Training Log Archive: Spike

Ran at Weston Bend again. My legs felt a bit heavy for the first 25 minutes or so, but then I warmed up and felt ok.

Snorkel and I went for a run at Weston Bend. We got going before it was too bad. This session is the warm up and easy running. We also did...

...hill repeats. We began with 3x a hill that takes about 5 minutes. Then we did 3x a shorter hill (about 2 minutes). I felt decent. As my boss might say, "not too terrible."

Jogging around putting out controls and picking some up after the training. It was warm and humid.

I ran the park O' course at Bonner with Snorkel (he apparently decided not to wait until July to train!). We ran hard on the legs and rested a minute at each control. The temp and humidity made the efforts tough -- we (or at least I) didn't move very fast. I baredly recovered during the 1 minute breaks.

When I got home there was a big developing storm just north of us. I managed to sneak in a short run. Lightning was moving in. I don't like being out in the lightning. I made it home before it got close. I also made it home just in time to see Drew selected in the NBA draft. Good player...ugly suit.

I didn't have the motivation to go for a run in the hot weather (though it wasn't actually much above 90). Instead, I put in a bit of time on the NT when I got home....then....

...I went for a bit of a bike ride. I saw a half-dozen+ bunnies and one big bull frog on the b-loop.

A long/easy run at Weston Bend. It was hot, but bearable in the shade.

Went for an easy bike ride. For a change, I didn't ride on the bunny. Instead, I went for over the other side of I-29 and made a loop around the golf course and back through "Air World Center." It was a nice change, but I think I'll stick with the bunny loop for the most part -- less traffic.

O' practice at SMP. Eric and I ran the course Gene designed for last week. Gene set up a course with good route choice options as long as you followed his rule -- you're only allowed to be on asphalt. It was fun. I did the first two legs easy, but then ran hard on the last three legs (well above a race effort...pace wasn't much because of the heat). We ran as a group. We spent a minute or two at each control resting.

My left foot felt fine all day. Another easy day of cycling seemed like a good idea.

I would normally run on Tuesday, but my left foot felt a bit sore. To rest the foot, I decided to do an easy ride around the bunny loop. There was a strong and steady SW wind. That made for a cross wind for almost the entire ride.

Pushed the mower around the yard.

Went to Peggy and Nadim's wedding. If I understand correctly, the top QOC "official" present was a vice-president. How cheezy can you get? Orienteer Kansas had the prez in attendance (and we had a lot longer to travel). Nadim (and Peggy, too) should probably consider this a slap in the face from Quantico.

I did the QOC Beer Chase (though I annoyed Don D. by drinking water) at Jug Bay. It was a lot of fun. The terrain was fairly interesting. I ran around with a little pack of people.

I set out "snitslar" on a green course at Great Falls. The course was nice (thanks Peggy) and the forest was very pleasant. Even the weather was good for running -- around 65-70 and light rain.

Setting out "snitslar" again -- this time at Patuxent. The course was nice but the woods weren't as pleasant as at Great Falls. After setting out the controls, I followed Mary around the course. She took me on a couple of big booms (I think it made her nervous to have me following her around). The dark clouds and dense forest made it a bit dark in the forest.

I just went out for a short bike ride -- enough to break a good sweat but not much more. I saw a couple of strange things. As I was heading to the bunny loop I passed a duck. The duck was standing in the grass next to the shoulder of the road. It was on the road that runs next to the exit ramp at the I-29/MO 152 interchange. That's a strange place for a duck to be standing. He was still there when I passed by on the way back. I also saw an enormous pile of empty cat food cans. There must have been two trash bags worth of cat food cans right off the road. Where did they come from? Why are they there? Obviously someone must have been driving around with a huge load of empty cat food cans. How would that happen?

I ran on the west side of the bunny loop. After 35 minutes, I put in ten minutes at an honest effort. The weather was interesting. It was 85 and humid at the start. After about 45 minutes a thunderstorm hit. The temp must have dropped 10 or 15 degrees in just a couple of minutes. It rained heavily for 10 minutes. I was a bit worried about hail. Fortunately, hail didn't come.

Shuffled around a bit.

I ran around on at Weston Bend. I carried the map but hardly even glanced at it. There were a lot of people out. I met a group of Army Reservists from Wichita doing "Land Nav." I rounded a corner on a gravel road and met a scary-looking Doberman. The dog was off-leash, but the owners were near by and snapped on a leash before he tore into my leg. I did the last ten minutes at an honest effort. But, after almost two hours or jogging and honest effort wasn't very fast. If the rain stops, I'll do some easy biking.

The rain stopped just before dinner. So, after dinner I went for a ride on the bunny loop.

An easy day -- a bit of biking on the bunny loop. Tomorrow I'll do a long run at Weston Bend.

I figured I should do enough to break a sweat. I didn't run because I've got a blister on my foot (seemed to develop during the race yesterday). Biking was a good option.

"Tatyana's Four Course Marathon." The four courses took about 20 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes and 15 minutes. We began in a chilly rain (unexpected for TJOC) and finished with the temp about 70. Johanna, Andreas and I had a good race. Johanna won even though we both had the same point score. Apparently the final tie breaker is the placing on the last course -- she was 2nd, I was 3rd.

Flew home.

TJOC 4-point course. I took a bad route choice to the last control (and boomed it on top of that). Johanna and I were together at 3, and she beat me by about four minutes. Ouch. Matt caught me at the last countrol -- Ouch. But, my old legs managed to keep up with his 18-year-old legs and we punched our dipsticks at the finish at exactly the same time.

I walked around the beaver O' with some less-advanced kids. They did quite well. We decided up front to walk (focusing on keeping map contact and not killing ourselves in the heat).

Score O' race. I went out hard, but died after 20 minutes. It was hot. It was humid. I was suffering. Even though I was just shuffling, I couldn't really go harder. It didn't help that the race was in the sketchiest section of the map. Johanna rested...resting up for the race the next day?

I spent a bunch of time shuffling around the woods setting up and manning points for the Tennis O'. It wasn't much running, but just sitting in the heat can be draining. Watching the Tennis O' was fun -- Jay V. won ahead of Andrew.

Shadowing a group on the Beaver O'. The kids went too fast (especially in the beginning) and got a bunch of beavers.

Setting out controls for the "Russian Line O'" at TJOC. It was hot (mid afternoon). The map was a bit sketchy and the forest was thick in places.

Star O' race at TJOC.