Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: West Point A-Meet
 

The West Point Red/Blue Sprint. Conditions were sunny, clear, and warm. My run was not especially clean; the winning time, for reference, was Erik Nystrom in 15:27. I made about two minutes of mistakes, and generally should have moved faster.

My most spectacular error was the Go control - Ross punched control 18 four seconds behind me, and I had seen him closing on control 16. I had the fastest split to control 19, but I misread my map running to control 20 and overshot high, costing at least 25 seconds. There were two features that were monumentesque that I confused while running. This is especially troubling because the Go control is visible from the start, and I had watched runners come in. Also, if I had enough stamina left to push it so hard on 19, I should have been running faster throughout the course (particularly on trivial legs). I was also looking forward to challenging Ross in the finish chute.

I'm relatively unimpressed with my run because sprint courses are my relative strength, and I could have run sub 18 minutes. The first ten controls were relatively gnarly in rocky, thorny woods on a steep hillside; the latter ten were urban.

Warmup for the sprint.

The Middle Distance course at the West Point A meet. I am thoroughly disgusted with my performance on this race.

The Middle Distance is a race I regard with some trepidation because of the technical nature; given what I know about the West Point terrain - that it is particularly rugged, and that this particular venue was going to be difficult for relocation - I planned to run a more conservative race to maximize accuracy.

My Middle start was 2.5 hours after my sprint start; I would have benefited from more rest and more food. Conditions were also warmer and sunnier than I would have preferred.

I ran a very conservative route and pace to control #1 (Jon Torrance caught up to me though he started five minutes after I did), but navigated cleanly. The basic routes from the start to control 2 all involved lots of side-hilling on very rocky ground. I was again quite slow to 2, but I navigated cleanly. Controls 1 and 2 were tricky; Emily and Eric Kemp each made a ten minute error on one of the two. However, I was moving so slowly that I only gained a minute or two on them. In retrospect, I should have moved faster, particularly given how long the legs were.

I had a two minute error on control five where I kept missing the knoll on which it was hidden; I relocated on some cliffs and reattacked without difficulty. I spectacularly failed on control 6 - a short, 250 meter leg. I attacked from a known location, but didn't pay enough attention to my compass and drifted north to a parallel feature (hill) on which I was looking for the control. Nothing made sense, so I relocated with difficulty and attacked again more gingerly off of a marsh. I doubted the bag location (I assert it was not on the correct feature, but I'm unsure). I ended up losing ten minutes. I think I was reluctant to admit I had missed because my two minute error on five was entirely within the control circle.

At this point, Dylan Thies - whom I am comfortably faster than, and whom I just recently passed in the USOF rankings - had caught me, and we moved essentially together to 7. I tried to make a move and pass him at 8, but though we took different routes, we arrived about simultaneously. Control 9 was uphill, and I put on a burst of speed to get ahead of him. I pushed to 10 and lost Dylan, though he apparently saw me make a thirty second mistake at control 11. I was feeling sluggish on the remaining controls, but I navigated them successfully.

The lessons from this race:
- While it is a worthy goal to have a solid, conservative first control, on long legs with conservative routes, it's important to move fast, too.
- Pay very close attention to compass on tricky legs, especially short ones.
- When things don't make sense, quickly admit you've erred and relocate.
- Hydrate and fuel before the race
- Don't race with less than a 3-4 hour interval between races

Warmup and run to the start for the Middle Distance event.

Sprint: Red Blue - Splits

Middle: Blue - Splits