Training Log Archive: Spike

Green at Camp Shea (which is part of Turkey Mountain).

I was quite happy that my shin was feeling ok. It was uncomfortable when I brushed against vegetation, but it wasn't a problem to run.

The first leg was tough - 10 lines of climb where you could see the control location (but not the control itself) from about the last 2/3rds of the leg. I walked every step.

I was a bit unsure of how to take the long leg. I'm wary of running on the sides of hills. I mostly stayed high, but the vegetation was kind of junky. In retrospect, dropping down and then following the hillside would probably have saved a little time.

I had one bobble at 4. I not entirely sure what I did. I was a little too high and went to a parallel feature. Sloppy. The rain made it hard to use my magnifier and that might have been a little bit of the problem.

On 10 I got a bit confused and was looking for the control way too early. I was kind of passive on the leg, running and then reading instead of the other way around.

Not a complaint about the map, but about the mapping standard. The vertical green stripes don't work well in terrain if you need to read features under the green. It is visually distracting without really giving you any useful information.

Lots of fun, but I was tired and I'm not fit enough to really move well in this kind of terrain right now.

5

Long - GreenY - Splits

Middle distance green course at VIctor Constance Ski Slope.

Most of my run was fine, but slow. But, I also made a big mistake on the 5th control. I got a bit confused by the rocky hillside and cliffs and climbed a bit extra. I also started out a bit unsure. The extra distance wasn't much, but it was all steep and rocky and slow going.

It is hard to run on rocky ground when you're not used to it. Also, my feet got a bit beat up by the rocks.

5

Campus sprint at West Point.

I ran ok, missed one route choice when I had trouble seeing whether I could get through an area and ran around. It turned out I could have gone through.

The race was fun. That said, it wasn't the sort of course I really like. You had to read the descriptions carefully to avoid getting caught by some sort of trick/trap. In a few places the map could have used some tweaks to make it more readable. But, it was a lot of fun and I managed to avoid most of the tricks/traps.

I had one half fall. I was running and kind of ran into a low wall. I smacked my shin and fell down. At the finish I checked with the first aid crew. They cleaned the cut, wrapped my shin tightly and gave me some ice. My lower leg was uncomfortable the rest of the evening, but the tight wrap seemed to help and I was ok for running Sunday.

Running on the campus made me day dream about an urban event at Fort Leavenworth.

5

Middle - GreenY - Splits

Sprint - Green - Splits

Day 3 of 3 of the cyber security conference. Mowed when I got home.

Day 2 of the cyber security conference was less draining than day 1.

I shuffled around on West Campus when I got home. My legs felt heavy at the start, but better after about 20 minutes. The sun popped out when I headed out the door and it was kind of sweaty, but not so hot.

I ran on some of the trails on West Campus. I think they'll be too overgrown with vegetation in a few days. Also, the honeysuckle bushes are fully leafed out and just annoying.

1

I spent the day at a conference and was tired by the end. Being around a lot of people all day is draining. My initial plan was to run when I got home, but I changed my mind and will just relax. The conference goes on for another two days.

It seemed like it would be more fun to ride around on my bike than not. So I took my MTB over to the roads on West Campus and biked around for a while. It was fun.

1