Training Log Archive: maprunner

Did my sprint drills and some flying 30s while Mike ran Ulrik's hill. We were the only ones who showed up on this cool and rainy evening.

Then we did a line O. I definitely went around the boulder (to the east of the out of bounds area) so either my GPS or the mapped location are incorrect. One goof just after that, when I was confused by a gap in the scattered trees. Stopped a bit before the end because the trail was very muddy. Surprisingly hard to focus on such a simple map; line O is good training for me. My route (click on map to toggle my route on and off)

and finished with an easy jog back to the cars.

Tracing the new trails at the arboretum with my GPS. Walked mostly, but jogged a bit to see how my foot felt. Fine.

Decided to test the foot further, by doing my sprint strength and stretching drills, followed by the easiest sprint work out. Today, it was 30 meter downhill repeats. The goal is to increase turn over rate (ie cadence). Good thing I have a fancy 620 that can measure things like this :)

So I found a stretch of grass that was slightly downhill. Plus I had a strong tail wind. This was a very weird feeling, to be forced to rotate your legs faster so that you didn't fall over. Good thing it was only 30 meters. I only did 3 reps, to keep the training pretty light. This was fun!

To and from the Arboretum. Heavy winds on the way home made it harder than I planned.

Had three nice experiences on the bike path, and I thanked each person:
1.the lawnmower guy, who stopped his big rider-mower while I passed
2. the couple who pulled their dogs off the path, and made them sit, until I passed by
3. The driver who backed their car out of the cross walk when they saw me approach

Checking out the Arboretum, for map changes and possible control locations. They have mowed some paths through the high grass, which is a nice addition; will make for more interesting courses.

Lots of other cyclists out tonight. Perfect way to kick off the weekend.

Went to a podiatrist today to confirm my PF (which he did). He suggested better insoles (I had been using Dr Scholls) and the usual home remedies (that I was already doing). He could not answer why this happened again, and how I could prevent it in the future. He confirmed that the pain was in the bursa, and that I have very flat feet. I declined his offer of a cortisone shot.

Searching the web, I also see that PF is more common in women over 50 (menopause?). Great. I also see that they are no longer calling if "fasciitis" since it's not actually an inflammation. The new word is fasciopathy. Am I doomed to have bouts of pain every 6 months? I hope not.

I think my increased sprint training may have contributed this time. Time to take it easier on my sprint training, resume my PT exercises, and try new orthotics.

C • PF 9

Met up with a bunch of folks who had just run Ulrik's Hill (I took a pass this week) for some O intervals. I walked because I wanted to give my foot a rest, and I didn't want to get too sweaty before my sewing guild meeting (later this evening). Gene was also walking during the O exercise, and he had the good suggestion that we should try to do each interval (2 controls) as memory O. Good training.

C • bunch of folks 5

Just a little something to get the legs moving.

Updated my log, including notes on the West Point meet.

Yesterday was the last woods training session until the fall, so that meant today was the official kick-off of Sprint Season, In two senses of the word. For the next six months, all of my O training will be sprints. And for the next three months, my physical training will be geared towards sprinting (ie my 100 meter track season).

Started with the usual warm up stretches and drills. Then it was time for lactic training.

Goal: run 200 meters, slightly below race pace. Maintain form. Run as many reps as you can, trying to keep a consistent time for each rep. Rest three minutes between reps.

I had never sprinted 200 meters before, so it was hard to judge the effort. I started to die about 180 meters, but pushed through. Second rep felt OK, but was a second slower. Third rep was another second slower. As I was walking after the 3rd rep, my legs felt really heavy. Decided to try a 4th rep, but I died at ~120 meters so I stopped. Surprisingly, my arms felt just as tired as my legs.
Reps:
40 secs
41 secs
42 secs

Once again the HR monitor stopped working as soon as I started sprinting. I hate this!!!!

Heel was tender in the morning, and hurt a bit during the day. Ice and ibuprofen this evening, more as a precaution, I'm also doing more stretching throughout the day.

Time to finally get off my butt. Since it's such a late spring, and the leaves are not yet out, I thought I could get in one last woods run. So I drew a course and went to Clinton. Plus, I thought I could do my own "duathalon" in solidarity with Mike, who was doing a real duathalon at Leavenworth.

There were two problems with this plan. While the leaves are not yet out, the underbrush is green already, so it was thick out there. And there was a trail race underway.

It was funny to be standing at a control, glancing at my map, and have trail runners ask me if I was lost :) Several of them asked. I kept telling them I wasn't doing the trail race. I think they might have thought I was cheating as I headed into the woods to cut over to the next trail. I tried to ignore them and focus on my orienteering. But i admit I did show off once or twice, as I ran past people on the trail and then continued to run straight into the the woods :) Had to cut the course short because I ran out of time.
route

Note: heel was a bit sore in the morning, but overall, much better. No problems while orienteering.

Off to swim class for the second part of my duathalon. Only two students this week, with two instructors, so I had a private lesson. Worked on free style (I finally look like I am swimming) and learned the basics of the butterfly and backstroke. I was tired, and got a cramp in my calf, but it was fun to do something completely different in this last class.

Hell still hurt today, but the swelling is gone. It felt better as the day went along. So maybe it is PF?

Thought about training when I came home, maybe just some erging. But I felt blah and just didn't feel like it, so I did nothing, for another day. A bad week.

Heel update: not so swollen, but still tender to touch, and hurt all day long. What gives? I had plans for the evening, so no training today.

Travel day 2: at least with a 7:40 flight, the plane was already at the airport (landed the night before) and I should be home in the early afternoon. I might even be able to make it to work for a few hours, so I wouldn't have to take another vacation day.

I should have known it wasn't going to be a good day, when I woke up in the middle of the night with pain in my heel. It was warm and tender to the touch, and I hobbled to the bathroom. WTF? Took some ibuprofen and went back to sleep, until my early alarm.

A cold front had come through in the night, and I had to scrape the frost off the car windows. But at least there was no traffic across the Tappan Zee and I arrived back at the airport on time.

We got on the plane and I settled into my comfy first class seat and ordered a beverage to keep me occupied while they de-icded the plane. Finished the drink and I started to wonder what was going on. Thirty minutes later, the captain announces that we have ice in the engine and they can't use de-icer fluid. They've called ATL for maintenance advice, stay tuned. Thirty minutes later, they say a mechanic is here and is working on it. Another half hour: sorry folks, we can't get it thawed, we going to deplane. Really, you let us sit on the plane for 2 hours???

Back into the tiny terminal. At this point, I wasn't sure if this plane would ever take off (I had already missed my original connection) . Called Delta and got rescheduled on a 12:30 flight (I knew the plane was on time for it's arrival at HPN). This would mean landing in KC around 6 pm, so I texted my trainer to cancel our usual Wednesday appointment. Bummer.

The original plane eventually got fixed and they boarded about 12:00. But I had to wait for the 12:3 flight (but still in first class :) The rest of the trip went smoothly (including my luggage showing up in KC) . I was really glad to get home.

My heel hurt off and on during the day, so I kept taking ibuprofen, and I iced it when I got home. Could this be plantar fasciitis again? Some symptoms seemed like it, but others did not. My foot was visibly swollen, and the heel felt tender. Any ideas?

Travel day home. Or so I thought. Mike had flown home on Sunday, I stayed longer to visit with Mom and Dad. Drove to Westchester airport and checked in just as a line of thunderstorms passed through. They announced that our incoming plane was circling, waiting for the winds to die down. Thirty minutes later, they announced that our plane had diverted to Hartford. After refueling there, it would take another 30 minutes to fly back to Westchester. Drat, I would miss my connection in Detroit! Called Delta, got re-scheduled on another flight from Detroit, so all was good. Waited another hour or so before they casually announced: this flight has been canceled. Ugh! Fortunately, when I contacted Delta, they had already rescheduled me. But for the next day, leaving at 7:40, going through ATL. I was not happy with this choice, so I asked her to try something else. She came back a few minutes later and said, sorry, that's all she could do, but she put me in first class for the ATL flight.

Luckily, I could just go back to Mom and Dad's house for the night (although mom had already washed the sheets:) I could have gone for a short run that afternoon, but it was cold and rainy and I just wasn't in the mood. Stayed inside and watched "Philomena" with my mom.

C • Philomena 2

West Point, day 2
I was determined not to have the same problems as yesterday. But that was going to be hard, when I realized that another F50 runner was starting only 2 minutes after me. I took it as a real challenge.

I had a hard time getting into the map as I ran along the road towards 1, but I worked hard on concentrating my focus. By the time I got to 1, I was doing OK. Continued on to 2 just fine, and had a bobble on 3. But this time I stopped and looked at my map and figured out where I was and where I needed to go. I did have some help, as the other F50 runner was approaching 3, to confirm where it was.

So now I had a really big challenge: we were together going to 4. She was faster and was ahead of me on the trail. I kept telling myself to ignore her and read my map. When the trail ended, she stopped and I passed by. I felt confident of where I was and where I wanted to go. I told myself to keep going and not look back, and this time it worked! Hit 4, and didn't see her again. (For a while, at least).

This course was more physical than day 1, and I was moving slowly and getting a bit tired. When I saw the route to 7, I was a bit scared to go straight along the contour; how would I know where I was? So I tried to follow the intermittent trail. I lost it once or twice along the way. But I knew I was looking for a cut in the cliffs. So I finally came across the cut, and it had a red-blazed “trail” going down it. Eureka! It was very scary going down (loose leaves, etc. I hate steep !!!) but near the end I could see a marker. Ran to it, and it was not mine. Ok, time to re-group. I was looking for a 5 m boulder. Look around, there it is! Run to it; no marker. Look all around it, in case the marker is hidden. Not there. Look at map. am I in the right spot? Yes, down the trail, turn right. I started to slowly check out all the other boulders. At this point, another runner came by and ran towards a boulder on the other side of the trail. I looked at my map again: I was on the correct side of the trail. I was still mucking around in the rocks when two other Green Y runners came by (including the other F50 I had seen at 3). They were contouring across, and went past me to the boulder on the other side of the trail. So I followed them (sometimes, one DOES have to pay attention to others :) When we got there (of course the marker was there!), I said out loud: this marker is on the wrong boulder. The second runner commented that there were two trails leading down through the cliffs. What? I stopped and looked really closely at my map. Argh!! A classic parallel error. I can forgive myself for the initial error, but not for all the time I lost mucking around. Stop and reassess the situation!

The next leg sucked. It had rained briefly, just enough to make this a steep hillside of mud and wet leaves. The three of us slowly slogged up the hill (me more slowly than the others). I stopped to eat and drink on the way up, but mostly it was an excuse to rest.

I was within sight of the second Green Y runner for the rest of the course. I tried very hard to concentrate on my own navigation and to ignore her. I had some small bobbles (like losing the trail towards 10) but I beat her to 9, 10, 11 and 12. But I didn't get cocky, and I just kept plugging along.

So, I was again frustrated with a huge mistake due to a lack of focus. But I was able to recover, do well on some other controls (9 and 13) and ignore another runner close by. My route

Sunday Classic, Green Y - Splits

Event: West Point A-meet
 

West Point Day 1
My goal for the year is to increase my focus. I tend to get distracted when I’m tired; or when other people are around. I've been practicing re-focusing when things go astray. I also worked on identifying the danger signs.This was going to be my first real test, since there would be lots of folks in the woods (way more than at our local meets). All I can say is: fail.

I did OK on the first few controls, not great, but kept bringing my mind back to the map. The woods were nice (no leaves yet) and the kept us out of the really junky areas. I was a little hesitant to 3, but after that I began to get into the groove.

I made a snap judgement to go to the road to 7. Not until I was running along the road did I notice the climb, and that I probably should have stayed up and contoured across. As I was approaching the end of the road run portion, another Green Y runner joined me, so I wasn't alone in the route choice! She and I stayed together for most of the rest of the course. We were joined by a third Green Y runner around 9. Now this was a real test; could I ignore them and focus on my own race? Mostly I did OK, but I had to do a lot of talking in my head to remind myself to look at my map and ignore them.

As we went towards 12, the first runner and I took the same route along the road and crossed into the woods at the end of the marsh. At that point, we went different routes. I met up with runner 2 close to the control, and we punched around the same time.

At this point, I looked at my watch: I had been out one hour. First warning sign: I start to get tired around one hour, so I stepped away from the control to eat some Clifblocks and take a drink. Then I looked briefly at the map, and started toward 13. After about 150 meters, I ran into runner 1, who was going back to find 12. In my head I said ”Aha, I beat her to the control!” Warning sign number 2: getting cocky about being better/faster than others. So I promptly started running faster to show her knew where I was going (ah, the gods are going to get even with me for this!). So I took a rough glance at the map, said to myself ”just follow the cliffs and cross the stream”. Warning sign number 3: letting go of the map, and having only a general idea of my route.

So, 1+2+3= epic fail. I turned off my brain; ignored all the warning signs, and had a huge blow up. Went all the way down the hill, wandered around, took forever to re-locate. And then had to climb all the way back up the hill. Why didn't I look at my map sooner, or more closely? Wish I could figure this out, I’m so frustrated with myself.

There were some positives today: physically, I was fine, and the hills were not a problem. I had some good legs, including 1, 8, 9 and the finish chute. My route

After the race, Mike’s brother, his wife and two kids joined us. It was fun to join the kids (aged 5 and 7) in the Maze O. We even did part of the white course together. I think they enjoyed playing in the woods with us. Finished with a nice visit with the grownups over a late lunch.

Saturday Classic, Green Y - Splits

Spent the day exploring some Rockland county parks with mom and dad, followed by a big lunch at X. Later, I felt like getting just a bit of exercise, so I ran across the street and explored parts of Rockland Lake park.

Heading to NY tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing everyone at West Point!

Ulrik's hill with Mike, Blair and Jenny. Started fast, and this time I expected to be breathing hard. Slowed down the pace as I went up the hill, but I was pulled along by Jenny (who was just ahead of me) for another PR.
6:11
Then a short jog over to Daisy Hill for some O training.

Did the short course from '13 NOW. Had to keep an eye out for pedestrians and cars. Felt smooth but not very fast. Legs are tired now from the hills. Once again, bogus HR data. This is getting annoying.

Mike and I went out to Rockhaven. I wanted a long day in the woods, so I ran the course I set for our event in February. Although I had set the course and hung some markers, I had never run it as a whole course. But knowing some things in advance did make it harder to maintain focus.

We parked closer to 3, so I did the course from there. I didn't push very hard physically, because my legs were tired from yesterday Only one big mistake was on the pit (5) where I forgot that it was a rocky pit and I was looking around for a hole in the ground. That mistake threw me a little bit, and I messed up the taking the correct trail as I left the control. Focus, Mary, focus!
route

After, Mike and I went for drive around Douglas county to see some areas I hadn't seen before. We went to Lone Star Lake, which was much different than I expected.

This time we actually swam back and forth (instead of just drills). I had a hard time staying on a straight line, until they lent me a pair of goggles. Really helps to see the lane markers :) Very tired at the end; body is not used to this motion.

C • Swimming 3

My coach gave me an extensive list of warm up exercises, including stretches, range of motion exercises and foot drills. It takes longer than I expected to get through them all.

Then I did tonight's drill: flying 30s. Accelerate to full speed, and then maintain speed for 30 meters. 2X 4-6 reps each. I thought I would use the football yard lines to mark off 30 meters. Silly Mary: there are no markers painted over the winter! So I made my best guess at 30 meters.

Once again, the HR monitor is wonky on my sprint drills. So frustrating.

Ulrik's Hill. Only Matt and I were there tonight. Maybe because I was chasing him, I started pretty fast (it's also slightly downhill in the beginning). Pretty soon I could feel my breathing was kind of ragged, but I decided to keep on going as best as I could. My legs never felt tired, but the breathing got harder and harder. I began to wonder if it was allergies or maybe I was starting to get sick. Was happy to see that I had knocked another 7 seconds off my PR! But I gotta stop this trend, or I'll be dying in the summer.
6:23
When I downloaded my track, I was shocked to see that my HR was so high for so long. That explains the breathing difficulties....

Followed by a corridor O exercise that Mike had designed. Matt and I stayed pretty far apart so that we had to navigate on our own. This was very good focus training. It also encouraged me to look up more (head for a specific spot straight ahead).

There were some missing trees and some new construction inthe NE corner, so that area was bit funky to navigate. it was also hard near the end, when one had to stay so close to the builidng.

One big mistake at the end (getting tired? knowing that Matt was standing and watching?) but I corrected. This was a great exercise. Thanks Mike! route