Training Log Archive: iansmith

Temperature -10 C. I wore jeans, my big green jacket, and the standard black gloves. I was comfortable except that I couldn't feel my face by the end of the trip. My ears were screaming in protest, as if to say "it's -10C outside; what the bloody hell are you doing on a bike?"

I guess I should by some ear muffs or a face mask.

C • or a buff 5

After work, I ambled down to the gym in our building and did the following:

22 minute warmup on stationary bike
5x 1 minute on/1 minute off intervals, stationary bike

3 weight circuits:
- 15 x bicep curls, 25 lbs
- 15 x overhead press, 50 lbs
- 25 x leg curls (machine), 80 lbs
- 25 x chest press (machine), 80 lbs
- 50 x bicycle crunches
- 25 x tuck ups
- 15 x squats, 80 lbs
- 25 x toe raises, 80 lbs
- 20 x single arm clean and press, 35 lbs

20 minute easy elliptical
1 burrito (Anna's)

I am reluctant to do plyometrics because I expect that explosive muscle action will put much more stress on my legs than distributed effort. However, I will rely increasingly more on body weight.

Some provocative articles I read today:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic...

http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_assange_why_the_wo...

Three essential components for a multi-day training camp (assuming a map and permissions exist):

1. Course setter(s)
2. Support personnel to set and retrieve controls or streamers
3. Housing

In practice, 1 and 2 can be combined, or even assigned to the training group. For instance, at CSU Pawtuckaway camps, either a volunteer participating in the event has stepped up (e.g. Brendan, Clem, Ross), or the responsibility is rotated among the attendees.

People will be willing to travel farther if the event is a multi-day camp instead of one day. Housing is therefore necessary. Camping is adequate in sufficiently warm conditions, but hot showers are helpful. A hotel can work, but the social setting and company are not as good as when a private residence or gathering place is available.

Therefore, the logistics of setting up a training camp open to sufficiently competent people (i.e. those who can extricate themselves from the woods without difficulty) require someone to design some number of training exercises (probably 2-4 per day), a support crew, and housing.

C • Yes 10

My legs, obliques, and even arms are sore from the weekend's escapades. I scrapped my plans for a weights session in favor of rest.

Jumping in wing suits (flying squirrel suits) looks amazing, but it appears to have an unacceptably high probability of death, particularly that which is featured in the first link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttz5oPpF1Js (I love the group launch at 1:05)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duToigOKAqw&feature...


Control Count: 104/2000
Burrito Count: 44
Anna's, Anna's

C • amazing 3

Event: US Team Official 3K time trial (the second of two trials in 2010)
 

The second day of the weekend's events consisted of actual orienteering. While I had intended to run lightly, I was feeling good from Saturday's events, and my competitive drive kicked in on the sprint. Alex set an excellent course on a solid map of UMass Amherst's campus. The edges of the map weren't quite complete, and the course barely fit on the page, but the detail was accurate.

I started by running the wrong way out of the start; for some foolish reason, I thought I was starting at control 1. I corrected after about ten seconds, for a net loss of twenty seconds. Giovanni started a minute behind me, and I pushed hard at the beginning to try to stay ahead of him. He caught up to me by control 7, and passed me before 8. The hill climb to 9 was brutal and taxing.

I bounced about with Katia until control 14, when Sam cruised past me. I put on a burst of speed to try to pull away from her, but I only gained ten or so meters before my effort failed. Sam and Katia then passed me, and I struggled to chug along at the end. The spirit was willing, but the body was weak. It was a struggle with each step, particularly near the end, and my breathing was ragged. I remember being able to go faster than I am. Nevertheless, I was ecstatic to find myself stronger than I expected; I was at times able to run faster than 4:00 /km.

After relaxing indoors at Alex's office at U Mass for a time, we set off for the second event at Quabbin. This race was a mass start with courses customized for each individual by PG. The courses were devised such that each individual was expected to be out for about the same length of time. The map was at 1:15k scale, and the vegetation in general had thickened since the map was made. In particular, there were numerous fallen trees with logs and scattered underbrush.

The mass start didn't cause me problems. It took me some time to get adjusted to the scale, and I was wheezing and out of breath throughout the run. I felt very weak, and it seemed that insufficient oxygen was the limiting factor for me. I guess that's the general feeling that emerges from poor fitness (i.e. low VO2).

The map was very good, though the detail was limited by the scale. The most interesting part of the race was running into other people who were not necessarily attacking the same control I was. Boris, JJ and I had a particularly harrowing experience running up a trail just before the road crossing that was laden with numerous fallen trees. The climb up the hill after the road was exhausting, and curiously, while I had enough energy, I had very little power. Once I reached the top of the hill, I was able to run through the clear woods, but I could not push up the hill faster. I was quite tired near the end of the course, but the pressure of a mass finish drove me on.

The last control was up a non-trivial hill, and I slowly trudged up the slope. Just as I approached the streamer, I heard crashing through the vegetation behind me. I reasoned that I was in danger of being passed, so I started my charge to the finish with over 300 meters to go. The trail around the lake bed had poor footing, and my worst fears were realized when Ali cruised past me. I tucked in behind her until the trail leveled out, then I spent everything I had left on the final sprint. I was undoubtedly helped by the fact that the finish was downhill, and I just managed to get ahead of her before we tagged Peter. She did run a much longer course, but I will take my victories where I can. The speed plot from the gps track has a nice rise where I noted Ali's approach.

Tonight was an inconvenient time to realize I didn't have any naproxen in my apartment.

Control Count: 104/2000
Burrito Count: 42

UMass Sprint - Splits

Event: CSU Orienteering Superstars
 

CSU Superstars Bowling. I need to retrieve my explicit scores from Peter, but I had a PR 146 in the first game and an unremarkable 109? in the second game. It should noted that Sam (scores: 126, 122) obliterated me in the second game, more due to her proficiency than my failure. A score of 109 is not outside of my typical probability distribution, so clearly I need to train more.

After watching and cheering during the 3 km time trial, I decided to tootle around the track thrice to see how my legs felt. I didn't time my escapade, but my legs were comfortable and without pain.