Training Log Archive: PsubaIn the 31 days ending May 31, 2016:
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Tuesday May 31, 2016 #
1 PM
Running (Cadence) 38:50 7.43 km (5:14 / km) +120m 4:50 / km
ahr:152 max:170 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Recovery run / cadence training.
Tried to make it a bit more relevant for terrain by going up/down the stairs/zigzags I could find whilst progressing on the seaside. Did the first 5K as cadence training at the same time.
Tried to make it a bit more relevant for terrain by going up/down the stairs/zigzags I could find whilst progressing on the seaside. Did the first 5K as cadence training at the same time.
Monday May 30, 2016 #
12 PM
Running intervals (Moov) 56:39 11.91 km (4:45 / km) +75m 4:37 / km
ahr:163 max:181 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Moov speed endurance session, level 26, which is aiming for 4:07 pace of 1.6km intervals. Started with level 27 (I think), aiming for 4:02 which should have been possible but for the strong headwind (doing this on the seafront). Took it down one level after hopelessly failing interval 2, then it got better and hit the target once I reached the turnaround point, with the wind behind me even with the road undulating as I now ran on top of the cliffs.
Sunday May 29, 2016 #
Note
slept:2.5 (rest day)
Well, not really, especially considering the stupid inconsiderate hotel neighbours partying all night, resulting in only 2.5 hours of sleep for me, then work all day
Saturday May 28, 2016 #
8 AM
Running warm up/down 2:05 0.45 km (4:35 / km)
ahr:153 max:160 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Running tempo (Parkrun) 19:38 4.61 km (4:16 / km) +5m 4:14 / km
ahr:177 max:184 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Lytham Parkrun No.25
4th/166.
Just got there in time, so no proper warm-up, no stretching, had not eaten/drank anything in the morning, so not ideal start. First time here just got out to do some exercise (won't do much the coming week because of full-on Blackpool Dance Festival as every year, that will take up most my time.
Interesting route, not quite the full 5K, and more of a XC feeling with lots of turns and narrow stretches which, as we had to do 3,5 laps meant lots of slowing down for overtaking. Nice little paths around a local lake, woods, undulating a bit too - never too long uphill, just smallish ups and downs to break the rhythm.
In either case started off OK but from about the 2nd Km really felt the lack of prep & fuel, running out of energy and really just trotted through.
4th/166.
Just got there in time, so no proper warm-up, no stretching, had not eaten/drank anything in the morning, so not ideal start. First time here just got out to do some exercise (won't do much the coming week because of full-on Blackpool Dance Festival as every year, that will take up most my time.
Interesting route, not quite the full 5K, and more of a XC feeling with lots of turns and narrow stretches which, as we had to do 3,5 laps meant lots of slowing down for overtaking. Nice little paths around a local lake, woods, undulating a bit too - never too long uphill, just smallish ups and downs to break the rhythm.
In either case started off OK but from about the 2nd Km really felt the lack of prep & fuel, running out of energy and really just trotted through.
Running warm up/down 9:23 1.71 km (5:30 / km) +4m 5:26 / km
ahr:156 max:165 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Thursday May 26, 2016 #
6 PM
Running intervals (Canova) 59:04 9.44 km (6:16 / km) +20m 6:12 / km
ahr:155 max:180 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Canova circuits, same as last time, as per Spari training schedule (almost, it was supposed to be on Tuesday).
2,5x(500+100), with 900m jog in between. 500m are targeted at 3:40 pace, 100ms with plyo such as squat jumps, ankle jumps, high knees, high knee jumps.
Cut short after 9 reps as had to go back to hotel.
2,5x(500+100), with 900m jog in between. 500m are targeted at 3:40 pace, 100ms with plyo such as squat jumps, ankle jumps, high knees, high knee jumps.
Cut short after 9 reps as had to go back to hotel.
Wednesday May 25, 2016 #
7 PM
Running warm up/down 7:23 1.42 km (5:11 / km)
ahr:146 max:159 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Urban Orienteering race (Blue) 36:01 7.13 km (5:03 / km) +19m 4:59 / km
ahr:164 max:177 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
BOK Urban & Park series race 4, Stoke Gifford, Blue course.
Fun little course, stopped on the way traveling to do this. Can't do more due to work and travel, but run this as decent effort.
7th/52, results: http://www.bristolorienteering.org.uk/sites/defaul...
2-3 mistakes and at times did not push as much as I could have, lost about 2 minutes approx. Could never get close to winning time as we had some elite runners doing this anyway and this was a prep race as far as I am concerned, a perfect one for both the sprint champs (due to the nature of some parts of the course) an middle (due to length).
Fun little course, stopped on the way traveling to do this. Can't do more due to work and travel, but run this as decent effort.
7th/52, results: http://www.bristolorienteering.org.uk/sites/defaul...
2-3 mistakes and at times did not push as much as I could have, lost about 2 minutes approx. Could never get close to winning time as we had some elite runners doing this anyway and this was a prep race as far as I am concerned, a perfect one for both the sprint champs (due to the nature of some parts of the course) an middle (due to length).
Running warm up/down 7:44 1.28 km (6:02 / km) +11m 5:48 / km
ahr:146 max:154 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Tuesday May 24, 2016 #
6 PM
Running hills (Short hills) 32:21 5.81 km (5:34 / km) +128m 5:01 / km
ahr:153 max:180 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Wessex training, summer short hills (Talbot Heath).
4-3-2-2-2-3-4 of a pyramid hills (increase/decrease), with run up - jog down.
(Frida/Becca/Dale/Tim/Gavin/Julie). Seemed easier than remembered (is it thanks to yesterdays rest day?) and short. Most uphill reps about 1s faster than last time 3 weeks ago.
4-3-2-2-2-3-4 of a pyramid hills (increase/decrease), with run up - jog down.
(Frida/Becca/Dale/Tim/Gavin/Julie). Seemed easier than remembered (is it thanks to yesterdays rest day?) and short. Most uphill reps about 1s faster than last time 3 weeks ago.
Running warm up/down 14:58 1.68 km (8:54 / km) +30m 8:10 / km
ahr:126 max:141 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Monday May 23, 2016 #
Note
(rest day)
Sunday May 22, 2016 #
12 PM
Running (Surveying) 1:09:16 7.19 km (9:38 / km) +75m 9:09 / km
ahr:131 max:160 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Surveying jog for the 4th July Summer league event I am planning.
Saturday May 21, 2016 #
8 AM
Running warm up/down 5:23 0.98 km (5:29 / km) +2m 5:26 / km
ahr:147 max:156 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Running tempo (Parkrun) 21:09 5.0 km (4:14 / km) +11m 4:11 / km
ahr:170 max:184 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Wet, raining, muddy. Considering that and yesterdays intervals, this wasn't planned as a strong session, just turning the legs over.
Aimed to run at 166HR, someway through the middle it dipped above 170 but did not have the strength to run slower to get it back down.
Did push the last half km just to see what pace I could do.
Aimed to run at 166HR, someway through the middle it dipped above 170 but did not have the strength to run slower to get it back down.
Did push the last half km just to see what pace I could do.
Running warm up/down 5:09 0.94 km (5:29 / km) +1m 5:27 / km
ahr:148 max:158 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Friday May 20, 2016 #
5 PM
Running intervals (Moov) 43:57 7.71 km (5:42 / km) +5m 5:41 / km
ahr:146 max:179 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
10x Moov sprint intervals, level 17
Let's see if this will help me improve. Trying out the Moov app & trainer gadget that measures all kinds of running dynamics.
Started at level 19 then lowered the target to level 17 - but probably level 16 is my level currently.
This meant intervals of just over 400m roughly, paces:
3:38, 25,21,25,22,35,30,39,25,36
Spari schedule would have been 15x200m as last time, but that seems too strong for me as yet... hopefully consistently running with this will get me to a level where those will make sense to do.
Let's see if this will help me improve. Trying out the Moov app & trainer gadget that measures all kinds of running dynamics.
Started at level 19 then lowered the target to level 17 - but probably level 16 is my level currently.
This meant intervals of just over 400m roughly, paces:
3:38, 25,21,25,22,35,30,39,25,36
Spari schedule would have been 15x200m as last time, but that seems too strong for me as yet... hopefully consistently running with this will get me to a level where those will make sense to do.
Thursday May 19, 2016 #
4 PM
Running warm up/down 2:00 0.45 km (4:26 / km)
ahr:146 max:153
Running long (Cadence adjustment) 1:25:21 16.84 km (5:04 / km) +78m 4:57 / km
ahr:160 max:174
So this was supposed to be a short-ish mixed recovery run, with as much of it on a trail as I could within town (considering work et al).
In fact I struggled to get going, but after a couple of pauses for stretching I ploughed on not accepting that my body just can't cooperate. I know that I had the core training to at least do something. It happened after about 6km in. So quite far out by that point and so the plan changed midway though - I did go out to the tip of Hengistbury Head with reasonable pace finally for this type of sesion (4:15ish).
At this point 9km in the run, the storm descended. I had to turn back and the wind threw sand in my face. Then in threw water in my face. Then, as I fought my way up to Hengistbury Head top, it started to try and throw me off the path. I did not let it, so instead of generating pace, at this point my effort was used up fighting the headwind.
Before the storm, I planned to do all zig-zags back to Fishermans Walk, but given the strong wind, I gave this up and ran on the cliff tops, so that I can avoid eating more of the sand blown in my face from the beach that I would likely get running on the promenade between zig-zags.
In fact I struggled to get going, but after a couple of pauses for stretching I ploughed on not accepting that my body just can't cooperate. I know that I had the core training to at least do something. It happened after about 6km in. So quite far out by that point and so the plan changed midway though - I did go out to the tip of Hengistbury Head with reasonable pace finally for this type of sesion (4:15ish).
At this point 9km in the run, the storm descended. I had to turn back and the wind threw sand in my face. Then in threw water in my face. Then, as I fought my way up to Hengistbury Head top, it started to try and throw me off the path. I did not let it, so instead of generating pace, at this point my effort was used up fighting the headwind.
Before the storm, I planned to do all zig-zags back to Fishermans Walk, but given the strong wind, I gave this up and ran on the cliff tops, so that I can avoid eating more of the sand blown in my face from the beach that I would likely get running on the promenade between zig-zags.
Tuesday May 17, 2016 #
6 PM
Running intervals (Wessex 1k reps - summer) 1:10:12 13.32 km (5:16 / km) +202m 4:54 / km
ahr:157 max:180 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Wessex training, modified to Spari training schedule effort (estimated).
So normal run would have been 4x terrain trail 1k reps, I did 6.
I did lace the right shoe different this time to avoid aggrevating the inflammation - seems to have worked so far (fingers crossed), the only problem is that lacing would not work in an orienteering race as my shoes would roll away when contouring.
Out with Becca, Becca, Gavin, Dale, Ian, Kay, Julie, Tim, Roger. Managed to run opposite them apart from rep 1, as I messed up the direction changes on the 2nd, then I was getting to the point where I was ahead of them by 1 rep and hence always were just going the opposite way round.
Rep 1k effort times were
4:08, 08, 02, 11, 28, 19 (on the 5th I had to stop to let them pass on a narrow passage).
Not bad for a trail 1k with about 20m climb in it, although I am glad I did 6 because I was starting to fade on the uphill sections from the 4th rep.
So normal run would have been 4x terrain trail 1k reps, I did 6.
I did lace the right shoe different this time to avoid aggrevating the inflammation - seems to have worked so far (fingers crossed), the only problem is that lacing would not work in an orienteering race as my shoes would roll away when contouring.
Out with Becca, Becca, Gavin, Dale, Ian, Kay, Julie, Tim, Roger. Managed to run opposite them apart from rep 1, as I messed up the direction changes on the 2nd, then I was getting to the point where I was ahead of them by 1 rep and hence always were just going the opposite way round.
Rep 1k effort times were
4:08, 08, 02, 11, 28, 19 (on the 5th I had to stop to let them pass on a narrow passage).
Not bad for a trail 1k with about 20m climb in it, although I am glad I did 6 because I was starting to fade on the uphill sections from the 4th rep.
Monday May 16, 2016 #
Note
(rest day)
Sunday May 15, 2016 #
10 AM
Running warm up/down 7:29 1.06 km (7:02 / km) +75m 5:12 / km
ahr:152 max:160 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Orienteering race (Brown) 1:12:17 *** 9.92 km (7:17 / km) +311m 6:18 / km
ahr:165 max:175 spiked:25/25c (injured) shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Southdowns weekend, Friston North classic distance event, Brown course.
7th/25.
Results - http://www.southdowns-orienteers.org.uk/results-ar...
Too many mistakes for this terrain although did not feel that bad at the time. More annoyingly the right foot was hurting from halfway though again so affected my run. Probably should rest so it heals.
1 - bad route choice, thought running cross the wood will help but it didn't. Could have planned whilst running on the ride as well. Executed it well though...
6 - just didn't feel like running cross the undergrowth so ran too far on the bicycle track, then had to cross it anyway... also took my time locating the control. 35s
7 - mistake, loose on compass bearing, too low then saw a control that wasn't mine and stupidly ran to it. Had to go back up, 1m
8 - Again loose on my compass bearing so ended up on a ride I wasn't intending to, then jumped in to the control circle too late, so had to look for the control. 1m
9 - forest wasn't white as on the map, should have kept to the ride for longer but misread the contours as well (actually they weren't quite right either), so too slow about 20s
11 - Forest was mapped white but lots of branches to fight through, should have kept to the ride even if that meant taking a bit more climb. Probably about 30s too slow because of this
16 was in an electric fence enclosure, despite having been warned about it at the start and looking for it, managed to trip both in and out...
17 - Stopped too early and hesitated, 10s
20 - Imprecise compass bearing out of 19, tried to avoid the undergrowth and as a result managed to run the longest possible section fighting this and the rough terrain, getting to the ride junction instead of straight through. Lost about 40s-1m
23 - Slowed down too early. Cautious from the junction, did not want to overshoot so took the features one by one, probably should have simplified the map better here and run harder.
24 - just had to fight the uphill, v tired at this point (somehow still managed 2nd on this split)
7th/25.
Results - http://www.southdowns-orienteers.org.uk/results-ar...
Too many mistakes for this terrain although did not feel that bad at the time. More annoyingly the right foot was hurting from halfway though again so affected my run. Probably should rest so it heals.
1 - bad route choice, thought running cross the wood will help but it didn't. Could have planned whilst running on the ride as well. Executed it well though...
6 - just didn't feel like running cross the undergrowth so ran too far on the bicycle track, then had to cross it anyway... also took my time locating the control. 35s
7 - mistake, loose on compass bearing, too low then saw a control that wasn't mine and stupidly ran to it. Had to go back up, 1m
8 - Again loose on my compass bearing so ended up on a ride I wasn't intending to, then jumped in to the control circle too late, so had to look for the control. 1m
9 - forest wasn't white as on the map, should have kept to the ride for longer but misread the contours as well (actually they weren't quite right either), so too slow about 20s
11 - Forest was mapped white but lots of branches to fight through, should have kept to the ride even if that meant taking a bit more climb. Probably about 30s too slow because of this
16 was in an electric fence enclosure, despite having been warned about it at the start and looking for it, managed to trip both in and out...
17 - Stopped too early and hesitated, 10s
20 - Imprecise compass bearing out of 19, tried to avoid the undergrowth and as a result managed to run the longest possible section fighting this and the rough terrain, getting to the ride junction instead of straight through. Lost about 40s-1m
23 - Slowed down too early. Cautious from the junction, did not want to overshoot so took the features one by one, probably should have simplified the map better here and run harder.
24 - just had to fight the uphill, v tired at this point (somehow still managed 2nd on this split)
Running 5:16 0.91 km (5:46 / km)
ahr:140 max:147
Saturday May 14, 2016 #
Event: Southdowns Weekend
11 AM
Running warm up/down 3:18 0.59 km (5:37 / km) +8m 5:16 / km
ahr:141 max:151 shoes: Inov8 X-Talon 212
Urban Orienteering race (Sprint) 14:00 ** 3.11 km (4:30 / km) +7m 4:27 / km
ahr:171 max:176 spiked:18/18c shoes: Inov8 X-Talon 212
Dorset Sprint Championship, Long course 1st run.
2nd / 39, 20s behind Mark3 who frankly is a lot faster than me so not bad.
http://www.wimborne-orienteers.org.uk/16%20Club%20...
No real mistakes, slowed down a bit too much in the middle but straight forward course, some control picking. Maybe left 5-10s in it so as good as it gets at this point.
2nd / 39, 20s behind Mark3 who frankly is a lot faster than me so not bad.
http://www.wimborne-orienteers.org.uk/16%20Club%20...
No real mistakes, slowed down a bit too much in the middle but straight forward course, some control picking. Maybe left 5-10s in it so as good as it gets at this point.
1 PM
Running warm up/down 2:52 0.58 km (4:58 / km) +1m 4:55 / km
ahr:144 max:156 shoes: Inov8 X-Talon 212
Urban Orienteering race (Sprint) 15:10 ** 3.41 km (4:27 / km)
ahr:173 max:185 spiked:20/20c shoes: Inov8 X-Talon 212
Dorset Sprint Championship, Long course 2nd run.
3rd / 40. Results http://www.wimborne-orienteers.org.uk/16%20Club%20...
Contrary to the first run, this second was very frustrating. Control 2 fell on the ground which I did not notice first as it was in the vegetation, so ran past. Stopped, came back. looked around and took a while before I noticed. Dropped 40s straight away which was massively diasppointing: Mark3 started 1 min behind so was on my heels immediately and in a Sprint I suspected I lost 2nd place already in the accumulated results.
It then affected my concentration quite a lot: I wasn't keeping up with the map as much as I should have, causing me to drop further 10s on 8, 20 on 10 coming out of 9 (at 9 I had no route plan for 10 so started in the vague direction which was not the right one), 5s on 17 and 10s on 18 (both hesitations as I wasn't on top of my run). So quite a bit of time lost. I may have been only 3rd on this second run anyway as Alex T was running very well but likely would have kept my 2nd place overall.
Bad luck with #2, but the rest of the mistakes were on me because I let the bad luck effect my mindset for the rest of the run.
Legs weren't feeling as cooperative as they were on run 1 as well, though not visible on the GPS track.
3rd / 40. Results http://www.wimborne-orienteers.org.uk/16%20Club%20...
Contrary to the first run, this second was very frustrating. Control 2 fell on the ground which I did not notice first as it was in the vegetation, so ran past. Stopped, came back. looked around and took a while before I noticed. Dropped 40s straight away which was massively diasppointing: Mark3 started 1 min behind so was on my heels immediately and in a Sprint I suspected I lost 2nd place already in the accumulated results.
It then affected my concentration quite a lot: I wasn't keeping up with the map as much as I should have, causing me to drop further 10s on 8, 20 on 10 coming out of 9 (at 9 I had no route plan for 10 so started in the vague direction which was not the right one), 5s on 17 and 10s on 18 (both hesitations as I wasn't on top of my run). So quite a bit of time lost. I may have been only 3rd on this second run anyway as Alex T was running very well but likely would have kept my 2nd place overall.
Bad luck with #2, but the rest of the mistakes were on me because I let the bad luck effect my mindset for the rest of the run.
Legs weren't feeling as cooperative as they were on run 1 as well, though not visible on the GPS track.
6 PM
Running warm up/down 4:13 0.59 km (7:07 / km) +4m 6:53 / km
ahr:129 max:153 shoes: Inov8 X-Talon 212
Urban Orienteering race (Sprint) 15:19 *** 2.81 km (5:27 / km) +10m 5:21 / km
ahr:169 max:181 spiked:29/29c shoes: Inov8 X-Talon 212
SouthDowns weekend, Hampden Park sprint race, Men Open.
3rd / 38, results: http://www.southdowns-orienteers.org.uk/results-ar...
3rd sprint race of the day, so expected legs to be sluggish but they held up OK.
Started slow though, smaller mistakes to 3 and 4 - probably about 20-25s all together. Was OK after this until 16 where I overshot the path and had to cross the green section, 5s lost. Better concentration this time than in Potterne Park earlier, did not let the early mistakes get to me.
3rd / 38, results: http://www.southdowns-orienteers.org.uk/results-ar...
3rd sprint race of the day, so expected legs to be sluggish but they held up OK.
Started slow though, smaller mistakes to 3 and 4 - probably about 20-25s all together. Was OK after this until 16 where I overshot the path and had to cross the green section, 5s lost. Better concentration this time than in Potterne Park earlier, did not let the early mistakes get to me.
Friday May 13, 2016 #
3 PM
Running 46:31 6.72 km (6:56 / km) +30m 6:47 / km
ahr:138 max:159 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Surveying / Recovery run.
Went out to Queens Park to look at some of the areas of the map getting comments from the runners. Slight adjustments needed.
Took it as a slow jog most of the way, I can definitely feel yesterdays training.
Went out to Queens Park to look at some of the areas of the map getting comments from the runners. Slight adjustments needed.
Took it as a slow jog most of the way, I can definitely feel yesterdays training.
Thursday May 12, 2016 #
6 PM
Running intervals (15x200m) 45:32 8.68 km (5:15 / km) +14m 5:12 / km
ahr:159 max:181
Spari training schedule.
15x200m with 45s off. In theory should have aimed for 34 sec intervals (ha-ha-ha as usual, that is aimed at the fit young members of the team, for me it translates, as always, to "all out")
Long warm-up as I know I needed it. Then did the intervals in Kings Park, devilishly short recoveries - although I did lengthen the recovery after the 12th rep as I got a stitch.
Times were
37-39-36-39-37-39-37-39-36-38-37-39-37-39-39
15x200m with 45s off. In theory should have aimed for 34 sec intervals (ha-ha-ha as usual, that is aimed at the fit young members of the team, for me it translates, as always, to "all out")
Long warm-up as I know I needed it. Then did the intervals in Kings Park, devilishly short recoveries - although I did lengthen the recovery after the 12th rep as I got a stitch.
Times were
37-39-36-39-37-39-37-39-36-38-37-39-37-39-39
Wednesday May 11, 2016 #
11 AM
Running warm up/down 1:31 0.3 km (5:00 / km)
ahr:132 max:149 shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Orienteering race (Score) 1:00:02 *** 8.82 km (6:49 / km) +126m 6:21 / km
ahr:162 max:177 spiked:30/35c shoes: VJ iRock 2016
Military League South event, 1 hour score in Hawley.
9th / 246
Joined Ian and Becca to go to this event and based on last weekend's conclusion I decided to take this as a training exercise for map simplification. So wasn't running that hard, the objective was being able to pick routes and run them in a way that would be faster to navigate. Basically, be able to do more heads up orienteering by doing plan-simplify-memorise-run.
Very wet event, raining most of the way and wet under foot - one control was in the middle of a wet depression that you had to go knee deep in water to get to. Not appreciated. Varied area and a mixture of woodland, heathland, barracks. Unfortunately the map was quite imprecise (bad) in places, especially the vegetation mapping. Also lots of paths which made navigation look deceptively easy. Probably as a consequence I have made loads of errors, and ended up not collecting all controls within the hour - although not a big issue as that wasn't the objective, but still disappointing.
Rundown of the event with notable navigation aspects:
- Took my time to plan the route, started off slower (again). For some reason in my mind I did not want to accept the proper map orientation, so fought the compass and took a while to get going. Not sure why?
- 52-39-56-42 OK, compass bearing took me to the right of 42 which was disappointing as only a short distance and tried to be precise, 10s
- 53 (compass bearing OK)
-33 (good simplification here, through clearing edge then compass bearing)
- 41, decent simplification but read control description too late, almost on the road and description was "under bridge" so had to climb back down, 30s
- 44, compass bearing was taking me to the right but contours were leading me about 10-20deg to left. Chose to run with the contours and got the control spot on. This was a good leg in that I relied on multiple techniques.
Then into the barracks.
- 62, lost about 40s here, the control was not in the right place and control description incorrect: description said "Depression", mapped as a knoll, and in reality control was on a path bend...????
- 58, simplified the route well, but control (pit) was mapped in the wrong place, so ran down the spur expecting to hit the control, which was nowhere to be seen. Chose to run right around the contours (again not mapped very well) in case I could not see it from the curving of the spur, it wasn't there. Ran back the other side and the pit was there - definitely more underneath the veg boundary edge than mapped. So lost about 1 min but at least was in control.
- 63 to 61, started to run to the dead end clearing bet realised in time so turned left to run around the dark green, still lost about 20s
- 61 to 64, was confused and started to run to 59 but realised 64 was next up, so longer route than needed, but once I was on the right track simplified vegetation well.
- 59, gone the wrong way around the barracks and got into a dead end with the building work, bad simplification here, should have been looking out for the vegetation on the left before turning right, but did not make out that unique feature when planning. Probably my concentration started to fade at this point, the 4th mistake in a row, to be followed by another one?
- 60, definitely lost in the details coming out of 59, plus 64 wasn't flashing and having run into Becca at 59 (again) told her that, she replied that it didn't flash for her either, so probably I was distracted. Read the map all the way out to the road through the paths, which meant when I looked up and took the building from the right I did not realise it was the wrong building. So heads up would have helped coming up from the forested bit, which I could not do as I wasn't doing simplification well enough here. So went into a dead end before realising and turning back, losing 1m+ here to 60.
- To 57 pulled myself together and probably was OK, but coming back out of 57 I saw Becca down on the ground next to a big puddle in clear pain. Stopped to help her with another runner, got her to sit down on a bench and made sure she was OK before continuing on.
- 65 took a while until I made sense of the map scale again and it fit the terrain but then it was easy into the control and then out of the barracks. Big puddles, very wet now.
- 46,48, 32. The vegetation around 32-52-55 was definitely not right, got caught up in heavy green coming out of 32 that should not have been there, lost 30s+.
- 51 again mapping wasn't quite right here, 10s lost (corrected)
- 55-49, quite good pacing here on the path before diving into green to the left, spot on with distance, which is good as I am not using pacing too often.
- Then the biggest simplification error I have made - out of 49 to 50, simplification was (right at path junction, run until there is a knoll in a clearing to the left and take the path to the right). The only issue was that the "right at path junction" was too much simplified, should have been taking care of direction, as it ended up being a 60deg mistake, ending up running an extra 600m+ due to running 2 sides of a triangle instead of 1. So maybe about 2,5m lost here
- 36 then 45: another bad decision on simplification. Plan was "path, left into white woods after junction, run parallel to the road until finding the two knolls just before hitting the green". The problem was that the green area wasn't there, it was all white so ran past the knolls. I have registered them but thought they were way early, so relied on a map I should at this point known to have been not precise with vegetation mapping. Also if I read the control descriptions I should have taken the knolls from the other side just in case, as the control was there. So another 1m lost.
- 31, got into the woods too early from the clearing, misread where I was, but found the control OK it just would have been faster otherwise, and a risky mistake that could have cost time if the area had a different layout
- 54 imprecise compass bearing to the right, strange but corrected easily relative to other features, 10s
- 47 the pit with knee deep water, again was it really necessary????
At this point I was running out of time, so headed towards the finish area. The map was definitely not right here either, extra paths but I was stupid to stop and hesitate, so again did not simplify the map well, but then realised I should just continue anyway, which I did. Managed to get to 37 and then back to the finish just in time.
So lots of mistakes and I think the learning from this for me on simplification is to be careful with what I choose as feature for simplification, and to have insurance policies to rely on to avoid these mistakes. I probably subconsciously thought the area was easy (relative to a lot of others it actually was), but that lowered my concentration and then made mistakes. Shouldn't do that next time.
9th / 246
Joined Ian and Becca to go to this event and based on last weekend's conclusion I decided to take this as a training exercise for map simplification. So wasn't running that hard, the objective was being able to pick routes and run them in a way that would be faster to navigate. Basically, be able to do more heads up orienteering by doing plan-simplify-memorise-run.
Very wet event, raining most of the way and wet under foot - one control was in the middle of a wet depression that you had to go knee deep in water to get to. Not appreciated. Varied area and a mixture of woodland, heathland, barracks. Unfortunately the map was quite imprecise (bad) in places, especially the vegetation mapping. Also lots of paths which made navigation look deceptively easy. Probably as a consequence I have made loads of errors, and ended up not collecting all controls within the hour - although not a big issue as that wasn't the objective, but still disappointing.
Rundown of the event with notable navigation aspects:
- Took my time to plan the route, started off slower (again). For some reason in my mind I did not want to accept the proper map orientation, so fought the compass and took a while to get going. Not sure why?
- 52-39-56-42 OK, compass bearing took me to the right of 42 which was disappointing as only a short distance and tried to be precise, 10s
- 53 (compass bearing OK)
-33 (good simplification here, through clearing edge then compass bearing)
- 41, decent simplification but read control description too late, almost on the road and description was "under bridge" so had to climb back down, 30s
- 44, compass bearing was taking me to the right but contours were leading me about 10-20deg to left. Chose to run with the contours and got the control spot on. This was a good leg in that I relied on multiple techniques.
Then into the barracks.
- 62, lost about 40s here, the control was not in the right place and control description incorrect: description said "Depression", mapped as a knoll, and in reality control was on a path bend...????
- 58, simplified the route well, but control (pit) was mapped in the wrong place, so ran down the spur expecting to hit the control, which was nowhere to be seen. Chose to run right around the contours (again not mapped very well) in case I could not see it from the curving of the spur, it wasn't there. Ran back the other side and the pit was there - definitely more underneath the veg boundary edge than mapped. So lost about 1 min but at least was in control.
- 63 to 61, started to run to the dead end clearing bet realised in time so turned left to run around the dark green, still lost about 20s
- 61 to 64, was confused and started to run to 59 but realised 64 was next up, so longer route than needed, but once I was on the right track simplified vegetation well.
- 59, gone the wrong way around the barracks and got into a dead end with the building work, bad simplification here, should have been looking out for the vegetation on the left before turning right, but did not make out that unique feature when planning. Probably my concentration started to fade at this point, the 4th mistake in a row, to be followed by another one?
- 60, definitely lost in the details coming out of 59, plus 64 wasn't flashing and having run into Becca at 59 (again) told her that, she replied that it didn't flash for her either, so probably I was distracted. Read the map all the way out to the road through the paths, which meant when I looked up and took the building from the right I did not realise it was the wrong building. So heads up would have helped coming up from the forested bit, which I could not do as I wasn't doing simplification well enough here. So went into a dead end before realising and turning back, losing 1m+ here to 60.
- To 57 pulled myself together and probably was OK, but coming back out of 57 I saw Becca down on the ground next to a big puddle in clear pain. Stopped to help her with another runner, got her to sit down on a bench and made sure she was OK before continuing on.
- 65 took a while until I made sense of the map scale again and it fit the terrain but then it was easy into the control and then out of the barracks. Big puddles, very wet now.
- 46,48, 32. The vegetation around 32-52-55 was definitely not right, got caught up in heavy green coming out of 32 that should not have been there, lost 30s+.
- 51 again mapping wasn't quite right here, 10s lost (corrected)
- 55-49, quite good pacing here on the path before diving into green to the left, spot on with distance, which is good as I am not using pacing too often.
- Then the biggest simplification error I have made - out of 49 to 50, simplification was (right at path junction, run until there is a knoll in a clearing to the left and take the path to the right). The only issue was that the "right at path junction" was too much simplified, should have been taking care of direction, as it ended up being a 60deg mistake, ending up running an extra 600m+ due to running 2 sides of a triangle instead of 1. So maybe about 2,5m lost here
- 36 then 45: another bad decision on simplification. Plan was "path, left into white woods after junction, run parallel to the road until finding the two knolls just before hitting the green". The problem was that the green area wasn't there, it was all white so ran past the knolls. I have registered them but thought they were way early, so relied on a map I should at this point known to have been not precise with vegetation mapping. Also if I read the control descriptions I should have taken the knolls from the other side just in case, as the control was there. So another 1m lost.
- 31, got into the woods too early from the clearing, misread where I was, but found the control OK it just would have been faster otherwise, and a risky mistake that could have cost time if the area had a different layout
- 54 imprecise compass bearing to the right, strange but corrected easily relative to other features, 10s
- 47 the pit with knee deep water, again was it really necessary????
At this point I was running out of time, so headed towards the finish area. The map was definitely not right here either, extra paths but I was stupid to stop and hesitate, so again did not simplify the map well, but then realised I should just continue anyway, which I did. Managed to get to 37 and then back to the finish just in time.
So lots of mistakes and I think the learning from this for me on simplification is to be careful with what I choose as feature for simplification, and to have insurance policies to rely on to avoid these mistakes. I probably subconsciously thought the area was easy (relative to a lot of others it actually was), but that lowered my concentration and then made mistakes. Shouldn't do that next time.
Tuesday May 10, 2016 #
6 PM
Running hills (Medium hills) 46:08 8.22 km (5:37 / km) +230m 4:55 / km
ahr:149 max:181 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Wessex training - medium hills on Talbot Heath
With Frida, Dale, Gavin, Becca, Tim
4-4-4 (half hill - full hill - half hill)
splits were
0:26,28,29,28,1:09,09,12,11,27,27,29,28
Legs felt quite heavy initially from the weekend and yesterdays cycling not loosening them properly, but they were working OK after all, loosened up during the session and could have done more.
With Frida, Dale, Gavin, Becca, Tim
4-4-4 (half hill - full hill - half hill)
splits were
0:26,28,29,28,1:09,09,12,11,27,27,29,28
Legs felt quite heavy initially from the weekend and yesterdays cycling not loosening them properly, but they were working OK after all, loosened up during the session and could have done more.
Monday May 9, 2016 #
1 PM
Cycling 31:00 [3] 6.27 km (12.1 kph) +14m
Controls hanging for the Summer League event
5 PM
Cycling 21:23 [3] 4.94 km (13.9 kph) +17m
Controls hanging for the Summer League event
8 PM
Cycling 23:27 [3] 5.48 km (14.0 kph) +16m
Controls collecting for the Summer League event
Sunday May 8, 2016 #
11 AM
Running warm up/down 6:18 1.19 km (5:17 / km) +2m 5:15 / km
ahr:137 max:157
To Julie to pick up gripples and kites for tomorrows event.
Running long 2:02:43 24.1 km (5:06 / km) +287m 4:48 / km
ahr:160 max:178
Long to Poole and back on the seafront, using all Zig-Zags.
Lovely sunshine, 20+ degrees, hot and lots of people.
That pain on my right foot in front of my ankle is still there and affected me quite a lot from about 10km on.
Lovely sunshine, 20+ degrees, hot and lots of people.
That pain on my right foot in front of my ankle is still there and affected me quite a lot from about 10km on.
Saturday May 7, 2016 #
12 PM
Running warm up/down 2:32 0.54 km (4:44 / km) +3m 4:38 / km
ahr:151 max:163
Urban Orienteering race (Sprint) 14:42 **** 3.12 km (4:43 / km) +3m 4:42 / km
ahr:171 max:181 spiked:15/15c
Science City Race 1, Mens Vet / Women Open course.
4th / 50 in Mens Vets, 6/80 overall (Happy with that, 2 England International W21 in front is not that bad).
http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...
Good course, kept me on my toes, lots of route choice legs in the Cambridge Science Park. A wobble of about 10s to the first control, then in control all the way. Was able to plan ahead mostly 2-3 legs, debating about which choice is better and most of the time made the right choice. Probably could have been shorter to 8 and 15, but the limiting factor in this race was mostly my legs. Not a surprise after the state they are in from the last few days and for some reason the shoe has pressed my right foot in a way that it was quite painful. Went away while running but came back after.
4th / 50 in Mens Vets, 6/80 overall (Happy with that, 2 England International W21 in front is not that bad).
http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...
Good course, kept me on my toes, lots of route choice legs in the Cambridge Science Park. A wobble of about 10s to the first control, then in control all the way. Was able to plan ahead mostly 2-3 legs, debating about which choice is better and most of the time made the right choice. Probably could have been shorter to 8 and 15, but the limiting factor in this race was mostly my legs. Not a surprise after the state they are in from the last few days and for some reason the shoe has pressed my right foot in a way that it was quite painful. Went away while running but came back after.
Urban Orienteering race (Sprint) 16:19 **** 3.03 km (5:23 / km) +2m 5:22 / km
ahr:166 max:179 spiked:23/23c
Science City Race 2, North Cambridge Map, Course 2 (Mens Vets / Womens Open).
9th / 49 Mens Vets, 15th/78 overall.
http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...
Much less happy about this. A totally different character sprint race than the 1st one. Well done for the planners as it is difficult to pull off in a sprint race, but they managed to do it. In this race, it was much less about route choice (most of the route variations I think were similar length), and much more about keeping good contact with the map in a very complex area with many twists and turns in both the route and the course.
I had to run a lot slower to not loose contact, which is clearly the area I need to improve upon. Nevertheless I had two small (to 3 and 8) and one larger wobbles (leg 10 where I ran past the control), all together about 40s, plus smaller losses with minor suboptimal route choices and waiting for people to punch ahead of me. It may seem small, but in fact in the overall results I was 1s behind 4th place, so it did matter!
It looks like I do need to work a lot on map simplification, looking at the splits this was clearly an area where some people are much better than me, as even without the 40s mistakes, relative to the other race, they had a better speed than me.
On the other hand it is also true that most people would have had a lot more rest between their two races, as having started at the back for race 1, I did not wait too long before going to the start for race 2. I did not feel that it would have inhibited my running, looking at the difference of the HR profile between race 1 and race 2 it clearly shows that I was running well within my capabilities on race 2. It may have influenced the freshness of my mind, though.
Good training as preparation for the British Sprint in a months time which was the reason I drove so far for this race, and it did not disappoint, well done organisers.
9th / 49 Mens Vets, 15th/78 overall.
http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...
Much less happy about this. A totally different character sprint race than the 1st one. Well done for the planners as it is difficult to pull off in a sprint race, but they managed to do it. In this race, it was much less about route choice (most of the route variations I think were similar length), and much more about keeping good contact with the map in a very complex area with many twists and turns in both the route and the course.
I had to run a lot slower to not loose contact, which is clearly the area I need to improve upon. Nevertheless I had two small (to 3 and 8) and one larger wobbles (leg 10 where I ran past the control), all together about 40s, plus smaller losses with minor suboptimal route choices and waiting for people to punch ahead of me. It may seem small, but in fact in the overall results I was 1s behind 4th place, so it did matter!
It looks like I do need to work a lot on map simplification, looking at the splits this was clearly an area where some people are much better than me, as even without the 40s mistakes, relative to the other race, they had a better speed than me.
On the other hand it is also true that most people would have had a lot more rest between their two races, as having started at the back for race 1, I did not wait too long before going to the start for race 2. I did not feel that it would have inhibited my running, looking at the difference of the HR profile between race 1 and race 2 it clearly shows that I was running well within my capabilities on race 2. It may have influenced the freshness of my mind, though.
Good training as preparation for the British Sprint in a months time which was the reason I drove so far for this race, and it did not disappoint, well done organisers.
Friday May 6, 2016 #
8 PM
Running warm up/down 9:12 1.65 km (5:34 / km) +2m 5:31 / km
ahr:145 max:155 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Orienteering 1:00:07 * 9.35 km (6:26 / km) +48m 6:16 / km
ahr:152 max:167 spiked:25/25c shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Test ran the Summer League score course I set for Monday. Should be OK, though a bit late with the planning!
Legs are VERY heavy, far from having recovered from the intervals yesterday. Tomorrow I'll need a looooong warm-up...
Legs are VERY heavy, far from having recovered from the intervals yesterday. Tomorrow I'll need a looooong warm-up...
Running warm up/down 6:43 1.23 km (5:28 / km)
ahr:149 max:160 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Thursday May 5, 2016 #
8 PM
Running warm up/down 11:03 2.23 km (4:57 / km) +7m 4:53 / km
ahr:155 max:166 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Running intervals (14x400) 51:50 8.05 km (6:26 / km) +1m 6:26 / km
ahr:151 max:182 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
400m intervals, 2m off, aiming at 3:30 pace for each.
Quite difficult to get out finally and to force myself to get through the whole training, but managed to do it in the end.
Aimed at 3:30 pace which I just about managed:
3:27, 23, 27, 30, 23, 27, 25, 33, 25, 27, 27, 27, 33, 27
I need to adjust the Garmin training program as it has 2:00 off but it felt too long.
Quite difficult to get out finally and to force myself to get through the whole training, but managed to do it in the end.
Aimed at 3:30 pace which I just about managed:
3:27, 23, 27, 30, 23, 27, 25, 33, 25, 27, 27, 27, 33, 27
I need to adjust the Garmin training program as it has 2:00 off but it felt too long.
Tuesday May 3, 2016 #
6 PM
Running warm up/down 7:50 1.66 km (4:42 / km) +4m 4:39 / km
ahr:154 max:162 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Running (Short hills) 15:21 2.72 km (5:39 / km) +128m 4:34 / km
ahr:169 max:181 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Wessex training, summer short hills (Talbot Heath).
4-3-2-2-2-3-4 of a pyramid hills (increase/decrease), with run up - jog down.
Good turnout (Kay/Frida/Becca/Becca/Ian/Roger/Dale/Tim/Gavin), got there late so working hard to catch the "back of the queue" which I just about managed by the finish.
4-3-2-2-2-3-4 of a pyramid hills (increase/decrease), with run up - jog down.
Good turnout (Kay/Frida/Becca/Becca/Ian/Roger/Dale/Tim/Gavin), got there late so working hard to catch the "back of the queue" which I just about managed by the finish.
Running warm up/down 10:37 1.3 km (8:09 / km) +27m 7:23 / km
ahr:137 max:152 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Monday May 2, 2016 #
Event: WMOA Urban League 1
10 AM
Running warm up/down 4:19 0.82 km (5:14 / km)
ahr:139 max:156 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Urban Orienteering race 35:36 *** 7.21 km (4:56 / km) +45m 4:48 / km
ahr:166 max:177 spiked:28/28c (sick) shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Tamworth Urban, Mens Vets / Women Open (Course 2).
5th/58, decent performance.
Two mistakes, a few more wobbles, probably a minute or so lost through navigation. More however lost on my form, physically not in top form, probably my cold has inhibited my running now.
Interesting course, though with a few dog legs (3,6,8,11,14,25), and very surprised about the setup of the start: I mean everyone could basically see the first 2 controls of my course! I (and anyone) could pretty much run those two from memory, so I was planning ahead instead. Seems like an oversight on behalf of the organisers (or a compromise at the last minute?).
There were, however, quite a few good route choice legs (3,15,23,27).
A good finish for the long weekend, gradually improving in results, shame it wasn't the other way around.
5th/58, decent performance.
Two mistakes, a few more wobbles, probably a minute or so lost through navigation. More however lost on my form, physically not in top form, probably my cold has inhibited my running now.
Interesting course, though with a few dog legs (3,6,8,11,14,25), and very surprised about the setup of the start: I mean everyone could basically see the first 2 controls of my course! I (and anyone) could pretty much run those two from memory, so I was planning ahead instead. Seems like an oversight on behalf of the organisers (or a compromise at the last minute?).
There were, however, quite a few good route choice legs (3,15,23,27).
A good finish for the long weekend, gradually improving in results, shame it wasn't the other way around.
Running warm up/down 1:17 0.21 km (6:03 / km) +3m 5:42 / km
ahr:138 max:155 shoes: Saucony Excursion TR8
Sunday May 1, 2016 #
11 AM
Orienteering race (Relay) 30:54 [4] *** 5.0 km (6:11 / km) +170m 5:17 / km
spiked:15/15c (sick) shoes: VJ iRock 2016
British Championships Relay, Mens Short, 2nd runner.
Jason brought the relay in at 14th place, handed off to me with the comment "bloody dummy controls" :) I had a fairly clean run, with a few wobbles, but in the rain, caught up a few people and handed off to Rob in 8th place (3rd best of the 2nd leg runners), he then had a nightmare run and we finished 22nd.
Fairly happy with mine, probably accumulated about 1 min of mistakes from small route choice errors, directional errors etc. Fairly sure that control #11 was too low down, there was an unmapped path above it which threw me as well as many others. But, corrected myself easily and had none of the issues form the day above. Probably could have pushed a little bit more as well but tried to make sure I was in control instead.
Forgot to start my Garmin so distance is an estimate (course was officially 4.4km with 150m climb).
Ran this with the new iRock, correct size and had no issues whatsoever even though this was way shorter and only a few legs with contouring.
Jason brought the relay in at 14th place, handed off to me with the comment "bloody dummy controls" :) I had a fairly clean run, with a few wobbles, but in the rain, caught up a few people and handed off to Rob in 8th place (3rd best of the 2nd leg runners), he then had a nightmare run and we finished 22nd.
Fairly happy with mine, probably accumulated about 1 min of mistakes from small route choice errors, directional errors etc. Fairly sure that control #11 was too low down, there was an unmapped path above it which threw me as well as many others. But, corrected myself easily and had none of the issues form the day above. Probably could have pushed a little bit more as well but tried to make sure I was in control instead.
Forgot to start my Garmin so distance is an estimate (course was officially 4.4km with 150m climb).
Ran this with the new iRock, correct size and had no issues whatsoever even though this was way shorter and only a few legs with contouring.