Training Log Archive: Wyatt

Event: DVOA Elk Neck
 

I imagine updating my log once a week isn't really conducive to readership. Thanks to those of you hanging in there and pinging me once in a while.

My navigation is sucking these days too. And I'm not enjoying the old maps, or running through green. A bit of a frustrating month.

#4 today was the first clue that something was amiss - this was highish in the reentrant - matching the description well, but my circle was centered on a 3-reentrant junction.

#5 was on a rootstock - on a 10 year old map - which means they picked another rookstock in the area, about 30m NW of the mapped one. As I attacked from the NE, I searched 4 others before finding the right one. Annoying, but still a passing grade for a local event course - and an error that I initially thought might be my own (until others confirmed it was off.)

Then # 6. Nailed the circle center - searched a bit around the deep reentrant, then decided it was probably misplaced, or I was hosed, so I ran up and down the main reentrant, than the N-side, then reattacked from the N, then reattacked from the E (both fields 100m away), then decided to circle looking for the evidence of where the bag was actually placed. Sure enough it was there - placed about 100m or so SSE in a different reentrant.

Then the dilemma. Three weeks ago, Red # 1 was misplaced. I double checked that one, got confirmation from Angelica, untied it (the epunch, punch and bag), and moved it to the right place. Upon telling the course setter/event-director at the end about the corrected placement, I asked (not as politely as was possible, I'm sure) for a few minutes credit for doing all that - I was 3 minutes behind the other Red runners near my speed. I got nothing for that, but finish behind the even older guys on Red...
I'm glad the rest of the runners enjoyed the course, but the lesson learned from that was if I'm nice to the later runners, and help out the course setter by fixing the misplaced bag*, I get screwed with a bad result and ranking.
So this time I left it there (plus I was alone, so had no confirmation.)

I then ran the rest of the course hard hoping the leg to 6 (or maybe to 6 and 7) would be thrown out. Apparently the epunch people don't do that (known controversial) leg deletion thing, so many of us were just offered the SPW option, which I took.

I managed to blow nearly 7 minutes on # 18 later on - all my fault this time - most of that within about 100-200m of the bag. I lost focus on navigation - excuse list: veg. was thick, I'd had a stick in my eye (thin, but 2cm long, wedged under the lower eyelid...) for 30 minutes, and I wasn't confident in the bag hanging accuracy after number 6. But none of those excuses cut it. I just flunked that one. Where did the flow go? Did I burn my last supply of it on the 1st half of the Stumble last Saturday?

*Note that I don't recommend moving bags unless you are (a) a solid navigator, and (b) have confirmation from another solid navigator that it's wrong. And I'd never do it in an A-meet even with 2nd-person confirmation... I was 95% sure this time, but had no other orienteers around to confirm, but the knowledge that I might get-screwed per the above was part of my decision too.

C • Yikes! 7

While running the 2nd half of today's course, I was rather fixated on how I was potentially about to be screwed for a 3rd time in the rankings. Today's SPW ensures that today's result doesn't count, so that's down to two - Green Lane with the above mentioned control placement correction, and Mt. Penn, where DNF'ers on the lightning day got an SPW, but I, who layed in a ditch for 15 minutes, and then decided to actually punch the last two controls instead of simply walk it in, got a lousy ranking day - my worst of the year.

I did the math, and to first order, I think if both of those were SPW'ed, I'd only move up about 2 points, possibly passing Balter, but still 3 points behind Clem. As it's thus unlikely to make a difference for the DVOA cup, I think I'll just whine here in the locality of my log. If I have some spectacular results in December, maybe I'll bring this up. Or maybe I should bring it up now, so it's not a correction that puts me ahead of Clem.

Or even better would be for Zhyk to show up to 2 more events, and thus have the 7 events needed for his regular clobbering of both Clem & I earn him the '08 DVOA cup...

Fractured short warmup, and even less cooldown.

Did White with Oriana, who seems to be getting the hang of planning navigation - after I asked "which way to we go", expecting a finger pointing the right way, I got, "let's go down this trail", and when I asked about a different trail that actually went more directly to the control, she said, "no I think we should go down this trail to here, then turn and take this little trail to 1". Which was a fine alternative route choice. Not expecting route choice discussions at this point but that was pretty cool. Her interest in the orienteering lapsed after a bit, and I don't push it too hard. We spent a lot of time picking up leaves, and then cut 3-9, which was just the right time to see AJ run by to the finish.

We got to 9 about 30 seconds after AJ, who'd run right by us on his way to 10 (and ours from 3 to 9). At 9, I suggested Oriana might want to just chase AJ, at which point she pronounced "I don't want to follow" and promptly looked at her map to decide her own route to 10...

Over Mt. Misery and back along the creek with Angelica, who was pushing the pace for much of this. She got hot and tired by the end. She apparently really doesn't like my HR monitor beeping when I'm going below Level 2, as it she feels the need to run hard enough to avoid the beeping on my watch.

1st 15 minutes with AJ - he was wheezing pretty good at 1.4 miles, so we dropped the 1.5 mile goal. Fall allergy/asthma limitations? Maybe.

Then went to do hill intervals. Part of my normal hill climb was being actively paved by steamrollers so I bailed back to a climb up the S-face of Mt. Joy - not as long though, from the crosswalk to the Joy loop trail, then left up to a tree where the loop trail levels out. Was aiming for 8, then 10, then 8-if-I-do-the-last-one-fast and I did it, so it was 8.

Times:
2:04, 2:10, 2:09, 2:08, 2:16, 2:03, 2:05, 1:57
Max HR:
168, 168, 168, 170, 166, 172, 174, 176

HR Evidence suggests I push almost 5BPM harder in a group, so running on Wed. eve. is definitely suggested by my coach...

Per WOC Hungary planning, hill running is a good thing. VF Park, in spikes due to wet leaves.

5x800 in the dark and rain. The Conestoga track lights are still hosed, now turning on at 7pm when it's dark at 5pm...


2:54, 2:50, 2:50, 2:48, 2:46. Not a great session. Scott was out in front on all of these. It turns out he's a recent 16-17 min. 5k'er, who's recovering from injury.

This was the last track workout with this group. Apparently the same group keeps meeting on Wed. 6:30pm, running to a lit park, and doing loops around a 1.3 mile loop with 0.1 mile markers. I'd have to plan intervals of 0.1 mile multiples, and I think only Scott would do them with me (ahead of me...) The place they meet is a 6 minute run from my front door... But it's dark and cold, and I _could_ do intervals alone in the morning, in daylight... Should I join the night group, or run alone in the morning. Hmm.

Ran the first 60 minutes with Angelica, then she headed back (10 minutes) and I did a loop with the west. Was pretty lazy and was hard to not just bail with Angelica. Retirement into the M35 category has certainly crossed my mind a lot recently.

Filling a bit of area out W along the turnpike in my running coverage map. The 2km radius circle is getting pretty full.