much more comfortable in this terrain. Heart bad again but there was enough downhill on this course for it to still be enjoyable.

Second downhill course. Heart was worse on this one, bad before starting and there was more climb. Concentration wasn't great and I waked a fair bit but no real mistakes.

Forgot my keys and got home while rachel was out so I had to go for a ride to pass the time. Through subi, around kp, down to tawarri and home.