Training Log Archive: iansmith

A CSU street-o organized by Ross Smith. I computed the distance using google pedometer, including my navigational errors and route choice. My legs were still sore from the intervals, and while I'm pleased with the diligence I had finishing despite my fatigue, my pace disappoints me. Yet again I had the problem of starting strongly - perhaps too aggressively - and not having enough stamina to continue at that pace. There were sections, especially near Newton North High School and its hills, that I walked for distances - about 100 paces. I must be diligent in my training if I am to overcome my running weakness, and I need to train intelligently as well as aggressively.

Sam Saeger put a nice finish to our evening by having pasta and bread ready for consumption when everyone got back. The turnout was very good, with 8 orienteerers. My goal for the first week of February is to run twenty miles in at least four sessions of reasonable length (variance < 10 miles^2).

An amusing errors: after hitting control one, I started running to what I thought was control two. It was only when I was planning my route to what I thought was control three that I realized "control three" was actually six, and "two" was seven. I had to double back, traveling an extra half mile.

Intervals; 8 repetitions of 800m on, 400m off, at the MIT track. At the end, I skipped the last 400 off to run home earlier. My goal was to keep consistent on speeds, and adjust the off speeds accordingly. I walked about a third of the 3rd through 6th off legs. I took the first three on legs gingerly, pushed it on 4-6, and relaxed on 7-8.

On Off
3.22 2.43
3.24 2.36
3.28 3.32
3.29 3.01
3.18 3.45
3.13 4.27
3.58 3.12
3.50

My technique focus for this run was to keep my head up and chest open to allow myself to breathe as freely as possible. I intermittently reflected on my stride length, cadence, vertical bounce on each stride, and placement of my foot relative to my center of mass at the start of each step.

My tentative goal (which I realize now was too ambitious) was a 90 second 400m lap on, with a 2-3 minute 400m lap off. I hope that as I start running more, I can attain that goal. Do any of my readers have suggestions for interval training (Brendan)?

Run to and from the track.

Ran to work with my backpack. Apparently my morning condition is not one conducive to running; perhaps I need time (or food) to adjust and awaken. I got up, took a shower, and departed. Clothing was jeans and a fleece wrap - I dressed lightly to minimize perspiration. I would like to do this more often, but I will probably only run home at the end of the day.

Ran home from work; felt pretty good, though I ran more aggressively than I would orienteering.

CSU Training; Brendan set up a street-o with a map of Cambridge with some contours and buildings. Ross, Brendan, Lori and I ran the course in north Cambridge at 7:30 PM. Note that the 7.5 miles was actual distance; I computed my route on google pedometer.

On my performance, I started strong, but I faded and my concentration wavered. Ross and Brendan finished the course in about an hour. My map reading on the fly/moving point was fairly strong, which is partly to be expected given a street-o.

I'm not sure how long these links are active, but my route:
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1581974

Caveat: while not formally training, the following was of sufficient interest and was sufficiently demanding to warrant a log entry.

Lori and I, after some weeks of planning and conjecture, drove to the Cranmore ski resort in North Conway, New Hampshire, for alpine skiing. The day was enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised with:

- How much fun it is to ride ski lifts (especially if you're acrophobic)
- What a terrible idea it is to travel down the gradient of a large hill with your skis parallel, minimizing kinetic energy loss due to friction
- The thrill of wiping out completely out of control

I started the day with a complete disdain for snow plow, canting my skis inward at perhaps a 5' angle. After doing well on three green courses, I attempted a blue - and skied straight down a gradient to my wipe-out doom. I finished that course, heavily employing the snow plow technique. For the rest of the day, I focused on controlling my turns, particularly on slopes with a very high upper bound on speed, more so constrained by collisions than by friction.

Lori and I later successfully ran a few blue courses; I did not run any black diamonds, but nor did I injure myself. While skiing is enjoyable, I don't foresee pursuing it as anything but a highly intermittent pasttime. The logistics of a ski trip are somewhat overwhelming; I invested 3-4 minutes of planning for each minute at the ski slope, and probably 15-20 times as much planning, traveling, and ski lifting for each minute skiing on a trail. In contrast, orienteering requires perhaps 3 minutes of logistics and organization for every minute on a course at a meet, and orienteering training is a reward in itself (whereas driving to a ski facility, renting skis, and researching ski facilities on the internet are not).

A course set up by Alexei; my first night-O. Lori and I were unable to run the course on the training night, but the controls were left out, so we rendezvoused with Brendan (and Barb) and ran it three days later.

My navigation was generally clean, but cautious - I reasoned errors would have higher penalties in the dark. I navigated with my 3 D cell LED Maglite, which was more than adequate; a smaller light would suffice and probably have less of a blinding effect while looking at the map. I mainly used the light to scan for ice on trails, read the map, and illuminate controls. Conditions were bright enough that topography was visible without the light.

I need much more practice reading the map while moving.

Ran 2.4 km from my apartment to Star Market to take the bus to the night-O; ran from Lori's apartment back to my apartment after escorting her home from the return from the Night-O. The total time is estimated; I timed my run from Lori's to my apartment at 11-12 minutes and had a similar pace traveling to Star Market.

I really want to go orienteering. I'm eager for the season to resume. My nemesis (who has no idea I'm using him as a competition benchmark), Ben Parson, motivates my training. I hope to be able to compete on a similar level to Brendan this year, even if I don't actually beat him. My orienteering experience in Fall 2007 consisted of six Orange courses (two of them twice), one brown course, two green courses, and the Blue Hills Traverse. I mean to start running blue courses as soon as the NEOC season resumes, and design to train appropriately both physically and mentally.

C • You should really get a copy of Catching Features. 1

night training - Splits

CSU training session with Alexei. The objective was to practice moving point technique - to think of yourself as a point on the map moving with time, and to be as precise as possible with noting exactly where you were on the map. With this notion, we should anticipate upcoming features and receive feedback on our position, as well as catch errors more quickly and efficiently. With this technique also comes the requirement to read the map on the fly while running, rather than stopping to navigate and then resuming travel. While I generally used a technique similar to moving point while orienteering, I'm not very good at reading the map while running (and at planning for the next control while navigating to the current one), so this was a very instructional exercise.

The course just consisted of a trail loop at the Pine Hill park (I took the T to Davis, then ran to Pine Hill in about twenty minutes). I made one major navigational mistake where I confused two right angle turns while refolding the map. I caught my mistake within about three minutes and adjusted my route accordingly. I increasingly fell back with my planning; that is, my rate of planning was slower than my rate of travel. The lesson is clear: I need to be able to mentally orienteer at the same rate I physically orienteer. Between each control, I need to pack one control's worth of route choice, moving point computation, control code acknowledgment, actual running (avoiding objects, etc), compass work, and map reading. And, the planning component of the mental work should be for the NEXT control while running the current control. This is hard. In particular, my map reading skills are slow, and my symbol recognition is weak.

Alexei spoke of six areas of orienteering skill: technique (reading the map, recognizing the topography and features and a functional correlation from the terrain to the map, and using the compass), tactics (route choice), strategy (factors affecting route choice, like whether it rained, how dense the green stuff is), physical fitness (running), psychology (not allowing other runners to affect me), and organization (training, stretching, being on time, making sure I have everything, etc).

My assessment in each of the areas:
Technique: competent while stationary, weak/slow while moving. My errors tend to be minor; at least, I'm seldom convinced I'm at one location when I'm not actually at that location, but I sometimes have to take time to get a better fix on my position. Must practice moving point on the fly.

Tactics: I find passable routes, but they are not the best route. My technique is inadequate for the best route.

Strategy: I don't really have one. I should learn more about this.

Fitness: Of the six areas, this is the one I'm most proficient at, and I'm not a remarkable runner. However, since orienteering is more demanding mentally, it is unsurprising. While I need to train physically, especially for distance running (i.e. endurance and consistency), I need to require my training pace be set by my mental limitations rather than my physical speed. I should compromise my running speed for greater navigational proficiency.

Psychology: I'm miserable at this. I once was in periodic contact with Sam and Hilly Saeger while they were doing a practice brown, and I totally lost my focus. My concentration was overwhelmed by the knowledge of how good they were, pressure to not mess up, and a desire to ignore them and navigate on my own. When I encounter other orienteers, I tend to compensate in my training by stopping and allowing them to leave my vicinity. This is unacceptable for competition. I need to be able to run near world class orienteers (of which there are several in NEOC and CSU) and be at my peak.

Organization: Probably the easiest to improve, I just need to keep track of stuff. I should allocate more organization to my training regimen.

This was a very unusual workout. I haven't run in about twenty days because of an injury - I slipped on ice and fell on my right ankle. I wanted to do some muscle building activities before attempting more distance running. The MIT Green Building is the tallest building in Cambridge, at a meager 227 ft. I ran from my apartment to the Green Building - a route of 0.98 miles, and then ran up twenty one flights of stairs twice in the following manner (times are splits for that leg)

3.50 Up, taking each stair one at a time
4.46 Break and water
2.50 Down, taking each stair one at a time
3.41 Up, alternating: two floors two stairs at a time, two floors one stair at a time
3.10 Break and water. Heart rate clocked at 176 at the top
2.21 Down, one stair at a time
1.00 Break before running home

Since it's been so long since I have exercised with anything but barbells, I wanted to take the short run gingerly. As my confidence improved, I increased my rate near the end.

The weather was clear, at a balmy 3' C; I ran in my trusty athletic shorts, a hoodie, and my gaiters. I may discontinue the gaiter use, but I want to become very comfortable running in them under all conditions.

For those of you upset with my inconsistencies with units (miles, feet, C) - maybe Brendan - I find it easier to think in miles, but prefer Celsius on principle. Once I adjust to kilometers, I'll incorporate that into my log.

C • I would recommend taking th... 1