Training Log Archive: D-MAN

Event: Swiss O week 2014
 

PM Warm up run for the Tomintoul Highland Games Hill Race.

PM 173rd Tomintoul Highland Games-Tom Na Bat Hill Race. Somehow Will and Toni found this hill race so we decided to go. Basically running up a hill with a partially marked route through the heather. All cross country running with some small very indistinct single track paths if you could find them. Will and I found ourselves at the front of the race and did not really know where we were going but thankfully the route was marked better than the organizers suggested. The route was once up a big hill then all the way down and back 3/4 of the way up again on the other side which was slightly steeper most of the way than the first time up and then back down and to the finish. Will led for the most part up the first hill and had a 10-15m gap on me and then I caught him half way down the downhill and past him near the bottom of the downhill. I led the next uphill with him right behind me and then got a bit of a gap by the top and got a bit more of a gap on the downhill and it pretty much stayed the same until the finish. It was a very tough race and only had to speed walk for about 40s up the hill the second time in the steepest part. I ended up winning the race overall and was only 6 seconds from the course record which was 28:14 from 2010. Maybe I could have beat the record if I was wearing a watch but I had no idea what to expect from the race and didn't think I would be even close to the record. I think I could have maybe beaten the course record if I new I was so close as I was just trying to stay ahead of Will at the end and didn't go crazy in the last 200m, he was only 12 seconds behind me at the finish. It is easy to say I could have beaten the record after the fact though. Maybe next year before WOC? It was a really fun and painful race that earned me 25 pounds for winning. It was a nice day around 18C with a bit of light rain. Will's GPS said 5.8km, 346m climb. My foot felt pretty good, just slightly sore afterwords but nothing compared to a week ago.

PM 173 rd Tomintoul Highland Games 800m. Decided to enter the 800m after the hill race (only about an hour rest or less). Three and a bit laps of a grass track with even a little hill on one corner. Started out fine and then my legs were burning like crazy on the last lap on the slight incline. Will took the win and I was third. Managed to win another 16 pounds. Just guessed my time?

AM Training at Roseisle at 1:10000. Nice training but the map was a little old with not much detail in the contours. Made a few mistakes where the map wasn't that good. Really fun training and fast in the white. My foot felt the best it has since I injured it which is a good sign. Nice morning around 20C.

PM Training Anagach at 1:10000. Another good training on a map where the contours were a little old and some detail was missing in places. Fun training but really physical with all the shrubs. A few little mistakes but the trails were taken off the map which made it more difficult. My foot felt pretty good, it is getting better. Nice evening around 17C.

PM Stretch.

AM Training at Creag Leach at 1:10000. Good training with two mistakes that could have been avoided if there were flags out. Course distance was 6.3 km. Foot felt alright, it is slowly getting better. Nice morning around 18C.

PM Relay training at Achtermarach at 1:10000. Mass start with everyone and the courses even had forking. Definitely made a few bobbles running with everyone. A bit confusing since some of the controls did not have flagging and the map was a bit out of date in places but it was a fun relay simulation. Foot was alright. Typical cool Scottish weather around 20C.

PM Another training at Achtermarack at 1:10000 after the relay training. Another solid training technically with no mistakes really. Foot was pretty good for the 3rd training of the day. Nice coolish weather around 20C.

PM Cold bath in Loch Ness. It was pretty dam cold.

PM Stretch.

AM Training on XXX map at 1:10000. Basically a relay simulation with three short loops around 2km ish. Slow running since the ground was so uneven and very soft with low shrubs. Made one stupid mistake where I second guessed myself. I was heading straight from the control. Would have realized my mistake sooner if there were controls out in the forest. Made a few other stupid mistakes where I got lazy. Good training overall. Cool morning around 16C and a tiny bit of light rain.

PM Short little warm up with the map to get into it.

PM Training on XXX map at 1:10000. The map was a little old and had many unmapped cut lines which made the navigation harder than it should have been, you really had to ignore them and focus on the compass and contours. Really good training technically for me with a few bobbles on the boulders that are generally hard to see since they are small and usually covered with moss which look the same as the root stocks that are not mapped at all. Lost about 2 min on the second last control was very close to the boulder but could not make sense of the contours, after circling around slowly I figured it out. Pretty slow going with the soft, uneven shrubby ground. Foot was sore but manageable. Around 16C and wet out not raining though.

PM Stretch.

PM Warm up on Loch Vaa.

PM First "O" training in Scotland at Loch Vaa at 1:10000. Really nice open terrain that reminds me of Mt. Laurie/SL Ranch. Pretty fast running but the 1/2 meter high shrubs really slows the running speed down and tires out the legs. Made one little 30s mistake running to #2, went off my compass to a bigger re-entrant but realized it fairy quick, maybe I wasn't fully into the map yet. Course distance was 5km. Nice to have flags already out in the forest. The rest went very well. My foot was ok but I wasn't running too fast. Nice day, not too warm, around 18C.

C • Scotland 2

PM Warm up run at Docharn.

PM Went to a local BASOC Tuesday night training at Docharn at 1:10000. Did three short loops around 2km ish. Course distance was 5.4km but did not include the running to the new start triangle. Good training technically. My foot was pretty good but a little sore from the training earlier in the day. Not too warm out only around 15C.

PM Stretch.