Training Log Archive: hkleaf

Follow up session at the Spot. The instructor put us through some harder stuff this time.

Legs are feeling just fine today - evident of not running hard last weekend. Face wound is healing, but L-eye still has some lingering discomfort. Got an appointment with the eye doctor scheduled for tomorrow, so I'll find out more then.

Warm up (24:35) and cool down (5:23) for the race.

QOC US Individual Champs - Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, VA.
Blue Course (Day 2): 11.2km, 505m, 21c. (1:15000, 5m)
Course Setter: Keg Good
Mid 50s, sunny.

After seeing the results from Day 1, I was more encouraged about my performance. The goal for the day remains the same - accuracy over speed. The woods are much nicer today, so I benefited from the improved visibility and runnability. I was having a clean, solid race in my usual middle of the pack pace... until the darn trees got me thrice! I tried to keep going, but I was way too distracted to navigate well and wasn't having fun anymore, so I DNFed :( What a shame!

Here's what happened: everything was humming along just fine until #11. The area around the control is pretty flat, and I failed to make the necessary adjustments. In a bonehead moment ala Sprint Finals of '06, I ran right by the control without even checking the code. Convinced that I haven't gone far enough yet, I ran until the high grounds gave way to a big shallow reentrant. At this point I'd lost my place on the map and just couldn't relocate. After checking seemingly every reentrant I could find, I finally relocated off the gravel road some 500m ESE of the control! I certainly wasn't happy about my momentary stupidity, but it's one mistake. I just need to pull myself together and concentrate the rest of the way. So I backtracked to #11, where I had been 10+min ago. And just like yesterday, Maricel caught up to me. Having just come from the road, I picked up my pace a bit hoping to make up some time and also keep Maricel in my sight. That's when the first tree came into play. I was ducking to avoid some higher stuff thru the green when I put my right cheek right on a tree. It didn't feel bad initially - I thought it was just a normal scratch. But then as I got close to the road, I felt something dripping off my face. As I wiped it off, I was surprised to see my hand covered in blood red! Well, I checked the map, still a long way from finish, but my legs were fine so I decided to keep going. I ran the road instead of straight thru to give myself a little time to calm down. That didn't help much though. My concentration just wasn't there anymore. Too make matters worse, shortly after coming off the road W of #12, I got poked in the L-eye by a tree branch. Instantly my vision was blurred. This happened to me once at the Pig Sprint. That time my contact came out and was dangling on the eye lid. This time, I never felt the contact came out, so I thought I may have hurt my eye for real. As it was difficult to see, I slowed to a walk. In the process, I drifted S, thru the green, and stumbled upon #14, a water control. I stopped to rinse off the blood and clean a wound. Gabe came by to punch, so I asked him to inspect the seriousness of the injury. He said it doesn't look bad. I told him I couldn't see very well. He then took off to continue his course. I stood there for a few more seconds contemplating on what to do next. I decided that since I was so close, I'd attempt to complete the course. So I headed back towards #12 and #13, again to #14, and on my way to the last little loop. Somewhere along the way I got poked in the eye again! This time the R one!!! Luckily, the contact stayed in. Otherwise, I'd have to find my way back like a blind man. Well, I probably wasn't much better than a blind man though, because I never found #16. I circled around the area several times, relocated, reattacked. There seems to be a lot more root stocks than mapped, and I had no luck locating any of them on the map. As the time ticked past 2hrs, I knew I needed to head back, I could hardly focus, and I was not having fun out there anymore. So I decided to call it a day and headed back to the finish. It was a bummer what started as a solid run had to end so poorly. It was more disappointing to find that I wasn't mentally strong enough to hold it together when faced with obstacles.

C • What control was it? What ... 5

Overall, it was an okay weekend that ended on a disappointing note. I did what I planned to do navigationally. I just have to accept that right now, I'm still miles away from the best in the US as far as combining speed and navigation. On a side note, I really need to learn to NOT hurt myself so frequenty when orienteering. It's been a pretty terrible month on that front :( See Oct.4, Oct.13, Oct.20, and Nov.4 for the assortment of injuries.

Things I'm satisfied with from the weekend:
Staying in contact with the map, and managing mistakes (except for late Sunday) when things did go wrong. Feeling in control, especially during the first half of Sunday's course, always a step ahead in the navigation - expecting to see features before arriving at them.

Things to improve on:
Learn to navigate just as well at race pace. Practice reading the map during faster paced runs. Pick better route choice, especially mico ones where I need to avoid running into trouble and injuring myself. One thing that may help with my peripheral vision is learning to take quicker glances at the map while still getting the same useful information I get now with the longer stares. Last but not least, is better concentration to MYSELF when running with others in the vicinity.

Warm up run along park roads, then to start twice. Cool morning.

QOC US Individual Champs - Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, VA.
Blue Course (Day 1, WRE): 12.9km, 470m, 20c. (1:15000, 5m)
Course Setter: Francis Hogle
~50F, sunny, some wind.

The goal for the day is to stay in contact and be accurate, even if it means sacrificing speed. For all but 2 controls, I was able to accomplished my goal. Only I didn't know how much slower (1.62x) I still am when compared to the best. Because of the presence of green, many times I'd pick my route to avoid the worst stuff. This resulted in some longer routes, but it saved me from getting significantly cut up by the briars. Saw some of the trail race runners on my way to #8. Maricel caught me at #10, then Wil Smith later at #12. I was slightly distracted both times, but managed to tell myself to just mind my own business. A poor route choice to #13 put me thru some green, and led me to drift right towards #2. I noticed my error as I hit the stream and quickly adjusted my route. But then bad map reading and bad route had me running up the wrong reentrant to #14. I had suspected something fishy but waited until I hit the road to correct. #16 was another mistake. I ran too loosely as I crossed multiple ridges. As I got close to the circle, I was distracted by all the other runners in the vicinity. I overran to the stream before stopping and correcting. 17-18 was a leg I was real happy with. It reminded me of a long leg at Friedlander! I was reading the map well and running with confidence. For the finishing leg, I unleashed a nice sprint-in, my hardest effort of the day. That's a telltale sign of not pushing myself hard enough on the course. Which begs the question: how much faster can I run and still maintain the same level of navigation? It's a delicate balance I haven't found yet.

Overall, I thought the course was very challenging. There were any trail running legs to take advantage of, so one has to be constantly navigating. The thicker vegetation and briars certainly added to the difficulty, but after Chicago a couple weeks ago I was prepared.

C • Not as slow as mine... 8

Had dinner with the NEOOC folks before heading over to the Marine Corps Museum for the Fab40 celebration. Nice party and great company. Only wish my legs weren't so tired to walk around and tour the museum exhibits.

Day 1 Blue - Splits

Event: US Champs
 

Brief warm up by the start area, then cool down back to the car after finishing. Pace is estimate.

High 50s, sunny - Did the sprint model course, then spent some extra on the map testing different routes and checking our mapped features. Pace was slow, but a productive outing.

QOC US Sprint Champs - Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, VA.
Blue Course: 2.9km, 100m, 18c. (1:5000, 2.5m)
Course Setter: David Onkst
High 50s, sunny, slight breeze.

Pretty decent race. Was slow and hesitant to the first couple controls. Then things went smoothly until #10 (long leg). I drifted left and probably lost a couple of minutes as a result. Ran hard in the last half, especially on the road and in the open. Legs real tired afterwards. Only barely broke 20min, which is slightly disappointing. But can't be all that unhappy about my run overall.

*check out that high HR!!!

After the sprint, went to the Classic model area to check out the terrain, and more importantly recalibrate my brain to 1:15000 map. I ran the course with Ratlaf, occasionally trading leads. It was a good session. Nice to have some feedback on what we're seeing out there. I learned to identify the different shades of green, and to be on the alert with my compass and pace count at all times.

Sprint Blue - Splits

Travel day to Virginia.

60s, partly cloudy - Pleasant evening for trick-or-treating, or for a trail run at E-I. Warmed up on the intermediate loop...

...then before it got completely dark in the woods, I squeezed in 2x .5mi (w/ 90s rest) on the beginner's loop.

3:08.25 -- 152/187 (91.20 -- 165/186)
2:56.65 -- 179/192 (90.30 -- 180/192)

Horrible pacing! I don't feel particularly fast either with the perceived effort I put in. Speed, however, won't be my problem this weekend. I need to just focus on navigating and making smart decisions.

Level 11, Hills, 548c.
Map study, mostly focusing around the sprint area.

61F, clear - Turkey group run from Crossroads. Easy out-n-back on Erie to Delta. 30:25, 27:11. Pleasantly cool. Lights weren't very cooperative tonight.

Post-run.
That bowl of white chicken chilli at Habits was yummy!

C • Thunder & Buttons 2 here in... 1

Ankles and core.