Training Log Archive: OJ

Moscow champs middle distance. Really good field and I thought it would be fun to have a good go at this. Started agressively but my plan fell apart at no. 2 with a big mistake on a classic Moscow leg - run across a big tract of featureless bushy forest to hit a reentrant on the side of a ravine. I failed to aim off enough, game over. Mistake after mistake followed and I finished over 5 mins down. Embarassing.

Long warm up and a shorter warm down.

Straight out of bed and not really feeling it. Baking hot and humid already, good to get the run in early today.

After feeling pretty good for a couple of days and what feels like weeks without any real training, I decided to try something a bit faster. Ran efforts between some km markers from a race on the embankment in the Sparrow Hills. Dead flat in a straight line on tarmac, very dull. Aimed to run at a nice comfortable tempo pace of 3.20s, which I thought would be easily sustainable for 6+ reps. Managed the first 5 and it became apparant I was trying much too hard for the pace. 3.22, 3.18, 3.19, 3.18, 3.22. Gave up and jogged home for an ice cream, shattered now. Am I really that unfit?

C • Rimmer: 3

Headed out to Tropaevo near Iugo-Zapadnaia for an evening bash around a Mos-meridian event. Decided to try to run a clean and controlled session, but this got blown away on no.2 with a miss. It was a seriously hard area and I made a few mistakes in blobby green forest with little to go on except compass. Better in the second half.

Twist was that instead of codes on the controls there was a sum, so for 53 the control had: 72/3+29. With controls on vague features and close together it was worth checking, so I had to spend a while doing the maths as I started each leg. Sort of added to the challenge, but sort of annoying. Enjoyable session on a sunny afternoon in any case.

Map: http://o-mephi.net/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=1...

Warm up to get things moving then a jog to the metro station, 3 stops to Sparrow Hills then a 25 min run home from there along the embankment. Needed an ice cold kvas by the time I arrived.

I had planned to go running this morning, but Putin had seeded the clouds over Moscow to clear the skies ready for Victory Day, so it was chucking it down. Went and watched the parade of heavy metal instead and tried to avoid getting kettled anywhere, which was easier said than done.

Finally got out for a jog in the evening - to Victory Park to take in the celebrations. And celebrations they really are with pop concerts, fairground rides, reenactments, fireworks and lots of flag waving, all completely unlike the sombre atmosphere of VE Day in the UK.

C • Did the cloud seeding work? 3

Back in the RF (doesn't quite have the same ring to it). Took an easy cruise up to Sparrow Hills, MGU, Luzhniki. Good to get moving after a day of wandering through galleries, this felt much easier than standing around. Hot, humid and a bit rainy, gearing up for some big storms on Victory Day tomorrow. Police everywhere at the moment, managed to avoid getting caught up in a riot.

С днем победы!

C • Нет усталость чувствуется! 3

Travelling to Moscow all day.