Training Log Archive: expresso

West Point A-Meet - Classic
Great course, nice cool temps. Felt pretty good but my concentration & confidence was just not on today. Lots of errors, some small, some big. I found myself navigating correctly to almost every control but, when I didn't immediately see it, I'd move to relocate only to discover later that I'd been on top of it. Confidence rattled by this enough that I decided to walk the last half of the race to completely concentrate on navigation. This helped but further killed my time. Rocky terrain has always been my nemesis. I wish I could practice in it more often.

C • Hudson Valley terrain 4

Classic: Red - Splits

Event: West Point A-Meet
 

Pre-race warmup. Looked like a longish sprint so I did not warm-up too long.

West Point A-Meet - Sprint
Tried to start slowly as I knew the first part was the more technical woods & rocky section. Other than a few bobbles, I was ok through there. I was pretty winded from climbing the hill so the open section did not feel fast. I was clumsy getting to 16 and I lost a lot of time getting to 17. My plan was to go through the tunnel and have the control just to my left as I emerged. But, when I got through there, no control, just a driveway. Had my mind been clear, I probably would have realized the problem more quickly. There was a wall between me and the control but it was almost completely covered by the control circle so it was invisible on the map. This, along with my slow slog up uphill through the last few controls was the undoing of my race. Did enjoy it though.

Walk to Middle start atop overlook of whole campus. Awesome view on beautiful day. Spent the walk with the model map, studying the mapping style. It appears to be an excellent new mapping job but it is still difficult for me to come to terms with all the stuff which is not mapped. Good practice, was really looking forward to the race.

West Point A-Meet - Middle
Decent start to this race but I missed the left route choice to the first control which was probably faster. Was pretty comfortable with the map and enjoyed the technical portion through 8. Then, after pushing it uphill and baking in the heat on the south side of the mountain, I got a bit exhausted and made a mental error by climbing down a big series of cliffs in the wrong direction. By the time I recovered from my error, I was overheating and dehydrated. I had to stop in the shade to recover. I decided to walk as I was depleted, the interesting part of the course was past and my time would not be competitive. On my way to 9, I found another course's water stop and stood there for a bit to rehydrate and then walked the last few uninteresting controls.

C • Sounds like a tough day 3

Middle: Red - Splits

Arrived into Newburgh in the early evening and the crummy hotel was the last place I wanted to spend my evening so I made my way down to the river. There was a short strip of restaurants and bars right on the river with walk and a few fishing piers. It was a beautiful location looking at the setting sun's reflection on the far bank of the Hudson.

Carmel lap. Legs a bit stiff but loosened-up by the end. Took a big kick at a dog that chased me and appeared about ready to bite me. Luckily for both of us, he stopped and I missed. I didn't want to hurt the dog but I wasn't going to get bitten.
All systems go for this trip and I am really looking forward to it. My biggest weakness is the mental part of my race. My goal is to keep this solid; easier said than done.

Planned to swim & maybe short run but writing the "check" sapped ALL of my motivation. AMT sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!

Tiring of 40s, damp & windy but I shuffled through it.