Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: UNO Boulder Dash
 

Boulderdash Day 1 Blue at Bear Brook State Park. Course length: 8.5 km, 210m. Despite a few horrendous mistakes, my performance was adequate against the field. Everyone had a bad day; the winner, Eddie, was 12 minutes (19%) behind Superman.

I didn't get as much sleep this week as I had hoped, and I went into the race feeling underprepared. My race day actions were nearly ideal - I woke up 3.5 hours before my start, had breakfast, drove with Andrew to the event site 75 minutes before my start, warmed up, and was ready a few minutes before my call up. I didn't feel my best physically, but that wasn't as limiting today as I had anticipated.

I started comfortably - a 15s bobble at 1, but otherwise clean and safe through 7. As with last year, I struggle discerning the boundaries of marshes in this terrain, and that cost me about 90s at 8. (Note: use contours, not marsh boundaries.) Despite a 15s hesitation at 10 (and a Gu at 9), I was in second place, three minutes behind an explosive Giacomo.

I nailed the long leg at 11, and tricky legs at 12 and 13, losing 16 seconds to Superman over 1.8 km, but I proceeded to celebrate by bombing 6 minutes at 14. It turns out I was exactly where I had guessed - just south of the marsh near 14 - before I decided to bail out to the trail and relocate. I was cautious on 15-17 from shell shock, but lost contact in a vague area near 18 for a loss of 2 minutes. It turns out I was on the verge of the circle before I bailed out, but my plan was inadequate. I finished by cautiously spiking 19 and 20, which had great potential to be disasters.

I'm not the fastest runner in the forest, but this terrain favors me because I am comparatively strong bashing through vegetation. Despite my weaker physical condition coming into the race, I was largely able to keep up with the competition (though I didn't win any splits, aw). The technical difficulty was just too much for me and basically everyone else. I was overconfident at 14 and not confident enough at 18. In both cases, a more secure plan and patience would have mitigated my problems. I was very happy with my execution of the long leg.

Quickroute
Map scan in case anyone wants to quickroute; it includes my drawn route. Oops.

Cool down with Kenny and Charlie Whitaker.

Day 1 - Blue - Splits

I began the workout with the plan to make a 50 minute easy run, but I changed my mind about fifteen minutes into the run to a tempo workout of two 10-12 minute cruise intervals. I didn't look at my GPS (and I wasn't wearing my HR monitor) for pacing, but ran based on feel. My pace was very near the target 4:00/km.

C • running based on feel 6

I hung thirteen controls for the Breakheart meet. Tobias, Pia, and Mika were all there at 8 AM to help.

Per A-meet duties, I wandered around on the basemap of the unmapped Western Townsend section. While Ed's basemap was perfectly good, it was nevertheless difficult to keep track of my location while wandering and negotiating intermittent mountain laurel. There were many delightful sections, though having a map of the vegetation would dramatically improve the experience.

C • western 2