Training Log Archive: HGaston

mmmm...back from Rochester.

I had an awesome time, but it was also an eye-opener that I need to get more serious about training again, especially the navigational side. Actually, I mostly just need to focus, but that seems sort of nebulous.

I really enjoyed getting to know a handful of people that I've somehow never really met before...a lot of DVOA juniors, and Eddie, and Dennis from BAOC. And it was of course wonderful to see everyone else again too :-).

mmm....a handful of stunning realizations:

- I need to watch where I'm running...I got a stick in my eye (all the way in) today, so it seems I read the map too much while running. Map memory issue?

- "Straight is great" is only true in Wyoming. It probably wasn't necessary to run *through* that swamp in the middle distance instead of going around....or straight through the sinkhole...or on a 500-m bearing through featureless, flat white/green woods with no catching feature. The swamp actually looked decent on the map, and in Sweden it would have been a good route choice. The sinkhole looked decent in the terrain, but then I stepped in it and the ground wasn't really there.

- FOCUS!! This is a little ridiculous, but it's my biggest problem...specific errors this weekend: I ran right past the spectator control on the sprint because I was vaguely thinking about the fact that I don't like spectator areas and that Hannah was right with me and had started after me (yikes! :-)) instead of concentrating on the map and the fact that at 1:4000 things happen a lot more quickly than they do at 1/10.

This also happened after falling in the sinkhole on the middle...After having a pretty decent middle for the first 12 controls, I ran off into the oblivion looking for 13 with very little plan and only an approximate direction. ??? I hadn't been expecting to fall into a sinkhole, but orienteering is random (and that's one of the awesome things about it), and you can't lose focus when something out of the ordinary happens.

It happened on several of the Ultralong controls today, because I focus less during long legs where there is a lot of running time without decisions. The trouble is I started thinking about other things today at the same time, and then it's like half-listening to a conversation when suddenly the other person asks you a question. ...and then it's impossible to spike it.

It was frustrating to have errors/messy runs again after being pretty consistent this summer.

To fix these issues:

- Map runs (focus on map memory)
- Catching features
- Stay on a regular physical training schedule

Good things:

- I relocated pretty well, except for that control in the flat white/green woods because there were no features or contours to use. There were a lot of opportunities to relocate, especially on the Ultra Long, because of everything listed earlier...

- Good flow through controls, not a lot of slowing down while leaving.

- The Middle was fairly focused and strong until control 13 (of 14).

This is really long! Yikes.

C • Wow! 7

C • Course analysis 2

UltraLong: Green Y - Splits

Event: US Sprint & UltraLong champs
 

Yikes! Very inconsistent. Fast legs alternating with errors. The worst was the first control because I somehow didn't see it, came out, re-attacked to about the same area, and found it the second time!

Afterwards John attempted to teach us all to whistle, but we weren't very good students :).

Water-bottle soccer with Carl, Calvin, the DVOA group, and David. In socks, between the sprint and middle :).

A beautiful day, sunny and clear, and a big open meadow.

Middle distance

Sprint: Green - Splits

Middle: Green Y - Splits

Rest day due to Thursday Schedule of Doom [Chem lab].

Lab was the full 4 hours today (yikes!), but the room has a window this time so it doesn't feel quite as depressing.

ESL was much better today :-). They learned questions. It's hard to explain why we say, "What do you do?" The first 'do' doesn't have an apparent purpose...

...escaping tomorrow!!

Quick run in the evening. The sidewalks were leafy and slick and dark and it was a flyaway rainy sort of night.

Running felt strong, which was awesome. I've been feeling a little sluggish on runs lately.

Made it a short run because I have to figure out chem lab stuff etc. Also have to come up with some kind of lesson plan for ESL. First class was today, and it was challenging! They know a lot less English than I was expecting.

I went to a moon talk today, and the terrain looked really excellent :-).

Mapwork: I went through routes/strategies with Emily on an Umstead map from last year.

The Garmin took ~4 mins to locate satellites, so I added .45 miles; it's approximate.

I startled a deer after turning a sharp corner in the woods. It was only about ten meters away! Saw another one on the way back, just beyond the stream crossing.

Also did mapwork with Shannon after the run. We went through routes and simplifying the map on an Australian course from a few years ago. She did really well with picking out the major contour features and reading what was under all the rock.

Long day, but biology exam and bio lab are finished!

Rest day today.

Will probably do some armchair-o at the CLP meeting tonight.