Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: Weston Ski-O
 

I helped out at the Weston Ski-O with registration, but decided the hour that I would have on skis was not worth the hassle and cost of renting equipment and getting a trail pass. I'm a bit worn out, so a rest day was in order.

Alex is a pro; the ski-O went very well.

The Board meeting this afternoon went well, and the holiday party at the Parsons was excellent. I won a little NEOC dufflebag for being the M-21 club champion. I am currently working on the 2012 NEOC schedule, which I will post within the next two weeks. The link is to my planning draft. The calendar is ambitious, with about 25 foot events, 2 Ski-Os, 2 Canoe-Os, and 1 MTB-O. I am endeavoring to expand the set of maps that we regularly use. Last year, the Harold Parker meet was something of a shot in the dark - an event at a old map that had not been substantially updated. This year, I hope to use a subset of Turtle Pond, Mt. Misery (thanks to Jim Crawford's work), High Rock, Boxford, George Washington, and Upton in addition to many of the common maps. I have put much thought and analysis into planning the calendar, and I may write up some of my thoughts later to collect feedback and share my work.

Peter came by the board meeting and briefed us all on the Western MA 5-Day; the progress by the Amherst crew and the enthusiasm and support from the Board are both very good. While I intend to continue as Vice President of Events (chiefly planning the schedule) at least until Summer 2013, I am considering stepping down from the Board when my term ends in June 2012.

On an unrelated note, once I make more progress on Pictures and finish relearning Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, I want to tackle the Bach-Busoni Chaconne in D. It's a glorious piece, and I know very little of Bach's compositions. It's originally a (very difficult) violin piece, but the Busoni arrangement for piano is definitive and part of the standard repertoire.

C • Chaconne 1

Magnus set a collection of five short memory-O loops at Prospect Hill, and he, Lori, Stephen, Presto, and I assembled to run them. Magnus graciously set streamers before we arrived, which was invaluable for a memory exercise. Several inches of snow had fallen on the area during the night, and the plows were uncharacteristically laggard in purging the major thoroughfares of the accumulation.

I failed to wake at 7 AM to finish my paperwork in advance of the NEOC board meeting this evening, and Lori's call that she and Stephen had arrived at my apartment woke me. I hurriedly collected the pertinent items, but in my haste, I forgot my Garmin (though I did bring and wear my heart rate monitor strap).

The five loops each had between two and four controls inclusive, and the maps Magnus brought had only contour, water, and vegetation data. The exercise was excellent for building a mental picture of the terrain and had a high training value to setup cost ratio.

Run over to the War Memorial Pool.

Inspired by feet, I decided to erg. I considered a thirty minute session, but my glutes were decidedly unhappy to be back on the erg, and I decided two shorter sessions would be a more reasonable reintroduction to the torture machine. I hovered around 24-25 spm and 2:00/500m. Holding my stroke rating was harder than I remembered - I couldn't get much higher than 28 without pushing faster than 1:55 splits.

I sandwiched two 10 minute erg sessions around fifteen minutes of strength for a delightfully mixed up evening. My legs feel shoddy; in particular, my lower left leg is discomforted. This has been an acceptable week, and I will take at least one rest day next week to recuperate. My body is letting me know that I need to back off a bit. Counting downhill on Sunday, which is stressful, I have had at least forty minutes of training every day this week. As interesting as it has been to do more cross training, running and orienteering will be higher priorities in my training for the next few weeks.

3 circuits of a hodgepodge of freeweight exercises:
- 10 squats, + 80 lbs
- 10 clean-and-press, 30 lb kettlebell (for variety), each side
- 20 calf raises, + 80 lbs
- 10 bicep curls, 25 lbs, each side

Easy peasy cool down run to flush some lactate. I concluded with a burrito.

The CSU indoor track workout was cancelled this week because of a track meet at the BU facility, so Magnus and I ran outdoor intervals at Danehy. It was cool and breezy: -1° C, winds of 15-20 kph. I was bundled with SLSL shirts, tights, gloves, and my trusty balaclava. We ran 4x1000 followed by 2x400. I felt a little sluggish on the 1000s, and my heart rate was lower than is typical for intervals (~185). I stopped my watch a few seconds late for the second km, but my target pace for km intervals is 3:30.

It was a good workout nonetheless, and as Magnus says, "running in the cold builds character." I listened to 178 bpm techno for the last km interval, and noted that my cadence exceeded 180 for the first few hundred meters, but started to fall off. Techno could be useful for practicing holding a steady cadence. I considered running a few more easy kilometers after running home, but concluded my interval workout is not the one to lengthen.

1000s: 3:37, 3:42, 3:34, 3:34
400s: 1:17, 1:14

C • It was great to get out doi... 1

I'm currently getting out-trained by PG:
Ian past 30 days
PG past 30 days

I remember feet making a comment some years ago about people with competitive aspirations not training enough, and how if he were interested in competing, he would be training much harder. I'm (justifiably) concerned that my body can only handle small increases, and my training program should be designed for me independent of what everyone else is doing. However, I'm clearly not doing enough. If my legs can't handle more running, I should bike, ski, and swim more. Put another way, it's on.

I should note that PG is just a convenient benchmark; there's no particular reason why I should choose anyone as a "training adversary," though it should be noted that with ski season, I would be very hard pressed to keep up with Ali.

C • In your case... 6

Evening bike ride along the Minuteman. Conditions were chill: -3° C and 24 kph NW winds, and bike riding was brutal. I wore SLL shirts, LSL pants, a windbreaker, two pairs of gloves, and a balaclava; it was adequate. I biked to Lexington with added difficulty from the cold and the headwind, but my rear tire went flat 4 km after the turn around, and about 10 km from home. I hadn't brought a pump or tube, so I switched to running home.

C • I suppose an outing like th... 2

Running while pushing my bike back home. I felt tired, and walked about two kilometers around Alewife. I suspect the fatigue was from running with a bike, the cold, and inadequate fitness (i.e. "noobness"). Despite my heavy clothing, I was cold after passing Alewife, so I resumed running to get home faster.

Swimming at the War Memorial Pool. I didn't have as much time as I had hoped, but I swam 1250 meters of freestyle. I wore my new goggles for the first time, and the experience was far more pleasant. The effort was challenging, and I was often out of breath. However, my breaks were infrequent, and I am hopeful the cardiovascular stress will translate well to running.

Running to and from swimming. I didn't bring my Garmin.

Easy post-burrito cruise around Cambridge. The temperature was a balmy 0° C, with a 20 kph wind and steady snowfall. About 3-5 cm of snow had accumulated, and the soft crunching under my feet was pleasant. I ran in SL shirt and SL tights with gloves and an intermittent balaclava. While I felt good during the run, I have been inexplicably tired lately. I suspect sleep deprivation and illness are the primary culprits, but I am considering other possibilities, like mono and nutrition. Nothing is conclusive yet, but I am prophylactically increasing my consumption of green leafy vegetables and red meat as a precaution against anemia.

My left shin feels strange just below the knee - I can't tell if it's the tibia or the joint. The sensation isn't pain or discomfort, but an odd feeling of misalignment. It is possible I stressed the knee unusually while skiing, but I will be attentive in the near future. While a stress fracture seems highly unlikely, I am aware of the possibility.

I started listening to The Towers of Midnight because I enjoyed it when I last read it, and light reading is currently appealing.

C • Running late at night 3

50 two-legged squats
50 two-legged calf raises

I'm hoping to get into a bodyweight regimen, but baby steps.