Training Log Archive: Lori

F21E Sprint at Cabrillo College! My left glute/upper hamstring area was pretty swollen from the yellow jacket sting yesterday and the muscles in that area informed me that there would be no fast running today. It was still super fun out there, though!

I was totally convinced that most/all of the landscaped areas would be olive green, so I had a bunch of hesitation carefully checking my map to make sure that I could actually approach the control even once I could actually see the control. The only other major issue I had was not noticing a section of crossable wall in the middle of a mostly uncrossable wall and ending up running all the way around a building instead of just jumping the wall. Super fun course!

2nd leg of the sprint relay with Presto the Sea Anchor! (I forgot to start my watch and results are still being worked out, so time is an estimate.) Our goal was to make sure that Sam was not in the mass start, and Aron tagged off to me in a good position to make that goal. It was pretty warm by this point, so Presto was moving even slower than my glute was up for going, so there was much dragging (and also peeing and pooping...). Things mostly went well. I had a bit of confusion on the butterfly loops about which control to go to when, but figured it out without actually running in any incorrect directions.

The only major problem out there was when I was running across a parking lot and reading my map at the same time. I didn't notice a curb, tripped over it, and rolled my ankle pretty bad. I felt a pop, fell down, and just kind of lay there for a bit while Presto looked at me in surprise. I got up and walked it off a bit, and then started jogging, but it bothered me for the rest of the course. I came through the spectator control with about 5 minutes to spare on the mass start, and managed to tag off to Sam with like 3 minutes to spare. Fun, fun!!

Stretching back at home. My butt and ankle are both pretty sore.

Sprint 1 - Splits

F21E Long at Big Basin Redwoods State Park! My goals for the race were a) to always be in really good contact with the map because with the park this full of plants and this steep, I was not excited about spending any time wandering aimlessly, b) to make good decisions about the long legs, and c) not to get stung by yellow jackets. I actually did reasonably well on the first two goals, but failed on the third.

I started out nice and slow to number 1 to get a feel for the map and stuff, and was pleased when it showed up right where I expected it to. I started looking at the first long leg on my slog up the hill to 2, and decided that the two best options were around on trails or around on the road. Things were going well until 4, when I read the control description for 5 and thought I was looking for a water control in a deep reentrant instead of a control without water in a shallow reentrant. I ended up searching around too high and lost a few minutes before bopping down to 4, being confused about the lack of water and the incorrect control number, and then realizing what happened.

I got stung by a yellow jacket on my glute on my way to 5, which led to me to just run as fast as I could away from the nest, instead of running in the correct direction. I relocated quite quickly, but this led to a suboptimal route choice to 5. The good news was I had time to analyze the long leg to 6 some more and decided to go around on the roads. During the road run, I made a plan for the route to 11, and then just slogged along with my glute complaining. Julia and Tori both caught me on this leg and we ran into 6 and 7 together. I lost them when I ate a Gu at 7 and then in the steep side hilling on the way to 8, but everything basically went fine from there on out. The slog up the hill to 11 was notably slow, but I was always sure of where I was, and then I was super careful on the way into 12 because I REALLY didn't want to spend more time on that hillside than I had to. Oh, and then, my shoes really weren't designed for the climb up the hill from 14, so I was using hands and feet to claw my way up that hill. I had a really good time out there, though. I wasn't moving terribly quickly, but I felt like I was in control, and it's always fun to spend a day in the redwoods!

Stretching back at the hotel. This yellow jacket sting is in an annoying location...

F21E Long - Splits

Running with Presto after lab! I've been super tired this week, probably from not sleeping quite as well as usual because of my yellow jacket sting, so I was happy to get out while it was still firmly light out tonight, even if it meant running before Sam got home. Presto and I were both a little draggy on the uphill, but I managed to avoid any wheezing tonight, so at least I seem to not be actively sick anymore. The sunset over the Bay with the fog through the Golden Gate was really nice tonight!

Normal stretching after a prolonged scratching section with my landlord's cat, who's been pretty insistent about getting petted lately. She even put up with Presto sniffing her tonight (he seems to feel that petting the cat should be a family affair), which was super cute :-).

Normal stretching.

Running with Sam and Presto after lab! Still a bit wheezy and tired on the uphill, but a definite improvement over last week. The downhill felt a bit more normal tonight, although it's (sadly) starting to get darker a bit earlier, so we're going to have to be a bit better about getting outside for a run a bit earlier. We got a beautiful sunset, but also a really, really dark end to the run.

Normal abs.

Normal stretching.