Training Log Archive: expresso

Middle course start was at the top rim of a big quarry and where you could see the finish down inside it. I felt ready for this race and very glad that I made the trip. This was a good race for me with only a few moderate misses and some tentative controls as I tried to (and generally succeeded) in having a clean run. I finished second in M40, however, the best orienteers in this class were running M21.
Course Results...

Out to the start, back, then out again. I needed to get my legs & lungs going because this was a "short" race.

Day 2: Red/Brown - Splits

5:15 a.m. departure for Michigan and smooth drive with Charlie, Jeff & Jim in Maricel's van. Foot was a little sore from being adjusted but working perfectly again (a true miracle). I considered skipping the sprint but kind of got swept-up into the event and decided to go for it. I was glad that I did because after four days without any running my legs needed to be shocked back to life. And they were because this sprint race was fast and furious. The map was simple and times were dictated by raw speed and much less by route chioce & nav. I luckily caught Jim at the second control and tried to break away from him with unique route choices but his pace overwhelmed me. I also had a 30 second "brain dead" error that knocked me back to third in M40+. Nevertheless, my foot felt fine and I got primed for Saturday.
Results...

Jogged around the warmup area with an old map. Foot was a little sore but ready. Very interesting terrain which I knew I'd experience on Sunday. Today's sprint would be through the flat, open areas and small sections of woods.

Sprint TT (Red/Blue) - Splits

Foot has been inexplicably hurting since Tuesday (I thought it was a stress fracture). Turned out to be a set of siezed metatarsals and was cured by a magical foot massage.

Short warmup & running back from the "meow" map.

Badger Meet at Cat's Agenda, Kettle Morraine North. Another beautiful day, though a bit warmer than yesterday. My first run on this new map and I really enjoyed it. Kevin set a fun course with some good route choices & technical controls. For the first time ever, I went under 10min/k on a "cat" map despite a couple of minutes of errors. Of course, the eur-o studs clobbered my time but not by too much. All systems go today.

C • good result! 2

As long as I took the trip up there, I did some control picking on the Cat's Meow map after the race. This side is more difficult than the "agenda." The terrain all looks the same and there are few distinctive features from which to relocate so a parallel error is catastrophic. This made my training a challenge as I rarely had solid affirmation that I found the "control" feature that I was looking for. So, as I'd head off to the next control, there was often a nagging suspicion that I was starting from a different place and forcing the map to fit what I was seeing. I think I did fine because, when I encountered a reliable feature, it was always where I expected it. Ran up the hills and jogged when I was certain of my location. Hot and thirsty but glad I did this extra training.

Luckily, this was an easy & long distance swim practice. After warmup & kicking, we did ladder intervals to 500y interspersed with some recovery 100s. The intervals seemed long for everyone in our group but we didn't complain about the rest and instead swam faster. I sensed an impendng calf cramp but held it off until the last 500. I was wiped by then so I packed it in. Decent workout.

Caravanned back from the cat with Charlie's car and had a great cookout at his house with Kathy, Jim & Maricel. This was a beautiful late afternoon to spend drinking one of my favorite ales and eating burgers in Charlie's newly built "peace garden."