Training Log Archive: TomN

SSS at UMBC, long course, 4.2k, time was 37:31. New sprint map, courses by Jan Merka. Lost time in a few places: #1, looked all around the top of the hill, saw lots of flags but not the right one. #6, I entered the parking structure on the middle floor, didn't see the control, went down one floor, not there either, up to the top, and yeah, it was obvious. #9, couldn't see the wall, but Zef came up behind me and led the way. 12 to 13 I got major confusion and thought I was going for 4 (read it as 14) and messed around there for quite a while before my head cleared. The rest o.k.

Short course after a little rest, distance was 2.7k, time was 25:23. I was running o.k., but had more of the same kind of problems. Still didn't find #1 on top of the hill. Later, Nicole Alexieva told me she saw me looking for it, and she was standing right next to it. I hadn't seen her, either. The long #9 reappeared as #4, and I still couldn't find the wall, even though I knew it was there. Something strange about the way I was looking at the situation. The usual brain hypoxia occurred this time at #12, I ran by the flag, stopped, looked around, tried to figure out where I was (40 feet away, was the answer).

Good sprint practice on a nice map. Could have been better printed, but it really wouldn't have helped me that much.

Drumm loop in the morning, and a pretty fast run.

Core and legs, apres run. Wow, after the run this hit me unexpectedly hard. I ate breakfast and had a little nap. Work can wait.

Greenbelt Park Perimeter Trail. After a slow start I got warmed up and had a good run. I saw a guy down at the Goodluck Road end running the other direction, then saw him again just before I finished, and he said, "you're fast!" But I'm pretty sure the place we crossed was about half-way, so I don't know that I was any faster than him. I felt fast, though, but my per-mile pace seems to be quite a bit slower on trail runs like this than on the road.

Loop through Forest Glen in the afternoon. My day was kind of messed up, so no lunch and a run at 2 p.m. It was the coolest day this week, but still upper 80s and full sun. I was slow, but it wasn't all because of the heat. route.

Core and legs.

Slow run around the neighborhood in the morning. Feeling rather beat-up from the efforts at French Creek yesterday.

DVOA French Creek North - Red. This event was unexpectedly fine. Greg and I arrived early (only a 2 hour drive!) and went out early, before the mass start. The course was forked, but it was just as interesting doing it solo as it would have been in a crowd. The day was getting hot, but it was cool in the forest, with a bit of a breeze. The vegetation was dense but not annoying.

I've had so much trouble with this terrain in the past, it was such a pleasure to be navigating confidently with no mistakes. But slow, certainly, in places, when collecting features were not immediately visible and confidence began to leak away, but things always straightened themselves out and controls appeared right where they should have been. Very satisfying.

Red - Splits