Training Log Archive: BorisGr

An old Tuesday night line-O (course X) on Nåsten with Patrick and Mari. We had one compass between the three of us, so the compass made the rounds, and the person carrying it got to lead. We got sort of lost a few times, but mostly did pretty well navigating. It was also about the most comfortable I've ever felt reading a detailed 1:15 map on the run. Don't know if it's just familiarity with Nåsten or actual improvement in my map-reading skills, but it was nice regardless. Felt pretty good running, even if we ended up being out a bit longer than the "two hours +/- 20 minutes" estimate that I gave Patrick and Mari early on in the run.

Event: Blodslitet
 

Warm-up and then cool-down with Andrew

Oktoberracet 2007, OK Enen, Enköping.
An almost entirely flat (I counted the climb for a laugh - about 53 meters!) course with occasional knolls and boulders scattered throughout. Mostly fast woods.
I started quite early (4th starter) and was pretty cold in the beginning, but got warmer as the race went on. Had a very good race for the most part. Didn't feel like I was running too fast, but felt in control most of the time. For most of the course, the controls kept turning up exactly where and when I was expecting them to, which was nice. I did make one big mistake - on #8, I first took a poor route choice, picking an around trail option rather than going straight, and then executing poorly when I didn't see the ditch I was planning to use as my attackpoint. Ended up losing 2 minutes, which is pretty irritating. Still didn't see the ditch after I found the control it was supposedly next to. Amusingly, the guy I caught at #3 followed me the whole way, including through the dark green during my mistake on 8. Ran very well after 8, with just one 20-second bobble on 11. Was the first finisher in H21, which is pretty cool. Ended up 30th out of 90, 5 minutes off the winning time. This winning time belonged to Albin, our incredible soon-to-be 16-year-old, who dominated the H21 class today. Very impressive and humbling.
Regardless, this was my best race in a while, and good for getting some confidence back.
WinSplits: http://www.obasen.nu/winsplits/online/sv/default.a...
Map: http://files.myopera.com/borisgr/albums/264633/IMG...

After the race, we stuck around to watch the Elitseries final. It was a middle distance race, with three loops and paired starts. Each pair ran the first two loops in different orders and then did a common third loop. It was great spectating, though I am not sure how the athletes felt about this format. Additionally, having two runners start each minute meant that lots of packs were forming, surely altering the results to some degree. Still, it was really fun to watch, especially as Mattias Millinger won the men's race, and Tomas Stenström and Mats tied for 5th. Very cool! Annika Billstam got 6th in the women's race, anot both she and Millinger ended up 4th overall in the Elitseries. Plus, at the orienteering gala in the evening, OK Linné was awarded the "Swedish Relay Club of the Year" prize: http://www.oklinne.nu/index.php?page=news&id=2151 .
All in all, a good day for the club.

Rest day! First time in a while I am taking one of these voluntarily.

C • Good for you 2

Nice long run with Patrick and headlamps. We ran down to Sunnersta, ran a few loops of the Backmördarpasset that everyone was doing (a 1km long hill loops with 55m climb that people were running over and over), and then back home in the darkness. Nice run, nice company.

Jogging from Polacksbacken to the start of backbana and back.

An easy-pace run around the backbana on an absolutely spectacular fall day - bright and sunny and about 12C. Just perfect! I ran with Lars and Björn and a friend of theirs from work, for whom this was his first backbana experience. We kept pace along with him, all three of us probably thankful for the excuse to go slowly. I felt reasonably fresh and strong on the hills, which I hope is some indication that my plan of running backbana at least once every week is bearing fruit.

Warm-up for the night-O, the 3000th training session I've logged on AP.

Wednesday Night-O, the first one of the season.
This one was on Hammarskog, and I ran the long course. Was basically by myself the entire time, as I had a late start, and made a bunch of mistakes. Managed to relocate reasonably well on most of them, but there were sitll a couple of big ones. Also terrified myself when I spooked a duck that must have been almost right under me as I ran through a swamp. It flew off making loud noises indicating general displeasure.
It'll definitely take some time this fall to get used to night-O again.

Janne's backbana in Uppsala - Splits

Long warm-up and a shuffle cool-down with Patrick, Sara, and Mari.

I don't think I am in good shape at the moment. Or at least, I felt really slow running the club "cross-country" champs. The idea was to run loops around the fairly hilly Norby lit trail. We were supposed to run 3 loops, but right from the start I was pretty sure that getting through 2 would be an accomplishment. Felt like I was running as hard as I could right from the start, but at the same time, the speed just wasn't there. Kept with Patrick and within sight of Lars for the first lap (9:48), then watched Inga fly by us at the beginning of the second lap and try to stay with her. Man, she is strong! Barely hung on for the entire second lap (9:53), and outsprinted her to the finish, only to see her go off for a third lap. Impressive! She was way faster than all the other girls, including Annika. Anyway, Mats' times for the first two laps were 8:15 and 8:32.
The last couple of days I've felt like I am working hard, feeling ok, but just have no ability to go fast. Let's hope it's just the lingering effects of the sickness and not an indication of my overall shape.

C • Hello...recovery? 11

A 'gentle jog' around Rob's loop on Nåsten, plus some more in Stadsskogen. Strange to not have any of Rob, Andrew, or Patrick in town to train with. Feels almost like my first year in Uppsala!

The fall's first gympa for me, right after the run. Man, I am bad at this. Everything hurt, and I was totally uncoordinated. At least I must have provided good entertainment for Sara and Mari with my poorly timed hops and skips, and arm motions more resembling the final death throes of a crippled boar in agony than the graceful dance/aerobics movements that Susanne, the gympa leader, demonstrated.

C • hej hej 2