Training Log Archive: vmeyer

Event: QOC Occoquan
 

Garmin - 5.3 miles and 233 m climb

When I was driving into the park, I was reminded how beautiful the drive in after exiting the highway is. So scenic.

Went out early on Red on the updated map. There were 22 controls printed on a two sided map. Loved this because when I found a control, I just looked to see if it was any of mine and relocated from there. Of course, I found controls which weren't mine as well, but mostly they were somewhere on my course.

Start to 10 on one side, and 10-Finish on the other side.

Biggest error was navigating poorly out of 12, perhaps I was worn out from the 17th trip up and down the hill, but I let my concentration lapse, and was lost. Happily, I found 11, and then I navigated to 13 via 15.

Also lost time from 16 to 17 since the OOB area had this big ass building and retaining wall in it, and I was totally confused thinking it was the building on the other side of the road.



A beautiful day in the woods, and apart from some minor prickly stuff at the beginning, the woods were beautiful as well.

A second day in the Ice Bugs, and my feet held up pretty well. I need to adjust the ankle brace straps to be shorter but otherwise, my feet are better then they have been in a long time.

Red - Splits

As I was lying in bed, struggling through another night of insomnia, and the wind was roaring through the trees at 20-30 mph, I was thinking that this was a really dumb idea to be putting out controls today. Roger expressed the same opinion, but, by then, I was mentally prepared to go. And, as we all know, IT IS ALWAYS BETTER IN THE WOODS!! And, it was.

Met Peggy at Patuxent River Park to put out control bags and control boxes for Day 1 of the NJROTC Orienteering Championship next Saturday. I was running late, but Peggy was running a few minutes later, so as far as she knows, I was on time, tapping my foot, waiting for her. ;-)

I had 14 controls in a ~5 km loop, and I also wanted to see if I could get some radio controls out about halfway into each course. I gathered all of my stuff, 14 control units and bags, master radio, 8 repeaters and stands, and walked into the barn area (the road into the area was locked at that point).

I went to set up the master radio, only to find out that it was dead - the power button was left on. What to do? go and put out the control units and bag the radio testing, or what?

Remembered that I had a USB to AC (or is it DC) thingee for my iphone, so I walked back to the car, and tested that it would power the master station. By now, the road into the barn area was open, so I drove in and parked. Set up the master station by using the power at the barn, and then ventured off to set out the repeaters and visit the 14 control locations.




Down the Orange trail just past where the other Orange trail crosses, I put a repeater. Then another one directly west, and a third one west again once I crossed the marsh. Headed off to 125 only to totally botch that up and eventually ended up at 127. Whew! At least I knew where I was now. Really had no signal from the radios at this point, but I left a repeater at 127, 130, 125, and at the indistinct trail north between 130 and 127. Optimism...

Went onto hang 113, 107, 105, 108, 126, 122, 112 (scouted only - will hang on Friday), 119, 123, 109, 121.

Then I went back to collect the repeaters at 127, 130, and 125, but I failed this loop again. Agh! Getting tired, and suffering because I had no water with me, sitting on a log, and the phone rings. It is Amy who had come out to do a course but had not met with success.

I told her that I had no idea where I was and asked her to collect the master station and the three repeaters while I sorted myself out. Sitting down must have helped because I was able to navigate to the repeater in the middle of no where, as well as to the control that had been flummoxing me. Picked up the other three repeaters and headed in towards the blue rail to the road and called Amy and asked her to pick me up, which she did. What a good friend! I was pooped and running on empty after almost four hours in the woods.

And, speaking of woods, it WAS way better in the woods! I had to shed layers almost right away. I wish my magic knapsack had 3 less shirts in it and at least one more water bottle in it (or one water bottle, period!).

Anyway, babbling - enjoyed my time in the woods. It was a very good day.

~3:45 total time, 2:15 moving time.

C • better in the woods 5

"Lunchtime" workout on the paved ~.25 mile loop at work. Either that or the treadmill when I got home, and I was pretty sure that wasn't going to happen. In the low 40s, and I wore a loose long sleeve, long tights with short tights underneath. Perfect combination, since I could push the sleeves up easily enough.

Miles with 400-800 walk in between:
951 (400)
948 (800)
942 (800)
948 - felt like this one was really hard, and I almost stopped with 1.5 laps to go, but then I thought about it like it was the end of a race, and I really wanted to beat that person ahead of me, so I kept on going. More tired than suffering, so it was good for me. Lungs felt pretty darn good throughout!

Interesting how you can see the little dips when going into the wind or up the little tiny incline on each side.

The walking bits.

Catching up on some random things from the NZ trip. Here is the "Good"

Besides the usual accolades about the scenery, and the people, or whatever, here is a varied list of other good things about the trip, in no particular order.

1. Shoes: Salomon Speedcross 3 Very Purple - size 10
I needed a pair of shoes with traction but without metal studs, and these seemed to fit the bill. Little did I know that the Very Purple color would be considered to be SO **bright**, but I guess it is, since the color has been much talked about, both here and abroad. After getting past the color, the grip was admired as well.

I wore them a half dozen times in December, so I knew I could stand them for the trip, and, indeed, they turned out to be the perfect shoe for the varied New Zealand terrain. I had taken my Ice Bugs but never took them out of the bag.

I should note that the Speedcross does not serve me as well on the steeper, leaf covered hills behind my house, so I still need the Ice Bugs for most of the local orienteering maps.

2. PSB Ankle brace - size L
After dealing with ankle issues for the last year, including nine months of physical therapy and four weeks in a cast, I knew that I had to be diligent about wearing ankle support while orienteering.

I have had pair of the PSB ankle braces for a couple of years now, but they were a medium. I was always getting a blister, or was in pain, where the hard plastic piece curved around the side of my foot, but I figured that was just me being a princess. And, despite the discomfort, they were 100% better than anything else I had tried, and I have tried at least six different models.

The PSB pair I had was getting pretty beat up, so I ordered a new pair and decided on a size larger, since I was between sizes and hoped maybe that would solve the discomfort issue. Though I thought I allowed enough time to get them before I left, with the holiday season, and shipment from the UK (VIVOMED), it didn't seem that I would get them in time. So, I was so excited when the package arrived the day before I departed.

And, the moment I put the larger size on, I knew they were perfect! So, I immediately packed the new pair and left the old pair at home. I wore them for almost every event, and they saw action on all types of terrain, including hillsides, rutted tracks, and a couple of muddy swamps as well. I taped my usual blister spots for the first couple of events, but then stopped after that, because there was no irritation anywhere from the braces or from my shoes, for a change. Yeah!

3. The Ankle
Well, actually both ankles were a concern, especially the right ankle, but there were no issues! Of course, wearing the braces was the key. I had a couple of times when I went partially over, so I was always relieved when I was upright again with no pain.

4. The Rest of the Body
When I decided to go to New Zealand, I said that I would either be whipped into shape during the trip, or it would kill me. OK, “kill me” was a bit dramatic, so perhaps something like “I would have to sink or swim” would have been a better phrase. And, swim I did! Along with the orienteering, helping with the event each day went a long way towards toning me up, especially the upper body. I felt pretty fit by the end of the trip - worn out, but fitter. I did have to slack off a couple of days when my back objected to all of the bending and lifting, but otherwise, things got easier to do as the days passed.

Another thing I noticed, that despite the rural nature of the events, I had little trouble with my asthma and allergies. I used the inhaler before I went out on a course, but I didn’t need it in between at all, and this was on the reduced dosage of Advair.

5. The Orienteering
Ok, my navigation wasn’t always good, and sometimes it was downright bad, but it was loads of fun. The varied terrain, the opportunity to run with the sheep :), no ticks or other bugs to worry about, the excellent courses, the lack of complaints from the other competitors - just excellent events put on by all of the New Zealand clubs. Thank you Red Kiwi Orienteers, Wellington Orienteering Club, Hawkes Bay Orienteering Club, and Sprint the Bay! It was a blast!

6. Being part of the Live Results Team
Since I am not very good with idle time, I loved knowing that I had something to do each day that was usually helpful. I learned a ton of stuff along the way, about O-Lynx, about working with others, and about myself. Could they have done without me! Absolutely! Especially the few times I messed up, but I think I still managed to contribute something.

Surprisingly, I did not miss the OE side of things at all, though it helped that I got an event backup after each event, so I could pore over the splits as usual.

7. Losing weight
Losing seven pounds was a pleasant surprise, for sure. I felt like I was always eating or being fed a meal. I think there was only one day when I realized that I hadn’t eaten enough, but otherwise there was always food to be had, either brought along in the cooler or bought from a vendor or cooked at the motel or at the homestead.

The home cooked meals were healthy and tasty! Loads of fruit and veggies of some sort were always available. I appreciated those meals the most, since I know how hard it was to squeeze in home cooking when so much other stuff was getting done.

8. The Shed!!
Enough said.

All walking, some with incline, in 10 minute hunks:
Warmup at 3.5-4 mph
At 4 mph with 5/10 incline level
At 4.5 with no incline
At 4 mph with 5/10
At 4 mph with 7.5/10
At 4.5-4.1 to cool down

Shins muscles a little tight the first 20 minutes, but then they were fine.

Since I could take a deep breath again without my abs screaming from doing this last week, it was back to core work. Felt a little harder in parts, like the regular situps. Also, the rolling planks were modified. Otherwise, a good effort.