Training Log Archive: Charlie

Event: WCOC Paugussett
 

Red Course at Paugusset. Nice day. Excellent course with technical sections and long route choice legs. Too long for me in current condition, although I didn't hurt quite as much as I did last weekend at the HH. Lots of small bobbles and two places where I wandered a bit. #1 I was in contact about 100 M from control and thought I had it, but just couldn't make it work. By the time I got it there were 5 people wandering in the area. Tough location. #7 was also a bad miss. I probably would have been ok, but I saw Marie up ahead and thought I would catch an easy ride in, not noticing that she was going up one ridge line too early. Otherwise finding them ok, but little errors in the circle on about half of them.

Red Course - Splits

Rhonda's morning class, just with Jan, and abbreviated because Jan had to do other things, including a little rowing tuneup for Head of the Charles tomorrow. She is rowing in an 8 at 1130 on Saturday.

C • HOC 3

with Rhonda, while Jan was rowing

jogging around the trailblazers orienteering course with Jan, including dodging the saplings bent over under the weight of snow.

Early season snow at Ratlum

C • No snow here. It's nice to ... 10

multiple exercise circuit with Rhonda and two of her friends. Tried to incorporate pullups, but that is not possible right now.

AOWN report: Steve my deer-hunting friend spent 5 minutes yesterday observing a bobcat he described as the biggest he had ever seen, down the north side of the hill from my house.

abbreviated version of Rhonda's class, as Jan was the only other one there and she had to leave early. Back still aching. Forearm planks were very hard to do, but seemed like the right thing.

on the spinning bike with Rhonda

Inventory of how I feel the day after the HH: Worst is area around right knee. Back pretty sore, as is most of right leg, including both hamstring and upper quad. Right calf hurt during the race but is not so bad now. Slept this morning until 7:40 - so I guess I was pretty tired. Took a couple of dog walks today, but running appears to be several days off at this point.

Event: Hudson Highlander
 

Really fine day at the Highlander. Physically I was in a fair amount of difficulty right from the start, beginning with the sore right hamstring that migrated into my lower back by halfway to #1. I had some grave doubts as to whether I would be able to make it in time or at all during the first loop, and quite discouraged along the interminable trail run, but then things got no worse, and so I finished the course in a reasonable time.

My navigation was generally pretty sharp. No help from others, as I was alone most of the run. I see from the splits that Tim Good was not far behind on most of the first map, and I caught up to Cristina (or Cristinah, as she is apparently now known) between 3 and 4 and hung with her through 5. She was enough ahead that she bolted from the aid station as I got there, and I certainly didn't see her again.

I was moving with enough difficulty on the trail run that I expected I would be passed, but only one guy came by (twice as it turned out, since he missed a turn). Alone the rest of the way, except for a few Lowlander sightings from 24 on.

My routes may not have been optimal, but I only bobbled three controls: 17, 20 and 24, and recovered pretty quickly in all cases. This doesn't count going for the miniature bare rock knoll behind the imaginary dot knoll at #12, which I don't count as a miss, although it probably cost me 10 seconds.

There were a lot of trail and road options. Running some road to #1 looks like it would have been good. I was mostly on trails going to 4, generally left of the line, but J-Js route to the right on trails via Times Sq looks maybe a little better. Lots of trail to 5 and 6. Then road much of the way to 20, and 20-21, road also 24-25, and 25-26 could have been a road option, although I'm sure that was slower because it was so long, and the straight route was so nice.

Thanks to the organizers. Congratulations to Tero and Will who had amazing times. I saw Tero on the trail run when I was crossing on trail NE of Surebridge Swamp.

Thanks to J-J for driving on the way home. Not sure I could have done that, particularly with the long wait to get to the Bear Mt Bridge.

Highlander - Splits