Training Log Archive: BruceIn the 7 days ending May 12, 2012:
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Saturday May 12, 2012 #
9 AM
Orienteering race 18:36 [5] 3.83 km (4:52 / km) +42m 4:37 / km
NOL Sprint Distance and WOC Trial
Newcastle University
M21E 8th place
My calf had improved, but I was still a long way from 100%. I wasn't really able to run at top speed, and minimal training for 4 weeks would probably prevent that in the second half of the race anyway. I had to be really careful accelerating and climbing stairs and banks, so realistically I was going to be around 10% slower than I could have been.
I started very well, having predicted a route choice around the first building near the start. I took a couple of extra seconds to read the map and then took the right route - giving me the fastest split. I continued well onto the second and was still in 2nd place.
3 and 4 involved stairs and slopes, and that brought me back to the field. Unfortunately, this was going to be the case with my calf.
5 was my biggest mistake of the morning - losing 10 seconds. I tried to find the second staircase on the left, but the map/terrain was very confusing and overshot by 15m. The ideal route choice was diagonal left, approaching the control from the left.
6-16 were clean, but I was certainly restricted with my calf and losing time.
I was too careful on 17. I correctly read that the right side of the building was a dead end, so I took the left route. I failed to see the right route around the garden which cost me 5-10 seconds.
18 was mapped next to an olive green garden bed. I stayed clear of the garden bed on the exit, but I saw others that didn't.
After the garden bed, I ran too far left and almost took a wrong turn. I correctly just in time, but probably lost 10 seconds for missing the short cut.
I had a good section from 20-23. From 20 I exited backward, avoiding the stairs and the long wall, resulting in the fastest split. On 23 I took the left route and was in the top 5 splits on a long leg where I was again restricted at top speed.
My finish was clean, but I had to resist sprinting, especially across the very spongy grass.
I did my best and I have to be happy with 8th place, especially considering I couldn't walk less than 4 weeks ago. I was a bit disappointed given that 2nd Australian was certainly possible for me without injury on this course. However there was nothing else that I could have done to avoid this, so I have to be satisfied.
Route Gadget
Photo, complete with "old man's calf" socks
Newcastle University
M21E 8th place
My calf had improved, but I was still a long way from 100%. I wasn't really able to run at top speed, and minimal training for 4 weeks would probably prevent that in the second half of the race anyway. I had to be really careful accelerating and climbing stairs and banks, so realistically I was going to be around 10% slower than I could have been.
I started very well, having predicted a route choice around the first building near the start. I took a couple of extra seconds to read the map and then took the right route - giving me the fastest split. I continued well onto the second and was still in 2nd place.
3 and 4 involved stairs and slopes, and that brought me back to the field. Unfortunately, this was going to be the case with my calf.
5 was my biggest mistake of the morning - losing 10 seconds. I tried to find the second staircase on the left, but the map/terrain was very confusing and overshot by 15m. The ideal route choice was diagonal left, approaching the control from the left.
6-16 were clean, but I was certainly restricted with my calf and losing time.
I was too careful on 17. I correctly read that the right side of the building was a dead end, so I took the left route. I failed to see the right route around the garden which cost me 5-10 seconds.
18 was mapped next to an olive green garden bed. I stayed clear of the garden bed on the exit, but I saw others that didn't.
After the garden bed, I ran too far left and almost took a wrong turn. I correctly just in time, but probably lost 10 seconds for missing the short cut.
I had a good section from 20-23. From 20 I exited backward, avoiding the stairs and the long wall, resulting in the fastest split. On 23 I took the left route and was in the top 5 splits on a long leg where I was again restricted at top speed.
My finish was clean, but I had to resist sprinting, especially across the very spongy grass.
I did my best and I have to be happy with 8th place, especially considering I couldn't walk less than 4 weeks ago. I was a bit disappointed given that 2nd Australian was certainly possible for me without injury on this course. However there was nothing else that I could have done to avoid this, so I have to be satisfied.
Route Gadget
Photo, complete with "old man's calf" socks
Orienteering warm up/down 30:00 [1] 5.06 km (5:56 / km) +23m 5:48 / km
3 PM
Orienteering race 42:05 [4] **** 7.31 km (5:45 / km) +94m 5:24 / km
spiked:22/27c
NOL Middle Distance and WOC Trials
The Old Pelaw Main Colliery
M21E 16th
I wasn't certain that I could run in the terrain with my calf, so I took it quite slowly and set myself a goal of getting through the race without any further damage. If I felt any strain I was going to abandon my course.
Fortunately my calf held up ok at jogging speed, and I was able to complete the race. I was not very confident, especially in the marshes and rough areas, so I was pretty slow.
It was a very good course with lots of changes of direction. You had to be on top of your navigation to have a good run.
My navigation wasn't brilliant. I got confused by extra tracks and lost a minute on 1. I got the angles wrong and finished 50m to the right.
My compass was poor on 11 and 12, and I got the exit completely wrong leaving 12 from not reading the map carefully.
I was lazy on 19; not using my compass or the track to the right. I ended up a wide left and had to cover extra distance.
26 was hard to find - it was a broken fence. I found the flag, but didn't see anything of a fence.
I lost another 30s on 27. The tracks were not clear, and I when I got to the clearing I couldn't see the control feature. I expected that it would be obvious in the clearing. I checked out another flag (wrong code) and eventually found a the control on a tiny termite mound behind a bush. It turned out that the bush was a tiny green dot on the map, which I didn't notice.
Several of the features on this map appeared to be very small, including the tiny black circles for man made features.
Route Gadget
This also gave me enough confidence to attempt the long distance race, although again I would have to restrict myself to jogging.
The Old Pelaw Main Colliery
M21E 16th
I wasn't certain that I could run in the terrain with my calf, so I took it quite slowly and set myself a goal of getting through the race without any further damage. If I felt any strain I was going to abandon my course.
Fortunately my calf held up ok at jogging speed, and I was able to complete the race. I was not very confident, especially in the marshes and rough areas, so I was pretty slow.
It was a very good course with lots of changes of direction. You had to be on top of your navigation to have a good run.
My navigation wasn't brilliant. I got confused by extra tracks and lost a minute on 1. I got the angles wrong and finished 50m to the right.
My compass was poor on 11 and 12, and I got the exit completely wrong leaving 12 from not reading the map carefully.
I was lazy on 19; not using my compass or the track to the right. I ended up a wide left and had to cover extra distance.
26 was hard to find - it was a broken fence. I found the flag, but didn't see anything of a fence.
I lost another 30s on 27. The tracks were not clear, and I when I got to the clearing I couldn't see the control feature. I expected that it would be obvious in the clearing. I checked out another flag (wrong code) and eventually found a the control on a tiny termite mound behind a bush. It turned out that the bush was a tiny green dot on the map, which I didn't notice.
Several of the features on this map appeared to be very small, including the tiny black circles for man made features.
Route Gadget
This also gave me enough confidence to attempt the long distance race, although again I would have to restrict myself to jogging.
Orienteering warm up/down 15:00 [2] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)
Friday May 11, 2012 #
12 PM
Running 33:52 [2] 6.26 km (5:25 / km) +75m 5:06 / km
My calf is improving, but still very annoying.
Running is possible, but not very comfortable.
Running is possible, but not very comfortable.
Thursday May 10, 2012 #
12 PM
Running 29:14 [3] 5.15 km (5:40 / km) +55m 5:23 / km
Wednesday May 9, 2012 #
8 AM
Cycling 1:00:01 [2] 13.57 km (13.6 kph) +63m
Tuesday May 8, 2012 #
12 PM
Running 30:24 [2] 5.16 km (5:54 / km) +72m 5:31 / km
5 PM
Cycling 50:00 [2] 13.0 km (15.6 kph) +26m
Monday May 7, 2012 #
Running 20:00 [1] 4.0 km (5:00 / km)
Very slow to the tan and back
Sunday May 6, 2012 #
Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)
10 AM
Orienteering race 14:45 [4] *** 3.3 km (4:29 / km) +4m 4:27 / km
spiked:19/19c
Apart from a couple of brief fitness tests, this was first run in 3 weeks after a calf tear. My main objective was to see if my calf could last a sprint race to see if I bother to make the trip to Newcastle next weekend.
I restrained myself to go no faster than 4 min/kms to avoid any further damage and this was achieved. My race was very clean, as I was running well below my race pace and I had plenty of time to plan and execute my routes carefully.
An added bonus was finishing second in M21A, 19 seconds behind Bryan. It would have been nice to be able to race at full speed and go for the win, but that may also have resulted in another calf tear. Hopefully the improvement will continue during the week, and I can race a bit harder next Saturday.
I restrained myself to go no faster than 4 min/kms to avoid any further damage and this was achieved. My race was very clean, as I was running well below my race pace and I had plenty of time to plan and execute my routes carefully.
An added bonus was finishing second in M21A, 19 seconds behind Bryan. It would have been nice to be able to race at full speed and go for the win, but that may also have resulted in another calf tear. Hopefully the improvement will continue during the week, and I can race a bit harder next Saturday.