Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: Western Mass 5-Day
 

Day 1 of the Western MA 5-day: Blue Middle Distance. I started the race quite well, but I started to fade as the climb increased. I bobbled control 9; I missed right after checking off my attackpoint - the hill left of the line. I overshot ten and had to double back after hitting the major trail. I struggled during the charge up the hill to 12 and 13, but was reasonably clean.

My big error was on the long leg at 15. I had a reasonable plan - going essentially straight, though slightly left of the line. I had passed Andis at 14, and in my effort to hold him off, I didn't pay enough attention as I entered the trail networks. It turns out that I had executed a slightly better variant of my plan, but I wasn't sure of where I was. The trails weren't bending the way I expected, and I hesitated. As I neared the circle, I thought I was 200 meters north on the spur; I saw the major trail and the finish field, realized where I was, and had to double back to the control. It was a disappointing way to finish an otherwise solid race. I really need to focus on having a clear sense of where I am in networks of small trails and not focusing on trails to the exclusion of other terrain clues.
Quickroute

I ran to the start plus jogging around. GimpyFoot felt pretty good, but oddly enough, HealthyFoot felt uncomfortable around my shin. My tibia felt ok when I pressed on it from various angles, and given my recent workouts, I would be unsurprised if there were connective tissue damage and ligament pain from overdoing the 400m intervals.

Anyway, after the warmup, my legs felt pretty good, so I decided to compete.

Day 2 of the WeMa 5-Day: Blue Middle distance

While it was clear that my energy had been somewhat depleted by the first race, after some lunch and good company, I felt strong enough to be competitive. I started strongly and spiked the first control, but perhaps began too aggressively. I missed 3 to the left attacking from a somewhat vague trail bend, though I think I was close on my first pass - the visibility at the control was poor. I tried to take the trail to 4 instead of the superior straight line + contour reading route, miscounted the trails, and ascended too high. After some debate, I decided to go straight to 5, ran acceptably up the hill and spiked it. My route to 6 was solid, but slow - I hit the big trail, ran up it to make sure I knew where I was, then attacked from the bridge. I should have aimed off leaving 5 to the right to hit the trail bend.

I caught up to Andrew at six; he bobbled seven, so I took the lead there. I ran hard into 8 to try to lose him. I drifted slightly right of the line to 9 and went over the hill with cliffs halfway through the leg. I attacked from the saddle on the line - while my execution was fine, I was sluggish.

I lost a little time at 12 both by running too far to the right to pick up the trail and by checking the first hill just west of the control. My route to 13 was good, but sluggish. I ran to and on the big trail to 14, and attacked from the bend. I was too high and too reluctant to descend, so I hit the knoll by the trail SW of the control; I briefly led a pack there. 14-15 was similar to part of the long leg from the morning, and I was prepared. I executed well up to the point where I attacked the circle. I misjudged which hill was mine and checked the southern hill first before realizing my error.

Overall, I lacked the fitness to compete again - my fatigue noticeably showed in my numerous navigational bobbles and my sluggish running speed. The variance of my split placings is unacceptably high. I suppose I'm happy that I wasn't horribly outside of the pack, but I believe I can do better. There are few things as motivating as a good set of A-meet races against a solid field.
Quickroute

Warmup to the start.

Day 3 of the WeMa 5-Day: Long Sprint at the University of Massachusetts. Decisively nemesised.

After helping take down and move the arena set up at Earl's Trails, I moseyed over to U Mass for the sprint. I neglected to change into shorts at the cars and lacked time to rectify that when I arrived at the start; I ran in running tights and my Mizuno running shoes.

The devious powers that be had deliberately or accidentally given me a start time of two minutes before Ali. There was some concern (and heckling by PG) the due to lack of recent training, two races earlier in the day, and general noobness, I would fail to hold her off, so my sole focus was to stay ahead of Ali.

I raced reasonably well - checked my codes, had good flow, read ahead - but I was drained and sluggish. I hesitated for perhaps 5s at control 4 before dashing past Ken Sr. up and down the stairs, through the breezeway, and into the flag. I very nearly ran into a parked car while reading my map on the run to 6. I thought I was making a poor decision running around the south to 8, though I had read the description ahead. I'm not certain which way was faster.

My sluggishness became increasingly apparent - I lost 1:14 to Ali between controls 4 and 12 without any mistakes. I saw Ali behind me (only 40s) as I was approach 12, so I dug deep and pushed to 13 and 14. I took the northern route to 16 through the narrow corridors. When I hit 16 without seeing her, I was comfortable that she wasn't going to pass me and the moral (albeit Pyrrhic) victory was mine.

After control pickup, taking the arena down, and helping Joanne with some directions, I made my way over to Bub's for some excellent barbecue and company. Overall, this was not a good race, but I'm not terribly dissatisfied with my performance under the circumstances.
Quickroute

Control pickup, +1 saw horse of the Apocalypse.

Event 1 - Middle Blue - Splits

Event 2 - Middle Blue - Splits

Event 3 - UMass Long - Splits