Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: OCIN Flying Pig XVI
 

Flying Pig middle distance race at Middle Creek Park in Kentucky. Apparently the map is a Vladimir Zherdev creation. It was warm - around 27 C, with some indeterminate amount of humidity. The woods were very trashy; there was lots of deadfall, and there were few open areas. The climb was also severe and concentrated on a small number of legs. Between the vegetation and the climb, top speed was less relevant than speed and efficiency pushing through green and climbing over downed trees.

I was tired - I didn't sleep much last night, flew to Cincinnati this morning, and started my race 90 minutes after I landed. A warmup helped, but I didn't feel that awake. I took a GU before the race, primarily for the caffeine. I really struggled on the climb - the leg to 13 had about 50m of climb over 200m; apparently everyone was overwhelmed. I had one error of about two minutes, one of a minute, and a few small bobbles, but no meltdowns.

My result was acceptable but unremarkable - I finished 6th overall. Sergei Logvin (who won) and Nikolay ran in 45 minutes; next were Jon Torrance, Mike Waddington, and Sergei Fedorov. I'm hoping I can put together some good races later in the meet with good sleep. I'm devastated to lose to so many Canadians. I was in the lead for about an hour as we waited for the fast guys to come in; I knew my result wouldn't hold up, but I was still disappointed to find that Hammer had crushed me by three minutes. Races are great motivation to get faster! Kudos to OCIN and Tundra/Desert for the results system, the live updates, and the running commentary. It's worth noting that T/D's vitriol about GPSes is more entertaining in person than on AP.

Quickroute.

Warmup running around the parking area and to/from the start. I hung out with Linear Ice before the race, and afterward learned of Nikolay's driving prowess on the way to the hotel.

8 Blue - Splits

Evening jaunt.

Post board meeting warmup. I guess I got lost - or more precisely misplaced the entrance to Danehy Park - and thus had a longer warmup than expected and ran to the main entrance.

Woohoo: passed 40,000 log hits! Tonight, I ran a 5x1000m intervals session. I speculate that I may have been running my intervals over the past few months too fast. My 5k time this past weekend recommends an interval pace of 3:42/km. Even using my 3k time from December yields an interval pace of 3:36/km. My right hamstring felt tight at first but loosened up.

Anyway, I decided to run conservatively, with a target time of 3:42/km. On paper, this looks painfully slow, and it is. However, if I hang out in this neighborhood for a few weeks and then gradually increase my speed, I think it will yield greater improvement than naively hacking away at 100%+ HR max.

Splits were 3:41, 3:41, 3:41, 3:40, and 3:43 (weak). I felt pretty good, though definitely expending effort. What I find especially encouraging is that my rests were short - consistently around 85s (200m jog). Conditions were cool: 7 C, in a light drizzle. My timing is poor - Flying Pig is in 40 hours - but there's no time like the present.

C • Good plan 3

Easy cool down and return to base. I feel good about an interval session after which I can comfortably run 5 min/km pace.

Legs and Ian felt tired, so after getting home late, I punted the interval workout to tomorrow in favor of a rest day. Poor discipline fail. Maybe my activity on the weekend caught up to me. Oh well; no more rest days this week.

On the other hand, I enjoyed a delightful block of Gruyere cheese - my first experience with it.

I went out for my evening run despite feeling a bit sluggish. Barb hosted Jim Paschetto's Or e-punch training session tonight. I was familiar with most of the content, but I learned a few new things. The target audience for tonight was board members as a first pass - seven of us and Jeff Saeger were in attendance. This should help distribute the workload so poor Jim P. doesn't have to be at every meet for six hours.

At the Flying Pig, I will host a meeting at the Hampton Inn Cincinnati Airport-North to brainstorm all the ways to wreck the sport of orienteering; following the meeting, all of them will be implemented. Everyone on attackpoint except Tundra/Desert is invited.

2 sets of 25 box jumps (+1 step), 25 two-legged calf raises, 10 metzler devils on each side.

I had the first movement of Tchaik Piano Concerto No. 1 stuck in my head for most of the Hammond Pond run, which is an odd choice for my internal music player. I rediscovered Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 "Scottish" recently. Good stuff, though I don't in general like Mendelssohn as much as Beethoven (I mean c'mon).

Words of kenfucius:
"Fastest query is the one not executed."

Some new battle music

Event: NEOC: Hammond Pond
 

For the first NEOC meet of the season, Lori and Stephen set a novel course: the merry-go-score. The race consisted of five score courses, each with five controls. The courses were numbered 1-5, and on the nth course, the controls were worth n points (course 1 controls were worth 1; course 2 controls were worth 2, etc). You were allowed to advance from the ith to the (i+k)th course at any time, but you couldn't go back to a previous course.

My strategy from the beginning was not to maximize my score, but to collect all the controls. The five courses were fairly similar - two or three close controls, two or three remote controls. I was surprised - when I flipped over the first map, I imagined all the controls would be nearby. I immediately considered skipping the two remote controls, but decided to stick to my effort to get them all. I returned to the map exchange at around 11:45, and I concluded that I would not be able to sustain that pace for four more loops. I skipped one control each on courses 2 and 3. I made a silly 30 second error on course 4 (around minute 37) where I ran to the wrong hill. I started the fifth course with 14 minutes left; each control was worth 5 points and critical to a good performance. One control in particular looked like it would have a slow exit. I fought hard to keep up the pace for the entire race, and ran like hell for the two-minute run-in from the last control. I finished with 25 seconds to spare.

I found it helpful to set short goals - e.g. finish this loop by time T, or get to the next control by a certain time. Had I optimized, I would have skipped the two remote controls on the first loop; I think 73 points was attainable. Ross or Giacomo could probably have gotten all 75.

Kudos to Archimedes Stuk, who at his first orienteering event won white and yellow and finished sixth in the Score-O. Thanks to Lori and Stephen for a novel and fun event.

Warmup to confirm the absence of a white control; easy out-and-back.

Between running at Hammond and returning to pick up equipment, I drove over to World's End - of which NEOC has a map, and ran around to examine the place for suitability for a meet. Despite laying the maps out last night, I forgot the O map at home, so I ran with a park map.

World's End is like a larger scale Peter's Hill - few point features, large open hillsides, and a set of prominent trails encircling the hills. There are a few small technical areas with white woods, but they are isolated. The park would be great for white and yellow courses, and perhaps even better for a trail race. It would make a great picnic location. It's a 40-45 minute drive from most places in Boston.

Biking to Malden before the 5k race, from Malden to Bellevue Pond for Skyline action, and to home with a pit stop at a Hoagie joint on Winthrop St for some much needed calories. I fixed my tire (after about two months of flatness) yesterday, but I managed to punch a hole in the tire itself while resetting it. I swung by Broadway Bikes and replaced both the tire and the tube after the innertube burst when inflating it. With some lubricant on the chain and some attention to the brake mechanism, my bike is functioning very well.

Magnus suggested that we run a time trial at the conclusion of the CSU indoor track workout sessions to gauge our progress. Neither he nor I felt fantastic going into the weekend - he had been sick the previous week, but we decided to run the race for kicks. The 9th Malden Rotary Road Race has a 10k and a 5k; the 10k attracted most of the fast people, and there were maybe 150-200 runners in the 5k.

I didn't have much time to warmup - they started us somewhat before the planned noon time. I started fast, and attached to the front pack of three other guys. After the first kilometer, the front two guys had gained some distance, and the fourth guy had backed off behind me. I ran alone for most of the race apart from two or three forays by guy #4 and another chap who made moves on me. Guy #4 had a strange approach of sprinting just past me and faltering as I gradually edged past him; it was very unsuccessful. I kept the guy in second in sight for the entire race, but I failed to close the distance and finished 15s behind him. The winning time was 17:45, and I finished in third. I'm quite disappointed; my only previous 5k was a track time trial in June 2010 with some orienteers. I had hoped to flirt with 18 flat, and I hope to run faster than that. This is a useful benchmark, and it will encourage me to train more. Magnus finished well in 20th place. I fell off the pace for the middle three kilometers; with a rabbit, perhaps I could hold 3:35/km. I did enjoy the road race, and we all got a substantial swag bag for our $20 entry - hat, shirt, gloves, water bottle and two loaves of bread (?).

Magnus and I joked about bringing a healthy Stephen to the race to shut down the pre-race discussion. The 10k winning time was around 33:30.

C • 5k 2

I felt ok after the 5k, and since I was near the Fells, I decided to run the Skyline. I was a bit mopey after the 5k and resolved not to race the Skyline (since two hard runs in one day seemed stupid), but to enjoy it. I warmed up by overshooting the first trail access point and wandering around for a bit.

I haven't run the Skyline solo in over two years. I settled into a comfortable pace, though it probably was aggressive, since I have more fun when I'm running aggressively. I lost the trail twice - the costlier was at minute 54, where I hit a three-way fork and explored the other two routes, losing about two minutes. This was still a personal best on the Skyline, and I think that if I were fresh and racing, 1:05 would be attainable. The day was pleasant - clear skies, a steady breeze, 9° C; I ran in shorts and short-sleeves.

And wandered off trail on the return to Bellevue, picked approximately the correct direction, and moseyed in. A good day.