Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Event: BCOC Day 1: Long Event @ Camp Thunderbird
 

Event: CascadeOC Choose Your Adventure #4: City Park!
 

C • Commentary 2

Conditions hopeful.

Conditions breezy.

Quintuple commute accomplished. Look at those pretty purple bars...

EDIT: Conditions fantastic.

C • How were the conditions? 6

Conditions benevolent.

Conditions glorious.

Conditions magnanimous.

Conditions excellent. Stymied by construction.

Conditions magnificent.

Conditions fair; traction poor but little actual rainfall.

This week I'm going for the rarely seen quintuple commute, weather be damned.

Conditions ideal - cool and dry.

As it stands right now, I will have approximately 2.5 weeks of PTO in the bank at the start of next year, which means that by end of 2018 I'll have accrued about seven weeks total. What to do with it? Certainly one week (or more) will be for NAOC/COC. I would also like to orienteer in Europe at some point next year, since I've never done any of the big events like Tiomila, Jukola, etc. and now's definitely the time.

C • 2018 6

I spent the weekend in Walla Walla for a wedding, which was cool because it's one of the few noteworthy places in the state I hadn't been before. Did some well-dressed partying, some wine tasting, won a game of Settlers, saw lots of college friends I hadn't seen in months or years, including all three of the guys I lived in a foursome with for all of college except freshman year.

I brought my bike and was hoping to do some wheeling around the hills and such today but ended up instead hanging with a couple friends who were also still around. Though we did manage to go for a short jog.

Conditions adverse. A number of months ago they closed down a short section of the Green River Trail and detoured it onto a nearby street; as of this AM they now have that street shut down too. Coolcoolcool.

Fairly easy run around the lake, but my hammy started tightening up a bit after about 40min so had to cut it short. I miss the days of like two years ago when I could go for a simple run without having to worry about janky hamstrings, achy knees, etc.

This past weekend I officiated my little sister's wedding, which is an experience that's pretty hard to put into words.

Maintained my modest 4ppg average on 2/4 from the field, with a handful of rebounds and one TO. This time I didn't miss any free throws, and added a steal and a block. Also some bro gave me a dig with a sharp elbow in what I diagnose to be the teres major, and now it hurts.

Willvision and RG of the final. I assume most of these videos are boring to watch for anyone other than me, but I think this one's a little more interesting for several reasons. It's head-to-head, everyone is going hard, and it's a pretty frenetic and technical sprint so things happen fast and it's easier to follow along and get inside the runner's (my) head, see where the decision points are, what mistakes are made, etc. And it's shorter.

C • Great 7

SART Round 4 @ South Seattle College

The way SART works out, Round 4 is always the real grinder because it's the last unforked race and you've got two fast, evenly matched groups of five battling it out for spots in the final. My heat was David, Graembo, and the two Erics. Legs still felt fresh waking up in the AM so I definitely felt like I had a good shot to make it through.

Out of the start I took the left trail toward 1 which was not optimal (and Bonesaw followed me) but we met back up at the next junction just a step or two behind the other guys. At that point the Jonesaw found himself in the lead, which I think surprised him because he hesitated at the next junction and fell back in the pack. David reached 1 first, though we were all together through the first 4. I nearly ran into the OOB baseball field but stopped myself in time (and got a helping shout from Graeme).

I found myself leading out of 4, and I decided to take the trail route to 5 because it looked like less climb. Could hear at least one person just behind me but didn't know who it was. Took 5 in the lead (overall actually), then disaster struck at 6. I went down the hill, but then for some reason I decided the wall just to the north was the wall right behind 6, even though that makes no sense. So I climbed up the passable wall and wandered into the long grass along the steep hillside for a bit before figuring it out - a time loss of 26s (!) according to WinSplits. The good news was that I came back into contact with Graeme and David while wandering, and they were only about 10s ahead out of 6 - so all was not lost. Had no idea where the Erics were, but I figured they weren't ahead because I hadn't seen either of them.

Started working my way back to Graeme and David, but then was surprised to see Bonesaw way ahead of everyone across the parking lot on the way to 9 - it turned out he was the one right behind me on the way to 5, and had gone through 6 and into the lead without me ever seeing him. Over the last few controls I was able to cash in the freshness of my legs and had the speed to get into second and close the Bonesaw's lead from 23s down to 7, but ran out of space to catch him. As it turned out I was able to snag the fourth qualifying spot, just seconds ahead of Thomas, Peteris, Graeme, and David. Happy to make the final despite such a big and dumb mistake.

SART Round 5 @ South Seattle College

And the final, where you put in whatever's left after the carnage of Round 4. I squeaked into the final last year with the fifth spot, but was pretty wrecked and had little energy left, so finished in a pretty distant 5th place. This time around, once again for whatever inscrutable reasons I continued to feel good and was again ready to attack - as opposed to attempting to survive, which I think is an important mental distinction.

Negotiated the first set of butterfly loops pretty well, though I did have an inefficiency coming out of 9 when I looked down into where the passthrough is and it didn't look like I expected, so my solution was to go the longer way around the big stand-alone wall. I had the same forking as Ian, but was in the lead with him basically right on my butt the whole time.

I came out of 10 in the lead, and held it into the start of the second butterfly loops. Had a little hesitation and maybe chose the wrong (right) route to 13, but I think it's about a wash. Then in the garden I had the same forking as Bonesaw, who had made a mistake earlier and was a bit behind, so I was alone through that area while the other three guys were together. I was definitely pushing the navigational limits here, and took two or three routes that were not the absolute shortest, but I held it together and most importantly was decisive, smooth, and accurate for the most part.

I had a 5s lead coming out of 22, but hadn't had time to figure out where 23 even was on the map so wasted a bit of time with that, which allowed Ian and Adam to jump back in leaving the garden. Now I was in the exact spot you don't want to be in - doing the work in front while the fastest guy in the tournament sits on your back, biding his time. I stayed ahead of Ian almost the whole way to 23, but he made his move just as we approached the building. Here I made a tactical error, choosing to take the left route in the hope that it might spook Ian into making a mistake, because I figured I'd lose a sprint at the end anyway. But no such luck, and I lost as much as 8s there, a gap which more or less stayed the same for the remainder. I did manage to hold off Adam for second.

Really happy with my race, and with SART overall, especially my physical performance. This replaces 4th place at Sprint Camp 2014 as the best of my eight VSC/SART results. Hopefully it's a sign that I'm getting back into good shape!

Event: 2017 SART (9/9/17 & 9/10/17)
 

SART Time Trial @ College Place Middle

Pushed pretty hard in the Time Trial to get a good seed; to my surprise I managed to snag the top spot (for the second year in a row) by a 15s margin. Nav'd it well except for not reading the entire leg to 2 and getting lured into going left. Although I still tied for top split so either *everyone* got tricked or it wasn't any slower.

C • 1 to 2 1

SART Round 1 @ Lynndale Park

An excellent thing happened here. I was in the very first heat, and naturally everyone else was hanging around the start and watching to see where we went. I flipped the map and headed off in the general direction of 1, which led me around the left side of a large forested grove. Only when I had committed did I realize I'd have to swing way back across the parking lot to the right to follow the road which was very clearly the best route. As I was fixing that, about where 12 is I sheepishly caught up to Jonah, a 14-15yo kid from Vancouver. It turned out that of the five people in our heat, he was the only one to make the right choice out of the start! Much respect, Jonah.

Anyway the best part is that most people in the remaining heats, for some reason, assumed that the way *four* people (including a US Team member...) went was the right way, and the way that *one* kid went was not the right way - so, like, 50 or 60 people made the wrong choice largely as a result of my lazy navigation.

C • Start to 1 1

SART Round 2 @ Edmonds Community College

Fun race with some tricky bits here and there. I was alone pretty much the whole time but still took it at a comfortably brisk pace because my legs were feeling energetic. This was the race where I started feeling good about my overall chances, as I ended up fourth overall in the heat despite not pushing hard.

SART Round 3 @ Lynnwood Municipal Golf Course

I've done enough orienteering that it's not often I get a completely new experience, but a night sprint on a golf course is one. In the daytime this would be a glorified XC race, but the darkness introduced the perfect complication to make the nav interesting but still fast, while at the same time because it's a golf course you didn't have to worry about usual night-o things like impaling yourself on a stick, stepping in a hole, etc. All in all a really fun and unique experience.

As for the actual race, I had David in my heat so I knew this would be the first real challenge. I made a 20s mistake on 2, but I think he followed me so I was still in the lead. I opened a bit of a lead on the long leg to 9, but then bobbled the final approach, so we came together again till somewhere around 15 where he didn't seem to be there anymore and I was able to coast into the finish. Took this race at a fast pace, but still comfortable. Legs still feeling fresh and springy.

SART warmup/down conglomerate

Okay, it's time. Time, that is, for the oft-imitated never-duplicated fully-comprehensive 100%-authoritative BigWillyStyle SART preview. This is the gas-guzzling, oil-leaking, armored-plated Cadillac boat-tank of SART previews. First, the stages:

Time Trial: College Place Schools - Never been here!
Round 1, Lynndale Park: The committee know this place. Lynndale is a rugged and wooded park with plenty of trails and variable runnability in the forest, though it's generally thicker than not. There's also a school, which has apparently been completely redone since last time the committee was there, so who knows what that's like. We characterize the venue as 60% forest, 30% park, 10% urban.
Round 2, Edmonds CC: Never been here!
Round 3, Lynnwood Golf Course: Never been here!
Rounds 4/5: South Seattle College: Never been here!

Well, mailed that in. You're welcome. Second, the players:

The women's side looks to be a three-way American tossup between Tori Borish, Siri Christopherson, and Julia Doubson. Tori is always formidable in a sprint, while the two juniors have shown cracking form this year and are both currently gearing up for XC season. Julia impressed at this year's WOC/JWOC Team Trials sprint, winning handily, while Siri has been training with more quality of late than just about anybody this side of Peguerinos. The committee's rudimentary math skills tell us that 3! = 6; none of the six outcomes appears appreciably more likely than any other. Let the dice roll.

On the men's side, the competition looks similar to last year, though a name or two or three deeper through the top 10-15. Most notably we've got no J this time around, ergo no prohibitive favorite, so things should be interesting at the top. We've swapped out regular-sized Canuck Ian for the BFG version, while GVOC stalwarts Nate "NBD" Barrett and "Preying" Mantas Jarusevicius are also AWOL. However, finishers 3-6 and 8-9 from SART 2016 will be present and accounted for - those being Messrs. Woods, Rennie, Enger, Bone, Smith, B. and Jones, E. Gentlemen and scholars, all.

But those cats are passé by now - what's new and exciting? The top dark horse candidate who may surprise: Canadian junior David Bakker. Winning could be a tough ask, but the committee's proprietary predictilator formula gives the young SAGE product a coin flip's chance to crack the final and bump one of the more complacent established contenders. Other newcomers - and oldcomers - with top-10 potential: Peteris Ledins (returning from a summer in Latvia), Mark Prior (Bay Area adventure racer/MTBer extraordinaire), Thomas Laraia (Minnesota JWOCer, younger brother of Michael).

Finally, the predictions (in descending order):

15. Vladimir "Galloping" Gusiatnikov
14. "Cobra" Kai Mihata
13. Tori "Showtime" Borish
12. Julia "Child" Doubson
11. Mark "Not the Cubs Pitcher" Prior

Mark easily has the speed for a higher placement, but we've received intelligence that familial obligations may prevent him from running all Rounds, so he gets dinged for that potential unpredictability. Kai continues to improve, while Vlad turns in a second consecutive top-15 finish.

10. Siri "Don't Call Me Tyra" Christopherson
9. Eric "Jonesaw" Jones
8. Peteris "Pan" Ledins
7. Thomas "Laraia Part Deux" Laraia
6. Eric "Bonesaw" Bone

Again, any of the top three women absolutely has the ability to break into the top 10, but the strength and depth of the field this year may make it difficult for more than one to realize that potential. Siri gets the nod here based on a comparison of recent training. Here we also have three reliable CascadeOC mainstays, and an excellent performance by Laraia the younger. Side note: "Big" Ben Smith would also feature prominently in here somewhere, but we've received word that he's skipping the early races and will therefore be out of the running for the big money.

5. David "Ricken" Bakker
4. Will "Just Happy To Be Here" Enger
3. Graeme "Blade" Rennie (AKA Graembo)
2. Ian "True" Collings (AKA The Virginian)
1. Adam "Tiger" Woods

The final will be dominated by Canadians, plus an Honorary Canadian. Graembo finally manages to not finish fourth in something, while David surprises by earning a spot in the final. Ian has the best speed in the field and is deadly as sin in an unforked race, but he won't be able to bring his full power to bear in a hectic butterfly-looped final. Which is why Adam takes home the giant bracket as the runner with the best combination of youth, fitness, and technical experience and skill.

C • Aw Yeah! 8

C • Accurate 5

C • Jonesaw 5

Event: CascadeOC Wednesday Evening #5
 

Willvision Deschutes Daze Day 3, Lower Dutchman Flats. Blue sky, happy forest. Tough sand running near the end.

Got invited by a friend to fill in on his shootyhoops team - another sport that I haven't played in years. My stat line was 4 points on 2-5 shooting, something like 8-10 rebounds, 1 turnover. Worst part was 0-3 from the line, yikes. Very rusty. I played a year of JV basketball in HS and a lot at Gonzaga; at a school like Gonzaga pickup basketball is one of the key masculine rituals and if you don't play it's a disadvantage in the grand game of the collegiate social ladder.

Anyway, it seems clear that orienteering and soccer are far more complementary than orienteering and basketball.

C • Yes 5

Well, going from the magnificent Dutchman map one day to an outdated 1:24000 USGS map with 40' contours the next day is unfortunate. Like going from a Tesla S to a Yugo. This was nominally a 3hr event but I came in a little over 2hrs in, and only lasted that long because there was a giant hill between me and the finish that I had to get around.

#hottakealert: Here we find all the classic hallmarks of why IMO rogaining is the worst: long, mindless climbs and road runs, poorly or non-mapped roads and major trails, painfully-easy-to-find controls, painfully-difficult-to-find misplaced and vaguely-placed controls, and a map so generalized that you can only navigate via the most obvious and cartoonishly large of features.

To clarify, I place no blame on the organizers and I thank them for their efforts. I just do not enjoy rogaining. And I haven't even mentioned the name, which is quite possibly the dumbest name for anything ever. No offense to anyone who thinks "rogaining" is a cool name that will attract new people to the sport.

Well that was pretty negative and now I feel a little bad about putting rogaining on blast. My apologies, rogaining. On the plus side, this did take place about 45min closer to home than Bend, so that was nice. And the landscapes were very pretty. I thought about using my last hour to hike up the giant hill for the views, but since it was about 1000' of climb I decided I couldn't get up there and back in time. Wish I'd had that idea earlier.

C • Seems like... 6

C • Ahaha 1

Smoked this course pretty good if I do say so myself. I was a little off in the circle on 3, 4, and 5, no more than 15, maybe 20s each. Could've had a better plan on 3, but 4 and 5 were a bit bingo-ish. Pretty clean and fast other than that. Got Bonesaw by 2.5min, though he said he was taking it a little easy.

This terrain never disappoints.

After the race, I got dropped off at the top of the Dutchman Flats map. I had pondered doing the bonus/practice course and/or hiking up the big hill on the map (Moon Mountain?) but it was suuuuper smoky up there, which was quite unpleasant and ruined all the views to boot. So I decided to get out of there down the trail. Took the Met-Win to Mrazek, which is a sweet ~15mi trail with about 2000' net loss most of the way down to Bend.

Daze Day 4 @ Lava Butte.

This one was a motala-style race; Eric and I ended up having a good battle. I had a couple small mistakes on my first loop, but second loop was clean, and I started my third just a few seconds after Eric. We took different routes to the second control and he gained 7s by taking the road, but then made a mistake a couple controls later which allowed me to leapfrog into the lead by ~10s. I held him off through the end of the third loop and most of the fourth, but made an error on the penultimate control which allowed him to jump back ahead. I closed the gap a bit when he took a weird route to the finish, but came in 5s behind.

C • motala-style? 2

Rode down Pilot Butte w/dad, then we messed around on the trails around the base, until we got separated and headed home separately after fruitlessly searching for each other for a bit.

Event: Labor Daze
 

Daze Day 3, Lower Dutchman Flats ("Witch of Many Boulders"). Mappy.

Pretty erratic for the first 3-4 controls. I saw Eric leave the start taking the trail around to 1, but that seemed pretty lame so I went straight, which turned out to be better even though I headed to the wrong rock outcropping and lost a small bit of time, maybe 20s. On 2, I was wary of dropping too far, so naturally I was too high and had to double back and down, close to 1min lost. 3 was the first one in the notoriously technical microlava area; I missed to the right, but recognized it quickly and did a bit of circling for a loss of ~70s. Then I had my map flipped and did a classic 180 out of 3, which cost me ~30s.

I was a lot cleaner after that - my only other loss was ~30s on 11, where for unknown reasons my direction suddenly became janky on the last 100m of the leg and I did a weird zigzag, even though it was a straight shot through open forest.

Got Bonesaw by 1:50 for the third win in a row! He had some issues, namely the route to 1, but mainly I had better speed and was taking seconds from him pretty consistently.

Mark Prior had invited me to bike from Bachelor back down to Bend, so I joined him in that endeavor. Temps were comfortable up at the mountain in the AM but as we descended and the day progressed you could slowly feel the heat creeping up toward 95F. About 2/3 of the way down Mark had to bail to the highway to get back to his place by 2, so I continued on my own. I was flagging after about two hours and had run out of water, so hit the highway for the last few miles.

Really fun biking, though Mark is a better/faster/more experienced technical rider than I (and has a bike that's like 10 times better) so I felt like I was slowing him down somewhat.