Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: NEOC: 29th Annual New England Canoe-O Championships
 

Jeff Schapiro and I raced the New England canoe-O champs together at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. The day was magnificent - sunny skies, temperature of about 28 C, but the lake was windy and densely perturbed with wakes from numerous boats. Aims graciously loaned us his blue boat and very nice paddles; while the boat was somewhat robust to the perturbations, it was much slower than the competition, e.g. Keith's Wenonah. I paddled bow for easy entry/exit, though I wonder if switching would have made more sense.

Unfortunately, about 15 minutes into the race, as we approached control 8, we were hit by a very large wake that came upon us unawares and hit us broadside. We should have been more aggressive turning take it quarter-on, and we were instantly capsized. We spent about five minutes swimming to shore and righting ourselves, though two or three boats inquired if we were ok and offered to tow us.

The course only had one land control, so I wasn't able to make much use of my presumed landspeed advantage. The rest of the course was largely uneventful; we took a very meandering route to 13, which I should have rectified with my compass, probably costing 2-3 minutes. The course was constrained by the ring of private property around the lake, so it ultimately was a paddler's course. Jeff and I do particularly well when strategy and bold route choice can be applied; since the course only had one route that made sense and wasn't technically challenging, we were at a disadvantage.

It was nonetheless a very pleasant outing, and it was good to catch up with Jeff a bit. I retired my Mizuno Waveriders after this race; they had over 550 miles in 94 sessions with 84 total hours. They can't quite measure up to my Asics 2150s, which have easily been my favorite road running shoes.

C • canoe 1

+ canoe

A few of my friends spent most of the day working on a kaggle problem: a computational problem posed to the broad community with cash prizes to the winning teams. We're much more motivated by the challenge than the money, especially since a very small number of teams get the prize. It's a great context for learning something new and thinking about a challenge.

I went out on a run before sunset and felt pretty good. Left foot was abnormal, but mildly so - I felt no pain or discomfort, with perhaps only a little stiffness and irregularity. Physically, my condition suggests the detriment of a few off-weeks, but I'm still happy with this outing. A few more of these each week for the next few months should build up adequately.

I'm running a hilly 10k on Sunday near Tufts University; the only 10k I have run before was the very steep Bridge of Flowers, which I ran in a miserable 45:30. My training had faltered in the months leading up to the BoF, largely due to illness, but I'm not sure my preparation is that much better for this race. Still, it will be fun, and setting a PR should be trivial.

A couple minor injuries:
- I bruised my left hand during fielding practice for softball; I caught a couple hard throws directly against the index joint on my palm. My hand is bruised and slightly swollen, but I have full range of motion. Clapping hurts.

- I have a strange pain in my left foot, just behind the ball. My foot was swollen there after my half, and I originally feared it was a Lyme tick bite. The pain is between my second and third metatarsal; it's very manageable, and takes deliberate prodding to cause discomfort. I may take some time off running to rest it, as I suppose it could be as severe as a stress fracture.

C • oh man... 6

Run to work. Sinister GimpyFoot felt a little weird, but not painful.

I renewed my effort to establish a running routine, a practice which I had largely abandoned over the past two weeks to recover from whatever ailment I had. My left foot feels odd - sore in places, perhaps a little swollen. The evening run suited me well, as I had much to contemplate.