Training Log Archive: TomN

I didn't have high expectations for this event (in fact, I was terrified of it), and this time expectations met reality. I went slowly and got to #1 just fine, but Ernst Linder caught me there. We went to 2 more or less together, and I made a bad route choice to #3, not seeing the trail in the rocks and cliffs. Had to relocate twice. I didn't totally trust the swamps, so when I found a wet spot, I wasn't sure it was mapped. But then I found one with a control in it, which was surely mapped, and and that finally got me back on track. A few other times I lost contact with the map, and it took some time to regain it.

I'm tempted to blame the rain, but in fact I could see pretty well. I wore a hat, which kept my glasses dryer than they would otherwise have been, and I carried a handkerchief folded up in my e-punch hand to wipe off the magnifier and glasses. The cloth stayed dry the whole time, even when I fell and dropped it once.

You had to be right on to find controls, and it was a lot of fun when that was working for me. Pretty tough when it wasn't. I think I got better at it as I went along, but I still have no idea how to do it at speed. I wish I had one of these in my back yard to practice on.

Middle Green Y - Splits

Wow, this was unexpected. I haven't often done well in sprints, and given that it forced Addie and me to travel separately, I was thinking of skipping it. But I entered, and won a gold, which, as Jerry Garcia says, goes to show, you don't ever know.

Attackpoint shows me with zero time lost, which is a first ever. A little slow on the first control, I would have said. But the navigation was pretty easy, so I remembered to read ahead, and the map was uncluttered enough that I could read it on the run.

Sprint Green - Splits

Core strength, again. No running for now. Legs not feeling too great.

Core strength workout, stretching, and a little bit with a tennis ball under the hamstring attachment area.

QOC Pohick Bay Red. An OK run, good routes I think but a few misses. On the first control I expected to hit the big reentrant in the light green, but didn't, pushed on anyway thinking I was to the north of it, but was actually south of it, so did a little back-and-forth on the trail across the stream. On 5 I went up to the plateau and followed the indistinct trail to the stream, then headed recklessly down the hill and got lost in the reentrants. Back to the top of the stream and did it right (probably would have been smarter to go down to the bottom and look up). On the mountaineering loop on the other side of the park I climbed up a huge dirt cliff to the lake at Pirate's Cove, then hugged the edge of the out-of-bounds all the way around to 13 and 14, no issues there but I remember getting hideously lost in those reentrants at previous events. Also spiked 15-16, but then took a stupid detour to the finish.

Cool-down run (or is it warm-down) on the yellow course with Addie. Felt awful starting to run again, but I guess the endorphins must have kicked in and smoothed things out.

Yellow - Splits

Red - Splits