Training Log Archive: Bruce

Running 16:10 [2] 2.92 km (5:33 / km) +19m 5:22 / km

Running tempo 20:01 [4] 5.25 km (3:49 / km) +18m 3:45 / km

Running 18:40 [2] 2.09 km (8:55 / km) +58m 7:50 / km

Cycling 26:33 [2] 6.57 km (14.8 kph) +38m

Running long 1:33:39 [2] 19.03 km (4:55 / km) +195m 4:41 / km

Cycling 27:17 [2] 6.63 km (14.6 kph) +41m

Running tempo 1:08:48 13.01 km (5:17 / km) +152m 5:00 / km

Running 1:05:18 [2] 12.82 km (5:06 / km) +76m 4:57 / km

Orienteering warm up/down 39:20 [1] 2.53 km (15:35 / km) +86m 13:19 / km

Orienteering 44:17 [4] ** 7.51 km (5:54 / km) +190m 5:14 / km
spiked:11/11c

Plenty River
A course 1st

Fence crossing training, including 11 in the last 2kms of the course!


Open in Google Chrome for 3D re-run

The course was nothing inspiring, with many out and back legs just to make you climb a hill. I was very clean with my navigation as the controls were all set quite easy. My calf was good today, and I was able to climb the hills without noticing it. I just need to work more on my hill strength so that I can run a bit faster.
Bruce 44
Colm 46
Dion 46
Tim Hatley 48
Blair 51 (I guess he was suffering the day after a 30km run)
Dion had some great speed early, but I was pulling away in the second half of the course. Colm lost time on #1, and then I was a little faster after that. Based on those splits, I still have some work to do to get back to where I was at Easter.

Running 43:09 [3] 8.32 km (5:11 / km) +154m 4:45 / km

Note

Running 40:19 [2] 7.18 km (5:37 / km) +51m 5:25 / km

Running intervals 55:47 8.79 km (6:21 / km) +106m 5:59 / km

Cycling 24:00 [2] 6.18 km (15.5 kph) +42m

Running 1:10:09 [2] 13.26 km (5:18 / km) +172m 4:58 / km

Cycling 23:49 [2] 6.25 km (15.7 kph) +24m

Running warm up/down 12:05 [2] 2.2 km (5:30 / km) +11m 5:22 / km

Running intervals 27:48 [4] 5.35 km (5:12 / km)

Running warm up/down 18:56 [2] 4.0 km (4:44 / km) +56m 4:25 / km

Running 1:05:50 [2] 13.28 km (4:57 / km) +229m 4:34 / km

Orienteering warm up/down 20:00 [1] 3.0 km (6:40 / km)

Orienteering race 1:07:14 [5] **** 9.72 km (6:55 / km) +171m 6:21 / km
spiked:19/21c

State Series #4
Irishtown
3rd



I was very pleased to be able to run with only minor calf soreness towards the end of the course. This enabled me to get back to some decent orienteering speed, although my fitness was still suffering.

I went very wide (left) on #1. It probably wasn't the fastest way, but it was good for me to read the rest of the course.

I had 2 problems. The first was at #6 (50 seconds). My attack point was a small spur immediately before the small gully with the control. Unfortunately, a significant knoll/spur is covered by the north edge of the control circle. I ran to this thinking that it was my attackpoint. When I understood that it wasn't, I could see where I could be on the map. Looking further north I saw the small watercourse, so I headed south and found the control.

Very small losses at #7 (10s) and #8 looking for the control hidden in the pit (15s).

The other major problem was at #13 (3 mins). See GPS track - I did a very good job of searching the gorse in the middle of the circle, but it wasn't until I searched outside the circle that I found the control.

On the way to #16 I got stuck in blackberries for around 30secs.

The cliff at #20 was further south than was marked on the map. I aimed off to the left carfully and found the cliff right in front of me. My GPS track confirms this.

Full marks to the course setter for using the most interesting and challenging terrain on the map. The short legs with changes of direction were really enjoyable. There were also some good route choice legs early on the longer courses. Courses 8 and 9 were also very suitable for the 10-12 year olds.

Unfortunately control 177 was misplaced by about 50m too high. The gorse in the area has spread, and the track across the creek was overgrown. Those who navigated to the correct small gully next to the small knoll in the middle of the gorse had no chance of seeing where the control was actually placed. This had a large impact on the results of both course 3 (#13) and course 5 (#14), as can be seen by the splits. I don’t think that anyone complained too much though, as it was only a state series event. In cases like these where the vegetation on the map has changed significantly, it is better to move the control site to another location.

I am interested in how the start time window from 10am-12pm went. Were all people on course 6 able to get a start slot without too much waiting? It was interesting that almost no one started prior to 10:30am.

3d Rerun

Running 45:59 [2] 8.99 km (5:07 / km) +51m 4:58 / km

Cycling 50:00 [2] 14.0 km (16.8 kph)

Running 55:22 [2] 8.01 km (6:55 / km) +35m 6:46 / km

Running 59:16 [3] 11.74 km (5:03 / km) +171m 4:42 / km

Cycling 25:00 [2] 6.5 km (15.6 kph)

Running 45:04 [2] 8.49 km (5:18 / km) +126m 4:56 / km

Cycling 29:56 [2] 6.83 km (13.7 kph) +22m

Running warm up/down 17:50 [2] 2.95 km (6:03 / km) +27m 5:47 / km

Running intervals 23:40 [3] 5.02 km (4:43 / km) +22m 4:37 / km

Running warm up/down 18:00 [2] 3.06 km (5:53 / km) +62m 5:21 / km

Note
(rest day)

Orienteering race 2:34:40 [4] *** 22.45 km (6:53 / km) +349m 6:24 / km
spiked:19/28c

NOL Long Distance and WOC Trial
Astley's Tower
M21E 17th



It was either sit around, do nothing and get bored, or start the race and see how my calf could handle a longer bush race, knowing that I would not be competitive on the result board.

This was always going to be a long day with a 18.1km course. It turned out to be possibly my longest ever NOL race time at 154 minutes.

I wonder why we really need to set these super long courses for our WOC trials. Apart from Julian, it has been a long time since an Australian male has made a WOC long distance final. In my opinion, we should be picking the runners who have the best possible chance of a top result in the WOC Long Qualifier. These usually have a winning time of around 50 minutes. Today, the best Aussie ran 120 minutes.

At jogging speed, I never experienced any calf pain on the course, so I kept going. When I tried to run faster on the tracks, it was certainly tight, so I just had keep it slow. A logical exit point may have been after 14, but I was still enjoying it, so I kept going. Simply by being out for over 140minutes, I started to tire on the way to 26, but at that stage there was only 1km to go.

I was happy with my route choice on the long leg to 6, taking the left hand route out to the road.

I found that not being in race mode negatively impacted my navigation. It was not one of my better technical efforts. I suspect that I lost 2 mins on 1, 30s on 8, 2mins on 11, 1min on 13, 1min on 16, 1min on 17, 3 mins on 26, 30s on 27 and 30s on 28. The errors certainly crept in towards the end when I was not really orienteering, but just jogging in survival mode.

26 was a stupid control site in the middle of dark green, where the feature was not visible. This was not at all fair.
27 reminded me of the Miner's Despair map - the control was on a feature that was not legible on the map

Route Gadget

Orienteering warm up/down 15:00 [2] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)

Orienteering race 18:36 [5] 3.83 km (4:52 / km) +42m 4:37 / km

NOL Sprint Distance and WOC Trial
Newcastle University
M21E 8th place



My calf had improved, but I was still a long way from 100%. I wasn't really able to run at top speed, and minimal training for 4 weeks would probably prevent that in the second half of the race anyway. I had to be really careful accelerating and climbing stairs and banks, so realistically I was going to be around 10% slower than I could have been.

I started very well, having predicted a route choice around the first building near the start. I took a couple of extra seconds to read the map and then took the right route - giving me the fastest split. I continued well onto the second and was still in 2nd place.
3 and 4 involved stairs and slopes, and that brought me back to the field. Unfortunately, this was going to be the case with my calf.
5 was my biggest mistake of the morning - losing 10 seconds. I tried to find the second staircase on the left, but the map/terrain was very confusing and overshot by 15m. The ideal route choice was diagonal left, approaching the control from the left.
6-16 were clean, but I was certainly restricted with my calf and losing time.
I was too careful on 17. I correctly read that the right side of the building was a dead end, so I took the left route. I failed to see the right route around the garden which cost me 5-10 seconds.
18 was mapped next to an olive green garden bed. I stayed clear of the garden bed on the exit, but I saw others that didn't.
After the garden bed, I ran too far left and almost took a wrong turn. I correctly just in time, but probably lost 10 seconds for missing the short cut.
I had a good section from 20-23. From 20 I exited backward, avoiding the stairs and the long wall, resulting in the fastest split. On 23 I took the left route and was in the top 5 splits on a long leg where I was again restricted at top speed.
My finish was clean, but I had to resist sprinting, especially across the very spongy grass.

I did my best and I have to be happy with 8th place, especially considering I couldn't walk less than 4 weeks ago. I was a bit disappointed given that 2nd Australian was certainly possible for me without injury on this course. However there was nothing else that I could have done to avoid this, so I have to be satisfied.

Route Gadget

Photo, complete with "old man's calf" socks

Orienteering warm up/down 30:00 [1] 5.06 km (5:56 / km) +23m 5:48 / km

Orienteering race 42:05 [4] **** 7.31 km (5:45 / km) +94m 5:24 / km
spiked:22/27c

NOL Middle Distance and WOC Trials
The Old Pelaw Main Colliery
M21E 16th



I wasn't certain that I could run in the terrain with my calf, so I took it quite slowly and set myself a goal of getting through the race without any further damage. If I felt any strain I was going to abandon my course.

Fortunately my calf held up ok at jogging speed, and I was able to complete the race. I was not very confident, especially in the marshes and rough areas, so I was pretty slow.

It was a very good course with lots of changes of direction. You had to be on top of your navigation to have a good run.

My navigation wasn't brilliant. I got confused by extra tracks and lost a minute on 1. I got the angles wrong and finished 50m to the right.
My compass was poor on 11 and 12, and I got the exit completely wrong leaving 12 from not reading the map carefully.
I was lazy on 19; not using my compass or the track to the right. I ended up a wide left and had to cover extra distance.
26 was hard to find - it was a broken fence. I found the flag, but didn't see anything of a fence.
I lost another 30s on 27. The tracks were not clear, and I when I got to the clearing I couldn't see the control feature. I expected that it would be obvious in the clearing. I checked out another flag (wrong code) and eventually found a the control on a tiny termite mound behind a bush. It turned out that the bush was a tiny green dot on the map, which I didn't notice.

Several of the features on this map appeared to be very small, including the tiny black circles for man made features.

Route Gadget


This also gave me enough confidence to attempt the long distance race, although again I would have to restrict myself to jogging.

Orienteering warm up/down 15:00 [2] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)

Running 33:52 [2] 6.26 km (5:25 / km) +75m 5:06 / km

Running 29:14 [3] 5.15 km (5:40 / km) +55m 5:23 / km

Cycling 1:00:01 [2] 13.57 km (13.6 kph) +63m

Running 30:24 [2] 5.16 km (5:54 / km) +72m 5:31 / km

Cycling 50:00 [2] 13.0 km (15.6 kph) +26m

Running 20:00 [1] 4.0 km (5:00 / km)

Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 2.0 km (7:30 / km)

Orienteering race 14:45 [4] *** 3.3 km (4:29 / km) +4m 4:27 / km
spiked:19/19c

Apart from a couple of brief fitness tests, this was first run in 3 weeks after a calf tear. My main objective was to see if my calf could last a sprint race to see if I bother to make the trip to Newcastle next weekend.

I restrained myself to go no faster than 4 min/kms to avoid any further damage and this was achieved. My race was very clean, as I was running well below my race pace and I had plenty of time to plan and execute my routes carefully.

An added bonus was finishing second in M21A, 19 seconds behind Bryan. It would have been nice to be able to race at full speed and go for the win, but that may also have resulted in another calf tear. Hopefully the improvement will continue during the week, and I can race a bit harder next Saturday.

Running 12:30 [2] 2.04 km (6:07 / km)

Cycling 22:18 [2] 6.56 km (17.7 kph) +36m

Running 20:27 [1] 2.31 km (8:52 / km) +30m 8:20 / km

Cycling 1:15:44 [2] 18.29 km (14.5 kph) +76m

Cycling 22:59 [2] 5.91 km (15.4 kph) +27m

Cycling 23:56 [2] 6.57 km (16.5 kph) +45m

Cycling 28:00 [3] 8.0 km (17.1 kph) +24m

Cycling 24:23 [2] 6.55 km (16.1 kph) +40m

Cycling 22:12 [2] 5.95 km (16.1 kph) +47m

Cycling 35:51 [3] 10.91 km (18.3 kph) +109m