Training Log Archive: iansmithIn the 31 days ending Oct 31, 2011:
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Monday Oct 31, 2011 #
Note
weight:80.7kg
Probably still dehydrated from yesterday, but I'm at my lowest weight in quite some time. Feeling strong-ish, though my feet are sore in places from too much Oroc and X-talon action. I went 2/4 in races against Ali, but I won the least important races. I am still excited to have the victory, as I think that puts me at 3/5 for the fall, though I was thoroughly pwn'd on the Night-O.
From Greg's pictures from the weekend:
Mass start
Alex finishes
I start
Adversaries prepare
Least graceful picture ever
Group shot
Team 2
Team 3
While I considered going for an easy run today, I chose to err cautiously and let my body recuperate. In lieu of that, I all but finished Xenocide and finished the first Unit of German Level 1. I think this constitutes the first 5% of the German Rosetta stone set I have.
From Greg's pictures from the weekend:
Mass start
Alex finishes
I start
Adversaries prepare
Least graceful picture ever
Group shot
Team 2
Team 3
While I considered going for an easy run today, I chose to err cautiously and let my body recuperate. In lieu of that, I all but finished Xenocide and finished the first Unit of German Level 1. I think this constitutes the first 5% of the German Rosetta stone set I have.
Sunday Oct 30, 2011 #
11 AM
Running 14:22 [1] 1.63 km (8:50 / km)
shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
Warmup before the relay event. I listened to Dream Chasers from Reign of Vengeance.
Orienteering race 25:55 [4] 5.13 km (5:03 / km) +2m 5:03 / km
15c shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
Orienteering course length: 4.4 km, Green 1, Relay.
After some solid results over the past two days (except the Night-O), I was put on the second leg of the CSU first team. We noted that Ross, Boris, Ken, and Izzy would make an especially fast four point team, and denoted them "CSU 1." Alex, me, Ali and Mikkel formed "CSU 2," and Brendan, PG, Bill, and Greg formed "CSU 3."
Brendan had a solid race, especially given his IT band problems, and finished first, with Zac Barker close behind and Alex about thirty seconds back. I caught up to Peter by the second control, and Vadim by control six. On the way to 6. Vadim and I had the same forkings, so we ran the rest of the course virtually together. At control 10: 1, 2. I considered trying to break away, but I was much more likely to make a mistake if I either pushed hard to get away or was running by myself. I made a noticeable compass error at control 12 (16:58 on my track) where I was too far to the left. While I punched the control first, Vadim's presence helped me correct the error. I'm not sure I could have made up that much ground on speedy, as I was pushing hard the entire race.
Control 13, at time 20:14, was a long scary-ish leg with not much to check off on the way. I was careful with my compass and checked off streams, marsh boundaries, and a rootstock; I ended up about ten or twenty meters to the right. Dan Barker captured some nice shots from that leg: 1, 2, 3.
I figured 14 was a safe leg, so I ramped up my effort leaving 13, but drifted to the north and had to correct. Speedy and I entered the clearing bridge within about 10-15 meters of each other, and I punched 14 maybe 5-10s ahead of him. After 14, I again increased my intensity on the long run to the go control, then threw everything I had left at the finish leg to tag off Ali. Brendan got me by five seconds on the finish leg, which surprised and impressed me. Mikkel was six seconds ahead of me in his climactic run in against Wyatt.
I had few mistakes on terrain that could have invited errors, but as I was not really alone, I'm not sure that's a testament to my performance. I am happy that I had a solid race in a relay - when it matters most, and that I didn't let down my team. I would have preferred to give Ali a bigger lead than the 22 seconds she had against Clem, but DVOA and our team were too closely matched in speed. Any margin that left the two runners in sight of each other was irrelevant, as the back runner would catch up quickly. As a result, the relay came down to the last two legs of the blue course, and Mikkel outkicked Wyatt for the win. DVOA was an excellent opponent, and I am curious to see how our teams would have performed on a broader test of our orienteering abilities. DVOA is a worthy adversary, and through friendly competition, we can hone our abilities for the day when we take the field against the Canadians.
Thanks to SLOC for a fun and exciting relay and for an excellent weekend!
Quickroute
After some solid results over the past two days (except the Night-O), I was put on the second leg of the CSU first team. We noted that Ross, Boris, Ken, and Izzy would make an especially fast four point team, and denoted them "CSU 1." Alex, me, Ali and Mikkel formed "CSU 2," and Brendan, PG, Bill, and Greg formed "CSU 3."
Brendan had a solid race, especially given his IT band problems, and finished first, with Zac Barker close behind and Alex about thirty seconds back. I caught up to Peter by the second control, and Vadim by control six. On the way to 6. Vadim and I had the same forkings, so we ran the rest of the course virtually together. At control 10: 1, 2. I considered trying to break away, but I was much more likely to make a mistake if I either pushed hard to get away or was running by myself. I made a noticeable compass error at control 12 (16:58 on my track) where I was too far to the left. While I punched the control first, Vadim's presence helped me correct the error. I'm not sure I could have made up that much ground on speedy, as I was pushing hard the entire race.
Control 13, at time 20:14, was a long scary-ish leg with not much to check off on the way. I was careful with my compass and checked off streams, marsh boundaries, and a rootstock; I ended up about ten or twenty meters to the right. Dan Barker captured some nice shots from that leg: 1, 2, 3.
I figured 14 was a safe leg, so I ramped up my effort leaving 13, but drifted to the north and had to correct. Speedy and I entered the clearing bridge within about 10-15 meters of each other, and I punched 14 maybe 5-10s ahead of him. After 14, I again increased my intensity on the long run to the go control, then threw everything I had left at the finish leg to tag off Ali. Brendan got me by five seconds on the finish leg, which surprised and impressed me. Mikkel was six seconds ahead of me in his climactic run in against Wyatt.
I had few mistakes on terrain that could have invited errors, but as I was not really alone, I'm not sure that's a testament to my performance. I am happy that I had a solid race in a relay - when it matters most, and that I didn't let down my team. I would have preferred to give Ali a bigger lead than the 22 seconds she had against Clem, but DVOA and our team were too closely matched in speed. Any margin that left the two runners in sight of each other was irrelevant, as the back runner would catch up quickly. As a result, the relay came down to the last two legs of the blue course, and Mikkel outkicked Wyatt for the win. DVOA was an excellent opponent, and I am curious to see how our teams would have performed on a broader test of our orienteering abilities. DVOA is a worthy adversary, and through friendly competition, we can hone our abilities for the day when we take the field against the Canadians.
Thanks to SLOC for a fun and exciting relay and for an excellent weekend!
Quickroute
Saturday Oct 29, 2011 #
10 AM
Orienteering race 37:29 [4] 5.84 km (6:25 / km) +121m 5:49 / km
16c shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
Blue Middle distance A-event. I had a generally good run, with only one mistake larger than a small hesitation. That mistake was a large (1:00) hesitation in a very thick "clearing" near control 13. While I was in the right spot, I was very unsure.
Nevertheless, it was one of my cleaner runs. I was nemesised by the Aligator by 1:09, and lost to the overall winner, Clem, by about 1:40. The pack was dense today, with Clem at 35, Mikkel, Ali, and Wyatt at 36, me at 37, and Greg at 38.
Listed distance of 5.3 km, 140m climb. Quickroute
Nevertheless, it was one of my cleaner runs. I was nemesised by the Aligator by 1:09, and lost to the overall winner, Clem, by about 1:40. The pack was dense today, with Clem at 35, Mikkel, Ali, and Wyatt at 36, me at 37, and Greg at 38.
Listed distance of 5.3 km, 140m climb. Quickroute
Running 15:00 [1] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)
shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
Run back and forth along the walk to the start for warmup, and cool down with Greg on the field after.
2 PM
Orienteering race 12:42 [4] 2.33 km (5:27 / km) +1m 5:26 / km
12c shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
My first Corn Maze race. When I left, I had the fastest time, ahead of Greg by 21 seconds.
Yay, it's official! Winning races (even novelty races) feels good; I hope to do it more often.
Quickroute. Smart recording is not smart for corn maze races.
Yay, it's official! Winning races (even novelty races) feels good; I hope to do it more often.
Quickroute. Smart recording is not smart for corn maze races.
Running warm up/down 7:50 [1] 1.0 km (7:50 / km)
shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
Warm up before the race and cool down after; probably about half a kilometer each.
Friday Oct 28, 2011 #
Event: US Night & Relay Champs
Note
It is done; The Rise and Fall was a thoroughly informative and engrossing historical work. The narrative was captivating and justly earns the accolade of the definitive account of one of the darkest periods of our history (at least among those I have read). I am now reading Orson Scott Card's Xenocide and listening to Bruckner's Seventh - in particular the Adagio movement.
I finally posted my reaction to the CSU A-meet.
The third movement of Brahms 1 is a notable exception to my general dislike of third movements (or Minuet and Trio movements). Coincidentally, it's very short - only 4:40 in my Solti CSO recording.
I finally posted my reaction to the CSU A-meet.
The third movement of Brahms 1 is a notable exception to my general dislike of third movements (or Minuet and Trio movements). Coincidentally, it's very short - only 4:40 in my Solti CSO recording.
4 PM
Orienteering race 13:12 [4] 2.58 km (5:07 / km) +34m 4:48 / km
11c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Fun 2.2 km sprint at SLOC A-meet. This was not a ranked event, but I won! I edged out Speedy and Ali by about 30 seconds, and Wyatt by about a minute. Most people weren't running the race hard, so the victory is much less significant.
Quickroute
Quickroute
C • Woo! 2
Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)
shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
I tend to forget to track my warmup with my GPS, and I often don't turn on my GPS until midway through my warmup. Before the race, I ran around the field chatting with Greg, Carol, and Brendan for about ten minutes. Afterward, I jogged a few cool down laps.
8 PM
Running 9:47 [1] 0.92 km (10:35 / km) +29m 9:09 / km
0c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Run to the start. I warmed up for an additional ten minutes beforehand, but didn't record it.
Orienteering race 1:13:06 [3] 8.84 km (8:16 / km) +223m 7:20 / km
13c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
US Night Orienteering championships red course. I was double giggled and Canadienne'd. Red was the appropriate length for me.
Quickroute
Quickroute
Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)
shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Warmup and cool down after the race.
Thursday Oct 27, 2011 #
Note
(rest day)
I noticed a small twinge in my left calf today - probably from cycling rather than fumbling around in the woods in the dark. I'm already conscious of how challenging this weekend will be in light on my comparative weakness, so I had planned to rest today. Stephen is nothing if not persistent in his efforts to get me to come to tonight's CSU street-O Cambridge Traverse, but I am impervious to much persuasion (except to nemesis challenges, against which I have almost no defense).
Wednesday Oct 26, 2011 #
5 PM
Orienteering 52:40 [3] 4.76 km (11:03 / km) +63m 10:22 / km
13c shoes: 201110 Inov-8 Oroc 280
I biked over to the Fells to run the 2009 Spring Runoff Day 2 Brown course and break in my new Oroc 280s. I had hoped to arrive at 5 PM and run the course in the waning twilight, but I started at about 6 PM in total darkness. I only had my weak headlamp - I had forgotten Flashlight, so it was very tricky. I couldn't really see green briar until I was in it.
I started reasonably strongly, pushing as hard as I dared in the poor light through 6. I knew control 7 was very tricky, and without a flag, I attacked safely from the south. I should QR to check how close I was, but 10-13 were agony. The green briar and vegetation were incredibly thick on my route to 10, and I was forced to double back. Once in the circle, I wasn't sure if I was at the correct feature, so I ambled around for a bit. Control 11 was good, but I took a stick to the eye and lost my left contact. The eye is ok, but I had trouble seeing and I was momentarily stunned. Twelve was tricky, but it was exacerbated by high density vegetation about halfway to the control. I tried to reinvigorate my run en route to 13, but immediately got stuck in green briar. While there were three more controls, I decided I had had enough. Night-O south of South Border Road is painful; in general, I will avoid the area in the future.
The Orocs felt comfortable, but getting used to running on rock is strange. The X-talons seem to grip surfaces more securely - probably because there are no metal studs between the shoe and the surface.
I started reasonably strongly, pushing as hard as I dared in the poor light through 6. I knew control 7 was very tricky, and without a flag, I attacked safely from the south. I should QR to check how close I was, but 10-13 were agony. The green briar and vegetation were incredibly thick on my route to 10, and I was forced to double back. Once in the circle, I wasn't sure if I was at the correct feature, so I ambled around for a bit. Control 11 was good, but I took a stick to the eye and lost my left contact. The eye is ok, but I had trouble seeing and I was momentarily stunned. Twelve was tricky, but it was exacerbated by high density vegetation about halfway to the control. I tried to reinvigorate my run en route to 13, but immediately got stuck in green briar. While there were three more controls, I decided I had had enough. Night-O south of South Border Road is painful; in general, I will avoid the area in the future.
The Orocs felt comfortable, but getting used to running on rock is strange. The X-talons seem to grip surfaces more securely - probably because there are no metal studs between the shoe and the surface.
Biking 26:49 [2] 7.25 km (16.2 kph) +20m
shoes: Trek 7.1 FX
Just for fun, I recorded the track of the bike ride home. I don't plan on logging commuting any more; it's not really training.
Tuesday Oct 25, 2011 #
6 PM
Running 56:38 12.01 km (4:43 / km) +5m 4:42 / km
ahr:159 max:181
Moderate intensity run around the Charles River; I ran down to the Harvard Bridge and back to Harvard Square. After crossing the Harvard bridge, I encountered a speedy looking guy waiting for a traffic light, and I ran hard until the BU bridge to stay ahead of him. I then followed him until Western Ave, when he crossed to the south side of the river, and I slowed. It was a fun bout, though I ended up hitting higher speeds than I intended.
My legs felt solid, and my obliques started hurting near the end of the run. I am almost done with the seventh and final part of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - a 57 hour book. I listen to books on my mp3 player at a sped up rate - 1.2x - but finishing this book has taken 47 hours of audio time, and the longest audiobook I have finished. I was thoroughly engrossed for the majority of the novel; my familiarity with the events of World War II gave context to the events therein.
I find many aspects of the mid-20th century rise of fascism fascinating, and there is much to be gleaned about the national zeitgeist and trends of collective action. Military strategy has always interested me, even though I heartily agree with Sherman that "War is hell." Understanding it can help us avoid it. It must be noted that while reading The Rise and Fall, I have a more through and newfound appreciation for the magnitude of the horrors of one of the darkest times in human history - the Holocaust, the systematic extermination of entire classes of people on a whim of a megalomaniacal madman, and the distortion of the consciences of an entire country to madness. While I knew of the concentration camps in some detail, the atrocities of the Einsatzgruppen were not well known to me and are some of the most horrifying things I have ever read. As a world, we must never forget what has transpired. Images like this will haunt me forever.
My legs felt solid, and my obliques started hurting near the end of the run. I am almost done with the seventh and final part of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - a 57 hour book. I listen to books on my mp3 player at a sped up rate - 1.2x - but finishing this book has taken 47 hours of audio time, and the longest audiobook I have finished. I was thoroughly engrossed for the majority of the novel; my familiarity with the events of World War II gave context to the events therein.
I find many aspects of the mid-20th century rise of fascism fascinating, and there is much to be gleaned about the national zeitgeist and trends of collective action. Military strategy has always interested me, even though I heartily agree with Sherman that "War is hell." Understanding it can help us avoid it. It must be noted that while reading The Rise and Fall, I have a more through and newfound appreciation for the magnitude of the horrors of one of the darkest times in human history - the Holocaust, the systematic extermination of entire classes of people on a whim of a megalomaniacal madman, and the distortion of the consciences of an entire country to madness. While I knew of the concentration camps in some detail, the atrocities of the Einsatzgruppen were not well known to me and are some of the most horrifying things I have ever read. As a world, we must never forget what has transpired. Images like this will haunt me forever.
Monday Oct 24, 2011 #
Note
weight:81.5kg
I weighed 179.6 lbs on the scale this morning, though I may still be dehydrated from the weekend's activity. Still, it's healthy progress.
7 PM
Strength training 11:00 [3]
The gauntlet was thrown, and I answered with a defiant whimper of eight minute core. A minute each of sit-ups, flutter kicks, oblique (knee-to-elbow) crunches, plank, tuck-ups, cherry pickers, kayakers, leg lifts; concluded with two minutes of side plank and one of supermans.
10 PM
Biking 57:15 22.81 km (23.9 kph) +6m
ahr:140 max:160 shoes: Trek 7.1 FX
To give my legs a chance to rest after the weekend, I went on a bike ride around the Charles. My tires were not fully inflated, and there was a strong breeze from the west. The heart rate data is spurious, probably from poor contact, as I did not perspire much. Conditions were 13 C and overcast with some drizzling; I wore a long-sleeved and short-sleeved shirt.
Strength training 2:53
ahr:107 max:130
2x24 pushups. Weak.
Sunday Oct 23, 2011 #
Note
On the CSU 2011 A-meet:
It is a tremendous relief that the meet went well, to general acclaim, and without major errors. My experience is that even with an enormous investment of effort, small oversights can compromise the entire endeavor. The entire club and not a few others came together to put on the event, and while it nearly killed us, it is done.
The event would have not been possible without considerable sacrifice and investment of time. I would like to specially note a less conspicuous group: the course team. The three course setters - Dean Sturtevant, Boris Granovskiy, and Brendan Shields had the singularly most critical tasks of the meet. Boris, who was working remotely for most of the preparatory period on a WRE course, is deserving of particular thanks, and Dean's task was mammoth. To vet and set effectively is to be invisible, and a doughty group took on that large and thankless task. Audun Botterud, Magnus Bjorkman, Brendan, Giovanni, Giacomo Barbone, Katia Bertoldi, Ross Smith, Eric Weyman, Will Hawkins, and Jordan Laughlin all contributed to the course tasks, and Jon Campbell consulted at length. Audun, Magnus, and Giovanni in particular invested huge amounts of labor.
While I had hoped to reduce my commitment to the A-meet given my NEOC responsibilities, my main task turned out to be the vetting and setting of the Middle. Boris directed me very well, and our combined efforts were effective. Brendan assisted with the vetting, and Will gave of his time in the eleventh hour to verify everything was in order for the WRE.
Much praise must be given to the event directors Ed and Giovanni, who worked tirelessly to make it a reality. Alex handled the unenviable task of registrar very well. Larry and Sara Mae provided substantial logistical support and hosted us many times for dinner. Giovanni and Katia likewise lent their home for our meetings. Thanks to everyone in the club who came to any of our many meetings and lent their views to the process. It was tiring - a conservative estimate of the time spent in meetings alone is 300-400 man hours. Thanks to all the event volunteers, who are too numerous to name, who worked critical posts on the day of the event, set up the accursed tent of tremendous mass, moved equipment, and helped make sure everything ran smoothly on the day of the event. While she lived remotely, Ali mediated some of our more heated conflicts, helped keep us all sane, and had the misfortune of carrying a saw horse due to one of my oversights. Finally, many thanks to everyone who helped with control pickup, particularly those with no affiliation to CSU; your help is greatly appreciated. Even among this noteworthy list, the unlooked for assistance of Eric Weyman is exceptional. He showed up on Saturday and without prompting or the slightest incentive offered to help us set the 115 controls on the long course. I do not full comprehend his utility function, but I am grateful for his help. Thanks to NEOC, Valerie Meyer, and WCOC for use of their equipment, and to the many NEOC members who gave of their time to further orienteering in New England.
After much contemplation, I remain convinced that despite its favorable outcome, this meet was not worth the cost to CSU. It was beyond what could reasonably be expected of our club, and was only achieved by a Herculean sacrifice of its membership. I am glad the event was successful, but I have no inclination to be a part of subsequent efforts of this nature for some time. A conversation about the future direction of the club is inevitable; my preference is to prioritize training and preparation for competition above organization. Even with my reduced involvement, the event was incredibly taxing. A-meets are wonderful, but the ratio of orienteering time to organizational time is pathetically low. It is impressive that despite the logistical challenges, the magnitude of the event, and even Clem's presence, the meet was a success.
It is a tremendous relief that the meet went well, to general acclaim, and without major errors. My experience is that even with an enormous investment of effort, small oversights can compromise the entire endeavor. The entire club and not a few others came together to put on the event, and while it nearly killed us, it is done.
The event would have not been possible without considerable sacrifice and investment of time. I would like to specially note a less conspicuous group: the course team. The three course setters - Dean Sturtevant, Boris Granovskiy, and Brendan Shields had the singularly most critical tasks of the meet. Boris, who was working remotely for most of the preparatory period on a WRE course, is deserving of particular thanks, and Dean's task was mammoth. To vet and set effectively is to be invisible, and a doughty group took on that large and thankless task. Audun Botterud, Magnus Bjorkman, Brendan, Giovanni, Giacomo Barbone, Katia Bertoldi, Ross Smith, Eric Weyman, Will Hawkins, and Jordan Laughlin all contributed to the course tasks, and Jon Campbell consulted at length. Audun, Magnus, and Giovanni in particular invested huge amounts of labor.
While I had hoped to reduce my commitment to the A-meet given my NEOC responsibilities, my main task turned out to be the vetting and setting of the Middle. Boris directed me very well, and our combined efforts were effective. Brendan assisted with the vetting, and Will gave of his time in the eleventh hour to verify everything was in order for the WRE.
Much praise must be given to the event directors Ed and Giovanni, who worked tirelessly to make it a reality. Alex handled the unenviable task of registrar very well. Larry and Sara Mae provided substantial logistical support and hosted us many times for dinner. Giovanni and Katia likewise lent their home for our meetings. Thanks to everyone in the club who came to any of our many meetings and lent their views to the process. It was tiring - a conservative estimate of the time spent in meetings alone is 300-400 man hours. Thanks to all the event volunteers, who are too numerous to name, who worked critical posts on the day of the event, set up the accursed tent of tremendous mass, moved equipment, and helped make sure everything ran smoothly on the day of the event. While she lived remotely, Ali mediated some of our more heated conflicts, helped keep us all sane, and had the misfortune of carrying a saw horse due to one of my oversights. Finally, many thanks to everyone who helped with control pickup, particularly those with no affiliation to CSU; your help is greatly appreciated. Even among this noteworthy list, the unlooked for assistance of Eric Weyman is exceptional. He showed up on Saturday and without prompting or the slightest incentive offered to help us set the 115 controls on the long course. I do not full comprehend his utility function, but I am grateful for his help. Thanks to NEOC, Valerie Meyer, and WCOC for use of their equipment, and to the many NEOC members who gave of their time to further orienteering in New England.
After much contemplation, I remain convinced that despite its favorable outcome, this meet was not worth the cost to CSU. It was beyond what could reasonably be expected of our club, and was only achieved by a Herculean sacrifice of its membership. I am glad the event was successful, but I have no inclination to be a part of subsequent efforts of this nature for some time. A conversation about the future direction of the club is inevitable; my preference is to prioritize training and preparation for competition above organization. Even with my reduced involvement, the event was incredibly taxing. A-meets are wonderful, but the ratio of orienteering time to organizational time is pathetically low. It is impressive that despite the logistical challenges, the magnitude of the event, and even Clem's presence, the meet was a success.
7 AM
Orienteering 1:01:17 [1] 8.86 km (6:55 / km) +120m 6:29 / km
19c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Waking up and verifying controls in my sector before the long race. After wakeup, I helped out at registration and the start.
2 PM
Orienteering 55:37 [1] 5.47 km (10:10 / km) +76m 9:31 / km
13c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Control pickup. Eric Smith and I chose three sector in the west area of the map. We each took one and split up the middle sector. I answered a few phone calls from Brendan and Joanne during the outing.
C • Wow 9
Saturday Oct 22, 2011 #
Orienteering 1:15:00 [2] 10.0 km (7:30 / km)
30c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Brendan and I arrived at Lynn at 7 and met up with the arena crew. We had five boxes still to set - one at a nearby cliff, the two Go stands and the two spectator stands. After getting some extra equipment from Ed, we drove to the northern lot and set a saw horse that Will had requested at a site because the stand was too low to match the description. Brendan set off to wake up and verify the presence and codes of the northern controls (which he had previously vetted), and I drove down to the arena and worked my way north.
We found everything to be in order - no controls were stolen, all the codes were correct, and all the controls were awake by 9:15. Brendan noted that the second saw horse lacked a backup punch, so I ran to set it via the start (dropping off some equipment on the way). Everything was ready by 9:45 - a bit close for comfort. Had there been a problem, we could have fixed it by the start time, but we had little room for error. A third control-verifier would have been valuable.
We found everything to be in order - no controls were stolen, all the codes were correct, and all the controls were awake by 9:15. Brendan noted that the second saw horse lacked a backup punch, so I ran to set it via the start (dropping off some equipment on the way). Everything was ready by 9:45 - a bit close for comfort. Had there been a problem, we could have fixed it by the start time, but we had little room for error. A third control-verifier would have been valuable.
Orienteering 2:00:00 [1] 6.0 km (20:00 / km)
19c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
My job for the A-meet was solitary, and if I did it right, it would go unnoticed. After an arduous day on Friday with only Will for company in the afternoon, it was great to see everyone at the Middle arena. Brendan and I mingled until around 10:30 or 11, when we set off for the Fells to help set controls for the long.
Eric Weyman happily asked me if we needed any help setting controls - unsolicited, without incentive, purely because he wanted to help and is absurdly cool. We sent him to rendezvous with Dean, then bought rubber bands for the WCOC e-punch mounting system.
Upon arrival, Dean assigned a sector of the Fells to each of us. I was assigned 19 controls, with 18 WCOC stands. I greatly prefer the NEOC stands - they are light and very simple to set up. The back-up punch and flag are attached; the only task is to place the stand and clip on the e-punch box. While I'm grateful for WCOC letting us use their stands, they are much more time consuming. Apart from deploying the stake and planting the stand, the flag, back-up punch, and e-punch plate all had to be mounted to the stand. I was tremendously fatigued and hungry from the past two days, and I had a philosophical crisis while plodding through the woods. As I had plenty of time to think, I resolved it satisfactorily, and fought on to finish the day's work. There was a potential crisis when four e-punch units dropped from my bag (the first time this had happened to me), but I was able to reconstruct my path and find them scattered in the forest.
Brendan and I then helped Dean set water, and retired to Cambridge to shower before going to the banquet.
Eric Weyman happily asked me if we needed any help setting controls - unsolicited, without incentive, purely because he wanted to help and is absurdly cool. We sent him to rendezvous with Dean, then bought rubber bands for the WCOC e-punch mounting system.
Upon arrival, Dean assigned a sector of the Fells to each of us. I was assigned 19 controls, with 18 WCOC stands. I greatly prefer the NEOC stands - they are light and very simple to set up. The back-up punch and flag are attached; the only task is to place the stand and clip on the e-punch box. While I'm grateful for WCOC letting us use their stands, they are much more time consuming. Apart from deploying the stake and planting the stand, the flag, back-up punch, and e-punch plate all had to be mounted to the stand. I was tremendously fatigued and hungry from the past two days, and I had a philosophical crisis while plodding through the woods. As I had plenty of time to think, I resolved it satisfactorily, and fought on to finish the day's work. There was a potential crisis when four e-punch units dropped from my bag (the first time this had happened to me), but I was able to reconstruct my path and find them scattered in the forest.
Brendan and I then helped Dean set water, and retired to Cambridge to shower before going to the banquet.
Friday Oct 21, 2011 #
Event: US S/M/L Champs 2011 & WRE
10 AM
Orienteering 34:01 [1] 2.94 km (11:35 / km) +54m 10:36 / km
10c
Today, my assignment was to set the controls for the Middle distance race on Saturday. Unfortunately, due to the sprint and inadequate labor, I was operating alone despite efforts to recruit help. I have previously visited all the controls about three times, and with a full day, I expected the task to be feasible.
I slept late - woke up at 7, and drove to the NEOC equipment locker to get start clocks. I fought through morning traffic to Cambridge to hand off the clocks to Lori and called Jim Paschetto to ensure the NEOC Start/Finish stands were getting to Franklin Park. I arrived at Lynn Woods at about 9:40, and after some set up, set off with a bag full of stands. My plan was to first set stands, then set the e-punches and confirm sites. Will Hawkins graciously agreed to vet the controls after his race, and after they had been set to check for any errors or anomalies.
This track is the first set of stands, on the lower part of the map. I had already set some the night before.
I slept late - woke up at 7, and drove to the NEOC equipment locker to get start clocks. I fought through morning traffic to Cambridge to hand off the clocks to Lori and called Jim Paschetto to ensure the NEOC Start/Finish stands were getting to Franklin Park. I arrived at Lynn Woods at about 9:40, and after some set up, set off with a bag full of stands. My plan was to first set stands, then set the e-punches and confirm sites. Will Hawkins graciously agreed to vet the controls after his race, and after they had been set to check for any errors or anomalies.
This track is the first set of stands, on the lower part of the map. I had already set some the night before.
Orienteering 3:26:23 [1] 12.98 km (15:54 / km) +341m 14:03 / km
44c
I drove to the northern side of the map, set the remaining stands (and one saw horse), returned to my car for some quick refreshment (not lunch, unfortunately), and set out to place as many boxes as I could before 3 PM, when I was meeting Will at the southern parking lot. My effort to squeeze as many boxes into the window delayed my arrival to 3:10.
3 PM
Orienteering 2:22:35 [1] 11.03 km (12:55 / km) +333m 11:14 / km
44c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
After meeting up with Will, I loaded the remaining boxes in my bag and ran out to set them. The only error I fixed in the box phase (as opposed to the stand phase) was moving one of the controls to a different side of a boulder; I had misread the control description when I set the stand. Time 1:42-1:52 in the track was a death slog where I carried nine gallons of water to the water stop.
Thursday Oct 20, 2011 #
5 PM
Orienteering 30:00 [1] *** 4.0 km (7:30 / km)
10c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
I drove out to Lynn Woods and rapidly set ten stands on some southern non-trail controls in the waning twilight.
Wednesday Oct 19, 2011 #
11 PM
Running 58:23 10.26 km (5:41 / km) +10m 5:40 / km
ahr:140 max:155 shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
An easy evening run at "11:00 PM" after a packet stuffing party. The temperature was 12 C, with light to moderate rain; I ran in shorts and short-sleeves, but I brought out gloves for the first time this year. I was thoroughly drenched by the time I returned to my apartment.
I found a Motorola Droid smart phone lying on the sidewalk in the rain playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and spent a few minutes searching for obvious identifiers and powering it off. The phone had recently received a text from 'Brad' remarking that "Kissing in the rain was nice" or some such sentiments.
I found a Motorola Droid smart phone lying on the sidewalk in the rain playing "Bohemian Rhapsody" and spent a few minutes searching for obvious identifiers and powering it off. The phone had recently received a text from 'Brad' remarking that "Kissing in the rain was nice" or some such sentiments.
C • phone 19
Strength training 5:00
ahr:106 max:127
Five minute abs; I still haven't fully recovered from Saturday. The set consisted of a minute each of oblique knee-to-elbow crunches, plank, leg lifts, tuck-ups, and kayakers. The tuck-ups were agony, so I switched to crunches. Since I aspire to be not a sissypants, I finished with two minutes of side plank and one of supermans.
Strength training 3:03
ahr:101 max:110
Side plank + supermans.
Tuesday Oct 18, 2011 #
6 PM
Running 32:00 6.56 km (4:53 / km) +5m 4:52 / km
ahr:152 max:164 weight:83.3kg shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Easy jaunt around the river. My legs felt good, which is somewhat surprising given the abuse to which they were exposed this weekend. I had to stop for awkward evening traffic - a problem I don't have at my usual running times. I may switch to the mornings to better calibrate my circadian rhythms and avoid a superfluous evening shower.
Strength training 3:00 [3]
ahr:121 max:152
My assignment was to do 3x28 pushups, and I succeeded, though narrowly. The first set was trivial, the second arduous, and the third a struggle against my own frailty. I finished the third set because it is in the nature of living organisms to want to survive. I haven't done this many pushups in a long time, and I should avoid training my upper body excessively, as its sole function is moving heavy objects. Nevertheless, I would like to be able to do three sets of pushups without breaking down like a pansy T-rex.
I have reflected much on the events from this weekend, and I have resumed the fight. Activities over the past two days include Traverse course revisions and communication checkups on Needham, Prospect Hill, Breakheart, and Harold Parker. I hope to have a draft of the 2011 spring schedule by the end of the month, though that may be difficult with two A-meets these coming weekends. Much to do, but I am distributing the workload and managing rather than shouldering burdens.
I have reflected much on the events from this weekend, and I have resumed the fight. Activities over the past two days include Traverse course revisions and communication checkups on Needham, Prospect Hill, Breakheart, and Harold Parker. I hope to have a draft of the 2011 spring schedule by the end of the month, though that may be difficult with two A-meets these coming weekends. Much to do, but I am distributing the workload and managing rather than shouldering burdens.
Sunday Oct 16, 2011 #
Event: NEOC: Norwottuck
Note
On the Norwottuck Meet
I greatly overextended myself setting the NEOC local meet at Norwottuck this weekend. A combination of oversight and poor planning resulted in several critical errors, and the worst episode of my brief orienteering organizational career. The fault is my own, and I am sorry to everyone who suffered from my errors. It is fortunate that some of you were able to escape unscathed and have a pleasant session.
The Plan
Particularly since my injuries, I have focused more of my efforts on setting meets. Norwottuck marked the fifth meet of 2011 at which I designed all the courses. I have a vision for what NEOC can become and grand ambitions as the Events VP, and I am willing to shoulder considerable burden to achieve those objectives. Norwottuck offered an opportunity to experiment with route choice - a problem I have not studied in great detail, and to set a blue course. Blue isn't necessary for local meets - a point Alex emphasized to me in September when I asked for her feedback on drafts. I am disappointed that more meets don't have a blue course, but a red course is often sufficient. I found all the advanced courses very hard to make interesting without making them too long; Norwottuck's odd start location is sufficiently remote that much distance is consumed even getting to the nearest feasible control sites.
Setting all controls the morning of the event is a monumental task, especially given the need to set up registration, put out signs, set water, and so on. I learned at Rocky Woods that it is crucial to check control sites before finalizing courses; on many maps in New England, features which might seem obvious at first glance are untenable in practice. I like to retain creative control of course design, which necessitates visiting all sites personally. In practice, this isn't possible, especially at a site as remote as Norwottuck, which is difficult to visit far in advance of the meet. While I did secure considerable volunteer assistance (a big improvement over past events), I was reluctant to ask someone to join me for four or more hours of course setting and revising, and that irrevocably handicapped me.
What went well
Errors
Lessons
I am devastated by the magnitude of my failure today. The errant control is an irrevocable problem of the highest degree, and casts the entire event in the worst light. I was exacting verifying the locations of many of the control sites, as my track will attest, but I was in a hurry by the time I set 128, and I was less thorough. An additional 2-3 man hours in course planning and control checking were necessary before map printing, and I squandered too much time on remote blue controls that only a handful of people visited while failing to devote enough attention to WYO (and at least one green control). I failed to recruit sufficient help for the magnitude of the course setting and control pickup projects, and Ali had to bear an excessive burden.
In the future, I will:
I greatly overextended myself setting the NEOC local meet at Norwottuck this weekend. A combination of oversight and poor planning resulted in several critical errors, and the worst episode of my brief orienteering organizational career. The fault is my own, and I am sorry to everyone who suffered from my errors. It is fortunate that some of you were able to escape unscathed and have a pleasant session.
The Plan
Particularly since my injuries, I have focused more of my efforts on setting meets. Norwottuck marked the fifth meet of 2011 at which I designed all the courses. I have a vision for what NEOC can become and grand ambitions as the Events VP, and I am willing to shoulder considerable burden to achieve those objectives. Norwottuck offered an opportunity to experiment with route choice - a problem I have not studied in great detail, and to set a blue course. Blue isn't necessary for local meets - a point Alex emphasized to me in September when I asked for her feedback on drafts. I am disappointed that more meets don't have a blue course, but a red course is often sufficient. I found all the advanced courses very hard to make interesting without making them too long; Norwottuck's odd start location is sufficiently remote that much distance is consumed even getting to the nearest feasible control sites.
Setting all controls the morning of the event is a monumental task, especially given the need to set up registration, put out signs, set water, and so on. I learned at Rocky Woods that it is crucial to check control sites before finalizing courses; on many maps in New England, features which might seem obvious at first glance are untenable in practice. I like to retain creative control of course design, which necessitates visiting all sites personally. In practice, this isn't possible, especially at a site as remote as Norwottuck, which is difficult to visit far in advance of the meet. While I did secure considerable volunteer assistance (a big improvement over past events), I was reluctant to ask someone to join me for four or more hours of course setting and revising, and that irrevocably handicapped me.
What went well
- A dedicated and merry bunch of meet-day volunteers ran the meet smoothly. Pete Lane and Jim Paschetto worked the entire day at registration and results. Michelle Faucher, her son Garrett and friend Nolan, Ali Crocker, Richard Powers, and Pete worked registration. Dean Sturtevant and Phil Bricker offered instruction to beginners. Peter Gagarin and Alex Jospe corrected a disastrous error on the white course, set beginner and intermediate controls, and put out signs. Bill Binnette picked up the white course.
- Apart from a lack of a sign displaying course lengths, I procured all the equipment I needed. Unfortunately, it required three separate trips in Boston to get it all, and delayed my arrival in Amherst on Friday.
- The weather was great, and all the attendees, including a platoon of marauding girl scouts, were pleasant and enthusiastic. They were also tolerant when I erred.
Errors
- My approach to event directing failed miserably. I should have asked for help from the eager and willing Amherst crowd, either to vet sites far in advance of the meet or to assist me with control setting and course updates on Saturday. Even a single person to vet and revise white, yellow, and orange would have fixed many of the problems I created.
- I pulled off a solid set of courses at Mt. Tom single-handedly on June 12 in an effort made Herculean by unnecessary oversights. Norwottuck is a much larger problem than Mt. Tom, especially with its size, climb, lower map quality, and a blue course. In short, I set a much greater hurdle to overcome at Norwottuck than at Mt. Tom.
- Exacerbated by delays due to my poor course/control planning, I had an adventure Saturday night getting maps printed that required driving to Hartford. While I had written the correct description down for control 139 on brown, green, and red (north foot of southern cliff), I transcribed it into purple pen as north foot of north cliff.
- Because I didn't have enough time to visit the orange, yellow, and white courses, the white and yellow were of notably inferior quality, with poor sites. I narrowly avoided sending white and orange runners through a shooting range, with PG correcting me about an hour before the event. I changed two orange control sites, and was only able to get acceptable maps because NEOC brings a printer to events for just that purpose.
- Worst of all, I made the most egregious error that can be made at an orienteering event: I set a control in the wrong place. Green #9 and Blue #10, control 128, was set on an unmapped cliff about 30-40m southwest of the true location. The correct location was already bingo-y, because there were many unmapped cliffs in that neighborhood. I fixed the control at around 12:30 PM, after many people had already been affected and wasted countless minutes hunting for the control. To runners who were affected: I am very sorry for the ordeal I put you through.
- I failed to recruit enough help for control pickup, and had another epic adventure retrieving all the controls with Ali.
Lessons
I am devastated by the magnitude of my failure today. The errant control is an irrevocable problem of the highest degree, and casts the entire event in the worst light. I was exacting verifying the locations of many of the control sites, as my track will attest, but I was in a hurry by the time I set 128, and I was less thorough. An additional 2-3 man hours in course planning and control checking were necessary before map printing, and I squandered too much time on remote blue controls that only a handful of people visited while failing to devote enough attention to WYO (and at least one green control). I failed to recruit sufficient help for the magnitude of the course setting and control pickup projects, and Ali had to bear an excessive burden.
In the future, I will:
- Obtain the assistance of at least one other person for control setting, and advance control site vetting if needed
- Recruit enough volunteers for setting and pickup.
- Avoid a blue course unless I have a second person to help set advanced courses. In general, it is unnecessary, as my courses tend to be demanding, and red is sufficient.
- Be sufficiently well organized to identify any problems well in advance of the meet, and communicate more regularly with my event volunteers.
- Avoid knuckleheaded excessive self-reliance.
C • Dude 15
7 AM
Orienteering 1:20:00 [2] 6.0 km (13:20 / km)
10c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
After waking up at 6 AM and stopping to buy water for the courses, I set out ten orange and advanced controls.
12 PM
Orienteering 30:00 [4] 4.0 km (7:30 / km)
1c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
With reports of a mishung control, I scampered off to investigate. I discovered 128 was hung incorrectly, about 30 meters to the southwest on an unmapped cliff next to a bike trail. I corrected it, though the correct site had some other unmapped cliffs in the vicinity. Epic, irredeemable fail.
2 PM
Orienteering 30:00 [0] 4.0 km (7:30 / km) +150m 6:19 / km
6c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Ali and I divided up the northwestern controls; I picked up six orange and advanced controls, all of which I had set in the morning. The garmin gave up; its battery was exhausted.
4 PM
Orienteering 1:30:00 [2] 10.0 km (9:00 / km)
7c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
The final leg of the death march; I picked up the 7 most remote red and blue controls. The course length of the de facto course I ran was 7.5 km, and had a taxing amount of climb.
I cannot say enough about how helpful Ali was today. Apart from trying to chase down a pair of orange runners to prevent them from meeting their doom at the shooting range, she worked registration, won the blue race, and went on three excursions to pick up yellow, orange, and br/gr/red controls. She spent over 8 hours at the meet site, and assisted me with control pickup until about 6 PM. Despite considerable justification, she did not complain once. She even brought me pumpkin bread from breakfast (which was fortunate, as I had only eaten a pop tart up until then).
When we set out to pick up controls, I decided to pack everything up so Jim and Pete could leave. This required I lock Ali's belongings in my car so they weren't stolen, since she had already left. I left a note with my phone number, and carried my phone with me, but I realized shortly after leaving that her phone, keys, and jacket were in my car, and she had no means of calling me or staying warm (temp ~ 50F). The fear that Ali was freezing to death motivated me to haste on my control pick up leg, but she did end up lingering at my car for about fifteen minutes before I returned. Without Ali's help, I would have failed even more catastrophically than I did.
Of course, I should note that she did instigate my participation in a torturous ten minute abs session.
I underestimated how fatigued and dehydrated I was today during the sessions. A short time after leaving the park at around 6:30, I stopped for dinner at a subway, and took a 30 minute nap. After a full dinner and over three liters of fluids, I weighed 180 lbs, 7 lbs below my current steady state weight.
I cannot say enough about how helpful Ali was today. Apart from trying to chase down a pair of orange runners to prevent them from meeting their doom at the shooting range, she worked registration, won the blue race, and went on three excursions to pick up yellow, orange, and br/gr/red controls. She spent over 8 hours at the meet site, and assisted me with control pickup until about 6 PM. Despite considerable justification, she did not complain once. She even brought me pumpkin bread from breakfast (which was fortunate, as I had only eaten a pop tart up until then).
When we set out to pick up controls, I decided to pack everything up so Jim and Pete could leave. This required I lock Ali's belongings in my car so they weren't stolen, since she had already left. I left a note with my phone number, and carried my phone with me, but I realized shortly after leaving that her phone, keys, and jacket were in my car, and she had no means of calling me or staying warm (temp ~ 50F). The fear that Ali was freezing to death motivated me to haste on my control pick up leg, but she did end up lingering at my car for about fifteen minutes before I returned. Without Ali's help, I would have failed even more catastrophically than I did.
Of course, I should note that she did instigate my participation in a torturous ten minute abs session.
I underestimated how fatigued and dehydrated I was today during the sessions. A short time after leaving the park at around 6:30, I stopped for dinner at a subway, and took a 30 minute nap. After a full dinner and over three liters of fluids, I weighed 180 lbs, 7 lbs below my current steady state weight.
Saturday Oct 15, 2011 #
8 AM
Strength training 14:00 [5]
After Ali lulled me into a false sense of security with a hot cup of tea, I was drawn into 10 minute abs + 2 minute side plank + 2 minute back session. That is, Ali did her usual abs session while I desperately flailed along trying to keep up.
The exercises were V-ups, plank, cherry pickers, leg lifts, tuck-ups, kayakers, sit-ups, bicycle kicks, and 2x some exotic oblique situp. We finished with side plank and supermans. Many thanks to Ali for prodding me into the exercise, as I was unlikely to do it on my own. I preceded the session with 25 tuck-ups, and concluded it with 32 pushups.
The exercises were V-ups, plank, cherry pickers, leg lifts, tuck-ups, kayakers, sit-ups, bicycle kicks, and 2x some exotic oblique situp. We finished with side plank and supermans. Many thanks to Ali for prodding me into the exercise, as I was unlikely to do it on my own. I preceded the session with 25 tuck-ups, and concluded it with 32 pushups.
11 AM
Orienteering 3:18:57 [0] 12.83 km (15:30 / km) +502m 12:58 / km
11c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Control setting session #1; I set the most remote advanced controls, as I figured they were the most difficult. I wasted the first thirty minutes on a control site I eventually scrapped. I lugged a bag of stands around, and made a number of modifications to the courses. At one point, I set the bag down to examine the vicinity of a control unencumbered, and failed to find the bag when I returned. I had forgotten which feature I set it next to, but after a few minutes of confusion, I came upon it.
Orienteering 1:03:53 [0] 4.54 km (14:04 / km) +157m 11:59 / km
6c shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Setting the southwestern six advanced controls, including (mis-setting) the infamous 128.
Friday Oct 14, 2011 #
2 PM
Running 32:25 [0] 5.0 km (6:29 / km) +4m 6:27 / km
shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Thursday Oct 13, 2011 #
11 PM
Running 40:40 8.24 km (4:56 / km) +7m 4:55 / km
ahr:155 max:174 shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Easy run around the Charles River. I ran 4x45s reps in the middle of the run and generally felt good. The temperature, 15C, was equal to the dew point, and my glasses fogged up quickly. I had forgotten my mp3 player in a Zipcar I used recently, so I ran in silence and reflected.
As I neared the Weeks Bridge, I encountered a group of 7-8 people who appeared to be wearing formal wear and were probably inebriated to varying degrees. It's odd enough to find a runner at midnight (though I saw at least one other), but a party on the Charles seemed more bizarre. As I passed, one of the women asked why I was running, and one of the men heckled me, exhorting me to "sprint; run faster or I would lose the race." Both spoke in derisive tones, and I was taken aback. I have encountered cliche remarks like "Run, Forest, Run," but seldom have I met such hostility. I suspect they were simply surprised, and given their state, belligerent only to an identity-less apparition. I figured that replying would not accomplish anything, so I stayed silent. I think the best answer I could have given the woman was that I enjoy running, and that since there was no answer that I could give that would satisfy her, it would suffice to note that I run because I choose to. There was no valid response to the man, perhaps who was trying to impress the woman with his machismo.
Such people only make me want to train harder.
As I neared the Weeks Bridge, I encountered a group of 7-8 people who appeared to be wearing formal wear and were probably inebriated to varying degrees. It's odd enough to find a runner at midnight (though I saw at least one other), but a party on the Charles seemed more bizarre. As I passed, one of the women asked why I was running, and one of the men heckled me, exhorting me to "sprint; run faster or I would lose the race." Both spoke in derisive tones, and I was taken aback. I have encountered cliche remarks like "Run, Forest, Run," but seldom have I met such hostility. I suspect they were simply surprised, and given their state, belligerent only to an identity-less apparition. I figured that replying would not accomplish anything, so I stayed silent. I think the best answer I could have given the woman was that I enjoy running, and that since there was no answer that I could give that would satisfy her, it would suffice to note that I run because I choose to. There was no valid response to the man, perhaps who was trying to impress the woman with his machismo.
Such people only make me want to train harder.
Running 6:29 1.09 km (5:56 / km)
ahr:141 max:149 shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Wednesday Oct 12, 2011 #
Note
slept:9.0
Listen people, wherever you are,
please attend to these words:
Will your youth last forever?
Will your white hair turn black again?
Life speeds by like a dream,
why not fill each minute with joy?
me: So, when will you announce your candidacy for the OUSA board?
Ken: after hell freezes over
please attend to these words:
Will your youth last forever?
Will your white hair turn black again?
Life speeds by like a dream,
why not fill each minute with joy?
me: So, when will you announce your candidacy for the OUSA board?
Ken: after hell freezes over
6 PM
Running 30:00 [1] 5.0 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: 201004 Inov8 X-Talon 212
Trail running in Lynn Woods and taking pictures of a few control sites to send to Boris. Time and distance a bit of a guess, since I stopped periodically.
Tuesday Oct 11, 2011 #
Map Exercises (Catching Features) 1 [0] 3.0 km ( / km)
Three more courses. Someone from Canada with user name "the purity plum" is crushing me. Nemesis acquired.
7 PM
Running 54:49 10.81 km (5:04 / km) +5m 5:04 / km
ahr:153 max:196 slept:6.5 weight:83.9kg shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Easy run around the river accompanied by The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I am listening to the section around May-June 1941 and the start of operation Barbarossa. It's interesting to think that a sudden coup d'etat in Yugoslavia may have won the war by delaying the start of operations against the USSR. Also, the T-34 rules. I knew much about Barbarossa already; what I had not known before was the breakdown and apparent defection of Rudolph Hess.
Legs felt good, apart from some minor soreness. I felt discomfort in my left knee near the end of the run, but it was sporadic. Heart rate data spikes in the middle appear to be anomalies; I do not recall such obvious heart trouble.
Legs felt good, apart from some minor soreness. I felt discomfort in my left knee near the end of the run, but it was sporadic. Heart rate data spikes in the middle appear to be anomalies; I do not recall such obvious heart trouble.
Strength training 2:00 [4]
Finished with the usual stretching and 2x25 tuckups.
Monday Oct 10, 2011 #
Note
Orocs arrived in the mail today. DVOA be warned: I have been armed by the Lady of the Lake.
I have also learned that it is unwise to wax existential when hungry, tired, weary from activity, and unshowered.
I have also learned that it is unwise to wax existential when hungry, tired, weary from activity, and unshowered.
Map Exercises (Catching Features) 1 [0]
I ran three courses, one of which was extremely technical. I do poorly in poor visibility environments, where there is significantly less data to corroborate your route. I will practice this; Night-O is an excellent way of simulating this on any terrain.
Sunday Oct 9, 2011 #
9 AM
Orienteering 1:42:44 11.79 km (8:43 / km) +242m 7:54 / km
ahr:164 max:183 slept:5.0
Boulderdash Blue, Day 2: 9.4 km, 225m climb. I'm out of practice orienteering, and it showed today. After some excessive cheering and trash talking at the start (proxy Ross), I immediately made big mistakes on the first two controls. I need to have a better routine for warming up my brain and body and getting into an orienteering mindset. The vegetation was thick in many places today, with pine saplings and considerable deadfall. The terrain (and map) were vague in places, which made checking features off on routes difficult. At the beginning of the course, I was messy; at the end, I was sluggish.
Coming out of the start, I misjudged the reentrants I had passed through and stopped a spur too early. It took me two full minutes to piece together what had happened, and Clem passed me. The miss at 1 rattled me, and despite my best efforts to refocus, I missed 2, which was in a tricky shallow reentrant. I made a parallel error and lost eight minutes; I ended up relocating off the trails below two and reattacking from the south.
I was horrified and distraught after two huge mistakes, but I resolved to compose myself and clean up my running. I was very careful on the next controls, though I overshot the reentrant into cp 4 by about 45s. I was clean (albeit slow and careful) through 8, and passed at least one cadet. On 9, I made a foolish plan to attack from the south, and ended up overshooting and circling back through gross vegetation. Despite a foul mood and thick vegetation, I won the split to ten. I made small mistakes at 13, 15, and 18, but had a clean long leg into 19. I passed Kevin Culberg about 200m before the control, and pushed hard and accurately through 22. He passed me again before 23, and I had an uneventful finish.
I lacked the stamina to run hard for 103 minutes, particularly after the race yesterday and only five hours of sleep due to tedious A-meet tasks. I really started to slow down from control 16 to the end. My run was tolerable save for the disasters at 1 and 2. After the race, I went to lunch with Andrew, Clem, Brendan, Lori, and SGB and his parents.
Quickroute. Difficulty mapping track to controls suggests some minor distortion on the map.
Coming out of the start, I misjudged the reentrants I had passed through and stopped a spur too early. It took me two full minutes to piece together what had happened, and Clem passed me. The miss at 1 rattled me, and despite my best efforts to refocus, I missed 2, which was in a tricky shallow reentrant. I made a parallel error and lost eight minutes; I ended up relocating off the trails below two and reattacking from the south.
I was horrified and distraught after two huge mistakes, but I resolved to compose myself and clean up my running. I was very careful on the next controls, though I overshot the reentrant into cp 4 by about 45s. I was clean (albeit slow and careful) through 8, and passed at least one cadet. On 9, I made a foolish plan to attack from the south, and ended up overshooting and circling back through gross vegetation. Despite a foul mood and thick vegetation, I won the split to ten. I made small mistakes at 13, 15, and 18, but had a clean long leg into 19. I passed Kevin Culberg about 200m before the control, and pushed hard and accurately through 22. He passed me again before 23, and I had an uneventful finish.
I lacked the stamina to run hard for 103 minutes, particularly after the race yesterday and only five hours of sleep due to tedious A-meet tasks. I really started to slow down from control 16 to the end. My run was tolerable save for the disasters at 1 and 2. After the race, I went to lunch with Andrew, Clem, Brendan, Lori, and SGB and his parents.
Quickroute. Difficulty mapping track to controls suggests some minor distortion on the map.
Orienteering warm up/down 8:31 [1] 1.14 km (7:27 / km)
ahr:140 max:168 shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
Cool down. Fatigued. HR data looks spurious at the end; my effort was trivial.
Saturday Oct 8, 2011 #
12 PM
Orienteering 1:20:17 10.05 km (7:59 / km) +101m 7:37 / km
ahr:171 max:184 shoes: 201006 Inov-8 X-talon 212
I was very disappointed by my race today; it seems that I have forgotten how to orienteer. I look forward to the opportunity to redeem myself tomorrow. More on the course later. It's revealing that ken ran only 8.83 km to visit the same set of controls. Also, how was my finish split 72% longer than the winning finish split? One possibility is that the two finish boxes were not synchronized properly, and the timing had drifted.
Quickroute with drawn-in route in red. Zomg 5.
Before the race, it would have been good to know that the contours and marshes were very vague. Sometimes, I failed to notice small hills and marsh boundaries that were to be used as check features. This is noticeable at 5, where I didn't realize I was in a marsh at all. When I had success checking features off, as on the route to 6, I navigated well. Nevertheless, I'm out of practice making and executing plans, so for the first few controls, I had an unacceptably high probability of failure due to lack of thoroughness and focus.
Total error: 12:30
1: - I got lucky; I didn't really have a plan apart from going straight and trying to pick off (indistinguishable) features.
2: Didn't have a plan; I should have aimed further to the south and attacked off the cliff. 2:00
3: Started orienteering. I had trouble determining which marsh I had crossed, but apart from some uncertainty, hit the easy control fine. 0:20
4: clean except for a 20 second bobble in the circle picking out the right reentrant. 0:20
5: I went very wide on a vague hillside. I crossed a marsh without realizing it, and didn't pick up on the big boulders I had passed. I knew I had overshot, but I ran into it while I was trying to relocate. 4:00
6: A clean leg, though I was uncertain on final approach.
7: I'm happy that I went left, but my plan out of 6 to the edge of the lake was fraught with failure - I should have left 6 north and picked off the pond and marsh. 1:30
8: some of my best contour reading through thick vegetation; I caught up to Magnus (4 minutes ahead).
9: We both bailed to the road, but I reached it first and broke away. I attacked well, though I drifted slightly north.
10: Flushed with my success, I undershot because I was afraid I would overrun it on the trail. 1:00
11: I oversimplified and drifted slightly too far to the north, but I corrected and punched 0:27 ahead of Magnus.
12: I misread the contours leaving 11 - I had planned to run over the eastern side of the broad hill and lost a minute figuring it out. Magnus came into view as I punched, and I resolved to break away on 13. 1:00
13: I ran around to the stream; should have gone straight; the footing on the stream wasn't good. 1:00
14: My excessive adversity to climb led me to the right; I picked off the saddle and ran past 18 rather than taking a straight route through the reentrant. 13 had considerable vegetation, so I ran south to the ridge. The numerous hills around 14 were confusing, but I managed to hit the right one.
15: I ran over the hill on the line, and descended into the control, but apparently found boulders to the east more attractive. 1:00 lost.
16: Clean down the spur; the rocky hillside north of 16 was an overt attackpoint. I somehow inverted the reentrant, so I was surprised to find it rising to the south.
17: A decent, though tentative leg; I ran above the rocky hill face, then picked off reentrants into the control. I lost 0:40 to ken, but probably due to hesitation and caution.
18: Clean and fast. The depression was such an obvious collecting feature that there was little risk. I apparently slowed midway on the leg because I was afraid I was drifting left. My drawn-in route shows that I thought I was more left than I was.
19: Clean; the rocky spur was so obvious that it was nearly impossible to miss. I didn't have a good mental picture of the rocks in the circle, and hesitated clambering over to the control.
20: Tried to contour and follow the edge of the depression, but ended up too low and overshot. Attacked off a cadet. 0:20 error.
21: Trivial, but apparently slow - 0:20 to ken, 0:35 to an overzealous cadet.
Quickroute with drawn-in route in red. Zomg 5.
Before the race, it would have been good to know that the contours and marshes were very vague. Sometimes, I failed to notice small hills and marsh boundaries that were to be used as check features. This is noticeable at 5, where I didn't realize I was in a marsh at all. When I had success checking features off, as on the route to 6, I navigated well. Nevertheless, I'm out of practice making and executing plans, so for the first few controls, I had an unacceptably high probability of failure due to lack of thoroughness and focus.
Total error: 12:30
1: - I got lucky; I didn't really have a plan apart from going straight and trying to pick off (indistinguishable) features.
2: Didn't have a plan; I should have aimed further to the south and attacked off the cliff. 2:00
3: Started orienteering. I had trouble determining which marsh I had crossed, but apart from some uncertainty, hit the easy control fine. 0:20
4: clean except for a 20 second bobble in the circle picking out the right reentrant. 0:20
5: I went very wide on a vague hillside. I crossed a marsh without realizing it, and didn't pick up on the big boulders I had passed. I knew I had overshot, but I ran into it while I was trying to relocate. 4:00
6: A clean leg, though I was uncertain on final approach.
7: I'm happy that I went left, but my plan out of 6 to the edge of the lake was fraught with failure - I should have left 6 north and picked off the pond and marsh. 1:30
8: some of my best contour reading through thick vegetation; I caught up to Magnus (4 minutes ahead).
9: We both bailed to the road, but I reached it first and broke away. I attacked well, though I drifted slightly north.
10: Flushed with my success, I undershot because I was afraid I would overrun it on the trail. 1:00
11: I oversimplified and drifted slightly too far to the north, but I corrected and punched 0:27 ahead of Magnus.
12: I misread the contours leaving 11 - I had planned to run over the eastern side of the broad hill and lost a minute figuring it out. Magnus came into view as I punched, and I resolved to break away on 13. 1:00
13: I ran around to the stream; should have gone straight; the footing on the stream wasn't good. 1:00
14: My excessive adversity to climb led me to the right; I picked off the saddle and ran past 18 rather than taking a straight route through the reentrant. 13 had considerable vegetation, so I ran south to the ridge. The numerous hills around 14 were confusing, but I managed to hit the right one.
15: I ran over the hill on the line, and descended into the control, but apparently found boulders to the east more attractive. 1:00 lost.
16: Clean down the spur; the rocky hillside north of 16 was an overt attackpoint. I somehow inverted the reentrant, so I was surprised to find it rising to the south.
17: A decent, though tentative leg; I ran above the rocky hill face, then picked off reentrants into the control. I lost 0:40 to ken, but probably due to hesitation and caution.
18: Clean and fast. The depression was such an obvious collecting feature that there was little risk. I apparently slowed midway on the leg because I was afraid I was drifting left. My drawn-in route shows that I thought I was more left than I was.
19: Clean; the rocky spur was so obvious that it was nearly impossible to miss. I didn't have a good mental picture of the rocks in the circle, and hesitated clambering over to the control.
20: Tried to contour and follow the edge of the depression, but ended up too low and overshot. Attacked off a cadet. 0:20 error.
21: Trivial, but apparently slow - 0:20 to ken, 0:35 to an overzealous cadet.
Friday Oct 7, 2011 #
Note
Aw:
5 PM
Running 46:38 [1] 8.33 km (5:36 / km) +6m 5:35 / km
ahr:148 max:180 shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Easy run, though longer than I had initially intended. My HR zones on my Garmin are inconsistent with my use of HR zones for logging; I think of zone 3 as threshold, whereas my Garmin seems to consider 70% HR max zone 3.
I set an HR alarm at HR < 160 bpm, and while it was going off intermittently at the beginning, it stabilized for the rest of the run. I find the heart rate graph questionable for the first twelve minutes; it seems I either need to change my HR strap battery or see a cardiologist.
I set an HR alarm at HR < 160 bpm, and while it was going off intermittently at the beginning, it stabilized for the rest of the run. I find the heart rate graph questionable for the first twelve minutes; it seems I either need to change my HR strap battery or see a cardiologist.
Thursday Oct 6, 2011 #
5 PM
Running 31:51 5.47 km (5:50 / km) +3m 5:49 / km
ahr:144 max:167 shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Need to recalibrate HR zones. Also, it's about time to break out a second pair of regular running shoes and rotate between the two pairs. I do like the GT-2150s, but the advantages to altering the shoe-specific stresses to which my legs are exposed every day are numerous.
Wednesday Oct 5, 2011 #
5 PM
Running 54:49 10.85 km (5:03 / km) +5m 5:02 / km
ahr:162 max:194 weight:83.6kg shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
After a rest day yesterday, I set out today on an easy run. I started listening to fast music at a non-specific tempo, then switched to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I avoided looking at my Garmin until about fifteen minutes in. I encountered a number of other runners, and was at times motivated to try to chase them down. Around kilometer 5, I encountered a pair of runners doing 4:30/km pace, and it took great restraint not to speed up to pull them in. I think my pace was still too high for an easy run, and I will try to amend that in future outings. HR max is likely an artifact, as I have no recollection of my heart rate vacillating so erratically.
Yay, sub 50-minute 10k? I am tempted to see how fast I could run some time trials, but my training hasn't focused on speed. What would be the point? Once I start doing speedwork, I will run time trials.
Yay, sub 50-minute 10k? I am tempted to see how fast I could run some time trials, but my training hasn't focused on speed. What would be the point? Once I start doing speedwork, I will run time trials.
C • Running 10
Tuesday Oct 4, 2011 #
Note
I ordered a new pair (my fourth) of X-talon 212s and a pair of Oroc 280s from Amazon. I'm not sure if the Orocs will get here by Boulderdash, but I will have them for the Relay champs. My two existing pairs of X-talons have taken considerable beating, and while viable for racing, they haven't much life left in them.
The choice of a shoe is a personal decision; an individual should race in a shoe they like. I haven't sampled many O-shoes, but I do like the merits and feel of the X-talons. I'm hoping the Orocs will be X-talons with improved traction. While it is a personal choice, I am pleased to see X-talons on a number of world elites; it suggests to me that there aren't shoes vastly superior to the X-talons in the qualities it features. It is true that I have seen X-talons primarily in urban sprint contexts.
Also, aw. Almost as endearing as Kseniya?
From another current discussion on AP, one of my favorite races over the past few years - the US Classic Champs in 2009 in Wisconsin - had a gorgeous venue with excellent orienteering.
The choice of a shoe is a personal decision; an individual should race in a shoe they like. I haven't sampled many O-shoes, but I do like the merits and feel of the X-talons. I'm hoping the Orocs will be X-talons with improved traction. While it is a personal choice, I am pleased to see X-talons on a number of world elites; it suggests to me that there aren't shoes vastly superior to the X-talons in the qualities it features. It is true that I have seen X-talons primarily in urban sprint contexts.
Also, aw. Almost as endearing as Kseniya?
From another current discussion on AP, one of my favorite races over the past few years - the US Classic Champs in 2009 in Wisconsin - had a gorgeous venue with excellent orienteering.
C • Shoes 17
Monday Oct 3, 2011 #
5 PM
Running 49:26 10.05 km (4:55 / km) +21m 4:52 / km
ahr:165 max:180 weight:83.9kg shoes: 201108 Asics GT-2150
Ian's excellent adventure. I set out on a 40-minute easy run, with a goal of running comfortably without looking at my Garmin for HR or pace data. That failed after about ten minutes, so I changed my goal to running at fixed cadence. At 14:23, I switched from The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich to 170 bpm techno.
The adventure began when I couldn't figure out how to get back to the Esplanade after crossing the BU Bridge. I knew a footbridge over Storrow Dr existed east of the BU Bridge, but I decided to find a crossing west. I suppose deep in my memory was the fact the next crossing was at Cambridge St. I explored some of the backstreets of BU, including running around Nickerson field and through a building to get back to the streets. I chose a poor route to get back to the river and added a few minutes to my time. I pushed hard through Harvard Square without intending to, and added two minutes of data to the end of the run to track my heart rate recovery while I stood still.
I have been in a funk for the past few days due to an unusual confluence of stimuli in various portions of my life. My resulting angst and fluctuations in my rhythms and mood have been disproportionate to the perturbations. I believe I have dealt with many of the problems that confronted me, and now I just need to suck it up and recover. Much is uncertain, but a loss of control and deliberateness in the course of daily life is unjustified.
Legs felt a bit stiff during the run today.
The adventure began when I couldn't figure out how to get back to the Esplanade after crossing the BU Bridge. I knew a footbridge over Storrow Dr existed east of the BU Bridge, but I decided to find a crossing west. I suppose deep in my memory was the fact the next crossing was at Cambridge St. I explored some of the backstreets of BU, including running around Nickerson field and through a building to get back to the streets. I chose a poor route to get back to the river and added a few minutes to my time. I pushed hard through Harvard Square without intending to, and added two minutes of data to the end of the run to track my heart rate recovery while I stood still.
I have been in a funk for the past few days due to an unusual confluence of stimuli in various portions of my life. My resulting angst and fluctuations in my rhythms and mood have been disproportionate to the perturbations. I believe I have dealt with many of the problems that confronted me, and now I just need to suck it up and recover. Much is uncertain, but a loss of control and deliberateness in the course of daily life is unjustified.
Legs felt a bit stiff during the run today.
C • hmmm... 10
Sunday Oct 2, 2011 #
Event: Hudson Highlander XVI
10 AM
Orienteering 1:10:14 [1] 8.81 km (7:59 / km) +284m 6:52 / km
shoes: 201004 Inov8 X-Talon 212
Vetting at Lynn Woods with Brendan. Logged at half the time; total time spent was about 2 hours.
4 PM
Orienteering 21:35 [4] 3.51 km (6:09 / km) +49m 5:45 / km
shoes: 201004 Inov8 X-Talon 212
Running about. Brendan and I picked up about 7 large bags of trash at Franklin Park, chiefly from control sites. We wisely wore gloves; the items we disposed included some syringes, an occasional condom, and miscellaneous undergarments. We were assailed by a legion of mosquitoes, who probably caused much more damage than I inflicted in turn.
Saturday Oct 1, 2011 #
6 PM
Running 45:58 9.19 km (5:00 / km) +5m 4:59 / km
ahr:167 max:177
An aggressive easy run around the Charles River. I had planned to go kayaking this afternoon after internet was installed in my apartment (woo interwebz), but I dozed while my mp3 player was charging, and didn't get up until 5 PM, when Charles River Canoe and Kayak would be nearly closed. After reading about the Brackett gamma transition, I set out, continuing part 5/7 of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I'm happy with my pace, but it was challenging. I don't have realistic hopes for victory at Boulderdash, but I will fight as though I did nonetheless.
Truly epic oration:
Truly epic oration:
Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and if, which I do not for a moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the new world, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.