Training Log Archive: X8A7

Warmup. Was not feeling the best, had some nausea problems in the morning, but managed to eat enough (I hoped). I knew my left Achilles would be bothersome the whole race.

US Classic Champs, Day 2 blue, 11.5km straight line. I certainly had better foot speed today and navigation was good except in two spots. Going to 6 I could not fine the intermediate features and failed to keep track of the vegetation. I thought my bearing was good, but it clearly was off by 10 degrees, found 10 which got me on track. Going to 18 I lost concentration when crossing the fence and lost being locked into the map so got distracted by a wrong control before stumbling on the right one. Going to 2 was also a bit poor too, my internal compass was not calibrated and did not feel locked into the map yet. The highly detailed 14-17 legs had me worried, but I managed those without major incident which pleased me. I had hoped for a super clean fast day to move up in the standings. I had a solid day, but felt a little let down by the above issues. Afterwards was also fairly frustrated by my Achilles issues, this bout was produced by last Wed. intervals, something to be learned there. Overall, I certainly was happy with the results, first "podium" for eligible runners of any major meet and got to chat with various folks.

Quickroute: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98725947@N05/1490750...
Routegadget: http://www.rmoc.org/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=...
Results: http://2014.rmoc.org/documents/20140810-Day2-ByCla...
Overall results: http://2014.rmoc.org/documents/20140810-Overall-By...

Control pickup. Major T-storms off in distance, managed to finish before hard rain hit. Mix of walk and run, had to kinda limp due to Achilles.

What is better, 3rd at US Champs in the elite (M21+) class or 1st at US Champs in my M35+ age group?

C • What is better... 1

Blue - Splits

warmup

US Classic Champs, Day 1 Blue, 12.4 km straight line. I was happy with the run as there were no major mistakes and did a good job of picking off intermediate features. Minor issues going to #5, #6, #8, #12, but all were quick recoveries. My foot speed did not feel that fast, I now know that I need to work on my ability to navigate and run fast. Saw Swampfox going to 8, to me he look like he was going to try to climb the cliff over the hill going to 9. I didn't see any sign of him on some of the later long open legs, figured he totally smoked me (he was running much faster than me), but then he showed up out of the blue again just after 15. Afterwards, he said he miss one. Even top guys make mistakes and I think I need to keep remembering that NO-ONE, not even the illustrious Swampfox (or better still, Marc L.) are immune to mistakes (some being BIG). But I still need to be diligent with continuing to minimize them. My Achilles, particularly the left one, where not the best.

Quickroute: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98725947@N05/1470073...
Routegadget: http://www.rmoc.org/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=...
Results: http://2014.rmoc.org/documents/20140809-Day1-ByCla...

Control pickup. Some major T-storm activity off in the distance, it threatened to hit, and I spent a little time at the car waiting to see what it would do, but it never went right over. Mostly walked, left Achilles was frustrating the hell out of me. Reran going into 8 to show myself that I can easily do such a thing, but I have to not let other runners distract me.

Blue - Splits

Easy run through model event. Felt pretty good with the navigation, but lost ~40 sec going to #8 (re-ran to check). I'm learning more and more that mistakes are costly, fortunately I feel I am making progress with cutting those down. Also, I'm learning where I'm most prone to mistakes: leaving controls, crossing fences, not locating intermediate features, being distracted by other runners or cows or antelope, etc.

Quickroute: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98725947@N05/1470051...

Reran 7-8, 9-10, didn't do 9-10 any better.

28th to F, 4th to Redbarn, trail, back through 'burbs to Sheep's Draw, 'burbs, behind funplex, back on 20th. Might have been a bit longer than I should have, was feeling just a touch tired at end. Left Achilles was tight all day, nervous it won't be good by Sat., time will tell.

warmupcooldown

Running club. A bit warm, but it wasn't a huge factor. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3 min with 3 min rest. Felt pretty good, the best in a while with respect to speed. Paces were 5:50, 38, 32, 29, 26. The last one being pretty much at my limit. This should help the speed for this weekend.