Training Log Archive: Bertbennett

Well I was planning on control picking at the chimney but I figured I'd go out to brush creek instead as I didn't wake up early enough for the cooler weather. Probably lost about 2L at least in sweat! Did this as a map memory exercise only glancing at the map a couple times on the longer legs, because I couldn't quite remember that much stuff to get me right into the control.

Some of the lantana around the creek is thick as at the moment and the creek has quite a bit of water which made my entry direction at #3 a really bad decision. Should have just crossed the creek on the track. And it was all but impossible to cross at #7 so I spent ages trying to cross. #9 was a bit confusing and really hard to get to because of Lantana also, and there was a semi-permenant gypsy community set up really close to #10 which is why I took the weird route to the finish. I think I night-O here would certainly be do-able.

Definitely need to work on the uphill running, had to walk twice...
Distance obviously includes warm-up.

The weekly friday run with Alex. A shorter run today but more hills so probably equal effort to the usual. I won the Merewhether stair effort in a photo finish for the first time ever. However Macey did pull a small gap on the longer hill. The calves surprisingly held up fairly well which was a pleasant surprise.

Planning a control picking exercise at the chimney tomorrow morning. Hopefully writing it here will force me to do it!

On a sad note I must report the death of my salomon s-lab ultras after a good innings the eventual break occuring at the lacing loop. Will definitely be replacing them with another pair. Great shoes.

Last day of sprint Canberra. Actually found today's course quite enjoyable. Other than a few times where I didn't see slightly better route choices or better exit directions I had a pretty good run. Was just unable to really push the pace. My body still seems to be in the cycling gear endurance wise which means I have almost no pace. I think other than a couple bad exit directions the difference between me and the winning time was probably running speed which I'm very happy about.

Ran the women's leg start of the relay. Led the pack for the first few controls which was kinda funny when I overshot the 3rd control and many much better navigators than me followed me too far. Just a bit messy on a couple of controls. A couple of the women actually pushed me for pace.. very impressive on their side plus a little bit of a reality check :p

I just seem to struggle with reading the map when I'm running because of the jerky motion which really reduces my map reading capabilities.

Had absolutely nothing to push with this arvo. Was feeling very hungry at the start line which I think was probably the cause of my lack of speed. Played dodge the olive green again which seems to be the theme of the weekend. Control #7 really flustered me because the control circle completely covered up the small external corridor which blocked access to the control. So had to go back and a long way around. Probably should have had a gap in the control circle. Just felt really tired and slow and had nothing to push with.

Looking forward to when the bush season starts that's for sure!

Took one of Andrew's maps and ran a short course. Probably not a great idea for keeping fresh for the run this afternoon but I might as well maximise my training benefit over the weekend.

Focussed on compass as much as possible which was tricky sometimes with the thick bushes blocking my direction. Quite a few termite mounds might have been destroyed since 2011 I suspect.

I seem to be mentally incapable of processing information fast enough on a complicated sprint area around buildings etc. Just unable to keep ahead of myself for most of the course.
Super frustrated... not exactly sure how to improve speed of visual processing as it seems like more of an innate skill rather than anything trainable. Slowing down seems like a solution but not a satisfactory one. :-/

C • Training 4