Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: NEOC: Rocky Woods
 

Jeff Schapiro's Blue course at Rocky Woods: 7.7 km, 20 controls. My orienteering was disastrous; this was not a good day for me. My poor conditioning and bad orienteering was exacerbated by 85° F temperatures.

Ironically, a day after coaching an attackpoint training course, I made several mistakes due to poor attackpoint. I ran straight to 1, but didn't quite process the contours correctly and overshot slightly, hitting the depression left of the control. Control 2 was deviously hard to see among some thick vegetation; I executed my route fine, hit the collecting wall, and circled several times before finding the flag. I don't think the map is great in that area. I became disoriented at 7 by stopping too short and failing to choose a good attackpoint in a tricky area, for about two minutes of lost time. My stamina started to wane after 9, and keeping up my intensity demanded lots of focus and willpower. My colossal mistake was at 19, where I ingeniously decided to follow a vague marsh boundary rather than climb four or five lines to find a good attackpoint. I stopped too short, had no idea where I was, and elected to run on the high trail to relocate rather than guess.

I pushed hard in the first part of the course, but my lack of training and bad decisions caught up with me.

Tired. GimpyFoot was holding up ok in the sense that the point of ligament injury didn't hurt more than the rest of the foot. Both feet a bit uncomfortable after spending all day in studded shoes.

C • Well this looks like an appropriate weekend for someone injured 6

Blue - Splits

Event: NEOC: Blue Hills Training Camp
 

Today, I set a training day for intermediate level orienteers at Houghton's Pond in Blue Hills West. My plans to be judicious and intelligent about my activity failed a bit, and I ran about 12 km setting flags in the woods. There had been some intermittent discussion about focused trainings over the past few years, but I finally made arrangements on the schedule this year.

I haven't really designed intermediate level exercises before, so after some consultation, I designed four courses for today:
- White course, for complete beginners
- Attackpoint exercise with AP/control pairs
- Compass exercise punching through the woods from one trail to another aiming to hit the target trail at a particular point; also on trail + contour only
- Orange course, with the training objective of planning routes in advance and execution

The day would have been infeasible without the assistance of several NEOC veterans to offer instruction and coordinate the event: Barb, Dave, Izzy, Andy McIlvaine, Tim Parson, Michelle Faucher, Joanne Sankus, Jim Paschetto, Richard Powers, and Earl LaVallee. They were clutch in every way. I didn't do a good job recruiting assistance in advance, and I planned and set the exercises by myself (like an idiot).

I don't know the exact count of people who showed up, but it was a much greater volume than anticipated (and more than RSVPed). Many of the people who showed up had no experience or only one or two white courses. I found that my exercises, while introductory, were really suited for yellow and orange level orienteers, not complete beginners. Most people had fun and had only positive feedback, but there were a few people who found the exercises too difficult and were disappointed by the camp. Today's event was a prototype, and based on its general success and the group interest, a major training day once or twice per year will be on future calendars.

It turns out I also set an especially challenging orange course; only three people had interest after the training exercises - Andy, Richard, and Earl. I was tired and dehydrated by the end of the event, but I'm satisfied with how it went.

As the day wound down, I shadowed Richard Powers on the orange+ course. He was clearly tired from the other two exercises, but showed great fortitude and plowed on. As has been done of me in the past, I asked Richard what his training objective was for this exercise. Concentrating on one particular objective was a new idea for him, and we eventually settled on reading ahead and making intelligent route plans.

I need to give more feedback, but I noticed that he held a baseplate compass in his right hand with his map in his left. This arrangement increased the barrier to consistently checking direction, and it showed in both his route execution and his departure from controls. He did a good job planning ahead, though he struggles with reading ahead.

C • baseplate 7

I have been cleared by the ESC to run the 2012 Billygoat at Moreau on Memorial Day without making myself ineligible for the 2013 Team Trials! Let me know if you want to join me.

Shortly after running down several flights of stairs, I tweaked something on the outside of GimpyFoot when pushing hard off from the ball of my foot. Whatever twinged is not the same injury as the ligament in April - it was a few centimeters behind my little toe rather than on the arch. I suspect this second pull is related, either from the same root cause as the plantar fascia injury or from compensating. It hurt instantaneously, but almost entirely subsided after an hour. Walking doesn't hurt, and running is ok, though it feels tender.

This is a good reminder to take it easy during my recovery. Hopefully this won't set me back much; I will decide whether to continue or defer my return to running based on how I feel each day.

I had considered not attending the West Point A-meet due to my foot injury, but I'm very glad that I did. I ran only one course - the blue middle distance, and appear to have avoid further damage. My performance wasn't even that bad despite some unacceptable mistakes. I took over 400 pictures (which I have spent insufficient time processing), and might have an ONA cover in my future due to the absence of other photographers.

In lieu of racing, I had my best cheering performance yet - my voice held out for both days, I encouraged others, I irked Hannah a little, and everyone in the immediate vicinity of West Point now knows of my CSU allegiance. One of the cadets dubbed me "the Motivator," and I had some favorable comparisons to Ross, the king of cheering.

Probably the best part of West Point - indeed, perhaps the best part of any A-meet - and the main reason I attended was that I got to spend time with my O-friends. I spent some quality time with Ali's parents' piano, had some pleasant conversations, and donated some money to the Junior Team by buying Ali at the auction. Neil invited a group to a lunch in Peekskill after the long, and it was delightful. Of course, it would have been preferable to compete, but that will come.

Time and distance are approximate, as I did not have my forerunner. I went out for an evening bike ride and cycled the Museum of Science - Galen St bridge loop along the river. While the temperature was warm - about 16 C, a steady rain fell throughout my ride, and I was completely soaked by the end. Riding was exhilarating at first, but as my glasses accumulated water and I rode east on the south side of the Esplanade, oncoming headlights refracted off the water on my lenses and obscured my vision. I slowed, concerned about colliding with pedestrians. Waiting for cars at traffic lights is an unfortunate reality about biking in Boston. Particularly at the beginning, cruising down the Esplanade in the rain was invigorating. As the rain picked up, there were a few doughty runners and cyclists getting in their training; they were crusaders on a great quest, unwilling to yield to the elements.

Cruising around the neighborhood on an ostensibly fifteen minute run. I ran with my usual gait and generally felt good - Gimpyfoot in fact felt better than Healthyfoot for most of the run. The rain had subsided to a light drizzle. I probably spent more time stretching than running.

I was pleased with this picture of the moon from December, but I learned a new way of eliminating vibration, and was able to take this 100% crop on Friday night, when the moon was at perigee:



Details: 70-300mm L IS lens; 1/200s, f/5.6, 300mm focal length, spot metering, ISO-100, +0.7 step exposure bias.

C • Wow! 10