Training Log Archive: Billenicus

RK OY - Fusilier - Red Long - 7.6Km

A proper long distance type course with only 15 controls and lots of running on the compass. A good test.

First proper forest race for a long time and felt very rusty in terms of managing what I was doing. Navigation fairly poor as well. Just not in control enough - plans not good enough. Mind you, quite difficult to interpret map at times and work out what was on the map and what wasn't. Missed 3 by about 20 sec - never quite relocated near the circle. Failed to spike 4 & 5. A bit off line on 5-6 (and 2-3). Then lost just over 2 mins at 8. Fault was with the map. There was an unmapped knoll / ridge just before the control on my approach direction causing me to look in the wrong re-entrant. Plus the hill behind the actual re-entrant was a lot bigger than shown. Was unlucky not to see the control though. Thereafter, poor on 9, 10, 11. Just not quite in touch with what was going on. So, could have gone between 3 and 4 minutes faster.

Physically found it hard. Tired after the past couple of days and felt I was going pretty slowly towards the end, despite trying to keep the effort up. Groin and hip not too bad, but glute sore a lot of the time, so not moving comfortably.

Jogged the last part of the course backwards to investigate what went wrong at 8. Fairly knackered.

From Totara Park, the loop involving the valley behind Cannon Point, CW. Down the long way from the trig point at the end.

A bit doubtful about whether to do this given my current semi-injured state. Some mild pain throughout. Groin only sore when stretching out down the hill at the end. But some pain in hamstring / glute a lot of the time, without being anything I couldn't run through.

Not feeling too bad apart from the aches and pains.

Hills - the 3-4-3 other side session.

A struggle. Groin more sore today and this seems to have translated to hip and hamstring. Had to start each effort off relatively slowly and build into it (not that I wasn't still in strife at the end of each one).

From KGMP car park along the upper track (Pinetops ?) then the track down the gully to Haywards Stream and back.

Was intending to be at nets rather than running, so this was just a brief jog to fill in time. Left groin / hip quite grumbly - not running smoothly.

Sprint - Tawa College. Part of the area out of bounds, so very convoluted course even at only 1.5K. Nice having a 1:2000 map, but think this is a bit of a false sense of security.

Ran hard without mistakes apart from the odd hesitation. Surprised to be beaten by Greg, but he went to School there so didn't have as much to worry about on the navigation front as usual!

Hip / sacroiliac complaining a bit in the background and preventing reaching absolute top gear, but better than running in terrain.

Ran the short course as a warm down at gentler intensity. Not much shorter and thankfully quite different. Further jogging warm up / down included.

At Osgiliath for the day. Had to bike in and out of the forest from Waitarere.

The 3 O-intervals from the January training w/e in reverse 6;42, 10:12, 9:38. A bit wobbly technically, but no major time losses though spent a couple of minutes verifying my position on the last one - the tape had gone missing.

A bit of a struggle to get going. Groin / hip sore and sacroiliac also complaining, which made terrain running awkward.

More normal course; mixture of control picking in detailed bits and compass work in between, trying to run at a decent pace on the longer legs.

Solid technically, though spent some time verifying position at some controls. Physically finding the groin problem awkward across the rougher terrain, and was getting fairly tired towards the end.

A course that continually went from the forest to the open dunes and back again, concentrating on ensuring I knew where I was each time I transitioned. Technically hard, physically harder, pretty much as expected. A lot of time walking through waist deep (even shoulder deep) vegetation.

Generally quite successful - though too tiring to ever run hard. Not much fun, but worth doing.

Surprisingly, groin / hip seemed to be a bit better doing this.

Sierra - Avro - Sierra - Avro

Kept the effort up all the way - first time under 40 mins. Surprised I don't get my heart rate higher doing this - it was hard work and I spent a lot of time gasping for breath.