Training Log Archive: awilkinson

Awesome weekend at West Point! I really enjoyed the format this year... two classics (my favorite type of race) all centered around the same camping area by the lake. The weather was fantastic! Huge thanks to Katia and Giovanni for the ride and a place to stay!

C • Congratulations!! 3

Walk/jog to the start. I wasn't feeling that awesome, probably a combination of not drinking enough the day before, still being a bit sick, and the early hour I had to wake up.

Today was a lot more challenging than yesterday, so I made a couple more mistakes.

I got stuck in the cliffs around 3 and took some time gingerly picking my way down in a manner that would most likely end with all body parts still intact. On 4 my distance estimation was bad, I thought I had run farther than I had but because it was so steep and rocky it was actually quite slow. I wasted some time looking around too early, eventually I decided to keep going, saw the stream and then realized that I just hadn't gone far enough. I talked to Jeff later and he suggested staying lower where it was less rocky, and then climbing up when I saw the stream. On 5 I made it 90% no problem, but got confused by all the cliffs and ended up too high. I decided to relocate by finding the rock wall and marsh, and finally saw the control on the way. The rest of the course went ok, with some hesitation on some of them. I was pretty slow, especially up the hills. I'm not sure I can blame it all on still being sort of sick.

Sunday Classic, Red Y - Splits

Fast walk/jog to the start.

I was still recovering from my cold, so I couldn't run as fast as normal. In some ways it might have been a good thing so that I had more time to navigate. Anyway, my goal was to have an attackpoint for every leg and it worked out pretty well. I had a couple of baubles but nothing too terrible. Mostly just hesitations as I approached the control. I got pulled a bit to the right on the fourth control by a bunch of other people, but spotted it and didn't lose much time. Oh, and I had sort of a dumb route to 1. I should have stayed on the trail for longer, but I just went straight at it which was kind of slow in the vegetation and the steepness.

Saturday Classic, Red Y - Splits

Two Bulgarian maps Erin sent out, one from this week and one from last week. The terrain there is crazy! So many wiggly contours. I'm interested to see it in real life. I tried to identify an attackpoint for every route, even if it was a little out of the way. Some of the shorter legs I'd rely heavily on my compass and pace count.

This week: http://maps.worldofo.com/webroute/?id=769
Last week: http://maps.worldofo.com/webroute/?id=768

Still sick. I think I drank something like 5 cups of tea today (and counting...). It definitely could be worse though. I'll have to be careful to get enough sleep this week.