Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Though OUSA rankings often seem suspect and don't really mean much, I received my highest score ever (to the best of my recollection) for day two at Joe Grant. So that's kinda cool I guess.

Easy recovery-type Bridle Trails run. A pleasantly cool, drizzly Northwest day.

Question: Do people really prefer a 1:15,000 map over 1:10,000? I'd take 1:10 in pretty much any situation, but then I'm still figuring out how to read the damn things anyway, so what do I know. Can someone enlighten me as to the benefits of 1:15?

C • 1:15 4

Poison oak update: Either I'm immune or my defensive measures were rampantly successful. I have a little triangle of very minor unidentified spots on my elbow which may or may not be poison oak, but they are a mere curiosity rather than an irritation. In fact, I am more negatively affected by a slight back-of-neck and forearm sunburn. I claim victory.

C • Wait a couple of days... 4

8.4k = 8:12/k

A better run than yesterday, with less time loss and some smarter decision-making. I lost time at 11 in the control circle; either the control was weirdly placed or the spot was weirdly mapped, or both. I arrived with no doubt as to being in the right place, but was unable to locate the control ("single tree" along a white/yellow boundary). Hunted around a number of bushes and trees, questioned myself, reconfirmed location, and finally found it tucked away behind some thick brush farther into the treeline than seemed right. 1:30-2:00 lost which I felt like I didn't deserve to lose.

11-12: My only bad route choice. Perhaps I was a bit out of sorts after the unexpected troubles with 11, but still should have stayed left/high atop the open hill rather than going right/low along the trail, then sidehilling through the forest. The high route also would have offered a foolproof attackspur; in the absence of a solid attack point, I came in too low and had to circle back and up a contour or two. 2:00-3:00 lost.

The organizers reset the start times for yesterday's top three F/M21 finishers into a goofy pseudo-chase thingy in order to create spectator excitement (I'm sure this somewhat silly plan failed spectacularly, for all the obvious reasons). Thus, Schirminator started 12 min ahead of me, while Mark was between us. I was able to catch Mark around 7, and did not expect to see Erin but caught him at 17 and finished 10-15s ahead.

Overall, a fun and successful weekend. We spent some time at the social/dinner discussing new BAOC jerseys. I suggested yellow and blue, like the Golden State Warriors, maybe with maroon accenting if they want a nod to tradition. However, they seem set on some bizarre combination of black plus orange/green/purple. How vulgar.

C • jersey discussion 15

C • Agree about #11 2

Event: BAOC: Joe Grant A-meet
 

8.2k = 9:09/k

A mostly good race; I spiked all but one or two controls, but made unfortunate route choice decisions on two legs.

5-6: A leg with 15 contours of climb along the side of a giant reentrant. I stayed low out of 5 and basically took a direct route a little left of the line, saving the climb till the end. Schirminator climbed immediately out of 5 to the yellow higher up the hillside, then contoured, and somehow was two minutes faster on a six-minute leg. Most interesting.

9-10: The longest leg of the course, with two major hill climbs. Erin and I both went left out of 9 (a bad choice) and promptly got involved in an eternal death struggle with a horrible morass of Manzanita and poison oak. Once out of that, I was able to tackle the other 95% of the leg, which involved giant hills. First down, then up, then down, then up, but on the second up, I got pulled off left by a too-convenient reentrant, then had one of those moments where things suddenly stop making sense. Confused, then figured out where I was, only to go to a different attackrock than the correct attackrock, and get confused again. I finally figured it out just on the precipice of plunging down the wrong giant hillside, and contoured over to 10. Four minutes behind Schirminator on a ~17-19 min leg, due to a combo of bad route choice and bad execution.

These two legs comprised at least half the total climb, and all of my 6:00-7:00 time loss on the course. Not coincidentally, two things I have never been good at are climbing, and executing long legs.

Black Magic is undefeated!

C • Black Magic 3

Blue - Splits

Does anyone know if an American can board an airplane in Canada, for a Canadian domestic flight, without a passport (AKA, using an American driver's license as ID)?

C • Exhibit C 4

Follow Cascade on Twitter @CascadeOC! If you are slightly entertained by my logging shenanigans, chances are you'll be even more slightly entertained by my (our) Twitter shenanigans.

UPDATE: We already have TWICE as many followers as we did yesterday! WATCH OUT KATY PERRY

C • With great power... 2

I look at my faves and see lots of numbers shaded in red right now, no bueno :(

A banner day for Bridle Trails wildlife. In addition to a record number of horses, I spied the elusive coyote from afar, and almost stepped on a dead squirrel. The coyote is my second-best local sighting ever, after the time I spied the elusive lynx in Watershed. The lynx was not very afraid of me, so we regarded each other for a while, each no doubt transfixed by the other's grandeur, until he eventually lynxed away. It was a sublime two or three minutes, and I flatter myself we understood each other. Perhaps one day we will meet again, the lynx and I.

There was also an unusual number of wolves among the usual sheep today. One of them appeared at a junction just ahead of me and was going about my speed, so I caught up and paced him for awhile, which pushed me to go faster than I probably otherwise would have been troubled to go, which goes to show the value of the training partners I do not have.

A strong, encouraging run. This weekend I will don Black Magic in anger for the first time, and confront once again the sunny yet capricious hills of California. I am sure she will be equal to the challenge; will I?

C • training 6

C • Where was this? 2

Not sure if I've mentioned this on my log before, but for a long time orienteering was classified in my brain as a family activity. Then it somewhat abruptly became a "me" thing for a while a couple years back, but almost as soon as it did, I started on the path to where I am, such that now any time I go to a local, regional, or national event, I look forward to seeing lots of cool people whom I consider friends just as much (or sometimes more) as I look forward to racing, which I find to be a great thing.

And if you're reading this, whether from the Seattle area, West Coast, East Coast, Canada, Europe, or wherever, chances are you've been a part of that. So thanks, and keep being your awesome selves.

C • Community 4

I'm not sure what to call this run, but it typifies my last few days. For some reason I've been in a funk training-wise since the weekend; I've been purposeless and unable to clear my mind and find focus.

C • Funk 4

Tried to do some trail mile repeats, did one and felt like crap. So went home with a feeling of physical and mental defeat for the day. Happens sometimes I suppose.

Another morningtime Sacramento run, out and back through a place called False Ravine Park. It's always pleasantly surprising when you're running in an unfamiliar place and you feel like you're moving slower than you should be for some reason, then you come back the same way and realize that now your pace is 30s+ faster with the same effort, because it was a slight uphill on the way out.

Event: Rock Creek Ramble 4-hour, 7-hour, 10-hour
 

Morning sightseeing run! I set out south along the Sacramento River until I found myself somewhere called Old Sacramento, which would make a good sprint map, turned up into the city along a lovely tree-lined boulevard with an excellent prospect of the California State Capitol, toured the Capitol grounds, which would make a good sprint map, then headed north to cross the American River and wandered my way through a large woody, brushy park, which might make an okay...map, back to the confluence. Sacramento is flat.

C • Ahaha I have been all those... 2

Traditional Bridle Trails perimeter loop jog/double-time march! With a couple of my sister's friends, one of whom might move into my house for the summer.

Traditional Bridle Trails perimeter loop tempo run! I think this is a PR by about 20 seconds. One of those times where you put on some self-righteously angst-filled punk rock and run as fast as you can for a while.

I enjoyed this (from here):

"The solid performances of recent Juniors are reflected in Alison Campbell, Tori Borish, Greg Ahlswede, and Ethan Childs being named to the WOC team, and Will Enger earning an alternate spot."

Either our team is so old that M29 now counts as recently junior, or my ongoing secret campaign to be the most enigmatically unknown member of Team USA is meeting with ever greater success, such that basic facts about me are the stuff of legend and speculation!

C • Age 7

Some fun things I will/may be doing the rest of the year:
April, BAOC A-meet
June, Boston Sprint Camp
June, Boise Ultralong Champs
July, Western Canadian Champs?
July, Ragnar Relay
September, CROC Deschutes Days
September, Seattle Adventure Running Tournament
Fall, Relay Champs?

EDIT: I just dropped my mom off at the airport; her and my sister are on their way to a two-week safari in Tanzania and Uganda. If I had chosen to go it would have meant: A. me quitting my job, or B. most or all of my vacation for the year, in which case, no orienteering trips. So these dumb orienteering trips better be good. Also I am horribly afraid of meeting a black or green mamba.

C • Relay? 9

Legs are quite fatigued today for whatever reason.

Easyish run around Bridle Trails. I left my vintage 2005 Team USA jacket at the start of the loop, and when I came back around it was gone :(

I've known for a long time that my orienteering Achilles heel is the fact that my compass and I don't get along as well as we should. I suspect this is due to some combination of WIOL/my dad (by necessity) emphasizing map reading over compass skills, the nature of Puget Sound terrain, and my own laziness and complacency.

We see the inconsistent nature of my compasswork exemplified by legs 3 and 4 of the TT middle. 2-3: bad bearing, substantially left of intended. 3-4: straightforward compass leg through bland white hillside; good bearing, spiked. The difference? Being sure of the exit direction, avoiding the hurry-hurry-hurry "sprint" mindset which it is in my nature to adopt, and above all having a plan. Even a bad plan, like "take a careful bearing and see what happens," is better than no plan at all.

C • A compass should only be a ... 4

Suppose I should write at least a little about my team trials. It was a strange weekend in that I both under- and outperformed my own expectations, putting together a blah sprint with a decent result, a strong race in the Long (usually my worst discipline) with a good result, and finally an uncommonly disastrous middle which dropped me from a surprising fourth to sixth on the last day, when even an average race would have sufficed.

Turns out I was fit enough, strong enough, and technically sound enough to make the WOC team, and there was nothing in my way, until I got in my own way. Still, the fact that I found myself in that position shows substantial improvement over 2014 team trials, where I was never really in contention. In about two years I've gone from "casual sometime orienteerer" to "should've made WOC" and I'm proud of that achievement. Now I'll get fitter and better so this shit doesn't happen again.

C • nice progress! 5

5xK. Horribly slow with zero energy or motivation, then I was annoyed at myself and pushed a little harder the last rep. Former Seattle Sounder Steve Zakuani, whose professional career was more-or-less ended by this, was doing a one-on-one training session on the field.

3:27
3:33
3:33
3:27
3:20

C • Why did I click that link 3

Event: Ultimate Orienteer #2 (Score O) - Lincoln Tree Farm
 

Score-O @ Lincoln Tree Farm

Control pickup

#thepastisinthepast #letitgo #letitgo #andI'llriselikethebreakofdawn

#woc2016

C • #dontstopbelievin 1