Training Log Archive: TomN

Noontime run, sunny and 60s, but it seems like we won't have this kind of weather again for a while.

Noontime run at GSFC, temp in the mid-60s. Same route as Wednesday, and the same time, within a few seconds. That's weird.

Biking to work. Low 40s when I started, into the 50s by the end. I stopped at the 38th St. park and took off buff, gloves, and long-sleeve shirt. Starting in the middle of September, I've ridden twice a week, except for 2 weeks in October, for 9 weeks total, 200 miles.

Perimeter road plus antenna range.

Biking to work. Temp in upper 40s, cloudy. The roads were wet from earlier rain, but no slipperiness that I noticed. I took it easy on the Sligo Creek trail, hopped on to the Parkway for a little while between Piney Branch and the Adventist Hospital, hardly any traffic there. Picked up the pace on the Anacostia, stopped at 38th St. to take off hat and gloves. From Berwyn Rd, took the underpass under Greenbelt Road, through the Dunkin Donuts parking lot.

Susquehanna Stumble, hosted by QOC at Prince William Forest. I chose the Short Stumble, because I really didn't want the total body wreckage that would come from running a 15k mass start event, and also I figured I could place pretty well in the short.

And that last part was certainly right, I came in second, 10 min behind Chris Gross and 8 min ahead of Rick Oliver. But here's the deal, this wasn't really orienteering. I hardly navigated at all, just an occasional check to see which window control we were going to, and I was invariably surprised to see the control coming up so soon.

I mostly followed Ted and Vido, both running Long. At one point I was following Ted so closely I spiked him on the calf when I stumbled trying to avoid a fat greenbriar strung low between the trees. I stopped to check with him and he emerged apparently unhurt, but it was bad form and I am sorry about it.

When Ted split off to the left going to 14 I went up the trail with Vido, but we managed to make a bad attack and lost the spur with the control on it. Then I did some actual navigation, and we found the right one together, about 4 min lost. Also navigating to 15 and 16, and then solo to the finish.

I ran well, probably nearly 10k total distance with a fair amount of elevation gain. I felt strong the whole way through to the finish. But there's no way I can navigate on my own at that speed. I've occasionally done it in easier terrain, but not in this kind of complexity. This was mostly running, not orienteering.

Short - Splits