Training Log Archive: the kempster

Double whammy...sore heel and a nasty cold!

This sucks!

Had a much better race today which was a relief! My heel was sore at the beginning, but I just kinda forgot about it since I had many other things to think about! had a few bobbles on some of the controls; 6 I just read the map in reverse and was on the wrong side of the ridge looking for the control. Started running back towards 5 and ran right into the control. I just love it when that happens! :P Just tried to ignore the vegetation since trying to navigate by it didn't seem to help yesterday. The white woods were a lot more runnable today, so that did affect my route choice sometimes, but I never really went out of my way to run through it. On the way to 8, I had no idea where I had come in off the road, and was kinda worried that I was in the wrong re-entrant, but low and behold, by getting down on my stomach and peering through the undergrowth, I was able to just barely see the one lonely cairn down in the re-entrant that confirmed that I was indeed in the right one! Made a parallel ditch error on 13 even though I was really careful to check them off as I went past, but then after that everything went pretty smoothly all the way back to the finish.

C • Randy 3

Day 2 Red Y - Splits

Running to the start and then back partways while waiting for my start time.

Really really didn't want to mess up on the first control (again) so I took it so slowly and made sure I knew where I was the whole time. And sure enough, I spiked it no problemo. But then I decided to throw all of that caution into the wind and just start running to 2 with no plan whatsoever. Well, bombed that one completely spending 25min running up and down the ridge through the green trying to relocate. Amazingly, I did relocate, but only because I was in a series of re-entrants that were all green, and the control was supposed to be in a wide white open part of the ridge. Blasted back across the ridge for maybe the 3rd time paying no heed to all of the prickly vines and bushes until things finally started to fit in with the map and I found the blasted control. The rest of the race was just a mess and I felt like a total wreck out there just barely being in contact with the map. Found 3, 4, 5, and 6 alright and 7 was almost great except that as I was heading up the re-entrant looking for the ditch that was supposed to branch off, I couldn't find it and thought I was in the wrong one. Continued to run all over the place until I came back to a spot where I knew I had just come from and then ran right over the hill and into the control. Somehow, the area around the control seemed rather familiar so I think that I was within 20m of it the first time and just couldn't see it. 8 to 9 was the really long leg that pretty much went straight through the green, and by then I was pretty experienced at getting through the stuff, I just slogged my way through it all trying my best to stay on a bearing. Totally messed up 12 and even now I'm not sure what happened. Came out at the road which wasn't supposed to happen but it was quickly corrected and I got a nice break from crawling through the green to do some road running! Took the long way around to 14 instead of cutting through all of the camps and trails only because I knew that I would've had to slow down considerably just to read all the fine detail so as not to head off in the wrong direction so close to the end. Felt like a terrible race for me, but I guess that I should be positive and say...I finished the race and in under 2hrs too...woohoo!!! ;-)

Day 1 Red Y - Splits

Event: US Champs
 

Doing a quick run through of the sprint model map and then the warm-up run to the start.

Excellent race...except for the fist control. At the start, I kinda knew which way to go, so when I actually got my map, I just started running not really knowing where I was supposed to go after I got into the woods. Found my second control first without realizing it, then spent about 1min running from one parallel trail to another until I finally got my act together and found the control and then continued on from there. Thankfully, making that big mistake at the beginning didn't affect the rest of my race. Went around on the trail to 10 which was a mistake although when I first glanced at the map, it seemed like the best route from where I had come out on the trail from 9. The rest of the course was a piece of cake and I'm happy with where I placed (if only it wasn't for #1 :P)

Checked out the model map for the classic event with my dad .

Sprint Red - Splits

Did a little bit of bike shopping in Syracuse and picked up 2 bikes, a pump, armour, a bike rack, and a spare tube all in one sweet deal! Then, within an hour, my dad and I were on the trails! Felt like I was going to some war though with my glasses, shin and knee armour, helmet, and gloves, though I must say that now I feel much safer rocketing over jumps and such. The first 2hrs were mostly on skate ski trails which wasn't too exciting and uber muddy! Even on the flats, it felt like we were slugging up a big slippery hill, but thankfully, the hills were pretty dry and we could manage on them alright. For the last little bit, we found this random single track with ramps and jumps and everything! It was like a mountain biking paradise in the middle of nowhere! Am very proud of myself for sticking it through the whole trail since parts of it were pretty challenging and I've never done anything like that before. Note: going backwards down a ramp is never a very good idea!

Leaving for US Champs tomorrow morning and stopping in Syracuse for a city-wide search for mountain bikes!

Biking to and from the house of my new tutee...(hmm, not sure if that's right, maybe it's just student.)