Training Log Archive: TomN

QOC Granite Red. Boy, we lucked out on the weather. Saturday was the only dry day in a week-long string of wet ones. I had a good run, the only real problem being a careless approach to #7, although I thought I was doing the right thing, heading down the spur to the left of the big reentrant, coming in to the small reentrant, but somehow it wasn't right and I spent 3 extra minutes getting to the right place. Great woods for running and orienteering, and the right time of year to be in them.

Course designer Jan Merka made an inspired decision to add a sprint course through the rocky technical area, with a map at 1:5000 that actually allowed you to read the features. It was a lot of fun. I ran well for the first 7 or so controls, then things began to go haywire. Part of the problem was letting other people distract me. Dave O. and I took a suboptimal route to #8, too low, and slow to get through the pits up to the boulder. Then I started off with him in the wrong direction, and even though I corrected before he did, the damage was done, 2 minutes lost on #9. Ran with Valerie past #13 on the forested spur, but again, I corrected and backtracked to the control while she went on to finish without having punched it. More lost time for me, and a mp for her.

Picking up controls.

Red - Splits

Sprint - Splits

Same route again. Drizzly today. I was comfortable enough running, but for some reason I was thinking about hypothermia.

There was a little window between when I woke up and the rain started, so I took advantage of it. Cool and gray the whole way, and I got a few raindrops just as I was coming back in.

David Roche's 5-min leg circuit (fwd lunges, back lunges, slngle-leg back lunges, single-leg step-ups. Plus a hamstring set.

My watch died over the weekend. I found it about 8 years ago, on a rainy day, lying in the mud. I saw it was still working, so I took it home, and I've used it ever since. It's a small Timex runner's watch, velcro strap, either a kids' or womens' model, which suits me just fine. I guess I'll try replacing the battery.

West Point Long Green Y. Well, this was a disappointment, and a tiring one at that. I never understood the map, right from the beginning, when I walked the whole way to the first control, trying to make sense of what the map was saying but never getting it. And for pretty much the whole course, I just wandered through the wilderness hoping for a glimmer of understanding that would let me guess where I might be.

Long - Green Y - Splits