Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: Nobscot Reservation
 

After I picked up Izzy, I arrived at Nobscot at 10 AM and worked registration for a bit. A crew of MIT students showed up at 10:45, including a classmate of mine - Anders Kaseorg. I didn't know him well when I was in Uni, and I didn't recognize him until I saw his name in the results.

Anyway, I executed my logistical plan perfectly this morning, which pleases me. I hung out at registration until about noon, when I suited up. I decided to do this properly, and ran around for 15 minutes on trails to warm up. I still didn't feel fantastic - I could tell I missed three days midweek. I also wonder if I'm getting a little sick.

Red course by Bo at Nobscot. This course had a distinctive middle distance feel for the first half followed by some longer legs near the end. I started aggressively, but whiffed badly on 4 - drifting far to my right for a loss of about 45s. The GPS track is obvious here. I then ran within 10m of 5 without seeing it, losing another 30s. Ugh. I got things together for a bit and was moving well, but I botched 10 (a pit) by being a bit too low, and lost 20s figuring things out. At control 15 - the end of the control pick section, I had a small lead, with 3 people within 3 minutes of me. I took a good line to 16, and celebrated by running right by 17, blowing a minute. I was solid for the rest of the course, but on the long leg to 21, I was frustrated by my inability to drop the hammer on the long trail run. I've been missing my tempo workouts lately - a combination of time management and reluctance. I think my body is telling me that my training load has increased substantially over the past few weeks, and two days hasn't been enough time to recover from track workout. Maybe I'll move tempo runs to Friday; I might also join a group of CSU runners who do tempo workouts at Fresh Pond on Thursday to get over the trepidation of 4:00/km.

My run was acceptable, but sloppy. I need to execute better - especially in vagueish areas without many features, like on my approach to 17, and areas of low visibility and heavier vegetation. Compass - and confidence with compass - needs work. I think Night-O is clearly called for. I guess I'm glad that when I tried to run hard - from 17 to the finish, I picked up about two minutes on everyone, but I should have been running that well the entire course. I want to redo the eight splits I lost. Overall, it was a fun day in the woods.

C • Night O 2

I felt a bit crap after my push near the end of the race, so I went for a short saunter around the parking lot to clear my legs a bit.

Control pickup.

Red - Splits

Skyline outing, though I managed my time this afternoon so poorly that the sun was setting as I started. It was basically completely dark about 40 minutes in, and I didn't bring a flashlight. I ran cautiously and only bailed when I moderately rolled an ankle after 1:07. I felt sort of meh; this week has been very tough due to OUSA and work commitments.

The unrestricted income available to OUSA over the past four years has averaged $225k per year. With 1275 current OUSA members, this amounts to about $175 per member. The obvious question - and one I am trying to answer - is whether the membership is receiving value and services commensurate with that sum.

C • Members 3

Post interval workout, the OUSA Finance Committee had a call to discuss the state of financial matters in advance of the impending 2017 budget discussions. The members are Pat Meehan (chair), Greg Lennon, Gary Kraght, Barb Bryant, and Ian Smith; Charlie Bleau was present as an observer. I will ask all the members consent to summary reports of our discussions at the next meeting, but briefly, we talked about the current state of OUSA finances, some important accounting procedures, and goals for FinComm in the coming months and years. It was a productive call, though there aren't tangible outputs yet (soon). We shared lots of thoughtful discourse, a sense of common purpose, and a general consensus.

Interval workout! The workout tonight was among my very favorites on the track - 5x1 km followed by a fluffy 400, 200. Nx1 km is a noble and worthy test. I left work late, so I arrived just as the crew was finishing up strides. I mostly hung onto Terry, but the pace was a bit fast for me, and I blew up on the last interval, fell off the pack, and finished alone. Still, it was a great workout despite my overeagerness. Afterward, we jogged for 2 km around the Harvard sports fields. Good times.

Splits: 3:27, 3:28, 3:28, 3:28, 3:43
400, 200: 75, 33

Run to/from intervals. Watch was at low energy (it died on the way back).

Izzy, take note:

This scene gives me the chills. Thierry remarked to me that as you get older, you become less enthusiastic about the hard, quality workouts that are necessary for building speed and strength. It is easier to go for a two hour trail run with your friends than to really pound out the interval speed. I still plan to increase to above 80 km/week, but the most important kilometers I run are the 10-15 km of fast running each week. It is the path for a cement mixer like me to get fast.

I had a good conversation with Greg Lennon about OUSA club services.