Training Log Archive: PG

To the start.

Final session of the Winter Training Camp, up on the escarpment at Hilton Falls West, adjacent to where the North Americans will be in October. Fine terrain. Routes. I'll post more comments in a while.

Overall the camp was great. I hung in there pretty well physically, did every training session though I cut a couple short. One blister on a little toe Saturday morning, taped it and didn't feel a thing either that afternoon or this morning. I think I mean that quite literally -- my toes would get pretty cold every session and I really wasn't feeling them very much. Legs held up ok, I'd get tired but seemed to be able to keep plugging away.

Really glad I went, and glad I encouraged a few other Americans to go. Too bad there weren't even more.

C • Whats the purple infill on the... 5

THOMASS race (handicap), came in 4th. Routes at the usual place. An inch or two of new snow made the footing very marginal on trails (there was ice underneath) or steep slopes. But a neat event.

To the start and back from the finish.

Route choice training with Spike. Relaxed pace, but was dragging by the end anyway. Routes at the usual place. More comments to follow but it's time for bed. One more training tomorrow across the road from where the North Americans will be in October.

C • How is the runnability of the green? 3

Warm-up on a little piece of the sprint map at Rattlesnake Point. Cold (upper teens) and windy, good bit of ice and snow as this was up on the escarpment, any self-respecting rattler was deep underground.

C • Upper Teens? 3

Sprint. Not too bad, but both Samantha and Spike got me. Oh, well. I'll try and post map tomorrow. Routes.

C • Sprint 7

Relay training in the afternoon in a group with Spike, Jeff, and Randy Kemp from Ottawa. 5 sections of 2-4 controls each, forked, we'd regroup after each section. Excellent training, ought to do it much more often. Not as cold, no snow and ice but wet in places, right before the end I took a fall and got wet from the waist, pretty cold. But still a lot of fun. Routes.

C • Scanner 3

Event: National Winter Training Camp
 

First outing of the winter training camp. Mineral Springs map, part of Dundas Valley just west of Hamilton. No snow, though ice on most of the trails, upper 30s, a bit of rain. Moderate effort, nice to be out in the woods, though the footing was reminiscent of last year's Pig -- muddy and slippery on all the hillsides. Routes.

C • Cafe wha? 5

Afternoon training at Ancaster Creek (east end of Dundas Valley). A control picking course that I only planned to run part of, and then after 4 controls changed my plan to run an even smaller part of it. Lots of steep slippery hillsides (hello, Pig!). I ended up at least doing one nice section of less steep stuff. Routes.

Fromt the parking to the afternoon training, and back.

Off to Hamilton today, meeting John F. in Buffalo and picking up Leif here at the airport, but not before spending the morning listening to the Mass. Dept. of Revenue folks go through all the changes in the tax code and procedures for the coming tax season. Quite boring, but also quite interesting for a couple of reasons:

1. The state legislature passed a rather complicated tax package not quite a month ago, and the DOR is still writing the rules to implement it. What they do is write up proposed rules and then allow a period for public comment and then issue final rules. They're still in the public comment period. So they still have to finish that, issue the final rules, then the software companies have to get their software in order, then that has to be tested and approved by the DOR, and then they'll finally start accepting returns, which usually is by about the 15th of January. There are some pretty smart folks at the DOR, but I'm wondering how far into February it will be before they finally open for business.

2. One of the folks from DOR doing the presentation was a lady I hadn't seen before, and with any luck won't see again. She got through the first two slides of her Power Point presentation, just reading word for word the text on each slide (which drives me nuts!), and then she paused for a moment, and then announced she was a little nervous -- which often has is a way of calming someone down -- and then she just said she thought she'd sit down for a while! So someone else stepped up and continued her section of the briefing and did a much better job, but it was all really weird!

By the way, to anyone who thinks that orienteers are nerdy, well, you should have seen the crowd here.

Warm-up.

New Year's Day 10K in Montague (held on Monday so as not to interfere with church services on Sunday, really). Conditions about as nice as possible, low 30s, minimal wind, bare pavement. Splits: 6:22 (down), 6:52, 6:52, 7:01 (up a little), 7:13 (up some more), 6:51, 1:20. Route/profile.

Worked pretty hard, though I also spent a good bit of time trying to relax, don't know if that helps but I think it does. Course goes down to the river for the first mile and then virtually flat the next three, and then you get several modest hills in the last couple of miles. Had company over the hills with a couple of what I believe Boris refers to as "chicks in tights" plus a couple of guys who I seem to have much less distinct memories of. I remember at one point with a mile to go, looking at another guy about 40 yards ahead and thinking about the usual post-race feeling (I could have run harder/faster), and deciding quite immediately and quite certainly that, no, I was going just as fast as I could. I did manage to beat the chicks/guys in my group, another in a series of life's trivial victories.

Prize for first 60+ was a 5 poud bag of potatoes (excellent, produced by a farm right along the course), and a non-descript some kind of sweat bread that will be tossed if we have any sense.

C • It only makes sense to toss sw... 5