Training Log Archive: hkleaf

So no training today as my legs are feeling the effects of sprinting around the soccer field last night. I did however spent 5 hours in the morning helping a friend move (suppose I could count that as weight training, eh?) and then about 3.5 hours in the afternoon working on the yard.

I saw a rather large garden snake slithering around a corner outside of the garage while mowing the lawn. It disappear into a hole in the ground, so I'm not quite sure how to deal with it yet.

Subbing for my friends since they're a bit short on guys tonight. Legs were obviously not quite ready for the sprints and sharp cuts, as I felt a step slower all night. We lost 4-7, but I did score a goal!

Legs are sore now. I'm definitely shutting it down (from sprint work and road running) at least for the next week. We'll see if that'll speed up the recovery.

Level 7, 85+rpm.
Still a little tender around the left shin, so biking and swimming will be the primary training for the next week or so.

I did bring along the Team Trials Classic map with me to evaluate my route choices.

Hamstrings, calves, lower back, hips, and legs.

Not trying to do too much yet. This will be sort of a recovery week.

Legs actually felt pretty good today, considering the amount of running I did over the weekend. My arms (triceps) though are sore for some unknown reasons.

US Team Trials / SLOC A-Meet - Hawn State Park, Ste. Genevieve, Mo.
M21+ Blue.

The storm mostly skirted south of the park, so we lucked out there. The overcast sky left the temperature nice and cool for us, but the rain yesterday afternoon had the ground and underbrush plenty moist already, so I still ended up pretty soaked.

Anyway, the wetness wasn't the bad part at all. The real bad part was my performance. I had a disastrous day similar to my GNC Day 1 experience. I didn't get as lost here as I had in Pine Mountain, but I made mistakes and lost map contacts enough times to pushed me to a DNF finish. I went from 10 to 15, skipping the loop of 11-14, because mentally I was beat up and I would've finished OVT anyway even if I got to all the controls.

Aside from the DNF, I was most disappointed in my inability to focus on the goal of the day - run slow enough to stay in map contact constantly. It's a task easier said than done, which was made even harder by the number of fast runners out there. On several occasions, I was tempted to keep pace with them, only to have it backfire on me as I got over my optimal o' speed. My brain just couldn't process all that map info at the faster pace, which in turn caused those mistakes.

Oh well, lessons learned. First, slow down! Second, concentrate extra hard when there're others around on the course.

Left shin felt a little better today. I think all the stretching and massaging the last couple days (plus ice last night) has really helped.

Before and after race.

Even though performance wise it was a disappointing weekend, I still had a lot of fun out there. It's always nice to have a chance to compete against the elites, to see where I stand.

This was still just my 3rd A-Meet overall, so just adding experience on Blue was a positive. Although now it's painfully obvious I'm not quite ready to compete at that level yet. So for the next A-Meet, I am considering doing the Short/Middle course in Blue while stepping down a level to Red for the Long course. I think a shorter distance may help reduce my mental fatique during the race, thus translating to better results. One way or another, I need to experience some success in order to learn what it is to orienteer cleanly.

US Team Trials / SLOC A-Meet - S-F Scout Ranch (West), Farmington, Mo.
M21+ Blue.

Another nice day (weather) again. A bit cooler since we started early. I was one of the earlier starters since I had a slower Sprints among the M21s yesterday.

It was another mediocre day (performance) for me. Having run the model event yesterday certainly helped in picking out features on the map, but I had trouble on the lone long leg (4 to 5) differentiating the series of small valleys about 200m from the control. Luckily, I missed it to the east, saw 6 and was able to relocate myself. The next few controls (7, 8, 9) were more mistakes, perhaps the result of running too fast/poor route choices.

The map was good and the terrain was fun to run in. The winning time was around 33:00! It's a bit disappointing to see that I'm running at about 50% of the elites. I'm still struggling at finding my optimal o' speed. I want to be able to compete with the best, but obviously I'm not there yet. Hopefully I can put in more training on my navigation this summer to get better.

Warm up/Cool down run around the parking area. Distance is an estimation. Left shin was again bothersome at the beginning, but once warmed up and stretched properly, it felt fine for the race.

Before and after race.

Would've love to re-run the course today after finishing. That would serve as instant feedback and extra training. But since I was riding with Mike, and we still have the 13.6k long course Sunday, I spent the afternoon laying around and relaxing at the motel.

Event: US Team Trials
 

US Team Trials / SLOC A-Meet - UMSL, St. Louis, MO.
M21+ Blue - though everybody ran the same course.

It was warm, with temperature approaching 90F at the start. The sun was also out the entire time, which makes it even harder to sprint around. After a solid week of cool soggy weather in Cincinnati, it's a bit hard to adjust to the conditions today.

Oerall not a great run. Had some minor mistakes (poor route choices/hesitations) at 2, 3, 5, and 15. Plus a huge error leaving 7 (poor map reading). All told, they probably cost me ~2 minutes, which in a sprint race is a lot. No doubt I could still improve on my speed a bit (I would've been smoked by 3 minutes even with a clean run!), but more so on minimizing my navigation mistakes.

Despite my mediocre result, I still had a fun time out there. It was my first urban sprint o' experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I definitely would love it if we have some in Cincy in the future.

Warm up/Cool down run around spectator area. Distance is an estimation. My left shin was bothering me a bit in pre-race warm up. Not sure if I'm dealing with a possible shin splint or just the lingering effects of the marathon still. It did get better after warming up, and I didn't feel any particular discomfort during the race.

Before and after race.

US Team Trials / SLOC A-Meet - S-F Scout Ranch, Farmington, Mo.

My first experience having a pre-race run in a model area. It was fun getting some extra training in. I only ran portions of a couple legs at race speed, the rest was at a slow jog/walk so that I can take in more of the terrain while cross-referencing the mapped features. The distance and climb listed are from the actually mapped course, but I certainly did much more than that exploring other areas on the map.

Even though it was after 6pm, it was still really warm out there. I was just happy to be free of tics when I got back from the course!

Sprint - Splits

It's probably not the best idea to go into a big race without running/training at all the whole week. But since I'm still fighting this cold, I figure resting and saving my energy is the smarter choice here.

Of the 2 prior A-Meets that I competed, I never fair well running the Blue courses. I'll try to do better this time, with the focus on keeping better map contact (i.e. finding my optimal o' speed).

OCIN Event - Camp Friedlander, Loveland, Ohio.
Green - EC was at the Lower Camp Craig this time.

It'd been raining here since Thursday, with the temperature dropping to the 40s. So I thought it could be miserable out there, especially with all the steep slopes. As it turned out, the rain stopped just in time when I got there (late start), and the footing wasn't terrible ala East Fork last month.

First time orienteering since the OCIN Flying Pig, and first time running hard since the other Pig. Legs felt reasonably good, and my navigation was ok as well. No major mistakes today, though Mike did have plenty of interesting route choices for the course. I've done well here at CF both times now within the last year. The feature-rich map really helps me stay in contact much better. Now if only I can translate the success onto an A-Meet...

The only downer was me taking a spill running onto a wooden footbridge going from 5 to 6. I went in at an angle with a decent pace, and fail to realize rubber studs and wet wood aren't the best of friends. The next moment, I was skidding across on my side, and proceeded to slide off the bridge down into the reentrant 6-7ft below! Thud! Thank goodness I didn't hit any sharp/hard objects at the bottom there. Now I've got some battle marks all up and down my left side (arm, ribs, thigh) to show for it.

C • Slime Covered Wooden Objects... 2

Helped with some control picking around the lake afterwards.

Been under the weather the past several days. Caught a cold Thursday I guess, and been stuffed up since. Unfortunately sleeping it off isn't the trick to rid of this nasty cold, at least not yet.

Here are my marathon splits. Those from miles 16-25 are guestimates.
(1)8:41, (2)7:44, (3)7:42, (4)7:31, (5)7:25, (6)7:39, (7)7:51, (8)7:42, (9)7:18, (10)7:05, (11)6:32, (12)7:00, (13)6:53, (14)7:10, (15)7:18, (16)6:50, (17)7:05, (18)7:10, (19)6:45, (20)6:55, (21)7:05, (22)7:10, (23)7:13, (24)7:08 (25)7:00, (26)6:22
*I really do need a watch that'd take multiple splits!

Miles 2 & 4 were major bridges across the Ohio. 6-8 were the hills (downtown thru Eden Park), thus the slower splits. 11 & 14 were mostly downhill, while all others predominantly flat with some gentle slopes or short hills.

The official splits are as follow:
6.8 mile - 0:52:04 (7:39/mi over 6.8mi)
12.0 mile - 1:30:10 (7:20/mi over 5.2mi)
13.1 mile - 1:37:48 (6:56/mi over 1.1mi)
19.3 mile - 2:21:49 (7:06/mi over 6.2mi)
25.2 mile - 3:03:16 (7:02/mi over 5.9mi)
26.2 mile - 3:09:38 (6:22/mi over last mi)

If I break the race down into 4 legs (6.8mi, 6.3mi, 6.2mi, and 6.9mi), then it's easy to see my average pace got faster through each leg (7:39, 7:16, 7:06, 6:56), which I think is a great sign.

It's nice to be able to run a negative split (1:37:48 first half, 1:31:50 second half), and I enjoyed chasing down and passing all those people in the later stages, but I may try for a less dramatic split difference next time.

Continuing with the marathon recovery. Legs are feeling much better today, though the steps are still painful. I'd say they're at about 75%.

Level 5. Easy ride after the run/walk. It's nice to not put the same stress on the legs.

Stretched out my tight calves afterwards.

Continuing with the recovery period. Some of the group got together for a short run/walk from the Spot. My legs are still sore, and a bit painful to be running. But it's amazing how much better they feel at the end of the run.

After the run, some of us got together to share our marathon experience.

Legs are sore everywhere today. Getting up out of chairs and walking up and down stairs are particularly painful.

Had to drum up the energy for a recovery walk. I was going so slow and so awkwardly a 90-yr-old man could've passed me by with ease. Legs did get loosen up and felt better towards the end though.

The Flying Pig Marathon VIII - Cincinnati, Ohio.

The weather was perfect! About 48F at the 6am start and no wind. I didn't even need an extra layer, just a pair of cotton gloves.
I was running with a group (Laurie, Joe F., and John) with a 3:10 pace in mind, but it was so crowded at the start we got stuck behind the 8:00/mile pace sign. So navigating through traffic was a bit of a challenge, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Starting out slow (a +8:30/mile pace) helped me loosen up and saved the energy for later.
We caught the 3:40 pace group in Newport. One down, three more to go. Then at mile 4, we saw Ryan and talked him into running the rest with us. On 3rd street downtown we passed the 3:30 pace group, which was a huge group and taking up half of the road.
By now the pack has thinned a bit and we're able to gradually pick up the pace. The next portion of Eggleston-Reading-Gilbert to Eden Park was pretty uneventful. We're now set into a comfortable groove going uphill, trying not to exert extra effort here. "Elvis" was entertaining us just outside of the Krohn Conservatory. He actually sounded kinda like the real Elvis! It was at the lookout point that I realize I've forgotten to wear the strap around my quad to help with the IT Band, but I was feeling fine, so no harm done.
At mile 8, we're still about 4:00 off the intended pace, but there's a long way to go yet so I wasn't worry. We did started picking up the pace a bit after 9, with the help of a down hill run on Madison and Erie. Ryan let Laurie and I through Hyde Park Square with a 6:30 mile! The huge crowd certainly helped, but that was too fast a pace, and too early to in the race, so we decided to dial it down.
We finally caught up to the 3:20 pace group after around mile 12. A fellow runner told us the group was running ahead of pace, at about 3:15, which made us feel a little better.
When we hit the half-way mark, we're just under 3:00 off the even pace. Since the goal was to do a negative split, we're still on target with the game plan. It's just a matter of whether we can pick up the pace enough in the second half.
Passing through Madisonville and Mariemont was pretty nice, as spectators were lined up alongside cheering us on. Laurie and John dropped back a bit as Ryan and I marched onward in a brisk 7:00/mile pace, still trying to make up time.
Leaving Fairfax and onto Columbia Parkway came the most desolate part of the course. There was no spectator, no music, and not even cars on the road! At least I had Ryan as a running budy.
Next came the dreaded Eastern Avenue portion of the course. We would stay on this road pretty much for the last 7 miles of the race. By now, my legs were getting heavier by the minute, not to mention into unchartered territory (the longest I've ever run before today was 20 miles). They actually went numb somewhere around mile 20.
Just before mile 22, the numbness had progressed to the next level (more numb?), but since I feel no pain, the thought of stopping never crossed my mind. Ryan told me to just keep my head down and not look at the buildings downtown. This technique helped as my mind was also getting fatiqued.
Pace wise, we're now within striking distance as we logged a couple of 6:45 miles earlier on Eastern. But as my mind tired out and wandered, I could no longer sense my own pace, and could barely read the fine prints on my pace chart, much less calculate my needed splits to make 3:10.
I used the downhill by Adam's Landing at mile 24.5 to separate from Ryan. I could sense the finish and knew it would require some effort still to get to 3:10. At the Montgomery Inn Boat House (mile 25.2), my watch read 3:03:15, which meant that I'd have to do a 6:45 last mile. That's almost to a T according to my pre-race plan, except physically I wasn't sure if I had that much in me to do it.
The crowd here in the final stretch was tremendous. Several of my friends were there cheering. I hadn't hear them as I was in a zone. But when I finally heard the call and turned around to acknowledge their presence, my legs gave out and I almost lost my balance as a result. That's when I realized I had no control off my legs any longer. And God knows how long ago I had lost control of them! They were just moving on momentum and robotic muscle memories at the point. I was just glad I avoided a tumble on the course! As it was, I regained my balance, and used the adrenaline rush from the crowd to power my way to the finish.
It felt great passing some folks on my way there. It was an even greater feeling when I could see the clock hanging over the finish line, reading 3:10:10! I knew it took 40+ seconds at the start before I officially crossed the line, so my chip time should be just under 3:10.
I could hardly stand up on my own after the finish, as I could not feel my legs. But walking still felt better than standing around, so some medic helped me along for a bit.
Ryan, Laurie, and John all came in moments later. They all did great! It was a perfet day to run. I had one of those good days. I completed my first marathon, and qualified for Boston in the process. Really an ideal scenario, it couldn't be any better. Life is grand!

C • Congratulations! 4

Warm up jog from the car to the start.

Stretch before and after run.

Very easy run with Laurie, John, Gerard, and a couple others. We did a loop around Newport-Bellevue. The outside of my left foot is still hurting.

Checked with Dan the PT about my left foot. It is an inflammation of a tendon (can't remember the name now) that stretches from the lower leg (calf) around the outside of foot to the mid-sole. He said that it's a very common injury for runners, and ice should do the trick since it doesn't appear to be serious. The cause of such injuries is usually from running on uneven ground.

Off day today. Will be attending the Flying Pig Expo.

Another easy session just to get my legs moving a bit. They're definitely feeling much better this week. The pain on outside of left foot is also subsiding. Can't say that I'm 100% (not sure if I even know how that feels!) but it's as close as I'm gonna get.

Easy ride (Level 7, ~85rpm) just to get the legs some exercise. Brought the OLOU Billy Goat map with me to read/study while riding.

Got in a good long stretch on my legs (quads, hamstrings, calves, hips, ankles) and lower back, so that I can stay loose.

It's good to see the weight-dropping trend has been halted, at least for now. I'm sure me eating more and exercising less this week has something to do with this.

Pig training group run.
67F, clear skies.

Sad to say this was our last group run before the Pig. Since we're tapering, it was just an easy 4-miler on Grandin and "Rich man loop." My pace was a bit faster than I intended, but overall my legs felt fine. I was extra sensitive to the pounding on the pavement though, and can't wait to get back on the trails orienteering after this weekend!

After the run, we watched a powerpoint presentation on "photo awareness" prepared by Red Dog. The idea is to know where the cameras are on race day and try to look good when running by them! Not sure if I'll have the mental capacity to smile for the cameras on Sunday, but the presentation was hilarious.

SRR, with a 2.0 incline. Legs are feeling pretty good today, though there's still a little pain on the outside of left foot.

Cool down jog after the run.

This whole weight-loss thing is driving me nuts! It's chipping away slowly, fractions of a pound at a time. The thing is I feel I've been eating adequately, which makes it all the more frustrating. Maybe I'm losing some muscle masses (as if there're any to begin with!) in my upper body, since I haven't done much weight-training in the last couple months. I just hope this isn't costing me my leg strengths, because I need whatever I can get this weekend.