Training Log Archive: iansmith

A morning road run and river loop at 6:30 AM. I was initially reluctant to go for a run (I had been awake for over an hour), but after deciding to go, it only took me about five minutes to get dressed and leave.

My objective for the day was a long, low intensity run with target pace of 8:30/mile, which I improved upon. I held my breathing to a steady 4/4, and generally felt good and strong throughout the run.

It's interesting to note that elite runners could complete my run at full speed about 15-17 minutes faster than I did today. The olympic record set this year in the 10k was 27:01.

I encountered a large flock of about 100 geese along the river, munching on grass. They were directly in my path, and I briefly entertained charging the entire group at sprint pace to agitate them and seek vengeance for all the goose droppings they left on the docks when I rowed crew, but prudence prevailed, and I ran around with a margin of about 10 meters. A very few stopped eating to straighten and assess their surroundings in the typical goose manner.

I love it when conditions allow steaming after a run, when perspiration condenses in the air as it evaporates. I intended to calculate the maximum temperature for which such an effect is plausible, but I decided to do other things.

On Training:

As many of you have noticed, I have extraordinary goals and a rather mediocre training regimen. I need to become more disciplined, both as an orienteer and an individual, and I appreciate any encouragement and suggestion to help me attain that level of discipline needed to make an earnest shot at my goals. For those of you who have seen the movie Miracle, it would be wonderful to have a personal Coach Brooks to follow me around with a whistle, yelling at me to improve. However, orienteering (and running) are not hockey, so that mode of operation might not work.

I'm putting together my winter training schedule, so I can be prepared and in optimal condition to compete in the Spring orienteering season. This will likely consist of a mix of road running, mental exercises (route choice, etc), and forest running, e.g. in the Middlesex Fells Reservation. Please feel free to yell at me to prompt me to adhere to that schedule. Comments are always welcome.

In any case, please feel free to yell at me. I'll try not to let you all down.

Run to the Tufts track, 8 PM. I ran with a flashlight and the April 2008 Physics Today to practice reading details while moving quickly. I read about centrifuges in the context of nuclear proliferation.

2k warmup before a mile time trial.

800 meter warm down after the mile time trial.

Mile time trial. I didn't stop after my warmup, so I might have been able to push it a bit faster if I were completely rested. I'm not overly surprised by my result, though I had hoped to break six minutes.

400 meter splits:
94.57
95.12
94.37
90.10 (+ 10 meters)

2008 Year in review

I started orienteering, for all practical purposes, on September 16, 2007 at the behest of three of my friends. I had previously piggybacked on a Bubba Goat and run two CSU Park-Os. Since my ignoble beginning, I have orienteered on some 40 C, B, and A level courses in five states, Canada, and Estonia. I logged 108 hours of training this year.

In December 2007, I was an Orange level orienteer with some advanced orienteering experience. The competitor against whom I gauged my performance was Ben Parson, a perennial orange runner. Now, I'm an intermediate Blue runner, and I gauge my performance against Jeff Schapiro, Phil Bricker, JJ Cote, and - on particularly good runs - Brendan Shields and Gerald Yip. I use the ratio of the average of Ross Smith's and Brendan Shields' times on a course to my time as a gauge of the quality of my run; a typical result is around 1.6 (e.g. Heart and Troll).

I have posted significant improvement on my performance for all three distances. I'm best at sprint, which is unsurprising given my relatively weak training base and high muscle mass. My top three A-meet runs were all sprints, and were in the range of 73-74 points.

I struggled initially with Middle Distance - the technical navigation was a big weakness of mine - but I posted a 67 point run on my most recent Middle Distance course at the North American champs. It should be noted that this course was relatively easy, and I still struggle with the technical orienteering common on Middle Distance courses.

I have relatively little exposure to true classic courses, though the typical Blue C-meet NEOC course is most like a classic distance. At the A-level, my only classic distance experience is the NEOC Heart and Troll meet, on which I posted 60 point runs. The classic distance doesn't have a singular challenge analogous to the technicality and distance of the Middle and Long respectively, so it's hard to point to a general obstacle. If anything, the classic course is probably best indicative of my general orienteering progress.

The Long was a bane of mine from the beginning, entirely due to the distance. Initially, I ran times of about twice that of the winners on A level courses, and I lacked the endurance to be out running a long for three hours. My three US A meet forays on the Long met with DNF due to exhaustion, 45 minutes lost looking for my e-punch, and DNF due to catestrophic navigational error. Considering my other two A level runs - at the 2008 COCs and in Estonia - the Long distance course is unquestionably my worst course because I lack the endurance required to handle them at my level of navigational proficiency. However, there is some hope: my classic results and my performance at the 2008 Blue Hills Traverse both indicate improvement on distance courses. It is painfully clear that to be successful on the Long in the future, I must have a strong and regular training regimen.

I finished this year with a US ranking of 62.84 on 13 A-meet events, ranked 60th of 82 Blue orienteers. I did not have a ranking goal starting the year, but I'm not displeased with my result. My last six events were all above 60 (with one DNF), and there exists a strong positive trend in my results so far. My goal for next year is to be in the top 33% of blue runners - the seed currently held by Greg Balter. This is an overly ambitious goal, but I believe it is attainable if I earnestly apply myself.

My map reading, route choice, proficiency at staying in contact, running ability, and navigational execution have all improved this year. My training regimen has become much more consistent, I have made many friends through orienteering, and I have much friendly competition to look forward to. I have been coached and helped along by a large group of people, including Lori Huberman, Brendan Shields, Daddy-O, Ross Smith, Ian Finlayson, Mark and Pia Webb, Will Hawkins, Gerald Yip, Clem McGrath and Eric Bone.

I have a long way to go before I can consider myself a good orienteer, but I am optimistic. I orienteer to compete and for the challenge; while I enjoy the sport and I benefit organizationally, physically, and mentally, my objective is to compete at the highest level possible. Orienteering is a very interesting problem - much more so, in my judgment, than running or most sports. It is a singular combination of mental, physical, and organizational attributes that demands contest. I often ask people why they orienteer, not because I question their intent and ability to fulfill that objective, but because I want to understand all the varying perspectives people bring to a sport. My ambitious long term goal for now is to make the US National Orienteering team. It may be that this will never happen - I certainly do not meet the profile (especially physically) for a national level competitor, but I strive to attain that. If - as I hope - I do make the team in the next decade, I will come up with a new, excessively ambitious set of goals and aspirations.

C • Very nice assessment 1

Event: Blue Hills Traverse
 

My second Blue Hills Traverse. My training over the past year and general exposure to orienteering left me far better prepared for this course than the previous one, and I went in with high - though ambiguous - expectations.

First, the good:
Overall, I had a solid race. My track record on long courses is very poor. My time last year was 3:31; I improved by over an hour. While that's not that difficult given my poor condition last year, I finished 43 minutes behind the winner this year. Apart from my performance relative to the field, I was not overly pleased with my individual performance. I did not have the energy to push as hard as I had hoped all the way through the race. I still have many weaknesses in my conditioning and orienteering, and my training regimen is inadequate.

Nevertheless, today was a good day (to die).

I did not take as much advantage of the following options as I probably could (should?) have, partly because I started too quickly and so was part of several different groups. I strictly followed to controls 1, 2, 5, 14, and 18; I took advantage of information from others at 3. 6. 10, and 17. At all but 1 and 2, I was actually navigating. I saw Pia at the refreshment stop; we had a splendid (though brief) conversation. I hope her leg is feeling better so she can qualify for the US team and pwn some Europeans.

At no point during the race was I lost; that is to say, at no point did I need to abandon my search or route. I never stared at the map with confusion as to my location. It is true that at times my zone of uncertainty grew too large to hit the controls precisely. Specifically, at 19, I attacked from the south, overshot the control, and hit the trail about 100m to the west of the control. I knew I was within the pentagon denoted by the trails, but I was struggling to make out the contour features precisely. At 20, I had an esoteric route, running to the southern rock wall and contouring around. It is true that I was unable to pinpoint my location, but I was following the orientation of the gradient and had a massive bank of cliffs as a quasicatching feature. I hit the control after overshooting by about 30 meters.

Overall, this was my cleanest long run ever (facilitated in part by numerous trails, a grant from the John D. and Katherine T. Macarthur foundation, and support from readers like you).

Second, the bad:
My training was inadequate for a race such as this. I started quite strongly - at 7, I punched with the Saegers, Eddie Bergeron, and a large group of people. However, I could not sustain the pace I had kept up to that point, and I hit a (waist-high, as opposed to full height) wall en route to 8. I plodded on with the help of sheer will and GU, but by 8 I was alone.

My expertise lies not with running uberlong distances, and 13.2 k orienteering certainly qualifies as uberlong for me. Yet, I had hoped I would be able to push as hard as I could the entire way; it's disappointing that my cardiovascular fitness is so inadequate. I will have to work on this extensively during the winter training so I can be ready for the spring A meet season. I want to win.

I need to practice my map work; I cannot glance at terrain and see in my head what it would look like on the map as quickly or precisely as it seems most elite orienteers can.

Finally, the amusing parts:
I have "tradition" of missing the mass start - though two events do not define a tradition. Last year, I had dropped my compass and was frantically hunting for it. This year, I scurried off to urinate and was preoccupied as Ross called the start. I started about thirty seconds behind the pack, and had effectively caught up by the first control.

Bob Lux is a tank. He is an unstoppable warrior who makes me ashamed of my lack of running speed and orienteering proficiency. The leg to control 22 was long, and I was tired and eager for the end. I was running on a trail when Bob Lux - a 60 year old man - cruises up beside me and passes me. I decided this was unacceptable, so I put on more speed and caught up. He passed me again at the control, but I overtook him sprinting in to the finish. Massive props to Bob Lux.

C • physical training 2

Traverse - Splits

I woke at 6 AM for a long, low to moderate intensity run; I was not enthusiastic about the run when I woke, but I dragged myself out the door anyway. In general, the run was quite pleasant; while my route was heavily modified from previous runs, I covered much of the same ground. However, all the previous runs had been at night, so it was agreeable to see the path in the light of dawn. For most of the run, my breathing was 4/3 (perhaps 15 minutes at 3/2).

I ran with the 2007 Blue Hills Traverse map to study the park's general topography, practice route choice, and so on. I did a bit of that, but the 1:15 scale and the fine details make it difficult to read on the fly.

The temperature was about -2 C.

C • Nice job getting in an earl... 2

A pleasant river loop very late at night. Armed with my flashlight, cell phone, and blockbuster card (if I were for some reason incapacitated, it has my parents' contact information on it), I ran to the JFK St bridge and did the Gerrys Landing Rd/Weeks Footbridge river loop. I saw 11 small rabbits, all of whom were on the south side of the river near the BU boathouse.

My goal for the run was to push my pace to competition pace; I wanted to run as hard as I could in a sustainable way. I had a two minute warmup with 4/4 breathing (4 steps inhale, 4 steps exhale), then switched to 5 minutes of 4/3, and ran the rest of the time with 3/2. In orienteering conditions, I suspect I would use 2/2.

Overall, I felt strong throughout the run. I focused on staying upright and memorizing the sequence of streets I saw and reciting my journey back in my head - for concentration tests. My hamstrings feel a bit weak; I may do some butt kicks before the Traverse. At the end of the run, I (just barely) felt like I could do it again (though probably more slowly). I reason that if I can push myself at this level of intensity for two hours and navigate well, I can finish the Traverse in that time.

Breathing in the cold is moderately painful. Clothing was my tights, a t-shirt, gloves, and a fleece. At pace, I felt slightly too warm. I'm considering ditching the fleece for a long-sleeved shirt and wearing a hat. The temperature was 29 F/-2 C.

Cool down and stretching. Later, I applied a heat pad to my legs; the heat felt good.

C • Traverse 1

Event: NEOC: Breakheart Reservation
 

The Red course of the NEOC meet at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus, MA. The terrain was interesting and stimulating, but there was nontrivial amounts of undergrowth and rocks encumbering footing.

I am fairly pleased with my race - I navigated and moved well in general, but I made two strategic errors: 1) inadequate reading of the map and navigational planning and 2) allowing my time goals to interfere with my tactics. The first is obvious; I started out with 10 good controls and then started erring near the end. Before starting the race, I checked the posted results and noted that Tim Parson was the current leader at 64 minutes. I believed this an attainable goal, and pushed to break it. However, after control 11, my efforts to finish the course as quickly as possible slowed me down due to sloppy route choice, inadequate navigation, and poor decisions. Splits soon.

My shoes are essentially destroyed; the soles are coming off on both shoes, and one lace eyelet on my left shoe has completely ripped out. I will acquire a new pair of trail runners this week, break it in next week, and deploy it on the Blue Hills Traverse (T - 14 days).

In other news, by the time I got back, the leaders had updated significantly; Ian Finlayson, Sam and Jeff Saeger, and the unsinkable Ross Smith had all usurped Tim Parson. Ross in particular had an excellent run - finishing in 42 minutes, 16 minutes faster than the next competitor.

Red - Splits

What was supposed to be a five mile run went awry as I got lost on the return leg of my trip. I now know the northern part of Somerville much better than I did previously. There were many hills near Tufts and in general along the run. My legs feel pretty good after the length, and even though I took an extended detour, I didn't have any muscle difficulty or fatigue along the way. The pace was slower than I expected, but not unreasonable given the distance, the climb, and my training regimen thus far.

T-15 days to the Traverse...

C • Getting lost 1

For my evening run (c. 1 AM), I decided to run a hill - specifically the hill along Lowell St between Summer St and Somerville Ave. The workout was a superposition of a steady, 80% run and intervals. I was always pushing myself, and I never quite ran full out, but I varied my pace up the hill. I know the bounds on the paces I can take up hills steadily, which hopefully will come in handy.

If I read google pedometer's topographic map correctly (and the contours are in meters, which I believe is the case from my observations of the gradient and USGS descriptions), the vertical climb on each pass was 27 meters over 400 meters horizontal.

Uphill
1. 2:53 - warmup
2. 2:26 - four steps per breath
3. 2:10 - three SPB
4. 1:49 - two SPB
5. 2:26 - 3 steps in, 2 steps out
6. 2:35 - 3/2 cooldown

Downhill
1. 2:27
2. 2:06
3. 3:27 (prepping for my fast uphill run)
4. 2:35
5. 2:30
6. 3:05

Event: Nottingcook Forest