Training Log Archive: Ollie

In to Waterloo, then from Liphook to near Henley, via Woolbeding Common - some of it off-road and very steep. Distance and time estimated.

GO "OO Trophy" and Southern Championships Regional Event at Furnace Wood, Woolbeding & Great Commons. Ran M21L. Cool and a bit windy, but not rain. Quite wet and muddy underfoot though. This was a well planned but tough course. A pleasant an intricate section near the start gave way to a tough, hilly section through commercial forest, before a final, flat but quite long section near the end.

As this was longer than any recent orienteering event I've been to recently, I deliberately ran slowly, keeping my pace and HR down below what it would normally be for orienteering at speed. I hit the wall after running around 12km (total distance run was 14.5km according to my Garmin GPS) and found it very difficult to keep running to the end. My aching hip that has been annoying me since New Year chose that moment to start hurting again, too, although it didn't significantly affect my time as much has having no energy to run. Quite amused to beat a fellow SLOW runner by three seconds, though.

Staggered across the finish line absolutely drained and exhausted - forced food and drink into my mouth and headed off, still in pain, to the post-race meet at the nearby pub. It looks like everyone found it very tough going, the cold weather and the hilly first half contributing, and in my case a hangover - and my 5K yesterday perhaps - didn't help either. Thankfully got a lift home, as there was no way I was going to be able to cycle back at any speed to Haslemere station.

I need to improve my stamina, and be able to run 12-15km orienteering races, and half marathons, without hitting walls near the end. Otherwise I'm never going to make it around the JK.

Mistake analysis:
To 7: Poor route choice - chose a slow route with too much climb, then poor map-reading near control (1m30)
To 9: Poor route choice - misread contours and needlessly climbed huge spur (1m)
To 10: Had difficulty finding control, needed to relocate (1m30)
To 11: Mis-read map and went up wrong stream. (1m)
To 14: Too low in control circle, although realised mistake quickly (30s)
To 16: Poor pacing, searching in poor-vis area too early (1m 30)
To 18: Ran out of energy, then couldn't find control feature (1m)

C • Seconded 1

Bushy Park Time Trial - first run in the new, and permanent, "reverse" direction. Very cold indeed (around freezing) and a clear, cloudless sky. A lot of people there, considering it's February. My pace was well down on what I was doing last year, but this could be as much to do with it just being difficult to run in such cold conditions, as me being out of fitness. My HR (first time I've worn my HRM to the BPTT) was a lot lower than I was expecting, and climbed gradually throughout the race - quite a bit different to orienteering, where it starts and stays high - I wasn't expecting that. Finished 59th, which I didn't think was too bad at all.

To/from Waterloo. Much slower in than normal as, for once, I got up when planned. It was also extremely cold (sub-zero.)

More field surveying. Planned to do the Broadgate Estate, and surrounding streets in Hackney. Got around 70% of the estate done before security caught up with me - to be fair I had taken over 100 photographs by that point - and kicked me out. I'll have to get permission to finish off the remaining section (mainly around Exchange Square.)

Warming down. Up to the old water pump and back. Didn't do much as I hadn't got very hot during the race itself, and also wanted to get back to have breakfast.

Test-ran the schools course at Wimbledon Park, after helping out teams from various south London schools with SLOW. Time may not be completely accurate as the start/finish clocks weren't perfectly synchronised. Looking at the distances and splits, and considering that my pace was faster than my normal BPTT 5K pace, I think the time was more like 4:55.

Via Aldgate.

From uni to Battersea (via Clapham) and then back home (via Lambeth Palace.) The first half of the return was through extremely wet and unpleasant weather, with sheets of rain coming across the road. I should have got the tube.

To/from CASA, via Bethnal Green Road.

With heavy pack, from college. Went the new, short way.