Training Log Archive: iansmith

If you were unaware, the NEOC AGM was yesterday, complete with election of half of the NEOC Board. Incumbents Peter Frykman, Jeff Saeger, and Tim Parson were reelected, and newcomers Sylvie Guichard and Tim Booth, both from the UK, were elected to two-year terms. (Directors Pete Lane, Jim Paschetto, Jim Crawford, and Joanne Sankus are in the middle of the terms.) Thanks to Mika and Aims, who are stepping down at the conclusion of their terms. I'm very excited about Tim's and Sylvie's contribution to the NEOC leadership.

The primary function of the Board is to oversee the continued operation of NEOC. While the officers - especially the webmaster, the clerk, the treasurer, and the various vice presidents - execute the day-to-day operation, the Board has the important role of oversight, putting out fires, addressing problems, and occasionally undertaking new initiatives like the modified "season pass" membership. Much of the Board's function involves finding people to execute tasks rather than executing it themselves, and generally many of the officers are also on the Board.

If you made a list of all the actions taken by the Board over the course of a year at the six bimonthly meetings, the list would consist of many mundane but necessary tasks - approving minutes, voting on budgets, creating committees or task forces to investigate some issue, allocating travel stipends, and a small handful of actually controversial items, like whether and how to start a schools program. It is important for the Board to do this, and failing to do so would be a disaster for the club.

I don't think the Board is that well suited to execution of a particular tasks. For A-meets, for instance, there exists a group of seven people in NEOC who care about the highest levels of competition who meet to make plans for the next 2-5 years. There is a small mapping committee who oversees the budget the Board allocates it each year for mapping projects. Finally, for any particular meet, there is an organizing crew that makes that particular meet happen. These are narrow issues about which the Board should be appraised, but over which it has little influence.

However, by what metric can a leadership group be judged as successful? Speaking as a NEOC member, a former board member, and an active part of the current NEOC leadership, I would like the board to set some goals, to try to achieve some target for the coming year. I want the Board to set a 5-year plan and take steps to achieve it. I believe that the Board is capable of accomplishing more. What broad goals could the Board achieve? Some ideas:

1. Membership goal: reach some number N of members or active members (active = attending 3+ meets per year), or some number of starts per year. Implement a program to achieve this with advertising to interested groups, hosting meets at prominent events like the Worcester Start on the Street, and encouraging club members to participate.


2. Implement a schools program with a CSU Park-O-esque format


3. Implement an orienteering training program, with a handful of training camps at all levels throughout the year


4. Start a campaign to inform the NEOC membership about what the club actually does, since I doubt they are aware


5. Encourage NEOC attendance at A-meets outside of New England, e.g. by coordinating transportation or offering subsidies.


6. Implement a ride-sharing program to make it easier for NEOC members without cars to attend meets and reduce carbon impact. Consider subsidizing drivers who offer rides to encourage participation.

While it's true that the Board isn't really in a position to execute these tasks in isolation - in general, the Board would begin by designating personnel to lead these initiatives, the Board is capable of initiating these projects. The Board's greatest resources are money and the NEOC publicity apparatus - communicating with the membership, posting on the website, and giving an official capacity to a program.

Event: Castle Awards Half Marathon
 

Event: NEOC: Blue Hills West - Meet and Annual Meeting
 

I arrived at the site at about 7:15 and had plenty of time to pick up my packet, go to the bathroom, put on some sunscreen and jog around a little to wake up the legs. For breakfast, I ate a muffin and some carrots and drank a Monster.

Sigh. Castle Awards half, in Seekonk MA near the Rhode Island border. My previous PR was 1:30:29 at the Old Sandwich Road Race, where I was beaten down by hills at the end. My recent 10k vdot predicted a 1:25, and I figured a reach of 1:24 (4:00/km) was possible. The race started at 8 AM, and the temperature was about 65 F.

I was wary of starting too fast, so I tried to stay relaxed for the first few miles. The race had about 150 participants, but within the first minute or two, three guys had pulled to the lead, with me hanging off the lead group. I scooted past a tall woman in the first mile. I went through the first mile in about 6:15 - slightly faster than the target 6:24. My three mile split was 19:34. For my first half marathon, I ran the entire way with Sam; it turned out the tall woman would be proxy-Sam. Proxy Sam pulled even with me at about ten minutes in, and we ran together through mile 4.

I started feeling the heat, and Proxy Sam gradually pulled away from me. The guy in third was visible in the distance for most of the race. I tried to turn off my brain to the struggle by listening to an audiobook, but it may have been ill-advised. I found music to be distracting if it wasn't at my cadence pace. I passed the time by trying to keep my cadence high and counting how far I was behind Proxy Sam - the gap was consistently 15-20s for the entire race.

I didn't want to burn out, so I was tepid in my efforts to push harder. At each of five water stops, I drank about a third of the cup and poured the rest over my head, but it seemed to evaporate in moments. I had a Gu at the start line and at mile 8, 52 minutes in. As the last mile markers rolled by, I realized how the faster goals were slipping from my grasp, and I tried to push harder. The temperature probably was about 80 F by the end of the race - which shouldn't be as much of an impediment as it seems to be for me.

I switched to a higher gear for the last two miles, but I didn't have much left. The finish chute was interminable, and the race had a false ending that led into another 100-200m. The GPS track is a little short, but with all the turns (and the loop), I hope the race itself wasn't short. This effort is a PR, but only just. I chatted briefly with Lindsay (proxy Sam) and Kentaro (third place guy). My 10-mile split was a shade faster than the 10-miler I ran in November 2012, and my 5-mile split was only a minute back of my 5-miler this spring. Woo.

Cumulative splits, based on mile markers:
3 mi: 19:34 (6:31/mi)
5 mi: 32:06 (6:25)
6 mi: 39:10 (6:31)
8 mi: 52:51 (6:36)
10 mi: 1:05:58 (6:36)
12 mi: 1:20:00 (6:40)

C • Sigh? 13

Cool down. My Flites have a narrow toe-box, and I developed a blister on my left foot between the big and second toe. A person was selling flavored ice at ridiculous prices - $2 for a small (12 oz), $4 for a large (20 oz); you can buy the same stuff at a gas station for half the price. Such price gouging is absurd. I got a stomachache, presumably from trying to replenish too many fluids too quickly.

After driving to the Blue Hills, I took an hour nap in the parking lot before electing to run the 6.3 km red course. Part of this was pride, but an argument can be made for voting with my feet. I want there to be a 6-8 km option at local meets, and I should show my support for it. This was also a great opportunity to practice orienteering at the end of hard efforts like a Highlander.

The effort was taxing - both from the heat and the foot pain. I was lethargic, especially on the uphills. Happy to be done, and very disappointed to not break 10 min/km.

I drove to the east side of the map and picked up four controls. I made a few deer fly friends.

Red - Splits

Tove won her Kongsberg World Cup middle distance race by two minutes over Helena and Minna. This is incredible dominance to which we should all aspire.

C • And also... 1

Event: Boston Park Series: Herter Park
 

Hanging controls for the Park-O. My only error was a 15-minute route choice error in my drive to Herter; I arrived late with the controls after being stuck in Cambridge traffic for an absurdly long time. Keith, Ed and I divided the controls, and I ran in blue jeans.

After hanging my controls and checking the others, I lingered at the start hanging out with people, making sure everything went smoothly, and feeding some legions of mosquitos. When everyone had clearly started, I changed into running clothes and ran the Park-O. I had visited all the sites only a few minutes before, so it was something of a walk in the park.

My route from 12-13 was meandering and questionable, but my only overt error was dropping my map on the way to 15 and having to double back to pick it up. I'm 5/5 for Park-Os this season, though I set or co-set two of those, and many usual suspects had sporadic attendance. Also, I miss Giacomo.

Control pickup, with assistance from Alex and Brendan.

Herter - Splits

Registered for Canadians. Signed up for Middle, Sprint, HPP fun sprint, and Long.

C • Welcome! 1

Run to Herter Park for vetting action. My lower legs hurt from softball, presumably from lots of short, quick accelerations.

Vetting control sites at Herter.

Run back to work. I picked up the pace to almost thresholdy near the end; I selected targets a few hundred meters ahead of me and closed on my hapless and unsuspecting victims. I was passed by a bike that had a small yapper type dog riding in its pannier like a sidecar. The dog - probably a Jack Russell Terrier - was quite chill, and the whole scene gave me many chuckles.

"Rhymes with Code" softball game vs Recombined Heads. I hadn't touched my glove in over nine months, so I was very rusty. I missed two pop flies in center right field to my great chagrin. I went 2/2 batting with modest singles, and scored once. We lost 25-9, though we were only down 15-9 going into the last inning, where our pitching faded.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my softball team is full of nerds, one of whom keeps detailed batting stats. I'm currently batting 1.000 (it's slow pitch softball) with a slugging percentage of 1.0 and an OPS of 2.0. I've tended to bat with few people on base, so I sadly have no RBIs. Hitting a slow pitch softball is not particularly difficult; I need to practice my technique so I can maximize my power. Surely I have the strength to hit deep.

I wore my Orocs because I'm awesome.

C • you wore OROCS 4