Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Event: Boggs '14
 

Boggs sprint. A tricky course through gently sloping, mostly white woods sprinkled with green and yellow, with a few trails thrown in. At 1:5000, the contours were sufficiently vague as to prevent use for navigation other than "generally downhill" or "generally uphill," which meant I was obliged to rely mainly on reading vegetation and taking compass bearings at high speed - a dangerous game under the best of circumstances.

There were definitely times, especially on some of the longer legs, where I lost map contact. Sometimes it worked out (9), sometimes not so much (13, 17). Someone with excellent compass skills could really dominate this course, because your best bet was basically to go straight on every leg.

I also fell and gashed my knee open on the way to 12, which caused me both to lose focus and also to slow down and limp along for a while until the pain subsided. Not coincidentally, this was when I stopped picking up top splits.

Overall, not the race I was looking for. My speed was good, but the consistency wasn't there, with ~1:30-1:40 lost. Thus, a disappointing result.

Blue/Red Sprint - Splits

I can't even look at the USMNT right now in those uniforms. Why so much red?? In the history of the United States, all of the bad guys and/or things have worn red. Redcoats. The Red Scare. The Soviet Union. The Little Red Book. The Masque of the Red Death! The Washington Redskins is no longer an acceptable name.

And royal blue?? What happened to our lovely dignified navy? Some people who wore navy blue: George Washington. The Union Army. The United States Navy. COME ON.

C • Wait, I didn't write this. 5

C • shirt 3

Some very light running mixed with some Watershed explorations, meant to stretch the legs. Not logged: an off-trail odyssey through most of the "friendliest" parts of the park. I found a few more interesting things, including a cool pit. Also found a way down into the giant ravine and out the other side! This is very bad news for those of you who may potentially run on this map in the future.

Huzzah, 20.8! My goal was to break 20 miles at 8-9 minutes per, keeping the pace more or less constant throughout the three hours. Success!

Miles:
1. 8:30
2. 8:19
3. 8:30
4. 8:27
5. 6:55 - here I had the unique experience of being caught by someone else on foot, which had never happened to me in a Street Scramble before. Mathew Rogers and I followed similar routes early on, and he came upon me and caused me to pick up the pace and run with him for a couple legs here, before he went right and I went left after 24. I was impressed by his speed, but he was also only doing 1.5 hours.
6. 8:33
7. 8:32
8. 8:29
9. 8:44
10. 9:46
11. 9:04
12. 10:40
13. 7:55
14. 9:54
15. 8:14
16. 8:55
17. 10:56 - I think this was when I had problems figuring the question at the YMCA out. I was looking for a brick, but I was erroneously looking on the wall rather than the ground.
18. 8:39
19. 8:05
20. 9:22
21. 6:02 (0.80) - Still able to run at sub-8:00 pace after 20 miles! Ain't that something. Maybe I should do a marathhhhahahaha yeah no.

I came in 2:33 late, so lost 30 points and ended up with 840/1000. I missed only four checkpoints - three remote ones on the northeast side of the harbor and one near the finish I had to chop at the end.

When I went up to get my award Eric announced me as "U.S. Orienteering Team member Will Enger." I have still not fully processed this. As little as six months ago, when people used to ask me about orienteering and I would tell them about how I was trying to make the national team, I was always a little embarrassed because it sounded so ridiculous when I said it out loud. Every day I try not to take anything for granted.

C • Respect 7