Training Log Archive: Sandy

The drive to the airport, the plane rides and then the drive home was not fun. I was tired and my knee was stiff and all the sitting was not helping. But I eventually made it. I was worn out by it all though and slept pretty soundly. My knee is still sore today - stiff and swollen mostly, no pain. But I think I will take a few days off and try to get it back to normal.

BrownX at MNOC. Time on course 2:00:04. Rest is me starting my watch early and forgetting to stop it when I finished. But there was a 1.5km walk to start and back from finish that I didn't log so the extra 20 minutes can be for that. :)

I woke up and my knee was slightly better. Still stiff and swollen so I couldn't walk normally but I could walk without pain. And it wasn't raining. So I decided to at least start my course. Maybe a long walk would do it good? I didn't really believe that but I didn't want to have made all the effort of getting to Minnesota and then not do my course.

The start was a long walk but not too bad. I decided if I just went slow enough to watch where I put my feet every step of the way and avoided jarring my knee I'd be okay. And when I did start and looked at the course I saw that there was a trail option at #4 and #5 that I could take back to the finish if things were not going okay.

So I went slowly and watched where I was going and took all sorts of micro around routes that didn't require me to climb over things or bash through anything. Perhaps because of that, I though the woods were much nicer on Sunday than Saturday but I heard several people say the opposite. Funny.

A few slight bobbles and bananas but pretty much a clean outing. AP says that over 2 hours I had less than 2 minutes of errors and that sounds about right. My knee held up in the sense that I don't think it was any worse when I finished than when I started so that was good.

I was pretty tired by the end though and wishing the course had been a bit shorter but with how open the woods were and how fast the terrain was I understand why it was the length it was.

And while my time was atrocious, I was the only one in F65+ to finish both days so I guess that's a win. :)

C • MN 4

Brown X - Splits

Event: MNOC Masters Nationals
 

Had a lot of trouble sleeping as my knee did not improve much at all in the evening despite ice and ibuprofen. Any time I moved I would wake up and be reminded that it still hurt. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go out at all on Sunday and made a deal with myself. If it was raining I wouldn't go out at all. If I did start, I would stop if I wasn't having fun. I would look at the map at the start and make sure there was a way to cut the course short if things weren't going okay. And I would go as slowly as needed not to make things worse.

BrownX at MNOC. Time on course 1:44:42. Rest is walk to start/warmup.

This was not a great day. Such a shame too since the woods were great and the weather much better than anticipated.

Got way off my line to #2 and took way to long to figure it out. Don't know what happened but I drifted left and then corrected left and then pretty soon was completely not where I thought I was. Finally figured it out and regrouped. And then on my way to #4 disaster struck. My left foot came down and something shifted underneath so I quickly put all my weight on my right foot. Unfortunately, it went in a small hole and I lost my balance and came down on my bad knee bending it waaaaayy more than it likes to bend. I tried so hard to not let it bend that it actually felt like I was in slow motion for a few seconds - will I or will I not be able to hold all my weight on my one leg in a semi squat and not let it go any more. But the answer was no, and I collapsed and the knee bent and I screamed. That pain is so intense that I just can't do anything else. I've done it a handful of times over the years but can't remember the last time - maybe the hike on Kilimanjaro? I do know that the pain eventually recedes and I just have to wait.

A couple orienteers were near me and came over to see if I was okay but I assured them I would be fine. They didn't really believe me and kept hanging around. I guess I must have screeched pretty loudly! Anyway, after a couple minutes I was able to stand and move and eventually was recovered enough to keep going.

But, the damage was done. My knee was getting swollen and stiff and any time I jarred it even a little it was painful so the rest of the course was mostly just a slog to finish. Sometimes I've recovered really quickly when it happens with little lasting pain, but not this time.

I did manage to finish, but like I said it was just a slog and not much fun which was too bad since the woods and the course were great.

Saw some people at the finish and told them my tale of woe. Kris knew exactly the pain I was talking about as she's experienced it with her knee. And Mary happened to have some ibuprofen - thanks again Mary! - so I wouldn't have to wait until I got back to my car to take some.

Brown X - Splits

Checking out the model event. It was much as I remembered from 2017. But, I did learn a big lesson on what glasses would work. It was really humid and my normal glasses - the safety glasses with bifocal reading lenses - were getting so foggy that I had to just keep taking them off to feel comfortable moving in the terrain. The terrain is such that the small details don't matter for a lot of the navigating since the swamps are very distinct and plentiful and easy to read on the map for me without any glasses so I went with a backup plan of having a pair of really small reading glasses on a strap and not wearing them except when I needed to see some detail. It was a good plan and worked well for the weekend.

I am definitely not used to traveling. I'm having major issues trying to pack for this weekend.

C • Have fun in MN! 3

I didn't want to risk overdoing it so I kept to the 8lb weights on everything and did 10 reps instead of 15 and many things.

And then a short walk around the neighborhood, mostly to get my mail.

A nice walk around the neighborhood in between rain showers.