Training Log Archive: Craig

Oceania Middle.
Very steep and muddy area. Got a bit stuck in the first marshy creek I tried to cross and slipped over a few times on the first couple of hills and dropped into a very conservative mindset, just aiming to get around without hurting myself rather than really racing. Didn't feel I was reading the map very well, no significant mistakes but kept having to stop and work things out because things were often coming up much faster than I expected (1:7500) and most of the rock was much smaller than I was expecting. Don't really remember how I was feeling out on the course but I was enjoying running up and down the hill looking for Amy after I finished so I guess I didn't push as hard as I could have. Amy had already finished and was pretty pleased with herself for getting 6th place and 1st Australian.

Oceania Relays.
Signed up at the last minute before starting the long race to run last leg in a composite team with a Russian and Chinese. Turned out the Russian only did finished half of the M45AS course and the Chinese took 4 hours on M45A so I expected to be going in the 1pm mass start which I was not looking forward to but the Russian didn't turn up so I was very happy to swap to first leg instead.
Still wasn't particularly motivated to push hard but had a steady enough run and did about the same time as all the Australian team runners.

Oceania Long Champs at Rototoa (Woodhill).
Started poorly. Went for the conservative route around the tracks on 1 but misjudged the scale badly and stopped way short for a while. Eventually convinced myself I just had to keep going and found it ok but slowly. Probably lost a bit over a minute. Feeling pretty nervous after that so was very stop start through the next few but no real problems. Started to gain in confidence after a while and the rest of the course was pretty clean although I was starting to struggle a bit physically towards the end.
When I first looked at the results and saw my time would put me third I assumed there must be more to come in, then I remembered I was last starter and thought they must be having a problem with the results system, but in fact it was correct. I was a long way behind Darren and Carsten but also a long way ahead of Scott in 4th. The part I was most pleased about is that Aston Key was the only M18 to beat me.

C • You've still got it! 2

Long - Course Course 5 - Splits

Event: Oceania Championships 2017
 

Had a little hit with Liam and Rachel at Western Park until my heel started to hurt a bit and I left them to it and helped Amy climb a tree instead. Nice playground with flying fox and some big slides.

Oceania Sprint Champs at Unitec Auckland.
Pretty clean run. Lost a bit of time when I slipped, put my hand down, stepped on my map and then slipped again standing on my map so spent the next couple of legs concentrating more on trying to wipe the mud off the map than racing. Lost a few more seconds at 13 because I thought it was going to be on the other side of the building but it wasn't far to go around. Pretty happy with how I felt physically, never really felt fast but didn't feel as though I was struggling either. Didn't really notice the heel until after I finished. Ended up 4th, close to 2nd but a long way off Carsten.

Sprint - Course - 4 - Splits

Booked an hour on the indoor courts at Albany to give Liam a fix of tennis as we won't get many opportunities on this trip and he wasn't very happy about missing all the April tournaments at home. Started a bit early and kept going a bit late to try to get better value for our money.