Training Log Archive: maprunner

PTOC sprint at JCCC. It was 90 degrees already when we started. I suffered in the heat. Felt terrible the whole time. Not as sharp as I would like. Made mistake at 12 misreading the walls. Trouble throughout the course seeing the small patches of out-of-bounds gardens. But the course was really good. Interesting, nice changes of pace, and took us to new areas. Thanks, Paul.

map and route

Was going to train today, but it was so hot and I was so tired. As I looked at the rest of the week, in terms of my schedule and the weather forecast, I knew I wasn't going to hit my planned 5 hours.

So, I decided to start my "month off" a week early. August is my "no planning" month. I still train, but I do what ever I feel like, whenever I feel like, for as long as I feel like. It's a nice mental break from my usual rigid schedule. Plus, it's practical, since August is the hottest month here.

Relay Champs at Lake George. We won the 8 point race!

Different courses and lengths this year. Everyone agreed I should run the shortest course, which was the lead off green leg. Weird to see the pack slowly pulling away from me as we headed up the big hill to the first control. But I was within sight of at least one other runner the whole race, which helped me push the pace. No big errors, just slight bobbles like heading up a parallel reentrant for a few yards. Really pleased with my race.

Spike and peggyd had their usual strong runs, and Mook pulled us into first (during his third leg run).

Very exciting to win!

map and route

C • yesssssssssss............... 4

US Relay Championships Leg 1 (Green) - Splits

Mike and I don't run tonight until after our usual bedtime. So we had a whole day to kill. Planned any easy tourist day. Drove up Pike's Peak, visited Florissant Fossil Beds and took a scenic drive to Cripple Creek. Enjoyed the Cripple Creek District Museum. Quirky but interesting.

Then back to the hotel for a nap.

C • Bedtime 1

I love night O. I have an awesome headlamp, and I run in the woods all winter. So I was really looking forward to tonight's night o champs. Until I started gathering my stuff to leave the hotel. That's when I figured out that I had my battery and charger, but no headlamp. Major bummer

I have a small petzel headlight that I always bring on trips, and is was going to be my backup light tonight. Mike and I talked about our options as we were driving to the meet. We decided to stop at Walmart and get a cheap headlamp, as a backup to my petzel. Found a nice one, only $13, with 20 lumens (my headlight sitting at home is 700+ lumens ). I decided that I wouldn't risk running a green course on such a small lamp. So I dropped down to yellow. The light was Ok, but I had to go slower and look down at my feet more than I would have with my main headlight.

I had a fun run. Although I totally forgot my plan to count to 10 when relocating. Messed up 2 pretty badly. Got to the correct trail junction, but I couldn't see the trail I wanted (slightly overgrown) and there was a fence in front of me that I didn't expect. Convinced myself I had gone too far on the trail, so I turned around and ran back aways. Found another control that wasn't mine, wandered a bit, then finally decided to relocate
for real. Ended up back where I started (the fence was not mapped).

Well,my iPhone won't let me edit the end of my last entry, so I'll conclude it here:
The rest of my run was clean, but not as fast as I wanted. The headlight definitely slowed me down. But I'm glad, that if I was going to have a brain dead moment this weekend, it happened in an unimportant race.

Thanks to RMOC for letting me switch at the past minute.

I'm sleepy now.

map and route

US Night Championships Yellow - Splits

After the race, Mook, Spike and I went into Woodland Park for the annual OK banquet (sorry Peggy). Followed by another OK tradition, a mini golf tournament. Spike pulled off the first win, and Mook dug deep to come back for the second win.

C • Hmmm 2

Day 2 RMOC, green at Manitou Lake. Very similar to yesterday, a few bobbles on a few controls, but I recovered quickly each time. My time per k was almost the same, too. Others had better days and could run faster on this open map. Course was Ok, especially from 2-5. Rest of course was easier due to many trails and roads.

Forgot to mention how much I enjoyed yesterday's course. Overall, RMOC is doing a good job with limited volunteers. Just wish the results were posted already ;)

map and route

Western States Day 2 Green - Splits