Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyle

Street Scramble at the Market, or, Zen and the Art of Jaywalking. In order to excel, you must attune yourself to the rhythms of the concrete jungle - only then will you maximize what I like to call "street speed." What's street speed? Dodger had street speed. He who taps into his full street speed potential becomes greater than the sum of his physical and navigational parts and can best his more gifted rivals.

I have tried for years to clear this course sub-90 and still am yet to succeed; I may have hit the mark or come very close this time if not for a missing checkpoint at 35.

Route: 14 - 28 - 17 - 26 - 44 - 27 - 15 - 25 - 42 - 33 - 16 - 41 - 23 - 55 - 43 - 31 - 54 - 21 - 47 - 32 - 46 - 22 - 52 - 36 - 45 - 51 - 38 - 24 - 37 - 25 - 11 - 12 - 53 - 34 - 13

C • Frogger 4

C • Here is my route 1

C • Dodger 2

As an amateur student of modern history and politics, it has been a surreal few weeks. In times of perceived crisis the greatest beneficiaries are always reactionary political movements that would be otherwise beyond the pale, but for a hundred years in the United States two-party dominance has emasculated the gamut of extremist movements which have menaced and sometimes toppled other Western democracies. We may be witnessing the first time in a century that the system struggles to contain one of the political flavors of the week. At the least, the very word "fascism" has never been a living thing in the American political vocabulary - until now, when all of a sudden it has become unavoidable. It will be fascinating to see how the Republican Party deals with its lunatic fringe turned lunatic voting bloc.

Thankfully, American democracy is almost certainly stronger than this challenge, but the idea of American exceptionalism is being proven a myth, as we see a not-insignificant segment of 21st-century White America shamefully abandon the most basic and sacred ideals of liberty, justice and equality in favor of hysterical xenophobia and mindless fear - just as not-insignificant segments of 20th-century Germans, Italians, Britons (Mosley's British Union of Fascists), Frenchmen (Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front) and others did (and are).

C • This is when... 3

Bridle Trails + Watershed loop. Calves in considerable distress when I woke up this morning, probably due to the steep downhill running yesterday plus not stretching afterward. Took three or four painful miles for them to loosen up at all.

The result of yesterday's race has had dramatic (and in my personal opinion disastrous) consequences, as #TeamJourdan has come from behind at the last possible strike:

867:45 #TeamWill
866:12 #TeamJourdan

Over 24 races and 14+ hours of orienteering in calendar year 2015, we're separated by 93 seconds (0.18%). As there will be no more head-to-head races this year, the standings appear to be final; however the #TeamWill legal team is swiftly readying an appeal to the Tribunal Arbitral du Sport in Lausanne based on the position that the first 14 controls of this race should be counted. A flimsy argument with little chance of success, to be sure. Looks like I'm buying the beers.

C • Devastating loss 3