Training Log Archive: barb

Ran to the Lynn train station faster than I normally run, because I thought I might miss the train. Then I ran from North Station home. Calves still sore. Vertebra at base of neck unhappy, from the pounding I guess.

To doctor then work then home.

Out to the point in Nahant, my classic route from graduate school days. Calves are a bit sore, probably from running barefoot yesterday.

Ran barefoot for 2 of these miles, along the Nahant beach. It seemed like running barefoot might be a good complement to running in shoes. It's quite a different way of landing, on the ball of the foot mostly; it must exercise the muscles differently. Also I thought it might serve as a bit of a pedicure, sanding down the rough edges of my feet from the rogaine wear and tear.

My next orienteering will be at the Swiss O Week. I'll be highly unprepared, altitude-wise.

Biked to an appointment with Dave. He told me about orienteering this past weekend. There was a lot of water in the woods. He made his way around puddles until finally he came to a puddle that couldn't be gotten around. He ran right into it, but it was at least twice as deep as he pictured it was going to be. The next thing he knew, he had done a face plant right into the puddle. Later he compared notes with Adam, and found out that Adam had done the same thing at the same place. I wish I could have seen it, for the laughs.

Weight was measured at the doctor's office. Now I'm going to look up G. Definitely lost 10 pounds since January. Could rogaining become the next diet fad?

Event: CNYO Regaine
 

Regaine (relay rogaine) in New York.

Most entrants went solo. The solo format was four 4-hour score-O loops with 2-4 hours rest in between each pair of loops. The map and control locations were great for this format. I have ambitions of posting the map in the next few days. Compared to a rogaine, this is a luxurious experience, with the opportunities to eat then sleep, and to change socks, shoes, and clothes. I wore O shoes the first loop, and my new Sarvas the second loop. It was great to have cleats, unlike other rogaines. The Sarvas hurt my little toes though. But the bottoms of my feet were very happy.

Saturday morning I left my children in Erie PA for the summer with their dad and stepmom. I tiptoed into the kids' new bedroom, and put covers on David, who was curled up in fetal position on his bed. He woke enough to say "I love you" and "good bye." Then I drove 4.5 hours to the regaine, and had time for a nap.

Starting the race at noon I was a bit groggy, and soon realized I was also sad, and processing recent communications and negotiations with the ex and wife-in-law. There are many swamps on the map, and it was buggy. I bobbled the first two controls, and after pacing back and forth at the edge of a swamp trying to find a way across to the third control, I decided to bail on it. I was unhappy and very close to quitting the race. Then suddenly I was orienteering cleanly and settling into slow jogs on the trails. It was nice after two weeks of inactivity to feel that I was still strong. On the road back to the hash house at the end of the first 4-hour set, I had intended to plan the next 3 sets, but instead I found myself waving the map and punch card around to fight off the FDFs (deer flies) and mosquitos. But rogaining really is good therapy for emotional discomfort, especially with a bunch of annoying bugs, because the corporal mortification takes primacy eventually.

Back for my first rest, I planned the next 3 loops, which fell very nicely into place. Loop 2 had a road run back from a distant high-value control, when it would have just gotten dark, with optional controls off to the side of the road. Loop 3, which would be dark for the first 3 of 4 hours, started with a long road route. Loop 4, all during the day, required more off-trail orienteering. Roads were better to do during the night not only for navigational reasons, but also because the during the day when the FDFs were out, they seemed fiercest on the roads.

Oh, and have I mentioned the biting insects? I found myself thinking, several times, about that excellent movie "Lilo and Stitch," in which Earth is the only known planet housing the endangered species, the mosquito. During Loop 2, as I killed the 6th mosquito to sting in the little space on my left palm hidden by the map, I decided that this wasn't so enjoyable that I wanted to keep doing it for another two loops. Plus, I was forming another plan for how to use my Sunday. So I went overtime on that loop, getting three more controls on the way back, at a cost of about 25 minutes each, and called it quits. After I'd made this decision, it got dark, and the FDFs went away, and the mosquitos were really not bad at all, and the fairy lights came out - the lightning bugs - and it was incredibly beautiful. The stars shone brightly overhead along the road. It was cool, and the air moved gently. An owl called to me from just beyond control 18 as I approached through the dark woods, and I thought about that TV series "Twin Peaks", but didn't even freak out.

Because I was late getting back, Mark D got worried and went out with Charlie looking for me. However, I followed my natural inclination (and Mark had suggested this to us all) and hid from the two vehicles that passed; one must have been Mark. It was fun to hide, a bit hide-and-seeky. Of course, I felt bad afterward about having worried Mark.

It probably would have been just fine (bug-wise) to hustle back from that distant control, make the 4-hour cutoff, and then go out again on Loop 3. But it turned out well to have had the extra sleep. Friends are great for when you are working out some high-stakes interpersonal problem. On Sunday, I made my way home to Boston from friend to friend, and with each one I described a piece of the situation as I was then conceiving it, and got back useful gems of observation and support and, especially, framing of the issues. It was really helpful.

[only 2 ibupr; some glucos; 288]

Biked to and from work and to school. I'm currently at Long Wharf waiting with a bunch of kids for a ferry to the Islands!

Biking to work & home from Porter Square after the field trip.

We walked to the T, then took the subway to Long Wharf, as planned in our map class last week. We took a ferry to George's Island and the Irene to Lovell's. On Lovell's we did a biodiversity survey in four habitats: tide pool, forest/bush, grass, and beach.



There were a lot of ants in the forested part of the island; here you can see a couple around the center of a flower.


The kids used the beater sticks to knock ants out of the bushes onto a cloth for better observation.



The group studying the tide pools found lots of crabs and snails. We had a ranger to ourselves for the whole trip!


The Irene took us back to George's Island, where we orienteered. I was not surprised that Benjamin's group had the shortest time, 12 minutes. The other groups took 16, 22 and 26 minutes.


I ended up using the Park Service map, because I think it is easier to understand than the OCAD map I made from topozone and aerial photos, without having visited the island. I started to daydream about making some good O maps so that we could put on a series of sprints, all in one day, on several of the islands. Perhaps I should discuss this idea with the Commissioner.

Have been slowly getting sicker. Sore throat+. I think excessive air conditioning at work may have something to do with it.

Teamed up with Isabel against Dave & David. It was a real pleasure, because Izzy is so aware of positioning, and able to place the ball where she likes it.

Rode to work, to school for another field trip, across the river into Boston (company meeting) where I nearly got run over by an inattentive driver, and then back to work and home.

From school, the kids navigated to Harvard's department of zoology.






There, we were met by Jessica Rykken, inveterate orienteer and invertebrate researcher (I mean, she researches invertebrates, not that she has no backbone). Jessica is running a biodiversity survey of the Boston Harbor Islands.




Her students showed us pictures of bugs.




Some of the pictures were in 3D, and they were Really Cool because the insects looked like they were coming out of the screen at us.



We looked at some real, but dead, bugs.



Then we went outside to learn about different kinds of nets and other devices for collecting invertebrates.



We'll use some of these techniques next week on Lovell's Island.

Mike Lyons sent me the NARC rogaine data formatted leg-by-leg. There is a lot I'd like to do with it, but no time right now, so I just compared us (AB) to Bears on Speed (BS) on our shared legs. BS:AB is the ratio of Bears' time to our time; "AB t" is our time in minutes. Perhaps they had pit stops during the two legs we were faster on. Pit stops do make it harder to compare times across competitors. I guess I'll figure out way to throw out all outliers for any time, any leg - by comparing (possibly transitively) to the other teams on that leg. Unusually large relative times would get ignored in trying to determine relative speeds...

I'll have to look and see what was up with us on all these legs.

Typically the winner's time on a good regular blue orienteering course leg is about half my time.

cp1 cp2 AB t BS:AB
303 701 20.80 0.59
304 404 40.07 0.56
306 604 29.95 0.56
308 702 25.52 0.81
311 705 24.58 1.14
404 603 43.27 0.61
501 802 18.77 0.78
502 801 32.27 0.63
506 804 28.10 0.73
604 506 26.55 0.86
701 304 24.48 0.77
702 401 50.30 0.61
801 303 29.43 0.99
802 306 30.40 1.15

Rode to work and school. At school, I watched 3rd grade performances of Chaucer and related works. Then the class did some urban orienteering to a park, and more orienteering there. Some kids didn't get the punches in the right order the first time, but everyone kept trying until they got it right. One pair of boys ran the course 9 times, and only stopped because I had to go to work. Interestingly, though she seemed to be loping easily and without the effort (and repeated runs) that the fastest boys put in, Isabel had the fastest time.

This morning I worked with a first- and second-grade classroom in preparation for our Lovell's Island trip next week. We started by looking at a map that included both our starting point and our destination.

We zoomed in on the streets from school to the subway stop and decided on our walking route.

We used a subway map to plan the next stage of our journey.

We found Lovell's Island in the Harbor.


Each kid colored in a black-and-white nautical chart of the Harbor so that we could identify the land masses and buoys. The buoys are green or red. We looked at the channels and made a guess about the route our boat will take. We talked about what we would see on the boat ride.


The kids discussed features on the island based on a drawing from the National Park Service.


Starting from a topo map, we cut out foam board along the contour lines in order to construct a model of the island. Didn't quite get that finished. We also looked at an aerial photo, and will use that along with the other information to "decorate" the model with trails and other features when we are done.

Second day of the rogaine.

Adam and I ended up with 1820 points, which got us first place in mixed open. So I'm 3 "wins" for 3 in my little biweekly rogaine series. I'd been thinking about doing the Regaine in 2 weeks, and I might still, but I have some scheduling issues. Then I'd also considered the Georgia rogaine 2 weeks after the Regaine, just to keep the string going, but I've definitely decided against doing that one. I feel in relatively good shape physically. My feet did bother me in a blistery sort of way, but I didn't treat them afterward, and this morning just put my shoes on without thinking about it, and they're fine. I feel fairly alert and only pleasantly sore. I've wondered whether doing rogaines so close together would take a toll. I do have to say that I experienced more of those little blissy highs in the first rogaine (Oregon) than the other two - but maybe that had to do with the smell of sage and the lingering presence of the Bhagwan.


Tim and Dorothy came in a close 2nd. It was nice to meet them. They're from Rochester area.


Vlad and Vadim won overall. We saw them in the woods a few times.

I liked the relatively tough orienteering (for a rogaine) - particularly the controls in the middle of large hillsides (such as on vegetation boundaries or at stream bends). It gives the orienteers a bit of a leg up on the adventure racers. :-) We had a little trouble at some of the controls (notably 803), but found all the controls we looked for without too great a delay.

Adam has a faster metabolism than I, and I have more fat than he does. Lack of calories was an issue for him in our first rogaine together in Arizona (the world champs). (Ah, what a tasty rogaine that was!) This time, we estimated that he packed 7000 calories worth of food, and I packed 2500. He brought 10 sandwiches. I brought 1. He brought 10 granola bars. I brought 1. Then I ate 2 of his; he made them himself, and they were delicious. I bring small portions of a bunch of different things; I learned that from Sharon Crawford. Here is my menu: cheese and meat sandwich on nut/grain bread, potato chips, carrots, Macintosh apple, dried cherries, nuts, crackers, fig newtons, dried peas, dried corn, dried mango, and Adam's homemade granola bar. Yum! Oh, and some vanilla gu and electrolyte tablets.

Adam and I worked well together. We made decent route choices, and had good communication along the way about whether we were sticking to our bearing and what we were seeing. Adam's pace counting was precise. As a result, we were able to do things like move confidently at night on a rather baroque route along broad ridges that curved back and forth and radiated all manner of off-route spurs. On the way home, Adam and I did a post-mortem on our teamwork, and it made me eager to rogaine again and implement some of the ideas we discussed. Next time, I'd work on planning and agreeing on the details of each leg before we start on it. Adam suggested that I train for climbing hills, which would make a big difference, as I am excruciatingly slow going uphill. I just moved to a 7th floor office at work, and should probably start taking the stairs. Adam and I have trouble hearing each other, and have to ask each other to repeat things often - or sometimes I don't bother and I miss what he's said. An obvious problem.

We executed our route nearly as planned, dropping one control, and adding two, but only getting one of the several controls we'd identified along optional extension routes.

We had a lot of short stops, and I didn't keep track of the, so I'm not subtracting those out of our time.

I hope to get a chance to draw in our route on the map and think about how we might have been more efficient.

Eric and Mary did a pack drop, and the pack was gone when they got back. That sucked.

On the way home, I called Dave, who said that everything had gone well while I was away. Isabel's soccer team lost again, but they played well. Everyone went to see "Stolen" about that theft from the Isabella Stuart Gardner museum. And Katia was in an accident! Actually, that happened Thursday evening, but Dave didn't find out until after I'd left for the rogaine. She was hit by a car. She wasn't wearing a helmet. She got thrown, and broke something, and spent a lot of hours in the hospital, and her hand/arm is in a sling. Not surprisingly, she was very upbeat about it, according to Dave. "I got to see what an American ambulance is like!" "I am doing much better now; it hardly hurts at all!" "How lucky I was that I didn't get run over by the car!" Things like that.

Event: North American Rogaine Championships
 

First day of the North American Rogaine Championships in Allegany (Allegheny?) State Park in New York. This was the third time I partnered with Adam Rudner. I very much enjoy rogaining with Adam. We communicated well and avoided the problems we've had at night previously, which was a major goal.

It was perfect weather: cool, and no rain.



I took this photo at a water stop. Two water stops had no water, which is dangerous and unfair. The first water stop had plenty of water jugs - but an animal had clawed into every jug and emptied it. The second one did not have enough water put out for all the competitors, and it was all gone. We got help from another team who gave us some decontamination chemicals.


Here is Jeff Saeger offering me a fig newton before the event, which I knew was an auspicious sign.

Bike fartleks (with some bike yoga during the slow bits) with Dave across bridge to JP Licks, 11:15 pm - 12:15 am. Incidentally, obtained additional evidence that K has an ice cream addiction. When we asked her to save the kids if the house went up in flames, and explained our mission, she rattled off 10 ice cream shops within biking distance, with their closing hours and relative quality of ice cream. And she's been here only 3 months. The other evidence was that the closest thing to a complaint I heard from her during the Pennsylvania rogaine was "I have been daydreaming of ice cream."

Along the river, I approached two attractive pony-tailed young women just rising from a bench and hugging each other, all friendly and happy. As I rode past, I overheard just this: "I'll get you the map." I have no idea what skog nymphs are, but I imagine them to be exactly like these two.

C • Ice cream?! 3

Meant to go just for 10 minutes, but I don't know the streets and got myself onto one that led away and away until it thought I'd put in enough time. Saw, smelled and suckled on sweet honeysuckle.

That's the Representative from Delaware (there's not more than one, is there?) showing us the secret sign for getting into the orienteering supply cabinet in the Hart Congressional Office Building. He's holding a NASA prototype of a PSF10-OS space control; it's got a solar cell in the middle but otherwise has the same basic electronic design as the PSF8.

Arlington VA neighborhood

Elias Zerhouni (NIH director) talked to us over lunch. He's got some good mojo. Motivating for tomorrow's Capitol Hill meetings...



He immigrated from Algeria. And I just watched "The Battle of Algiers." Coincidence? You decide.

I am told that if I didn't have a CIA/FBI file before renting that movie from Netflix, then I do now.

I found it a tough film to watch - all the horrible things people do to each other. Very Iraq. I really liked the ululation, though.

Ran to work and back, getting ready for my trip to DC this afternoon.

Residential streets in Arlington VA.

Found out that Tuesday I'm meeting with staffers of not only John Dingell & Ed Markey, but also Maria Cantwell. Am supposed to be advocating for biomedical research, but perhaps I should shift gears and ask for some kind of special status for orienteering so that local officials are required to allow it to happen irrespective of National Park Service funding levels, or of maniacs on the loose.

I have been having lapses of mental function - mostly forgetting stuff. Appointments, names, lots of stuff. It's been getting worse for the last few years. It definitely feels serious beyond just being too busy. Today I missed an appointment I was really looking forward to and it has finally motivated me to call the doctor.

Anyway, the yoga was nice. Even though I was supposed to be somewhere else at the time.

Event: CSU Pine Banks
 

First significant jog since the pack drop early on in last weekend's rogaine. Bridge circuit. Felt really thick and slow, especially at first. Nothing hurts; just intense lassitude.

CSU Park-O, Pine Hill.
Brought 5 kids and Katia, finagling the neighbors' van to do so. The beginner's course was way harder than a white course - but after a few of these park-O's I knew to expect that, and I was pretty comfortable that the kids would be OK, whether or not they finished the course. The two girls went out together, and the 3 boys each started separately. David wanted to start last, which I think demonstrates that he's becoming aware of his own complex and fragile orienteering psychology, and taking some protective steps. I ran into the girls and Theron midway through my course; they were not sure where they were, and I showed them. A little while later, they ran into David, and the four of them finished the course together, cooperating well. Alex separated from them early, and wandered around for 50 minutes finding just the first three controls. We all finished about the same time.

For all that I try to get kids out orienteering, I often find groups of kids, well, annoying - I feel that prickly type-A feeling come over me, and I find myself giving lots of directives that are kind of silly and ineffective. Like, "please talk more quietly." But in the van on the way home, instead of shushing the kids, I found myself enjoying the conversation. The kids were talking one at a time, sharing stories of injuries they'd had in their lives and saying things like, "can I make a comment?" and "my turn after Theron's." And they also were talking about the orienteering, and I heard, "the five of us should get together over the summer and do some orienteering exercises."