Training Log Archive: bishop22

Event: CNYO Regaine
 

CNYO Regaine. Arrived later than planned due to traffic problems on 104 after Oswego (first major route choice error of the day - should have taken Rt 3 to avoid that stretch).

Maps handed out at 11:55, so only 5 minutes to plan a 2-hour route for Nate. Tried to start him off with an easy control - #27 (trail-stone wall-marsh-reentrant-hilltop), but it turned into a disaster (I tried twice on the way back to base to find this one, and failed. Heavy fern growth hid the subtle contours - 2.5m on a 1:30 map - from my lame eyes). So, Nate just grabbed one control in his shift.

My first leg was 4 hours, and I had plenty of time to plan. Unfortunately, the execution was lacking and I had several minutes of errors on each of the first 4 controls - the most painful of which was heading for a nice bump in a swampy area that looked like it had to be the beaver dam for #19, but no, and I was left with a 75m slog thru the muck.

Things went really smoothly after that - lots of running on trails and roads, and I wound up with 369 points - highest of any 4-hour scores. Route: 12-16-19-48-31-(skipped 28 due to time)-35-55-57-46-50-(skipped 47 - no good route - and failed to find 27, so skipped 11 due to time).

Nate then went out on a 4-hour shift 6-10pm. He came back after a little over an hour because a) he had not found any of the first 3 controls; and b) he had forgotten his watch, so he was going to have no idea when to be back. Later discussions revealed that he had probably just not gone far enough on each of his attacks - it was the first time he was alone on a 1:30 map. So, he still had a couple of high-pointers, and plenty of time to grab them, so he went out and got 50 and 46 in about an hour.

The next shift was a 2-hour night leg. There was a 41-point control alongside a road at a bridge, and it was just a 5.4K (mostly dirt) road run to get there, so I decided to just head out, grab that, and pick up controls on the way in. Jogged most of the way out, but it still took 42 minutes as I walked most uphills, and a couple other places where I tried to identify attack points for the return trip.

On the way back, 17 was easy because there was a trail from the road along the start of the stone wall that led to the control. C18 was much tougher - I had to pace count along the road to guess where the marshy area, where I wanted to leave the woad, was. I then did a careful pace count into the woods, and when I didn't see the control, I figured, correctly as it turned out, that I must have drifted right (slightly downhill), so I turned left 90 degrees and found the control after about 60m. I was going to grab C21 next, but the woods looked too forbidding from the attack point in the dark, so I grabbed C10 instead - my feet had remained dry all night, but when I saw the reflective tape 30m away, I went straight towards it - unfortunately that meant thru the marsh. So, that gave me the chance to go straight home, wading the stream (which turned out to be 3 - no I didn't cross the same one 3 times), rather than taking the road route around - plenty of fun going thru marshes and stream in the dark.

After I got back, Nate had to check out and midnight, then check back in, to keep the relay intact. Sleep was more important to him than getting a few points in his 12-2am shift.

Planned on swimming today, but my back was still sore from that swing thru the rough yesterday, so I rested ahead of tomorrow's Regaine.

Another nice turnout for GTA(route): Scott, Frank, Howie, Erik, JV, DV, Lawrence, Vinnie and Darren. First 1.5 miles were relatively easy (7:30 pace), then did several gradual pickups that thinned things out occasionally (Lawrence and JV even dropped everyone on Hillside, though Howie had a late reaction to their surge). I averaged about 6:45 for those 3.5 miles - some was slower, so some was faster. The last couple were about 7:15 pace, but that included going up Cobbs Hill Dr and coming in easy. V & D dropped back and I stayed close to Scott, but was 45 seconds down on the pack at Hillside and Winton - closed back to within 21 after the hill, but went easy from there.

86 (42 for the league, then 44). Hurt my back/neck on 14 hitting out of the rough (but made the green), then somehow crushed my drive on 15 - almost 300 yds - so 214 to the green which I've never reached. Left the club open, so I was pin high but 40 yds right and took a 7 - very painful (more so than my back).

Letting hip rest a day.

Couldn't make it out right at lunchtime, so I started to do a great demonstration of Newton's First Law - was even thinking about taking the day off - until an outside force showed up in the form of a fire alarm (that's 2 in 2 days here).

So, it was off for an easy run up the river - the path was fairly empty, being an off-peak time. Trail Tally:
bikers: 4 (including 1 Uni Nymph)
peds: 4
fishermen: 1 (yeah, good luck with that)
runners/joggers: 0
DRUNKS: 2 (including 1 passed out, with his hand still reaching for the can)

to/from:
path: 5:17 4:50
old mile: 8:59 8:40
UR ped xing: 6:26 6:20

BTW, weight blip is due to the sumptuous pizza that Chris made last night, and all of the various liquids that were required to wash down the jalapen~os.

At least the weather was nice.

Felt a little better than last week's swim. Added a few 50s to try to get some speed back.
4:07/8:13
1:29,30,28,9,30 (on 2)
3:27,22
42,43,43,43

ROC Meet at Powder Mills Park

ROC Meet at Powder Mills Park. Hilly and HOT! Started with a 7-contour climb to the first control. I had a lot of little misses early on - mostly my fault, but I think the map doesn't portray things well around the first control anymore. The control circle for C5 covered up a trail, so I wound up crawling thru prickers (ripping clothes and skin) to get there, but after that I had a pretty clean stretch that was only limited by my fitness and the heat. Lost a fair amount on C13 which should have been almost all trail, when I changed plans in mid-stream (but actually read the map to recover thru the woods).

Managed to beat Gil's time, but he had run about 12 miles at the OD yesterday, chasing the big boys, while I just watched and coached soccer games.

My hip didn't bother me much during the race, but it was pretty sore afterwards. I need it to recover before the Regaine next weekend.

C • Intensity 4? 3

ROC Powder Mills Park: Red - Splits