Training Log Archive: iansmith

ARDF training - setting control 5 and running back from the finish on trails.

ARDF 2 meter training at the Blue Hills. I visited all five controls, but I lost about 7 cycles on the way. Not my best day, but given my inexperience with the 2-meter band, not a bad day.

The controls must be outside of the 700 meter exclusion zone around the start, and at least 400 meters away from each other and from the finish. Vadim explicitly set control #1 near the edge of the exclusion zone, and he made our objective to get to the first control at 6 minutes while taking cursory bearings to all the other controls. The idea is that you start hard and fast, and by the time you've visited the first control (without losing any cycles), you have determined the correct order to take the controls. Naturally, the correct first control isn't necessarily control #1, but this was a simplified exercise.

Anyway, I was moving a bit sluggishly; my right soleus was still a bit weak, and I was tired from intervals the day before. I didn't make it to the first control by the end of the cycle, but I found it when I wandered on my last bearing, at around 9 minutes.

I had ideas about the locations of the other controls (and I set #5, the most distant one), so I set off for #2, which I figured to be near the parking lot - either on the near side on a hill or on the big hill NW of the lot. At minute 17, I was astonished to find it between me and the finish. I had to do a 180 and the cycle stopped before I was able to make much progress. I ran into Vadim while waiting around for the cycle to start again. At minute 22, I took off up a hill, but failed to find it; I found it on minute 27. It was well inside the exclusion zone, and consequently, I lost two cycles.

I then made for control 4, which was on the big hill just Nw of the parking lot. Apparently the route I took wasn't best; I was still climbing the hill when the cycle started again, so I had to wait until minute 44, whereupon I spiked it.

I had a disaster on control 3 (which was on the big hill due north of control 4); I heard a reflection off the hill west of 3 and bore down upon it. I arrived at this point at minute 53, but I was convinced it was higher up the hill. At minute 58 my mistake became apparent and I moved to the correct hill, but I wandered around for two more cycles before finding it in minute 73. A four cycle error is unacceptable (but not really uncommon on 2m, at least for me).

I then ran to control 5 and arrived at minute 90. I struggled for a few minutes to get out of the undergrowth at 3, where my headphones were tangled. I was also pursued by at least three deer flies en route to five (at least three of which I destroyed). I then ran to the finish, getting there at minute 97.

All totalled, I had the following errors (relative to a perfect run):
Control 1: 3 minutes, but ultimately 5 because I lost a cycle getting to 2
Control 2: 2 cycles (10 minutes) because it was placed incorrectly. Had it not been in the exclusion zone, I would have lost only 1 cycle.
Control 4: 1 cycle due to poor route choice.
Control 3: 4 cycles due to chasing reflections.

I figure then that a perfect run would have had the following cumulative splits:
Control 1: 6 minutes
Control 2: 12 minutes
Control 4: 24 minutes
Control 3: 33 minutes
Control 5: 50 minutes
Finish: 55?

On the plus side, I did take the controls in the correct order.

To and from Tufts' track.

Intervals at Tufts track. Conditions were a bit bleak due to remnants of the tropical storm; the temperature was a pleasant 14 C, but a steady drizzle and strong winds (32 kph, gusting to 48 kph) made this session particularly trying. Regardless of adverse conditions, I felt sluggish and lethargic throughout the session. I didn't have a particular target for my speedwork, since I had done so little in recent months, but mile pace seemed reasonable. I flirted with 6 minute/mile pace, but I could do no better.

Splits (on/200 m off)
400: 132/119
600: 209/126
800: 303/127
400: 126/225
600: 242/121
800: 337/115

There was a girl running what appeared to be long intervals at the track; she was a strong runner, and she was rather pretty. One thing I noted about her running form was that it did not significantly vary between when she running at pace and when she was resting. There was an obvious difference in speed, but even the speed difference was less pronounced than my initial efforts. It was motivated by this that I shifted to a more relaxed difference between my intervals and rest in the last 600 and 800.

OMG. The account of the WOC Relay by Thierry Gueorgiou.

http://tero1.free.fr/news/php/example1.php?subacti...

Were I to speculate, I would guess that the nefarious Emily Kemp will be running all three of my courses at the ROC meet (perhaps only two if I run down). I am tired of getting destroyed by her (I think my record is 1-9 lifetime), so I intend to beat her on at least one race at this meet. This goal is attainable. I posit that I have the greatest comparative advantage (or the least comparative disadvantage, if you prefer) on the sprint distance, so it is there that I will allocate most of my efforts.

T-23 days.

1576

C • 23 days 19

A late night run. I had a bit of a stomachache earlier today, possibly due to a bad burrito. I was trying to make this an easy run, but I was clearly pushing harder than I normally do. Oddly enough, I saw a sculler (with lights) in an unaccompanied single rowing down the Charles at 3 AM.

Bike to work. I spent a bit of time waiting at lights; I shall consider more time-efficient routes.

Biking from work to Harvard Square to buy streamer tape, to Middlesex Fells to set the course, and home. It's distressing to consider that this distance is only marginally longer (32%) than the Blue Ultralong course at ROC.

Setting streamers for my training course at Middlesex Fells. In attendance from the group were Dean, Barb and Dave, Brendan and his friend Jeff, and Vadim and Nic. Jeff has never orienteered before, and he seems to have some measure of interest. He's a physics grad student, so he may be too busy in general to pursue orienteering, but it's always exciting to find new people. An advanced course at Pine Hill didn't seem to discourage him; while he "only" finished four controls before deciding it was too dark to go on, he seemed to have a good intuitive grasp of what was going on. Hopefully, we'll see him at future meets.

While I am discouraged by the initial difficulty of running at 170 bpm, I am excited by the prospect of running a time trial with a regulated pace. Assuming my right soleus feels ok, I will attempt some speed work later this week.

I went on a relatively crazy workout - even for me: I decided to bike the Minuteman trail to Lexington at 10 PM. My right soleus has been bothering me, so I elected to not run tonight to avoid impact. Biking was an obvious alternative, and the Minuteman bikeway minimizes interaction with cars. However, the route is extremely dark and isolated; were I injured or ambushed by shady people, I would have difficulty finding aid.

My concerns were mitigated by my powerful bike lights, my reflective and visible apparel, and my objective of moving at a steady but fast pace throughout my trip. I brought my techno (169 bpm tonight) to give a reference frame for my pace. Surprisingly, I saw about a dozen or so people out on the trail, mostly walking in pairs or groups. I passed a few cyclists, but I wasn't at any point especially worried about my safety. Nevertheless, I will likely confine future bike trips to daylight hours.

Today's run had an interesting variation: I was running with techno from Podrunner, a DJ who makes workout mixes at fixed BPM. I read in Daniel's Running Formula that running at 180 steps per minute is preferrable to the slower pace I run at. While I'm not convinced of the validity of this claim, I set about trying to run at a higher cadence; I listened to the 171 bpm mix "Prodigious."

It was much more fatiguing than I expected; I noted that my heart rate was faster than the music tempo. I stopped for a few minutes after 18 minutes; I was trying to take smaller steps, but I may have been less successful than I expected. I have done this loop many times, and this was faster than usual.

I will continue trying to get comfortable at a higher cadence (though perhaps not 180 bpm). The natural cadence of an individual should be determined by the mass distribution of their leg; I expect that SHM governs how quickly the leg swings forward. The mechanics are nontrivial, and perhaps running at a higher cadence will promote good form, like bringing my feet up on the recovery.