Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

Skyline Trail Run. This is the first time that I've ever run this race though I ran the course last summer with Clem, Brendan, and Will. This year it seemed so much hillier :)

I woke up at about 7:15 to get down there for the 8 am start. Glad that it was so early, because it was already pretty hot. I ran in just shorts and my x-talons. A lot of the CSU regulars were in attendance, I saw Andy, SGB, Lori, Katia, Giovanni, and Ian and Presto were cheering/eating grass. Jeff and Judy were pretty busy with race logistics. Incidentally, this run is and has been for many years a fundraiser for US Junior Team, so thanks Jeff!

At the gun, I jumped out ahead to forge across the field to the beginning of the trail. A guy, who I later discovered was the inov8 rep Ben Nephew with a freshly shaved head, took the lead on the path and I was working really hard to keep up. I could hear SGB just behind me as we went along the base of the hill and then turned up the first big climb. Ben disappeared already by the time we got to the top, and as soon as the trail widened enough for SGB to get past he was gone too. Seriously, the last I saw of SGB was when he started heading off the back side of the first hill.

I felt pretty good, the climbs were okay but I felt really slow on the descents... the trails are very rocky and I just wasn't aggressive enough to keep a good pace going down. By the first water stop I was very glad for the water and gatorade and a little while later a passerby cheered me on and said that I was 3 minutes back from the lead. Whew, those guys were running much faster than I was.

I hadn't looked up my time from last year so I didn't have any idea about what my goal should be. I did remember that I was running about the same speed as Hilly last summer, and so I really didn't want to be slow because then she'd be able to gloat about how much faster she was :)

I was still going along okay, running up all the steep climbs until after the last water stop, just after the road crossing... I marched a few of the super steep sections after that. At about an hour I thought that I might be getting to the final climb, as I started up the switchback I noticed that there was a runner coming up the trail behind me. Yikes, I didn't want to have to fight in the finish, I was already feeling like I was slowing down a lot. So I tried to kick it up a notch and just stay enough ahead that I wouldn't have to have a crazy head to head sprint.

Came down the ski slope on the other side and then across the field to the finish, 68:58, (which was faster than last year's 70:14) and was very surprised to discover that my finishing popsicle stick had a number 2 on it. My first worry was that SGB had gotten injured, but he finished soon after and it turns out that he just missed one of the turns and so he added on a bit extra at the road crossing.

Ben was 4 or 5 minutes ahead of me, and certainly out of my reach for my current fitness. He tried to sell me some shoes saying that mine looked like they needed replacing. Hey man, these are my good pair :) orienteering is just a little rougher on the exterior.

Didn't stick around too long, because Sean and Ariane were visiting and I already felt guilty leaving them to go do the race. It was very much worth it though :) good times.

C • Results and photos 2

Just a short run with Sam on the trails in Hammond Pond.

Does anyone have any successful strategies for what to do when you realize that you're having a really crappy training session? What is the best solution? Cut it short, tough it out, change it to something else? I would think it might be different depending on what kind of training you had planned, orienteering training seems especially tricky because you don't want to build bad habits.

C • Ice cream ;-) 1

Wow, it's been a long time since I ran with a backpack on. It's not pleasant.

Sean and Ariane came out for the weekend and they were amused at how late I left for work. I think they're probably used to jobs where it's impolite to show up at 9 all sweaty and haggard.

Still haven't unpacked enough or gotten my act together enough to have my Garmin ready and charged.

Biking to work. maybe a tiny bit of jetlag... makes it harder to get up in the morning. Also, it's way too hot.

slow leak in the front tire. biked from work to the track for a few 400s, and then biked home. still too hot.

wanted a very quick workout. I got to the track and did a slow mile, then 6x400 with equal rest for each piece. I was thinking about doing 8, but then I was feeling a bit lazy and I was wanting to get home.

69-70-70-73-73-73

very hot, a little windy on the back stretch, and for some reason my feet felt especially hot. Sam got me really nice underarmor thermal dissipation socks... I should wear those next time.

I used my ride home as a cool down.

Flight cancellation meant that we got up terrifyingly early to fly through Atlanta to Boston (which got me in 2 hours earlier than the next direct flight. Sorry Sam). I got to work in the early afternoon, and was pretty productive given that I hadn't gotten much quality or quantity of sleep.

The original plan was to meet up with CSU for some Summit Ave hills but then I suggested to Sam that we could get a head start (and thus get back and get to bed earlier) if we ran hills on our own. I feel a bit guilty about not running with the crew, to be honest.

We did a quick lap of the park and then 5 reps of Peter's Hill in the arboretum followed by a cooldown lap. Running felt good, I suppose a couple days off will have that effect. I ended up cutting down by a second each one.

59-58-57-56-55 with about a 3 minute jog back to the base each time.

One topic of conversation (in a round about way) was the importance of a positive attitude in training. I think that this is separate from having a positive attitude while racing -- it is easier to do your best and push your hardest over a short duration -- but I wonder if it makes a difference to be confident and optimistic in the longterm setting of a whole season. I would think that the biggest noticeable effect would be on the enjoyment (and thus morale) of training... but it is conceivable that there would be no actual measurable change with optimism vs pessimism.

Travel day. Woke up earlyish and said goodbye to Dev and Zan (thanks for letting us crash your vacation) and then Carol and Greg. We drove back down to Calgary and hung out with Sandra in the airport a bit ( trying and failing to hear about how JWOC has been going, crummy internet). We cut it a bit close, but got through the stagnant customs and security lines and aboard our flight.

We boarded our flight back to Boston too, but then as we were taxiing to the runway, there was some engine trouble and we went back to the gate... waited awhile and then the flight was ultimately canceled. We got shipped off to a nice hotel (but the hotel shuttle was awful) and slept about 3 hours before turning around and coming right back.

Airports aren't always very nice. Good thing the rest of the trip was awesome enough to make up for the crummy last leg.

Woke up, and headed up to the Banff hotsprings for a soak (and a few rounds of Mafia) and then some Thai food in the town (and picking up 114 pennies up from the middle of Caribou street). We said goodbye to Kat and Boris and drove up to visit Lake Louise and Lake Moraine. A short hike and an aborted attempt to cross the inlet stream by tossing in stepping stone at Lake Louise, and a really short hike and some Pika sightings at Lake Moraine.... then we drove back to Banff for Greek food before bed (I don't know if I have ever eaten more meals out at restaurants than during this trip!)