Training Log Archive: iansmith

The New England Canoeing Championships; I rowed with Jeff Schapiro. The course, designed by Aims Coney, was a Score-O with many opportunities for novel and optimized route choice. Briefly, we set out in approximately numerical order: we rowed to 1, portaged and rowed to 2, rowed to 3 and crossed an isthmus; I jumped out and rendezvoused with Jeff at 4, rowed to 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; I jumped out and ran to 13, swam to 14, and ran to 15 where I rendezvoused with Jeff; we then finished with 16, 5, and 17.

It was an arduous experience, as I typically have with canoeing. Jeff and I both row with significant power without great efficiency or control. We wobbled a few times, but generally made good speed throughout the course. We had a few navigational errors and poor route choices - for instance, I think a runner could have effectively visited 1-4 while the canoe paddled from 1 to 4 directly. We were entangled in some dense lilies at a marsh near 11; when I got out to push the boat along, I sunk in up to my armpits and had to use the canoe for leverage to extricate myself.

While we were zigzagging a bit, Jeff improved significantly over the course of the race, and my inexperience in the bow certainly contributed. I generally am not particularly proficient with the racing style, and the boat we were using was also foreign (Aims'). I particularly enjoyed my Schapiroesque trip from 12-15; while swimming with sneakers was exhausting, the novelty and sense of accomplishment more than compensated. Overall, I had an excellent time, and I felt Jeff and I made a solid team. We beat Keith and Vanessa by about fifteen seconds, and finished fifth overall - behind Andy Hall, the Miller brothers, an experienced pair with their son, and two experienced canoe racers who were unfamiliar with canoe-O. Since Jeff and I visited all the controls in under two hours, we won t-shirts even though the Millers beat us in our class.

I made two significant errors - while leading Jeff (who was carrying the canoe), I misinterpreted the portage from 1-2, leading us to put in far too early. On my long running leg from 12-13, I started running from 12 to 8, which we had already visited. I had traveled almost a kilometer when I realized my error. The angle formed by 8-12-13 was very small, I nevertheless took a suboptimal trail route costing perhaps 3-4 minutes.

C • You must train more, and harder! 4

ARDF 80m training with Lori and Les at the Blue Hills. I'm not sure what the total distance was, but we distributed and set out four controls and ran them like a course. While it's true that we had some advance knowledge (we explicitly assigned sectors to avoid placing controls near each other), we were nonetheless able to run a tactical race. I tried to more thoroughly apply the tactic of running as far as you can in the direction of the latest bearing and essentially attempting to overshoot. I overshot controls 1 and 4, but I did not lose any time - I found each of them in the same cycle that I realized I had passed them. I found control 3 off cycle, and I set 2 and so had no difficulty finding it again.

Splits were:
15:43 to 1
14:35 to 4
19:42 to 3
16:59 to 2
9:41 to the finish

For the ARDF training, Lori, Les and I divided our five controls among us and set a subset. The controls consisted of a small flag, the small, black transmitter with about six feet of coiled wire, and a 9V battery. I prophetically cautioned everyone not to drop the transmitter, because it is the most important part of the control and the most difficult to find it dropped.

I set controls 2 and 5, and ironically, en route to the spot I had chosen for my first control, I discovered I had dropped transmitter 5 somewhere on a kilometer route I had taken, both on trails and through the woods. I set 2, returned to the start, and profusely apologized. We figured the transmitter was impossibly lost, so we decided to run the course and then check my path to 2 and see if we could find the transmitter. I started and finished first, so I set out to make an intensive search before the others finished. Miraculously, while retracing my steps, I found the transmitter not far from where I had set control 2.

Unfortunately, I wasn't sure if everyone was done, so I left up control 2 and returned to the start to wait for everyone; afterward, I had to make the trek again.

I went on a bowling expedition of the ten pin flavor with Lori. I exceeded my expectations in both games we played, bowling a 141 and a 138. Between the two games, in 38 total balls, I had 5 strikes, 7 spares, and 5 gutter balls. I believe a 141 is a PR for me.

The bowling balls at this alley unconventionally lacked weight labels, but I believe my ball was somewhere between 12-14 lbs - lighter than what I typically use. I suspect this gave me better control, though I observed slightly less power in my game than I usually exhibit. The weight of the ball that I use is usually constrained by the size of my particularly large thumb joint; my thumb does not typically fit well in lighter balls.

While I'm tempted to model my bowling data, it is clear that I lack consistency. I have an effective grasp of basic technique, and sufficient strength and control to apply it. I would like to avoid becoming remotely competitive (except with my perennial CSU nemesis, Alex Jospe) with anyone both because my skill is unremarkable at best and because I wish to draw naive pleasure rather than pursue specific goals.

Lori bowled generally well, though even with a lighter ball (8 lbs, I believe), her forearm was fatigued by the second game, and that fatigue noticeably affected her performance. She bowled two spares and bravely eschewed bumpers, which she has historically used. She has eccentric bowling technique and had a good time.

I am almost always amenable to a (ten-pin) bowling game, for those of you who would like to play and need company.

My specific scores were:

9/ X 7/ 9- 7/ X 41 8- -8 8/7 = 141
X 16 8- 7/ 9/ 35 9- X 8/ X16 = 138

C • Bowling 3

Unintended rest day.

I went on a late night run with a JFK-Weeks-Western Ave river loop. The weather was balmy at 16 C with 100% humidity. I took the run very gingerly and deliberately, warming up with 4/4 breathing, then keeping to 3/3 breathing throughout the run. My breathing was fine, but I was lethargic, and my muscles felt weak. That noted, my objective was not to push at all, but simply to get some easy running time in. I avoided stretching my stride beyond the minimum practical distance for running. I was somewhat troubled to find that my cadence was approximately 160 throughout the run, but I've never been very good about holding to a 180 cadence, and I'm not sure that it's feasible at such a slow pace. I concluded my run with 4x30 sec strides.

I listened to a sermon on Revelation 21 followed by some techno to counter my lethargy. My plan for the rest of the week is to run a Harvard/Tufts O course tomorrow with CSU, take a very easy 30 minute run on Friday, and go for a moderately long bike ride on Saturday. I plan to make Sunday my rest day in general this summer, so I'll continue my base running plan (with no quality time until I've built up a bit more) next week.

C • your plan seems okay. 3

An extremely late night run (even for me); I have been procrastinating doing my laundry for sufficiently long that my inventory was critically low, so I started my laundry and set off on my run. I was initially quite reluctant to run, but once I started, I was quite pleased at my decision.

Descending a hill of nontrivial size caused me some discomfort, most noticeably in my left knee. Last Tuesday, my knee was quite abruptly in agony. I suspect that in the course of minimizing stress on my left ankle last week, I incidentally applied significantly more stress to my left knee. I stopped to stretch after descending the hill, and resumed my run after less than a minute. The knee ceased to bother me today, though I will avoid hills for a while until I have built up a suitable base of running and strengthened my knees.

I irregularly alternated between 3/3 and 4/4 breathing rhythms. Conditions were 16 C with 94% humidity. In an effort to minimize my perspiration, I unprecedentedly ran without a shirt for the last third of my run; it was significantly more comfortable. I would not have considered it save for the sparsity of people around me.

I listened to a sermon from Park Street Church on the substance of "child-like" faith.