Training Log Archive: Bruce

NSW Long Distance Championships
Gardens of Stone
M21E



This was an enjoyable area, and there was some good detail in parts, along with some interesteing route choice legs.
I felt like I had a good technical race. I hit all of the controls well, and only had 2 slight hesitations. I just couldn't seem to get moving fast enough in the forest compared to the top elite runners. Perhaps it could be a few days of camping, or perhaps I am just getting older.
It may be time for me to start thinking about running M40 for some of the long distance races.

NSW Long Champs Hard 1 - Splits

Event: NSW Sprint Championships / NOL Sprint Relay / NSW Long Championships
 

Mixed Sprint Relay
Zig Zag - Lithgow



This was a fairly basic sprint area. Unfortunately there was just 2 variations so it was effectively a cross country race.
It was also disappointing that there was an unmapped uncrossable fence, and a wrong code on one of the controls.
I ran most of the race next to Bryan. I did pass him several times when he kept losing a few seconds, but Bryan was running faster than me.

A gentle recovery run to Lane Cove and back from Eoin and Cath's place.
The tracks were tight, steep and rocky, and many of the streets were extremely steep. Training here regularly would be quite different to home.

Easter Relay Distance
M21E



After a few nights of freezing cold camping, I was surprised to still be feeling ok on the Easter Monday. However, I was didn't feel like I had a lot of strength left in my legs, so I wanted to look for flatter track options where possible.
The course was great for a chasing start. I noticed that we had individualised control descriptions, so this hinted at some butterfly legs. In fact, we had to sets of butterflies on the course to avoid big groups on the reverse chasing start event. This should be encouraged for all future Easter chasing start races.
I started conservatively. I took the track route to 2 and planned ahead. Rob Baker almost caught me 2 minutes. This triggered me to put my foot down, and I was able to hold him off for the rest of the course, and even pull away near the end.
I was careful not to make any mistakes in the rock, and I managed to get away with only a 20 second error at #3.

We stayed around for the presentations as the rest of my family were all receiving awards. It did drag on for a long time though. I am sure that I got through them much faster last year at Bendigo.

Day 3 1 Hard (2) - Splits

Easter Long Distance
M21E



This was a fairly straight forward course. It was steep early. Then a couple of long route choice legs were set. I always took the tracks where possible as this suited me best.
At one point Hanny caught me in the forest on a long leg. I kept in front on the tracks, but she took the lead in the forest. I was going to be out for a longer than her so I wasn't too concerned.
Matt Crane caught me at 8 and then again at 16, so either I was doing ok, or more likely he made a mistake.
My run was very clean, maybe losing only 30 seconds at 16.

Warm down on novice course with Sophie. I had to walk up a few of the hills!

Day 2 Course 1 - Splits