Training Log Archive: iansmith

After aborting yesterday due to questionable weather, I set out from Cambridge just before 8 AM to climb Monadnock. I have been on one winter hike, and I am interested in doing more, so I treated this as an exercise. I have climbed Monadnock in the summer, and while it's not a trivial mountain, it's much easier than everything to the north in the Whites. I brought much more equipment than I needed to practice a more serious climb; I was prepared for an overnight stay on the mountain.

I wore tights, two short- and one long-sleeved technical shirts, my windbreaker, and my wind pants - since apparently running tights are viewed as underwear. I wore gloves and (briefly) a balaclava, and had in reserve a polyester fleece, a hat, and extra shirt and pants. I think a heavier long technical shirt would be useful; most of my gear is my running gear. I carried my 80L backpack with a sleeping bag, lots of food, 4 liters of fluid, extra clothing, duct tape, and the usual set of essentials (flashlights, fire stuff, knife, first aid, purification tablets, whistle, poncho, etc). I brought two trail maps.

I sent my itinerary to some of my peeps before leaving Cambridge. Conditions were balmy today, with base temperatures ranging from 30-40 F. At the summit, the temperature fell to 15-20 F with strong winds, but I arrived at the summit stripped down to my short sleeved shirts and only bundled for lunch. There was little snow but lots of ice on the trails. Negotiating it was often slow without any "traction" devices on my boots. Trying to hike up a 20-30° downsloping sheet of ice is delicate. I hiked up the White Cross trail; descended Smith Summit Tr. to Monte Rosa; took the Great Pasture-Mossy Brook-Cart Path loop; ascended to Bald Rock via Thoreau Trail; and descended via Smith Connecting and White Dot. White Cross and White Dot were the most perilous. There were many people on the mountain - the visitor's center parking lot had 80-100 cars, and I saw about fifty people on the mountain.

Poles were invaluable - especially on the descent, but better boots and traction devices would have been excellent. I was otherwise thoroughly prepared. I considered bringing my thermos for tea, but as I was the only consumer, it seemed unnecessary. On the way down, some other hikers indicated to me a majestic owl chilling about 25-30 meters from the trail on a branch. A brave or dumb chipmunk was flitting around near the owl; it seems unlikely it will reproduce. When I returned from climbing a mountain, I took the elevator to my apartment with all my gear because ahahaha irony.

C • hiking 15

2011 Year in Review

The past two years have been challenging in many areas, and while adversity has tempered me, I have suffered many setbacks. My left tibia fracture in August 2010 and my right tibia stress fracture in May 2011 nullified my competitive aspirations over the past 18 months. I have not had to cope with serious injury before 2010. While I had the psychological strength to cheerfully persevere through my daily life, I was faced with serious questions about my aspirations as a competitive athlete. I am getting old, and while I expect to have at least another decade of opportunity as an elite orienteer, I'm so far behind many of my peers. I lack the years of orienteering experience or inherent athletic prowess that most of the American athletes have. In a European country, I wouldn't be noticed at all. Ultimately, I decided that I orienteer because I enjoy it, because there are innumerable social, physical, and mental benefits, and because I want to see how good I can become. I love challenges, and this is one worthy of pursuit. I do not know where the limit of my abilities lies, but I intend to drive forward as far as I can.

I attended eight A-meet days in 2010 (all in the spring) and finished with a ranking of 81.72. I attended only six in 2011, and finished with an unremarkable 76.98. For comparison, in 2009, I ran 14 A-meet races. At my most recent A-meet day - the middle at the October St. Louis meet - I finished less than two minutes behind the winner, Clem, with a score of 81.88. My 2011 score was hurt by my performance at West Point in May, at which I was poorly trained. I ran the second leg on the US champion CSU relay team for my first US Championship; I faced off against speedy from DVOA and prevailed on our unforked course.

My 2011 training totaled 285 hours. The past year can be divided into the period before and during my stress fracture on May 15 - approximately January through August - and the period after the recovery, or September through December. I was still recovering from my injury in Aug 2010 in the early part of the year, and my training and competition were unremarkable. Organizational responsibilities have been a tremendous source of stress for me over the past year. I have learned many lessons - sometimes the hard way - trying to manage aspects of NEOC and put an aggressive schedule together. The CSU SML Champs A-meet was also a great drain on my resources, and how I avoided a nervous breakdown in October is a mystery to me. Many people have helped me in all my activities, and I am grateful for that help and the camaraderie that exists. I set the 2011 Traverse, which I preferred to my 2010 Traverse course; I also directed or course set for six local events (not counting Harold Parker, at which I didn't really do anything). I filled out more permit and insurance applications than I care to count, and wrote countless e-mails (according to google, "many").

Period	Orienteering	Running	Total
Jan-Aug	36.1 hrs	35.1	149.8
Sept-Dec	79.8	43.4	135.5

Given the disappointments of the past two years, Fall 2011 far exceeded my expectations. As I noted in November, I am winning races for the first time, though Ross and Sam have moved to Sweden. I have a good group of friendly competitors who motivate me and against whom I can measure myself, most notably my perennial nemesis, Ali. Over the past three months, I have trained over 100 hours, virtually all of which has been orienteering and running. I am wary of the possibility of injury, but I am optimistic about 2012.

I missed all of my 2011 training goals except my goal of bowling 24 games (I bowled 90). That's disappointing, but I set those goals to motivate myself to chase lofty heights; the setbacks made many of those goals unattainable. In the only time trial I have run since my injury, I set a PR and a Vdot PR with a 10:31 3k. I am stronger now than I ever have been before. My log had over 20,000 hits in 2011, bringing the total to 34,500; I am grateful to my readers for taking an interest in my eccentric life. Your encouragement has been valuable during my darker times.

Goals for 2012:
- Train 400 hours, including 160 hours of orienteering
- Run 1300 miles, averaging 25/wk
- Finish the year ranked in excess of 90 points
- Make the US standing team
- Beat Ali at the Billygoat

Running goals:
1 mile: 5:00
3 km: 10:00
5 km: 17:30
Half: 1:20:00

2010 YiR, 2009 YiR

To end the year, I went on an easy run around the river. I am tired; this week, I may have committed more of myself than was wise. I will take some days next week to recover.

I have acquired oatmeal.

Despite failing at life, I rendezvoused (late) with Ross and Sam to run the 2011 Traverse. In my haste, I had apparently forgotten my tights, and ran only in bike shorts (and SL-sleeved shirts, gloves) that I had brought along as a precautionary second layer. It was quite warm - perhaps 5-7° C, with clear skies and minimal breeze. I was very comfortable, lacking only water.

Jeff Saeger had already started, and Ross, Sam and I ran together. While we were somewhat relaxed - chatting at times, I did have an average HR of 171. We did lose some time pausing at each control; our flow was unremarkable, and we were treating the run as a fun workout. It's hard to make a comparison to race day, since I was advantaged by the temperature and my foreknowledge of the course. I was unambiguously nemesis'd, finishing just behind Dancho. I think that at race pace given my knowledge of the course, I could have run sub 1:50, but the comparison is almost useless. I look forward to the billygoat for a chance to "play" against a competitive field. Amusingly, the three of us made a 2-3 minute mistake at control 9, despite the fact that I have been there several times. I had attacked it once or twice from the north to check the position of the flag, but I didn't remember it well. We ran through the reentrant once without realizing we were in the right spot. On most of the other controls, I had no trouble pinpointing exactly where I had set the flag. I deferred to Ross and Sam on most of the navigation, since I had already analyzed the course heavily in my planning.

It was a tremendously fun outing - running for two hours with friends is delightful, and an excellent physical challenge. I didn't need to read my map that much. I am considering running more Traverses as long orienteering training; I regret that I must drive on I-93, the cesspool of Boston transportation misery, but perhaps I will bike down. I felt strong on the hills, and while Ross and Sam were holding back a bit, I didn't struggle to keep up. With some perspective, it's clear that the course was somewhat too long and challenging. I did have a lot of fun, though running without leg protection was at times costly.

C • Kind of you 4

Traverse - Splits

Evening easy cruise. I felt unpleasant for most of the day, but going for a run seemed to alleviate my discomfort. I stopped by Anna's for a burrito near the end, and by my neighborhood grocery store for some food. I am the reluctant owner of a measuring cup and a box of corn starch.

My weight seems to have stabilized at around 180 lbs. I have considered trying to lose more, but I think this is close to optimal for me. I plan to do more strength training in the months ahead that may result in some gain. My focus is on speed and fitness; my legs need to get much stronger to plow up hills. Hopefully, as my body becomes more adapted to running and O, I will shed weight in extraneous places, but shrug. My weight disparity relative to other O guys of my height is interesting - ken and bshields are both svelter than I, but even boris (who is less dissimilar) is considerably lighter. I guess I'm the CSU chuck wagon.

C • in Boston next week 4

I decided to build tonight's run around a hill workout at Lowell St. I have been out of sorts lately, and my training over the previous four days has been non-existent apart from Pawtuckaway due to poor discipline, almonds, and Christmas. Resting yesterday, while unplanned, may have been wise to recover from battle damage at Pawtuckaway. My left ankle and right shin are swollen, but neither troubled me during the run today.

Conditions were cold, with a temperature of -2° C and winds in excess of 30 kph. I wore three layers on top (SLS sleeves), two on bottom, and gloves and was uncomfortable at times.

I am currently planning the calendar for next year, which will include some 40th anniversary celebrations and special events for NEOC. I'm not sure how long I will continue to serve as VP Events - the earliest I would step down is June 2013.

According to google, the Lowell st hill from the south is 30m high and about 380m horizontally; from Highland, it's about 15m up, 200m horizontally. I thought the north side was steeper, but it's shorter than the intervals I seek. I ran 4 south, 4 north, 2 south.

S: 1:55, 1:47, 1:51, 1:43; 1:42, 1:41
N: 59, 58, 1:01, 53

C • Good hill 1

I formulated the idea of traveling solo to Pawtuckaway for a training day back in November, and finally executed. While I enjoy company when training, I had considerable stress in my life over the past year, much of which had to do with personal interactions (and much of which was incidental). Particularly after the A-meet, I wanted to focus on training, and a solo training expedition was the obvious conclusion. My solitude was blissful; it was splendid to spend time alone at scenic Pawtuckaway and focus only on training. The day had a sunny blue sky, a temperature of 2° C, and gusty breeze. The park was beautiful, with about 1-2 cm of snow on the ground; puddles on trails were frozen, and the surfaces of lakes and ponds were partially iced over. As a precaution against injury and getting stuck in the forest, I dressed heavily - compression short sleeves, long sleeves, short sleeves, tights, shorts, and gloves. I was quite warm for much of the run, but not uncomfortably so. I sent my itinerary to Becks and my family before setting out.

C • Covert operations 12

Quickroute; course length 8.5 km.
Comparison to 2010 (2010 track is thicker)

The first exercise was from the 10 AM exercise from a 2010 CSU Training Day, designed by Ross. The original objective of the exercise was to evaluate and plan route choices in advance. The only control I remembered from the exercise was #4, which I had messed up and was discussed in the comments.

My objectives were to concentrate on reading the map and stay in constant contact. I planned to run the first exercise more conservatively and take the second at race pace. The thin layer of snow made me less sure of my footing - on steep rocks, the surface was slick, which slowed me slightly. Though streamers are preferable, their absence has some advantages. I was forced to know exactly where I was. The control flag is the ultimate catching feature, and I want to be able to orienteer well and fast even without a flag. I only planned routes at a very coarse scale before starting, leaving the fine details and execution to on-the-fly planning.

I was hesitant at 1; I spent some time getting into the map, but I approached acceptably, saw the hill to my right, and hit the four huge boulders cleanly. The sidehilling just south of 1 was unpleasant and slow, and I resolved to run on ridges when I could. I took the non-trail route to 3 because it was more interesting, though the stone walls simplified the navigation. I did a much better job navigating to 4 this time. Getting through the rocks was a bit tricky at 5, and I was somewhat hesitant after passing the little pond. The first part of 6 was a pure compass exercise, and I'm happy with the line.

I confused myself leaving control 6 - I meant to stay west of the marsh 100m south of the control. I figured it out quickly enough, but my route meandered badly on that leg. Reading the map to 8 was really hard, but I stayed on my line and was in ok contact in the first half. I slowed during the first half to be accurate, though the lakes are such a great catching feature that in a race situation, I would have plowed at full speed on compass alone. I was messy leaving 8 - I meant to run south of the house-sized boulder. I really struggled leaving 9 - I couldn't get the hills and ponds to quite match up the way I expected, and my zone of uncertainty grew to 30-40 meters in radius before descending into the steep gorge. I was again confused attacking 12 - I saw the stream gully 100m south of the control, but the ridge to the east of that didn't quite make sense to me.

On legs with huge catching features - like running to a trail, or even the first half of leg 8 - I often throw caution to the wind and simplify too much. In the process, I sometimes execute the really easy section very poorly, going too far, or drifting off in a random direction. I really need to practice simplifying - how much is appropriate, when to do it - and continuing to read the map, paying attention, orienteering, and making smart decisions on simplified routes. The Comparison quickroute (see above) of my 2010 and 2011 tracks is informative - I did essentially the same thing in each case, but the skinny 2011 track is shorter and more precise because I was being careful and actually navigating. I am a better orienteer than I was in 2010.

After getting back to my car, I ate a few handfuls of goldfish, drank about a liter of water, and basked in the heater for about half an hour while listening to my audiobook. My feet had been immersed crossing wet spots, and it was pleasant to warm them and get a short rest before the second exercise.

Quickroute; the O-distance I ran was 7.8 km.

This exercise is the 2011 UNO Camping Weekend Day 2 Blue course. In September, I stopped at control 8 due to exhaustion, and I was eager to try again. I started at control 5, as that was closest to my car.

I ran more aggressively than in the first exercise, though I was somewhat fatigued, and the snow did not lend itself to very fast running. I nearly made a mistake to 7, where I happily did a ninety degree turn 2/3 of the way through the leg before correcting. The leg to 9 was an unmitigated disaster; I kept losing contact and wandering about. My original plan was to cross the lake at the left most beaver dam (left of the line) and run up the trail, but I changed my mind halfway. My eventual crossing was missing about 5 meters of beaver dam, so I gingerly waded across the partially ice-covered lake up to my upper calves. I then finished the leg by missing the control entirely.

I rolled my left ankle after crossing the line of lakes on leg 12, and stopped for about a minute. I was able to run without discomfort, though the ankle is slightly swollen now. I confused hills 50m north of the control and took an unnecessary detour before correcting. Leg 13 was straightforward, with some nice handrails and a good attack from the corner of the lake. I was not confident on the vague hills NW of the control, and I stopped to confirm that I was in fact at the control. Leg 14 was another disaster; I thought I was initially right of the line and tried to compensate, then just couldn't quite get the features to line up in my mental picture. I wasn't reading carefully leaving 13. By the time I reached control 1, it was too dark to read my map in the trees, so I decided to bail out. I didn't want to turn Secret Ninja Training into "Omg I'm Lost on Big Island and Something is going to Kill Me" Training. I made it back comfortably.

I took two blows to my right shin at a spot which had a bump from a Harold Parker bang-up. The leg seems to be fine (apart from a small wound and a big bruise), but I may consider wearing a gaiter. Otherwise, my body will develop natural gaiters from scar tissue.

Even with the snow (perhaps because of the snow), my times were competitive with the runners at the Camping Weekend. I had a good effort, and I think I could have finished the remaining 2.7 km in 20-25 minutes (for a total of 1:22 - 1:27). I wanted to be tired before running this to train for when I am fatigued. I found it challenging to concentrate and focus on reading my map for a full 2.5 hours, and I grew messier when I increased my intensity and became tired. I must do more mental training and map practice. This session was productive.

Uneventful run back to the car in near darkness. I had considerable stamina and springiness left in my legs given the long day.