Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: Racing Ahead's AR training day and orienteering meet
 

Event: Buffalo Orienteering Festival
 

Warmup before the canoe-O and foot-O races at the UNO Trifecta Score-O

I suffered greatly at the hands of Jeff Schapiro, who was nigh unstoppable. Keith and I went out in his canoe early in the day to compete in the canoe-O, and comfortably got all the controls. Conditions were windy (which made navigation difficult), and some of the control placement was sketchy, but we had a solid route and execution. In retrospect, we could have pulled a bit harder (perhaps saving a few minutes). We beat all the adventure racers, to our great satisfaction, but lost to Sean Morton and Jeff Schapiro by 3 minutes - who borrowed Keith's equipment. Sean is an experienced canoer, if not in the racing style, but Schapiro is a machine. On the plus side, I'm teaming up with him for the New England canoeing champs at the end of June, and I believe we can strongly contend with Keith and Vanessa.

Keith and I had an interesting route choice at the beginning; from the start, we portaged our canoe about two hundred meters to a different inlet and set out. Schapiro actually dispatched Sean in the canoe at the conventional start, then ran and swam to four controls before they rendezvoused.

The UNO Trifecta foot Score-O. I knew at the start that Jeff Schapiro and Tim Parson had each visited sixteen (of 20) controls, each worth 5 points, and returned within the time limit. We had to copy off the clock, so I planned a route that seemed attainable to me which would visit 17 controls. I also devised a route that would visit all the controls and also seemed possible (total distance of 8.2 km), but I'm not very good at judging how long an O-course would take me, so I elected the more conservative route.

I made three important errors:
- I lost about 3-4 minutes making navigational errors at controls 8 and 15 (for those of you who ran the course).
- While I copied it, I did not notice control 1 on my map, which would have added merely another 350 meters of trivial trail run to my route.
- I failed to note that the penalty for being overtime was 3 points per minute. I thought the bike-O penalty (1 point per minute) was in effect. This would have some effect on my strategy.

I was navigating fairly well; apart from a small and large bobble at 8 and 15 respectively, I basically spiked all the controls. A relatively short leg (16 to 18) across a stream turned out to be much gnarlier than it was at first glance; in retrospect, I would have taken 16-17-20-19-18. Also for those of you with maps, I skipped 1, 9, and 11 (I don't think anyone visited 9 or 11).

I left 15 with fifteen minutes to go, which was quite a stretch for the last five controls (1.9 km). I was especially concerned that I might make a navigational error at controls 19 and 20. So, I pushed my body as hard as I could go while maximizing my concentration; my navigation was solid, and that period was exhilarating.

I should have ended up with 76 points (17*5 - 3*3), but the guy at the finish was rounding down when I arrived, so I ended up with 79. Ernst Linder had a similar strategy to mine (get 17 controls), but he finished in 61 minutes, so he had 82 points; Jeff and Tim had 80. It's disappointing that had I saved 2:08 navigating, I would have won outright. Similarly, if I had noticed control 1, I'm confident I could have saved two minutes skipping 14, 15, or 20. It's a bit moot because I think Ross, Sam or Brendan could have run all 20 controls in the time limit; nevertheless, I'm pleased with my showing today. I'll have to exact my friendly revenge on Jeff Schapiro at another meet.

C • 8.2k in 60min at Pawtuckawa... 2

I have contemplated running the Boston "Run to Remember" Half Marathon on 24 May, and a highly optimistic target pace I envisioned was 7 min/mile. I've never really systematically aimed for a pace, so I decided to run a tempo run on the track, where I could monitor my pace. My goal was to run 5 km in under 22 minutes with a moderate effort - ideally, such that I could continue for over an hour if I so chose.

So, I ran with a constant 3/3 breathing rate, trying to hold my 400 m splits to 1:45. My 400 splits were;

01:48.6
01:48.7
01:45.4
01:42.2
01:42.9
01:43.3
01:43.0
01:41.7
01:44.3
01:43.6
01:43.6
01:42.1
00:49.6

I was pleased with my effort; I found it feasible, but I doubt I could have continued for more than 10 km. That running at a 7 min/mi pace was itself challenging is discouraging; I really need to do more tempo runs. My calves afterward felt very tight. Conditions were basically optimal - 10 C, clear skies.

On my run home, I decided that running the half marathon would be foolish - I'm woefully undertrained, and any measure of my performance would gauge my latent reserves rather than my prepared potential. As much as I seek to accept that challenge (which I surely could achieve at a more leisurely 7:30/mi pace), I must focus on my training. I may attempt an informal 13.1 mi "time trial" on my own sometime later, perhaps at the beginning of July.

C • 5k xc race 2

Running to and from the track. Split to the track was 1433; split from the track was 1535. I feel slow.

Event: CSU Franklin Park Park-O
 

Not a great race for me.

Franklin Park - Advanced Course - Splits