Training Log Archive: maprunner

Crappy, long day at work was made instantly better by stepping out of the building into sunshine and 24C temps. Time for a bike ride! Weee!

Uneventful travel day home. Nice to come home in the middle of the day for a change. Airport was empty, no traffic, plenty of time to do laundry and take a nap (to rest up for the rest of the work week).

US Champs, Middle, Carter Cave State Park

Legs were toast, but the sun was out and it was warming up fast. And I had some caffeine, yeah! I dressed warmer this morning (too warm, it turns out).

A little slow to get started. Mind and legs were not yet warmed up. Every little bit of uphill was tiring. I was sloppy on the way to 2, and drifted too high up the hill. Found some other boulders, but near a ditch so I immediately relocated.

3-6 were fun. I liked the control picking and the nice woods. Seemed to take longer to get to 7 than I expected. As I was trying to contour to 8, I reminded myself that I have a bad habit of drifting up hill instead of contouring, and I thought I was correcting. Not! Was amazed to see some ruins and figure out I had unnecessarily climbed the whole hill. At least I could run down the trail and get the control easily.

Had fun crossing the natural bridge on the way to 10 (although that hill to 10 was a killer on my legs). After that, I seemed to settle down and I picked up the pace for the rest of the race. My map reading was going well, too.

Until I left 16 and started thinking, yeah I'm almost done! Went down hill and hit a trail, but it was going the wrong direction. Looked at map. Ooops! Almost skipped 17! Back up the hill, checked out the depression by mistake and then found my control. Fast run downhill to last control, but slow walk up hill to the finish.

Overall, pretty pleased with this race. Especially considering the poor quality of sleep for several nights, exhausted legs and mental recovery after yesterday's disaster.

Nice enough weather to hang out after the race and catch up with everyone. Even got to place hide and seek with Samantha.

Leisurely drive back to Lexington, and spent another night with Summer and Silas (Greek food for dinner. Also, good beer and bourbon :)

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Middle - 6 Green F - Splits

US Champs Long, Bat Cave, Carter Cave State Park

Cold, below 0C at the start. I wasn't psychologically prepared for this, since spring has sprung in Kansas. And I wasn't dressed warm enough for a long (i.e. slow pace) for me, and I got cold, off and on, during the race. Also, I didn't have any caffeine this morning (don't usually drink it, but I have gotten into the habit of drinking some before a race). I hadn't slept well for several nights, and I really wanted the caffeine today. And my quads were tired. Oh boy, let's go out and do a long course!

I walked from the lodge to the start, both to warm up and to look at the model map. I laughed when I saw what was mapped as dark green; we would have mapped it as white in Kansas! I ignored the vegetation mapping through the whole race.

I felt off right from the start. Just a bit foggy and hesitant, not reading ahead as well as I usually do. Stopped at each control to look at the route choices, and then slowly moved on. I was clean through 4, though.

And then came 5. Picked a good route choice, and executed it well, up until I left the trail and started up the stream bed, just due west of the marker.

My goal for this year is to "STOP" whenever I hear that little voice in my head that something isn't right. I've done very well on that goal, so far. But that was about to end.

Here are some of the thoughts that I remember thinking, any one of which should have told me to STOP:
1. I've been out one hour and I always bonk I one hour. I should eat something. No, I'll eat when I get to the control.
2. I wonder how I will know when the stream changes from the blue line to the ditch symbol?
3. This stream is longer than I expected.
4. Where is the bend in the stream? I should keep going until I pass the bend.
5. There's a junior heading up the hill, I'll follow him.
6. There is no big reentrant here, I'll just keep going until I hit the big reeentrant.
7. Cross the big reenetrant, but the ditches on the other side aren't what I expected.
8. Down to the stream to relocate, look at the map in case I could have made a parallel error. Nope, only one big reentrant near my control
9. The stream bed at the base of the reentrant has lots more detail than is shown on the map.

Yeah, I was a hot mess. Of course I had gone way too far, to another reenetrant system east of 5. When I finally stopped and ate something, my brain function returned and I figured it all out. Ran all the way back down the stream and found 5 right where it should be.

I am so disappointed in myself. This is exactly the type of error I'm trying to avoid. I have to think of some way to program myself to eat on a regular schedule during a long race (maybe at 50 minutes?)

But I soldiered on, slugging my way up the hill towards 6. At this point I was really tired, and spooked, so I took the extra cautious route around on the trail to attack 6 from the south.

I looked a t the route to 7, and all I saw was the trail option (north of the red line). Never saw the option to stay low and take the road close to the finish.

As I neared the top of the first hill on the trail, I took a look at the rest of the course, and decided that I was done. No need to kill my legs when I had one more race tomorrow. And I certainly wasn't having any fun at that point. So I took the trail down to the road, and then into the last control and DNF'd. I was so ready to be done.

Popped lots of ibuprofen all night, and kept using my "stick" to roll out my legs in a desperate hope they could be ready for the middle.

Took a nap, and then a nice dinner with Tom, Lisa and Sandy at an Italian restaurant in Grayson.

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C • thanks 2

Long - 6 Green F 7 Green J - Splits

Event: Flying Pig XIX - U.S. Individual Champs - Sprint-Middle-Long
 

(edit): Mike and I slept in, then went for a great breakfast at Doodles. Then we walked around the UK Arboretum, in the cold. Not the most interesting area, but we got outside. Quick trip to a grocery store, then back to the Arboretum to meet Sandy. It was such fun to be traveling with her on this trip. We told her some OK stories and legends, and taught her Talk Four. Her name is really Sondra, and her family sometimes called her Sond, so that fit well.

US Champs Sprint, Morehead State University

Yeah for Kentucky, my 39th O state!

I was nervous about this race, since I hadn't done a sprint in a long time. I was a bit excited with lots of adrenaline during the warm up, but I talked my self down a bit just before my start. It helped that the first few controls were pretty easy, so I could get into the game.

But then came the middle of the course, which was much trickier. I was not very smooth making the transition from control to control, and had to stop often to look at the map. AP splits says I lost time at 7, but I don't remember this. Maybe just too slow and hesitant?

Craziness at 8: Saw one woman crossing under the tape over the uncrossable wall and I yelled that what she was doing was not allowed, but she shrugged and continued on. I ran around the building. As I approached the control, a boy was also climbing under the tape, but when I told him he wasn't allowed, he said "I'm not?" and backed down. I was trying not to get caught up in those folks during my race, but it made me very mad. How do you handle d it when you see folks breaking the rules during a sprint?

Was heading past 10 when I saw someone leaving the control. I saw the right way into 12,but not that I should stay down and go around the building to 13. Hesitated and changed my mind on the route to 14, which was a mistake. Very slow to 15, because it was uphill, and I was starting to get tired. Also, I had a hard time reading the map and figuring out where I was supposed to go.

Biggest mistake was not reading the map well as I approached 16. I thought I had to continue NE to 17, rather than back to the NW. Circled around an extra building and had to back track.

Like everyone else, I hesitated as I approached 19, which was the upper walkway around the building. Stopped and double checked the map before I crossed the bridge.

As I approached the last control, Mike was there encouraging me on. He indicated that I had a chance to beat Kissy, and I should sprint. So I paused for a second to catch my breath (and let another runner punch first and get out of the way). I looked down the finish chute to gauge my direction, punched the control, and took off. Wee! I hadn't done a good, fast finish chute run in a while, so this was fun! I was only about 90% because I still haven't gotten all the way back after my hamstring injury, and I didn't want to get hurt again. And I muffed up punching the finish so I lost some time there. 13 seconds, which was fastest on the course, but 2 seconds off the best. Shoot! Someday soon I'll get the fastest finish split....

Overall, I was fairly clean, but I didn't like all the hesitation I felt on the course. Need to practice more sprints. I know I pushed as hard because my quads were surprisingly tired that night. I was't running all out (that would be bad for my nav) but I think it was the longest hard effort I had done in a while.

I appreciated that OCIN had put the control numbers on the side of the stand, so you could see the number as you approached. I also appreciated the ride back to the start from Iamstillhungry. Funny incident when conversation in the car was about people taking your map (when they are distributed after the race) only to find out that Tom H had accidentally taken someone else's map!

Nice dinner at A&W to test out my soon-to-be BIL's new creation. Enjoyed talking with Sandy and Tom H about their first experience at a national event.

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Sprint - 6 Green F - Splits

Nice day. Started too early, though, with an 8 am flight to Cincinnati. Mike, sandy and I took back roads through KY horse country to reach Sandy's dad in Versailles; very beautiful. Then Mike and I explored the UK campus. Small art museum, massive library. Then we had fun looking at the campus as if we were making a sprint map: would this be gray or tan? Uncross able wall or not? How do you show this ramp? Good practice for tomorrow.
Then to Summer and Silas's house for good conversation and great food (pork roast with cherries, and fennel salad). Love to have Silas and his cooking skills join the family :)

A light easy session with the trainer tonight, in anticipation of the weekend.

I am so excited to see everyone this weekend, especially some folks I haven't seen in literally years, such as Tom and Lisa. Also excited to have two OKers attending their first national meet. Plus we're visiting Mike's sister and her fiance'. It's going to be awesome!

C • Have fun! 4

I went out to Rockcrusher to pick up the markers from the latest practice course that Mike had set. I had trouble getting started: first, I thought I was going to one parking area, instead of the one on the map. Then, I forgot my O shoes (thought they were still in the car) and had to wear gym shoes; and finally my Garmin was dead (despite being plugged in all night long).

But it was a beautiful evening (15C and getting cloudy) with great views of the lake and setting sun. I felt much better than I expected, after yesterday. I took it pretty easy, because, why do something stupid tonight? A nice outing, the best part of my day.

OK event at Woodridge, with courses set by MeanGene. Beautiful sunny skies, temps warming up to 22 C. Perfect to sit in the sun and work registration. Once again, we got several newbies, who are attracted by our "free for first timers" offer.

Mike went out early and when he returned, he cautioned me against doing the long course, because the sun was intense and the course was pretty hilly. So I did the middle course instead. I was really glad I did. I got tired enough as it was, and somewhat dehydrated (even though I carried water). Clean run, which felt satisfying.
my route

Control pick up. Once again, I was really glad Mike had suggested that I do the middle course today. Very tired when I got home. Sad to see KU lose.

Putting out some markers for tomorrow's event. Mike was there, as was Kevin and his 4 year old daughter Steph. Plus Grace, one of the oldest members of OK (in terms of tenure and age). What a cool mix!

Lubed the chain and pumped up the tires; time to get back on the bike! Just a short trip to get my body back into the groove.

Helping Sandy move

Back out to Riverfront park, to run the Cold, Wet, and Windy course. Today was much better than my first attempt back in Feb. It was 65 degrees with a light breeze. No water any where. This time I did the whole course, backwards. None of the tapes were hanging any more; wonder who removed them? Had trouble finding the trail to 11, but otherwise did fine. Nice to practice in this area because it is so different than the rest of our terrain, makes me concentrate and think more.
my route

Mike and I hiked around and explored the trails at the KU field station. It's a nice little area, great for families and kids. Mike had printed out the Lidar contours at 1.25 meters. It was fun to do a map hike and notice every little bump in the contours.

Then we headed to Perry Lake for some orienteering. Mike set a fun woods vs trails course. I went from 1 to 16 while he ran the course from 16 to 1. my legs were tired from yesterday, so I walked a lot and didn't push it on the trails. Fun course. I twill be interesting to compare our route choices.

My route

speed workout week 5
This was tough to do on a Friday, when I was sleepy and wiped out from work

facial @ Lee, the esthetician

C • Facial? 1

dinner with my boss

Lawrence women's group meetup: dinner at MiRanchito

Mike designed this really cool training for Sandy and I. It was just three legs, but each had a woods (straight) or trail (around) option. We took turns running the woods or trail option and kept track of our splits. Then we repeated the course, but taking the other option this time around. We stopped and rested at each control location.

Conditions weren't perfect, including:
1. the trails were muddy and mucky (recent thaw and multiple horse use)
2. I totally screwed up the woods route to 3 (can't read a compass, apparently)
3. My legs were tired from yesterday

Looking at the splits and min/k times, I seem to be faster through the woods if it is downhill or a short uphill. But if it is a long uphill, then the trail was faster.

As expected, Sandy was always faster on the trails.

This was a great training and lots of fun. I really enjoyed the challenge, the company and the perfect spring weather.

leg options and lengths
my routes
route comparison

Earlier this week, we realized that there were two O meets scheduled for Saturday, one at Ft Leavenworth and one in Liberty. Mike made the crazy suggestion that we do both, and I agreed.

First up: Ft Leavenworth. This is an adventure run group, so the map is rogaine-style. There are lots of new buildings, and un-crossable fences, which are not on the map. But the organizers are great, the atmosphere is fun and relaxed, and they give out chocolate milk as prizes! Helped that is was a nice spring day, temps in the 50s when we started.

But before we started, we had to go through a new procedure to get on base. They used to ask for ID and then search your car. Now you have to go into a special screening area (currently a tent) where they do a background check on you. They were also supposed to check car insurance and registration, but they never asked me (just assumed my husband was driving???)

I felt surprisingly good right from the start. And I was able to maintain a steady pace, with only a few walking breaks. And my concentration and map reading was good. Compare that to my last attempt to orienteer here: http://www.attackpoint.org/viewlog.jsp/user_246/pe...

5 was tricky (description was rock face; turned out to be a retaining wall below the building). And there are lots of fenced off areas between 5 and 6, so I had to weave around. I remembered 7: they like to hang it high up on the railing inside the old prison. It's always a bit creepy to go in there!

I wasn't sure what the vegetation would be like on the east side towards 8, but I decided to take a chance. And there was a nice trail all along the wall. Passed the one lone house, which has a strange location: one side looks out at the solid rock wall of the prison. But the other side has gorgeous views of the river and the bluffs on the Missouri side. I really enjoyed the view from 9 to 10, too. It would be really nice to live in one of the houses across from 10.

EDIT: check out some photos from that area of the course: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.53864000...

Leaving 11, I decided to take a chance and go around the north side of the building. I was surprised to see the bridge across the reenetrant (in the real world) because I hadn't noticed it on the map (mapped as a trail). Maybe because it looks something like a north line?

Beautiful day, nice run through an historic area. Then we jumped into the car to head off to race #2, thirty minutes away.

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A new map! We'd used part of it before, as a sprint (in the open yellow areas) but the rest was brand new. Thanks to possum for taking the time to bash through all the crappy woods to make this map of Hodge Park. But I can't say I'll orienteer here again.

The woods are really crappy, even for this area. Lots of thick shrubs and small trees, with dense networks of branches. Not so many thorns.

The contours are not very good; I wonder what base map was used? Probably USGS.

Great weather though (hit 72 degrees!) And a great turnout, especially newcomers on the white course.

1: tried to attack from above, but learned it was better to go around.

2: left 1 and decided to see what the woods were like. Mistake. I should have headed more SW as I left the control, as Mike did. I was looking for the stream bend to help me to decide when to go into the woods. But it kept going on and on. I stopped and looked closer at the map, and then saw how the thin stream was mapped. Headed up one stream but quickly realized it was the wrong one. Cut back over an unmapped hill to get to the marker. Contours are really generalized in this area.

3: the trails were a muddy mess. I had been freezing for the last two weeks and today was the first thaw. Ugh! Very hard to run on any of the trails today.

8: I figured I would just have to suck it up and climb the hill through the thick stuff. I think it helped to be a short person here: I was able to duck and weave a bit better than taller folks. The trails at the top of the hill very indistinct, and I couldn't fin d the one I wanted, so I just ran around the curve of the one I was on.

9: trails were very hard to follow. I kept thinking I was on a certain one, and then it would curve in an unexpected direction. Started cutting through the woods from one trail to another. Never found the trails to the east of the marker, so I decided to just head into the stream. I got lucky and hit the control head on. EDIT: Winsplits says this was my biggest mistake, more than 2 minutes. Guess I spent too much time wandering on trails.

10: when I was planning this route, I thought: maybe I should just go to 11 first. But then I put that idea aside, and started following the vague new trail until it crossed the stream. My plan was to cut through the woods and head directly east. But I wasn't careful with checking my compass and I kept having to move around thicker stuff in the woods. Then I got confused as I ran across more vague trails (new trail? deer trails?) Finally realized I wasn't sure where I was and I should just head east again. And then I saw a control on a fence and it was indeed #11! Ha, too funny. However, I was quite annoyed with myself. I practiced compass bearings this winter (since I rarely do them but often mess them up when I do) and I should have been ore disciplined on this portion of the leg. EDIT: i had the fastest split on the course on this leg, LOL! Guess everyone else messed it up worse than I did. But also funny, Winsplits does not indicate any time lost on this leg.

It warmed up a lot while I was out and I got dehydrated. And very tired, of course. But I figure this was good training for the US Champs weekend, with the long race on Saturday. As soon as we got home, I just laid down in the living room and took a nap; couldn't even make it up the stairs to the bedroom.

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C • contours 1

Particularly tough tonight. My right bicep is really weak; probably due to lack of use with my frozen shoulder.

Speed 101, week 4. Starting to feel like I'm running fast. I'm getting psyched to start real sprint training soon. It will be fun to run all out on a track again.

I found an old course Mike had drawn on the Clinton map, which is almost 20 years old. I decided it would be a good challenge to run on an old map, and at 1:15 scale no less.

Sunny and 30 degrees. A few inches of fresh snow made the rocky hillsides a bit slick. But I had fun looking at all the animal tracks.

Only real problem was 3, where the dark green section was much bigger now.

5 was also a bit dicey, not sure what rock was originally mapped.
10 was just a silly mistake.

Stopped to take a photo from the top of Bunker Hill, since the snow-covered frozen lake looked so pretty.

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