Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Simon & Charlotte (RMOC friends) hosted a one-hour Score-O and brunch in their neighborhood in downtown Golden -- mainly for their running club members, but a few RMOC people were invited as "orienteering ambassadors". :-)

I hit the wrong button to start my watch, so I wasn't sure of my exact time and ended up being 2-3 minutes over the one-hour limit. But before my penalty points were deducted, I think I had the highest score.

Delicious brunch afterwards, and I definitely ate too much -- quiche, cheese grits, candy corn, mini cinnamon rolls, almond-flour shortbread cookies, and chai-spice pound cake (my contribution).

Walked to & from the rec center.

Yoga at the rec center.

Neighborhood walk.

Weekly Runners Roost run -- up McCaslin, one short loop around Davidson Mesa, one loop around Harper Lake, and then back down McCaslin.

I'm still in recovery mode -- this was a slow & easy pace.

Easy neighborhood run.

Up at 3:30 am for my 6:10 flight.

I picked this Southwest flight because it was cheapest and scheduled to land in Denver at 8:50 am, which would get me home and online for work by ~10am (kinda late but not terrible).

Unfortunately, I forgot to check in for my flight in a timely manner yesterday, and I ended up with boarding position C47. FML.

Knowing (as of Friday afternoon) that I had a 10am video conference call that included my VP, I was really nervous that boarding last would mean having to check my carry-on (and then having to wait for it at baggage claim), sitting in the very back of the plane in a middle seat with no window to sleep against, and being last to get off the plane -- making me late for the call. So I forked out $40 for an A-group boarding position.

So much for my bargain-basement trip (speeding ticket + $40 in extra fees...). :-\

I have either bursitis, arthritis, or the beginnings of a stress fracture in my left big toe joint. As my seat-neighbor on the plane was sitting down, he dropped his laptop squarely on that joint. Ouch.

On the bright side, my VP talked me down from the severe agitation I was feeling after Friday's meeting. It's still not the greatest news, but I feel less aggravated and furious.

C • Ups and Downs 4

Day 2 at Petrified Forest -- Rainbow Forest.

Unlike yesterday -- when people seemed to scatter in multiple directions and I was alone almost the entire time -- a lot of us seemed to have similar counter-clockwise loops today.

I followed the dry washes whenever possible, and I didn't have the same navigational mistakes I had yesterday.

I think I was ahead of Sharon until #43, where I lost a bunch of time trying to find a way out of the steep, crumbly, slot canyon area without killing myself. I'm sure she was smarter and back-tracked out immediately.

The Shahbazian team apparently had a similar ordeal at #43 but caught me near #51. We had a similar pace and plan, so we were together for most of the rest of the course.

As I left #35, I passed JP going the other way and he informed me that Sharon was ahead. From that point on -- no more photos! no more lollygagging! full speed, no mistakes! ;-)

I passed her just after #34 and managed to stay ahead. The only question was whether she might have had a better route with more points. I got to the finish with 15 minutes to spare, but there weren't any other controls close enough to get in that time.

As it turned out...I was ahead by enough points to edge ahead of Sharon in the two-day combined results -- fifth overall, 2nd female (behind Sanna, who I knew I had no chance of beating -- she cleaned the course today and got all but one control yesterday).

I snuck away without doing control pickup... I felt kinda guilty about that, but my feet were killing me and I was exhausted.

I had about 30 minutes of tense anxiety on the way back to Phoenix, when I absent-mindedly almost ran out of gas on a long isolated stretch of the highway. I made it to Payson and filled up with 9.6 gallons -- which makes me think I had less than a half gallon to spare?!

Overall, a really fun weekend with perfect weather. After my mostly-horrible races at the recent BAOC S-M-L meet, it was great to be able to RUN and navigate well.



Charlie at #42:

C • Nice 2