Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: NEOC: Prospect Hill
 

Setting controls with bgallup and mgb for the meet. Magnus divided the controls such that I wasn't setting any green controls, so I didn't visit any of the sites before the race. Traveling through the woods was still informative, of course. I stopped my Garmin when I came upon a downed tree, and didn't restart it until the first control.

Magnus was the most organized event director I have observed so far; we were completely ready by 9:15. I was very impressed with his thoroughness, and it was delightful to have a totally relaxed morning as all concerns had been addressed well in advance.

As I had planned to go to the Blue Hills today, after I finished setting, I changed and went through an abbreviated pre-race routine before setting out on my course. I warmed up for a few minutes, but my muscles felt good after the course setting, downed tree removal, and hauling water to the water control. I taped my laces, procured and checked all my equipment, and loaded my description holder. Unfortunately, I left my contacts on my dresser at home, so I was forced to run in glasses.

Magnus set a tough course, on which serious consideration had to be spent on route before trying to execute. I chose poorly on 1 and 4, and messed up 5 and 9 on my own. I wasn't overly happy with my race, though the result was acceptable.

1) I began the race with a "hero" (i.e. bad) route choice, charging straight up the hill. I considered the road briefly, but I realized my error about thirty seconds into the leg, at which point the best alternative was to keep going. On my rerun, I was about 25s faster, and it probably could have been 35s had I not messed up again.
2) I took an ok route, though I didn't see Dancho's flatter route to the right. I lost a little time fighting through the vegetation, but spiked the control cleanly.
3) Straight. Some of my best compass work, as evidenced in the track. I was a little low, but the wide reentrant caught me.
4) Bad route choice: I executed my plan to stay low and bust up the hill at the end, but the running in the low-lying area was bad. I think high to the right, primarily on the trail, is best; on my rerun, I saved 30s despite fatigue.
5) Possibly exacerbated by instantaneous fatigue from charging up the hill just before 4, I really screwed up on this control by drifting too low. I lost at least 2:30 from confusion. Even on my rerun, Ali crushed me by 20s.
6) After considering straight and the road to the right, I decided to run left along the shelf below the green. I popped out by the trail, and ran in cleanly.
7) Down the hill and into the control. Won the split! Ironically, on the rerun, I lost 45s.
8) Decided to run left and attack the hill from the SW. Apparently this was slower than using the little trail to go straight.
9) I drifted low coming out of eight, but I attacked too low on the hill, and lost time in my confusion. The track suggests I lost about thirty seconds, so I was still crushed decisively by Ali. Not sure how.
10) Driven by my folly, I charged into ten, but was still tentative. I killed it on the rerun by 15s.
11) Meh. Tied Ali on the finish split.

Quickroute

I decided to rerun the green course because I made many mistakes out on the course, I wanted to have a clean race, and I tend to do poorly when there are multiple races in one day. Two separate high intensity efforts is good practice for A-meets and the Western MA sprint championships. When Ali makes mistakes, she tends to repeat the leg until she gets it right; the benefit of this practice is apparent, though the foreknowledge of the terrain diminishes the benefit.

I was tired, and I couldn't push as hard on flat-out-running as I had when I was fresh. I modified my routes on 1 and 4, and changed my attack to correct for 5 (still lost the split). A line of people - mostly boy scouts - ahead of me in the finish chute spurred me to kick in the afterburners to acceptable effect. Definitely want to look good for the kiddies.

In a sad twist, I messed up 2 and 7, when I had executed both well on the first run. On 2, I got caught in vegetation early on the leg, overshot the control by about 30-40 meters, and lost 14 seconds to my first run. On 7, I ran in too confidently, ran above the cliff that had the control, and took about 45 seconds to rectify my mistake. I think 30 minutes was possible on today's course, but I lacked the cleanliness and oomph to make it a reality.

The rerun soundtrack was Coldplay's Speed of Sound followed by "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera. Dunno.

C • take 2! 4

Motivated. HR data is spurious, probably caused by the strap flopping around as I blasted down a hill.

10-minute core, because I like pain.
Tuckups, kayakers, plank, situps, flutter kicks, oblique bicycle, 2x single leg bridge, cherry pickers and leg lifts. Finished with 2x side plank (no SJJs) and supermans. Tuckups are demanding; I really struggled with the kayakers.

My legs were noticeably fatigued from the weekend, e.g. during the leg lifts.

Green - Splits

Green - Splits