Training Log Archive: elavallee

I went to my local library today to return some books. Of course, I can't just make a trip to return only. So I did some browsing and found some things of interest. My library carries copies of the publication by AAAS, Science. The cover of the April 13, 2012 issue caught my eye as it features a special section on computational biology. And seeing as I just learned about this field this year, I decided to check it out. I haven't read much yet, as I have been distracted with other activities, but I like what I have seen so far. I was surprised to learn that Alan Turing is considered to be the father of modern computational biology, and with good reason. I also did not realize that this year marks a centenary of his birth. And finally, I learned of the fact that he prematurely took his own life. Again, I have not really dug into the articles yet, though I have observed that there are models to be had by computational biologists utilizing differential equations. I like that. :)

I also found an issue that featured a contest that Science magazine holds for visualization. This too sparked my interest as lately at work I have been dealing with larger and larger data sets. I was happy to see a creative way of representing complex functions that has given me something to think about.

I am a little unclear on the definition of an easy run being able to have a conversation while running. This morning it felt right to just go at a pace that was in between my previous notion of an easy run and my tempo pace. I could hold a conversation, it just would have been with labored breathes in between sentences. I was satisfied with the pace, that seemed most important to me.

I opted not to look silly today wearing my little backpack just for the sake of GPS. Instead, I ran only along streets and then mapped the distance afterward.

When I have lots of free time, I really do enjoy running. I slept in a bit this week again and found reading that held my interest on the internet that consumed my running time.

C • Forerunner? 2

Finally, a quality run after a rather long hiatus. My legs felt great, my vdot felt like it suffered at first. But by the warm down I felt okay. I want to get myself back on track. I hope to go into the fall orienteering season with better fitness then I left it. I will need to find ways to stay motivated.

Unfortunately, it has been a full week of sleeping in and my running has suffered as a result. I am no good to run after work and even less so with the heat we had this week. I hope I can get back into it next week. I will be doing some hiking this weekend. Not an exact substitute, but I hope worthwhile.

I slept in yesterday and am embarrassed to say that I did not get a run in.

Had a good easy run on a nice cool morning. And I saw a rabbit, bonus.

It feels soo good to be outside and going for a run today. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I got out there. I am happy to report that while my calves were still a little tight, no major issues today. There was only the fact that my right foot became a little numb toward the end of the run. It started to feel like there was a lump in my sock, but after I stopped running I didn't perceive that anymore. Took my shoe off, and everything seemed fine.

I probably didn't need to take the whole week off. Oh well, I am just glad that my severe pain last week was nothing more serious.

I love Gay City. It is mostly easy trail riding with just enough technical sections to keep you interested and to enjoy the ride. I took a big loop around it and am just soaking up this day.

After the meet yesterday, someone had mentioned that it may be a torn muscle considering the pain I appeared to be in. I didn't think that to be the case as I had the condition in both calves. That was probably more wishful thinking than a reasonable consideration of their comment. As I continued to rehydrate yesterday, the severity of the pain did not change. And while at home I found that I could not only not stretch my calves, I could hardly walk. The best method of transport was for me to walk on my toes, keeping the muscles contracted. This morning, I am able to walk more flat footed, however I still have some acute pain in my calves. I am now taking the comment more seriously. I think in my stubbornness, I may have caused more damage to the muscles.

After some brief research (google can make one quite lax) and considering that I feel much better, I think I may have a more minor muscle strain rather than a full blown tear. I have confidence that I won't need to seek professional medical advice and can treat it on my own by resting and icing. I finally iced them this morning and then started walking around more and the pain is subsiding. I should have iced them yesterday, and again, that was mentioned to me. Sometimes I am a bit thick. I probably could have alleviated some pain sooner. I am not quite sure how long to stay away from running, but I any not going to try anything until this weekend. I have a bit of hope for a quick recovery. In terms of prevention, I guess this speaks to the need to properly warm up and stretch before going out, as well as proper hydration.

Event: NEOC: Houghton's Pond
 

I made a few mistakes out there, but my main problem occurred after control 9. My right calf started to lock up in what I thought to be more cramps. After 10 it felt really bad. I had actually considered not continuing and bailing out of the course. I stubbornly pressed on. The thought of a second consecutive DNF was weighing on me. The problem expanded to the left calf. It seemed strange to me that it was actually more tolerable when I ran then if I walked. So I took every chance on trail to lightly jog. I was glad that I finished, but then subsequently quite depressed that I could no longer fulfill my responsibilities for the day. I also started to question the hypothesis that it was due to a lack of electrolytes as I had consumed quite a bit before the start.

Green - Splits

Foggy. Had a good session. Even though it appeared that the cloud cover was more dense, the distance seems more accurate today. I don't think my pace varied that much from Tuesday. This is good to know, I've never monitored my GPS this closely before. The orienteering really helps too. There was an occasion recently where while using GPS with a topo map I was able to discern that the map grid appeared to be slightly off from the contours and basemap. The reason I say that is because it was consistently off in the same direction from multiple different samples/locations. Of course, I now realize that the GPS could be off, but I would expect the GPS error to be more random. For that matter, I am not even sure that at a 1:24000 scale I could even note on the map the error of the GPS.

I almost didn't make it out as I woke up late and sleepy. But I was very glad I did. This morning was perfect for running.

On another note, I am not sure how much I can trust my handheld GPS. I am pretty sure that I ran further today than last week for the same time, but my GPS shows less. I note that it was partly cloudy, I am not sure if that is a factor.

C • Hmm 4

Event: NEOC: Gay City, CT
 

I had high hopes for Gay City today as it is my home turf. Unfortunately, I lost my punch card after 3 and managed to get my second DNF of my career. I tried to pull a PG and I was sure that I had dropped it when I fell in the thick vegetation south of 4. I couldn't retrace my steps that well from 4 and did not find it. I only found out later that it was further back than I thought when Joe told me he found it and was actually carrying it and punching it for me, but then he lost it again anyway. After I failed to recover it I had decided to go finish despite the loss. However, I started to lose my motivation after 8. Then I changed my mind and decided to go in between the two marshes on the way to 9 even though I have been through there before and knew it was bad. I fought for a while and then decided there was no way through and backed out. That mapped trail should probably be taken off the map, it doesn't seem very feasible to me to go that way anymore. At this point, I lost all the rest of my motivation and just headed back to get my DNF. I have definitely gotten spoiled from electronic punching. Anyway, at least I could get out in the woods on such a perfect day before I have to go wear a stuffy suit now.

C • Ah well 4

Event: WCOC Hoyt Scout Reservation
 

A bit wet out there today, yet always better than being stuck inside. I enjoyed navigating today as there were plenty of features in the terrain. I think I should head back to Earl's trails though and practice more on just contours and counting reentrants and so forth.