Training Log Archive: AdventureGirl!

Hip felt oddly fine warming up

West Point Long - F21E

Ohhhh boyyy, this race was a large array of emotions that's for sure.
Went in with the mindset of going slow and steady and being clean. I was definitely slow and steady off the start with some nice side-hilling to #1. I ended up a bit too low but figured it out pretty quickly. 2 was some more of the same stuff and I ended up stopping too early on a similar looking area before figuring out I had to keep going. Nailed 3 and then decided to take the easy path route to 4 down to the south of the lake. I was reading ahead here a bit and kind of zoned out because I was not confident at all going into 4. Eventually figured it out.
5 was a good long leg and I decided to take the climb early and then ride the ridge into the control route. Except once I got climbing, the cliffs above me looked super gnarly so I side-hilled a little on a plateau before climbing again. I fell a bunch on times here, once on my sore hip but it didn't seem to be that bad. At last I made it all the way up to find out that the nice "white" forest was actually very much GREEN and not as rewarding as I was expecting after climbing so much. Was tired and not really focused when I came into 5 and made a mistake near the circle.
Was way off on my bearing to 6 but quickly recovered. Took my gel and then all of a sudden my hip seized completely up. I hobble walk-jogged into 6 and then walked 7-9 more or less. At 9 I was in so much pain that I decided that I was going to just walk back to the start. So I started limping back, seeing Pia pass me on the trail (I honestly thought she was WAY ahead of me). I got to a steep hill on the path and tried to run up it and... hey, it actually felt good?!? Internal debate as to if I should keep going or not... and I decided "yolo, i'll walk/jog". So off I went again.
Slow and clean though 10-13. Once I got to 11 my hip started really hurting again. By now though, I was committed to this final loop all in green crap. Going to 14 I was not focused on orienteering at all because I was hurting so much and made another 5 minute mistake or so. Somehow won the split to 16 and I have no idea how my hobble jog and I managed that...

Thinking back, I probably should not have kept going for the sake of future races this summer but oh well. Overall, I'm shocked at my times on the splits of this course, and had I not been injured this would have been a good one. The ending makes the race seem so awful, but the rest was a good confidence booster to know that I still remember how to navigate after a month of studying and exams (great prep for sure), and that i'm in pretty good shape. Now, a few days off to let this hip recover and then up the training for the world cup!

Long - Red Elite - Splits

Event: 40th Annual West Point National Meet
 

West Point Middle F21E

Felt a little rushed in the warmup but managed to get calm and focused at the start. Plan was to go steady with no big mistakes.... well THAT plan went down the drain pretty fast....
Small bobble on 2 because I thought i'd gone too far left on my bearing, and it was hard to see up in the green so I got pulled too far to the right. Corrected quickly and I re-focused well.
I planned a super solid route to 4 going past 1 and down the valley and then climbing up to the ridge and then down into the plateau. I was flying down the valley and then climbed up to what looked like the first set of cliffs, but I was somehow at the top. I didn't see any other cliffs on my way up so that was weird. So I started going down, but then saw no more giant cliffs below me so i thought i'd gone too far. Relocated and tried again with no luck. Ended up trying to attack from close to 5 (which involved going ALL the way down and ALL the way back up) just so I'd be SURE of where I was. Area was really .... weird, and many others seemed to have trouble in there too. Haven't made such a huge mistake in a longggg time, lost about 10 mins on that baby.
ANYWAYS, I was able to channel that frustration and nail all the remaining CPs and push probably the hardest I've pushed in a middle in a while, just trying to catch up to Pia and Jen. Almost got Pia at the end, if only the course had had 2-3 more controls...
Overall, was happy with the entire course except for that big blow up. Knowing that so many others had issues in there doesn't make me feel so bad. Plus, so many other legs were so great, and I was really in a good headspace makes for a good overall race.

West Point Sprint - F21E

This was SUCH a fun sprint at Trophy Point!! It was pissing rain at the start but I knew that that was just going to make it even more fun... except for almost blowing away in the wind going to 7...
Started off in a tricky little section with some levels and stairs and such. Made the wrong routechoice to 2 but in that kind of stuff you just have to find a route that works and go with it. Hesitated right at the control at 4 because I couldn't see the flag where it was tucked in this like 1 foot wide nook. 5-9 were pretty much just straight up running, but I wish I'd done some more reading ahead on those legs.
Totally didn't see a path that lead RIGHT from 12-13 so I had to do this awkward side-hill dance ... whoops.
Hesitated out of the circle on the way to 17 because I noticed at the last minute that the CP was under the bridge, but only lost maybe 3-5 there. I also almost died coming down the slope to 17... that was wet and slick and so steep.
Picked the longer way around to 19 because I didn't want to go back up that monster hill. It was longer but I pushed hard. Then at 20 I was proud of myself for reading my control description, but it turns out I was wrong and it was wrong so I went into the underground parking garage when the CP was actually outside and down below.
Overall, happy with this race, and I really had a lot of fun out there!

Hip sore during this cool down. Was surprised that it lasted this long before getting sore...

Middle - Red F21E - Splits

Sprint - Red - Splits

Hip feeling better but did not want to overdo it especially with a long car ride ahead. 4 hours until freedom.

This was supposed to be a tempo and 1 minuters but after 8 mins my left glute/hip that’s been feeling tight recently just lost its chill. I thought It just felt like a tight muscle but it felt like it was going to give out when running downhill. Now I almost can’t put weight on it... ice for now and then getting treatment this afternoon. Hopefully something good comes from that but likely taking today and tomorrow off so I can race well enough this weekend. :(

Update: may be bursitis but likely just overly tight in the hip and IT band area and lower back. May be as a compensation for my right knee pain or from lots of sitting while studying (even though I’ve been trying to stand). No running tonight. Hopefully I can do something tomorrow morning before my last exam and then car ride to NY.

Control pick up after the schools race + a few memory o-tervals.
Lower leg sore to start out but warmed up.

Sweat FEST

T-2 days and 23 hours

With the famjam

4x4mins, 1:30 rest
3mins rest
4x2mins, 1min rest.

Rolling hills like Saturday. Tried to keep all the 4 minuters around 4mins per k. Around that for all of them which was hard work on the soft trails. Really felt strong today and worn the heck out by the end. Body held up though, very little knee pain and nothing in my lower leg. Must be the sunshine :)

C • hillz 4

With the famjam again!