Training Log Archive: hamlet

This felt much harder than it should've, but oh well, I'm tired from yesteray I guess.

just the normal plank rotation

I wish I could've pushed more, but the hills seriously killed me, especially in the second half. I made two mistakes I'm frustrated by, but other than that I just hesitated a lot and was a little confused occasionally, and mostly I was just slow. But hey, I completed my first ever blue course and since that wasn't enough it was a race, too-

I messed up the first control the most I think. I went down one spur too early because I passed by a reentrant that I thought was the one I was looking for, and I didn't check my compass to make sure because I didn't think any other reentrants would be prominent enough around. That was stupid because this is Fountainhead after all. I even thought the reentrant was smaller than I expected- well no wonder cuz it wasn't the one I was looking for.

Then I messed up the 7th control a bit. I shot off too much to the east- almost as if I was heading straight for #8. When I crossed the trail and saw that there was a forked reentrant I knew something was up, and I corrected my mistake. I don't think I lost a ton of time there, but it just frustrates me that it was such a pointless mistake.

I went through so many stages of fatigue during the course it was surprising- but I was so focused on navigating that I ignored them for the most part, I was just slower up the hills. First, around the 5th control, I started getting cramps in my lower abdomen, so that was fun. By 10 they went away, thankfully. Then, after 16 I started feeling pretty chilly and my nose was running a ton, and being soaked in sweat didn't help for sure. Then between 19 and 20, when I got up to the trail and tried to run, my legs nearly buckled under me so that was fun. Finally, into the finish going up the last hill, I had a massive urge to throw up (which I'm not surprised, I typically do when it comes to finishing races) but I forced myself to hold off at least until I finished (I was fine in the finish though- I think my body was relieved that I was done)

But other than that I had a great time out there. It was good that I didn't get to look at the map beforehand I think because if I had, I would've dreaded it even more. This way, I was just looking at the course leg by leg so it wasn't as mentally draining to see that the course is so long.

I really enjoyed these races. Even though I don't have a chance to get on the team, I really enjoyed running multiple days in a row and competing for the first time since Georgia Navigator Cup 2020. It's been a while, and it was really fun. The courses were also all super fun- they were technical, but I loved the challenge. Even though I'm not the happiest with my performance, even with the running set aside, I still had fun and got to learn from my mistakes. The difficulty of the courses really made it super fun, I absolutely loved the challenge.

Red TT - Splits

Red TT & Blue - Splits

I had a decent time, but I could've done better. A lot better. I feel like I've lost up to 10 minutes in navigational mistakes alone. Attackpoint says I only lost 4 minutes, but I think there's a lot more than that.
I did pretty well running-wise. I ran whenever the vegetation let me, and I almost tripped like 1000 times but i came back with both legs intact so that's a plus. I probably could've run harder, but most of the spots where I feel I slowed down too much I was a bit lost so I'm alright with the slowing down part.

At the start I got distracted and I didn't expect the timer to go off and with the air I punched the start before I expected to so I panicked a bit and I couldn't make a plan, I just shot off as a flight response I guess, and I couldn't tell which of the streams was the one that I wanted to follow towards the control, so I ended up going to the hillside and following it, but I was afraid I passed by the control similar like yesterday on the second control, so I went back but I saw a little stream end so I knew I wasn't nearly far enough, which was frustrating. Then I got the control no problem.

I was slow in attacking the 4th control, so I lost a bit of time there. Honestly I can't really remember the specifics of that leg. I completely messed up the 5th control, I bassed by just south of it and hit the streams behind it where I realized my mistake and I found out where approximately I was and how to get to my control. Then for 6 I hit the hilltop northeast of it and thought it was the one directly east of the control, so I went east and was confused, so when I was on my way returning to the NE hilltop I looked to my left and thankfully saw the control.

Then I nailed 7 and 8, I did well on 9, and I slightly messed up 10- I probably lost a minute there. I hit different boulders than I thought I was hitting, but soon I noticed I was at the boulder grouping east of 10, so I hit the control no problem. I then nailed 11 and 12 (I saw 12 after taking 5 steps out from 11 so that was pretty refreshing).

For 13 I regret not following the stream into the control, instead I cut through the green and slowed down. I could've at least gone past the green from the left a bit more, it would've definitely been faster.

Then the finish leg was fun :) I was glad I could just sprint on the trail, it was so nice after all that green.

Overall it was a great course, and once I got into the map I think I did well. I'm just frustrated it took me so long to get into the map and that I just threw away my whole warmup in the last minute before my start, but that's a mistake I can learn from.

Hopefully I don't die tomorrow- it'll be my first blue course ever and it's in fountainhead of all places... Even though I ran my first green course in that same park a few years ago and did pretty well, it's still a bit worrying because there's a pretty significant difference between a green and a blue course. But I can just bring my best and do what I know how to do best: navigate and keep on going. Hopefully I'll take less than 3 hours haha

C • Great job 5

Middle Red - Splits

Event: US WOC Team Trials
 

I made one sizable mistake on #2 (I went too low and missed the control) and a moderate mistake on #10 (I mixed up the small and big ponds but I noticed at the trails that I was close to missing it, so I just did a bit of an arc rather than a straight line but oh well) and #8 (I wasn't sure where the control was, I thought it was going to be closer than it ended up being).
I made at least two small mistakes I could think of that cost me a few seconds each, but if I fix my running, then I can worry about the seconds. I was beat by 4 minutes, so a few seconds won't hurt. #2, 10, and 8 frustrate me the most.

I was fairly disappointed with my running, but at least I ran better than I did on monday. Still, I was frustrated at being so slow and at the fact I was dying so much, especially towards the end. I really need to improve my training, but along with school it's like I don't have enough energy for both- it's one or the other, and training is more fun but school is technically more important so I end up not doing anything because everything ends up being too overwhelming. I feel like I should know how to balance the two by now, but apparently I don't.

C • Balancing 1

Sprint Red - Splits

kinda same today- just in the evening we went to a friends' house, so I got to see Chevy again and we went on ~3.5km walk with him, but I forgot to measure it so idk how long it took. But I'm glad I got to see Chevy again, even though I was pretty done with the socializing.

kinda crashed. I forgot to take my antidepressants for the past 3 days so I fele like pretty much crap and all I could get myself to do is just disassociate all day

Was still frustrated about yesterday's running, so I figured going biking was going to be better than nothing