Training Log Archive: TomN

Drumm loop. Had absolutely no interest in running this morning, and didn't feel any better about it once I got going. But at least I get to take tomorrow off.

Drumm loop again. Nice day, could have gone for more, but had a meeting in the morning.

Drumm loop. Change in the weather! Over 40 by 9 a.m.

Patuxent practice Green. A test run of the NJROTC championship courses, with streamers out but not final. I checked the control positions and descriptions pretty carefully, and found some issues I reported back to peggyd. The forest was nice, and the weather was, too.

Patuxent practice Yellow. Trouble on one control when I lost the trail -- pretty hard Yellow, at least the way I did it. The rest of the controls checked out fine.

Sligo loop.

Drumm loop, with a half inch of snow on the ground. High teens, and some sun.

Drumm loop. By far the coldest day of the winter so far, temperature in the low teens with some wind. I wore my buff balaclava-style, with my hat clamped down on top of it. That buff came from the CSU meet last spring, and I didn't know what to make of it at first, having never heard of one before, but it is a great piece of outdoor gear. I've been wearing it around my neck on chilly day runs and it feels great. I used to wrap a towel around my neck when it got really cold, but the buff is a big improvement over that.

Event: QOC Greenbelt
 

QOC Greenbelt Red. Great weather today, what a fine day to be outside! Lots of downfall of various vintages in the terrain, in addition to the greenbriar (which is mainly stubs now but still occasionally strung across your path), all of which slowed progress some. I had a very clean run, and the only way I can see to pick up time would be to do it faster. I could have been faster in two ways: (1) on the rough orienteering -- too much time checking and rechecking my position and running hesitantly even though my position turned out to be right; (2) finding controls, particularly in the ditch networks -- I don't have a strategy for these, just check the ditches one at a time and hope it turns up sooner rather than later. What I did right: solid attack points, even if they were 150-200m away; approach linear features broad side on; take trails whenever possible.

Red - Splits

Drumm loop. Overdressed in hat and gloves. Hey, I thought it was supposed to be cold and windy!

Drumm loop. Circumstances have largely conspired against running this week. There were opportunities, but I couldn't take advantage of them due to other commitments. Of course, in hindsight, there were ways to get a run in, but they didn't look too optimal at the time.

The usual core workout plus stretching. Inner hamstrings are pretty tight, not clear why but it's a longer term thing, need to work it out. Yesterday I felt a little too beat-up to run, and today was mostly rainy. Tomorrow too.

Event: QOC Fountainhead
 

Wow, what a disaster. It's easier to enumerate the places I didn't mess up: #1, #3 (but only because I saw it on the way to 2), #4, #7, #10. Made a tour of pretty much the whole middle section on the way to 2. Nearly off the map to #6. Pulled up 150 m left of #9, no idea how it could have happened. Followed a big caravan on 11-12-13-14 to the finish and still managed to fall behind some of them. Good grief.

But what a showing! 320 participants, with around 250 starts!

Red - Splits

Drumm loop. Intended to run yesterday, but it was rainy, and today looked better.

GSFC perimeter road again. Trouble starting the Garmin, and it somehow got the mileage way wrong. Touchy little thing. I guess I really was that much slower than 2 days ago, but it didn't feel like it.

GSFC perimeter road.

Core strength plus stretching.

QOC McKeldin Red. A decent course and a reasonably competent run in unexpectedly nice weather. Some of this was very familiar, from the training event this summer also set by the Maces. So I didn't waste time looking for the pit at the far northeast tip, and I didn't get hung up in the cliffs along the river coming back from that control (Instead, I went back up over the top and down to the saddle, but I was told later you can get by on a trail right at the river's edge, which might have been better, except for the sensation that you're getting shot at from the firing range just across the river).

I wasted some time running to #4 in the pine forest, because I somehow got the idea I had gone too far, and kept second-guessing the terrain. Even with the recent field work it seems like there's more terrain detail than mapped in that little valley alongside the road, but maybe that's just my confusion. The zig-zags at 6-7-8-9 were nice -- that was a better area for them than where they were in the summer, but there was still some brambly stuff to get through. No. 12 at the end of the narrow ride was a place I don't remember being before, and then I lost the trail through the swampy area to the base of the big ridge. From 13 to 14 was all on the trail, and so was 14 to 15. Too bad. No. 16 was more interesting, but might have been improved by locating the control farther into the woods.

I wore the Garmin, but it was useless. I forgot to start it when I started (I have a perfect record in that regard -- I've worn a watch at every A-meet in the past 5 years, and never once remembered to start it). When I did get it started I turned it off at the next control, thinking I was hitting the lap button. Oh well. Try again next time.

Addie's new pants were a great hit.

Red - Splits

Totals for 2012:

Road running 662 miles
Trail running 39 miles
Speed work 69 miles
Orienteering 203 miles
Total running 973 miles

Core strength and stretching. Way too long since I've done this. It needs to be a prerequisite for picking up the miles later this month. There, I've said it out loud.