Training Log Archive: PG

Today's map, course is GreenY (M60).

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Day 2 of the CSU/NEOC Fall Festival A meet.

Thought for the day -- I was dropping down the hill after #9, on my way to the last control, a good run almost finished, now just trying to hustle in to beat 50 minutes, when the thought popped into my mind: "You're not doing so bad for a 66-year-old." :-)

And in fact it was a pretty good run, just one miss at #3, dropped into the wrong reentrant but corrected properly. And the legs, while I wouldn't call them spry, were certainly better than a week ago when the feeling had just been of overwhelming fatigue. Today was definitely better -- the woods were slower, the visibility worse, and my per-km time was the same as last week at the champs.

Nice course by Dean Sturtevant. Several controls had downhill approaches through a bit of bland terrain, had to be on your toes. I managed all but #3 just fine.

And, on another subject, I'll add a suggestion for meet directors about something I've observed many times -- just because you are the meet director, that doesn't not mean that you need to be the emcee for the awards presentation. The task of the meet director is to get the right people for each job. And that goes for the awards presentation. Get someone comfortable speaking in public and let them do it. The participants will appreciate it.

Here's today's route.

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Green-Y Sunday - Splits

Event: Fall Foliage Festival
 

First things first, today's maps with the Green Y course (M60):
Morning (qualification)
Afternoon (final)

Qualifying in the morning. M60. Good for the first 4 controls, then mucked up #5, and a little sloppy on #6. Caught up to Jeff there, apparently Bob Lux was just behind. Headed off to the finish, surprised that Jeff not only didn't outrun me, but also seemed to just disappear. How could he miss the finish?

Of course the proper question was, how could I not see #7 on the map?

Went to the finish, punched, then stood looking at my map for a moment with the idea of seeing what the rest of the terrain was like, because the final would use it again in the afternoon. And there was #7 staring at me.

Not sure what the rules were, but headed off to 7 anyway, just as Jeff and Bob were coming in. Punched it, then back and punched the finish again. A bit dispirited on the run in, figured I'd be DQ'd. But not sure.

Saw JJ. Asked him what the rules were, he said OUSA rules didn't address the matter.

Asked George, well, he'd had a time at the Sprint Champs in Cincinnati a while back, and he'd missed a control early, discovered it after finishing, but before downloading, went back to it, did the rest of the course again, finished, discovered he had skipped a different control this time, went back to it, did the rest of the course (now for the third time), finished, downloaded and was OK.

So I went and downloaded, and the computer liked me, said I was OK. Still not sure if I really was.

Other than that, not unhappy with the run. The O' was a little sloppy, and I had a hard time reading the map, but my energy level wasn't as abysmal as last weekend. Actually ran up some hills. A reminder for the first time in a while that O' is a running sport.

My route.

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Afternoon final. Started 2 minutes after Jeff.

A little sloppy in the first part, especially #2, but then better for the last 2/3, and certainly putting out a good effort (heart rate graph is quite steady around 160, a good hard effort for me).

Got a glimpse of Jeff ahead of me through the trees as I approached 9, closer approached 10, just ahead of him at 11 when he missed a little low. And then finished well, even went to the last control when I was supposed to.

Ran pretty well, reasonably pleased with the run, especially with the effort. Just wish the feet weren't hurting a lot afterwards.

My route.

Green_qualY - Splits

Green_finalY - Splits

Went back to Montague, tried to recreate the ride from Tuesday night (except for one little section with a bunch of deadfall that I had no intention of doing again), did OK I think until the end when I went a little different. Nice to see things in the daylight.

The other purpose was to try it with clipless pedals. Took a while to change to them, but I managed, and then a while more to adjust them right, but I managed. And on the ride I got out every time I had too.

Cool and windy, but a lot less so in the woods. Saw pheasant at two different points, one male, one female. Quite a pleasant ride.

Just a short note about the corn maze O' --

It succeeded as much, and maybe even more than I had hoped. The orienteering was both challenging and enjoyable, the participants were great, the post-race party was excellent, including cash awards for all and lots of beer. And the pre-race foolishness, including the founding of CMOUSA, the awarding of not one but two national championships, the logo competition -- well, I've laughed a whole lot in the last few days. And in the process actually pulled off an event that hardly existed a week ago.

Both owners were on site, one just briefly, the other for quite a long time, including out in the maze taking pictures. And they seemed to enjoy it a lot. I know we will be welcome back next year.

Thanks to Gail for all the work getting ready for the party, to Cristina for the CMOUSA web site and general tech help, to JJ and Kissy for the logos, and to George for setting up and dealing with the e-punch operation.

It was all quite wonderful.

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Event: U.S. Corn Maze Championships
 

In what seems like an eternity ago, went for a short run with Boris. I was working hard, he wasn't.

Just to show the girls (Cristina, her sister Caroline, and Ali) were really doing their core work last night -- well, except for Alex, she was in too much pain, though not enough pain to keep her from laughing.



And Ali's new map filing system. Somehow I think she's going to need more than three binders before long.

Another night ride in Montague. Seem to have survived -- only went over the handlebars once, plus fell off a few other times (there are a lot of logs and branches on the trails). But no blood lost nor bones broken.

And so much to do (logo judging, etc.), but first things first, Cristina has fixed a fine-looking dinner....

Vetting points for the championships on Wednesday late afternoon. Looking good. Now doing the final work on the map, it will be set to go to the printer tomorrow.

Note -- I am also in negotiations with CMOUSA about the possibility of holding a Sprint Championships in addition to the Classic Championships already scheduled. A decision is expected by this evening. If we get approval, the Classic Champs will be run first, first start at 5:00 pm, followed by the Sprint Champs, first start at 5:45 pm.

For those new to Corn Maze Orienteering, the Classic Champs are meant to be a test of navigation skills and endurance over a variety of terrain, whereas Sprint Champs are short and as devious as possible, a test of speed and cunning.

As I said, I'll know more this evening.

At Ali's, after the girls had done all sort of core stuff, which there was no way I could have done. Classic plank (straight arms, not on elbows). Shooting for 5 minutes, just made it.

Really just one run, but lost the satellites in the middle.

Lovely late afternoon. With Cristina and Caroline, a short tour of the neighborhood before heading to Ali's for a core workout (for them, not me) and dinner. Never would have gotten out the door without company.