Training Log Archive: Anvil

Headed down to Horsham for one of the Sussex Sprint races.
Not a bad course and area for a sprint. Made 4 mistakes, 2 I can blame on the map being a bit dodgy in places, the other 2 being due to controls in a fenced off area and not choosing the optimum entrance - should have been a bit more careful, I had time to read the map on the easier legs.
Felt flat, haven't had much quality sleep this week.

2nd race of the day, just a little over an hour after finishing the previous!
So the format was a dumbbell race. For the uninitiated, this is like a score event, but each control is paired with another, so once you punch one, you have to the other other it is paired with. To make it even harder, you could only do an even control followed by an odd one. This is like a score event to the power of three, seriously, it was like trying to play a game of chess while doing a score event - instead of, I'll do that one, then that one, then that one; it's, I'll do those two, then I'll be there, so I'll do that one, which will send me over there, oh, but then I'll have to run a km to get the next one, so I'll so that one instead, then those ones etc etc etc.
My planned route was average - I got all but 2 of the pairs, but got back 5 mins early. With the route I did, I could have squeezed one of the other pairs in but still got back in time.
In the harsh light of day, with what I consider the optimum route, I imagine I could have got them all, but probably been a little over time.
This was a bit of a disappointing event. The map was sub par (the last DFOK map I ran on with similarly poor), not terrible, but for something that had been updated in the past couple of months, you'd expect all the tracks to be mapped and the ones that were overgrown to be removed. It also would have been nice if the controls that were paired were joined on the map, and the control numbers had been moved to easier to read areas (not hatched grey). Also, felt even more sluggish through most of it - also still have no watch so had to take my mobile with me, a bit crap in general.
But still, a nice novel format and always nice to try a new area.

C • Dumbbell 4

Hill session with the Windmilers, 2 x 6 x Spankers Hill. A much longer, more gradual climb than the other hill in Richmond Park, which I think is better. Felt pretty good, really consistant on the ups and the downs, was pulling away from the guys who usually drag me off!
Really wasn't motivated to go today - a long dull mildly hungover day at work, but got psyched up watching the Aussie girls ripping in up in the Czech forest just before I went out, great coverage and even better performances - go Oz!!!

Easy lunchtime run out to Epsom Common. Considered heading out to Nork Park to see if it's worth going to the event on Sunday but decided against it just in case I'm accused of giving myself an unfair advantage when I win.
Beaut run - had no case of the lethargies that I usually get this time of the day. The Common has totally transformed with greenery everywhere and the muddy boggy tracks have all dried out and become quite hard.
Quite impressed with the upkeep on this Common, places where the tracks have started to become overgrown have been mowed and there is a perfect soft layer of grass all along them, like running on carpet! I imagine it's for all the horse riders who use the area - though I never see any, only the remnants left behind...

Just saw the start times and distances for French 6. I don't know on what planet you call 8.4km middle distance!

Sprintish race in another new spot for me. Starting in pairs with some nice butterfly loops, a few slogs from one side of the park to the other, a few left or right route choices and finished off with some control picking.
Good through the butterflies, kept some good flow which I'm trying to improve on. A bit poor on the picking controls towards the end, even through they were short, each leg required a fair bit of directional change which I seem to need improvement on.
Unsure as yet on the running section and the route choices, there was a problem with the SportIdent download so haven't seen splits of results.
Had a pretty bad collision with Andy Hodgson running out of the pivot control - I must have been deep in the map cause I didn't see him coming at all. Neither of us are your classic stick runner and were both legging it so there as a fair bit of momentum being balanced out there - was seeing stars and had a headache for the rest of the run!

Such a nice night for it, warm, almost hot.... almost. Didn't feel the heat which I'm happy about, it's already weighing on my mind what it's going to be like running in NZ in Jan.

C • Results out now 1

Bit of casual running round the park to begin with, only spotted one control. Then bit more casual running out to #2 and back. Checked out the bowls green - good, but not as good as Sandy Bay.

C • greens 2

Easy trot along the towpath. A lot of people out tonight, surprising since once it gets above 22 it's too hot to run. ;)
Gadget update: Shuffle is recovering OK, but occasionally turns off. Garmin was pronounced dead on Sunday morning. A new 405 is on its way, but I may still try to replace the 305 and sell it on ebay!

Another Frolic, this time in the North, probably wouldn't have headed out but a good chance to visit my sister and sample the nearby Farmers Market.
Pretty easy course, just your stock standard parkland. Smooth through all the controls except for 5, where I could see two other controls that I knew weren't mine, but I couldn't see mine in the clump of trees it was meant to be on so I checked one of the other controls just in case. Of course it wasn't it, but i could at least see the one I was looking for at that angle.
Felt very sluggish and didn't feel like I was going at a decent pace - haven't seen the full results yet so not sure how I compared to everyone else.

Continuation of previous, pretty much the same as the first but a bit more control picky.
Pretty much the same for me as well, good flow, felt fat, only one problem on 4 where some volunteer workers had blocked my path and I had to go the long way round.
A few too many bad dog owners about. Some fat, pasty chav let his mongrel chase and bark at me from 5 to 6 - even when I yelled at him he let the dog keep going till it got too tired to chase me. Then some stupid woman let her doberman just sit and stare at me and block the path I was running along and wouldn't move it. That one scared me a little bit and I didn't yell.