Training Log Archive: Spike

Ft Lev Adventure orienteering. Score with some random elements thrown in (you got a bingo card and had to get the controls that were listed on your card, but the cards weren't all the same). The map is not a real orienteering map, but is also a good bit better than a normal adventure race map.

I had low expectations. I did not sleep well last night. For some reason, my left hip was aching (it seemed to start when I was watching the basketball game). The discomfort was enough that I tossed and turned a lot. I finally took some ibuprofen around 3:30 and got some sleep. I still felt sleepy when Sandy picked us up in the morning. With that background, I decided to jog around the course at something above an easy jog, but below a race effort.

I also had some very weird stuff with my right foot. There were two times when I was running along, feeling fine, and then the top of my right foot started hurting. It went away after a few minutes. Very strange.

Ft Lev Adventures does a good job as always (even if an ice cream at the finish wasn't needed in the chilly 48F temps). I had two favorite control locations:

1. The guard tower inside the walls of the old prison. It is always fun to run in through those big heavy prison walls.

2. The Berlin Wall - Ft Lev had a chunk of the wall imported from Germany.

Fort Leaveworth would be a great location for some sort of urban sprint map and a national event of some kind. I think permission would be a chore and getting people on the post is a pain, but the area is interesting.

5

C • Fort Leavenworth 2

Work commute.

When I got home, I plopped down in front of the TV to watch basketball. I was expecting to see Swampfox get some camera time (I'd directed him to paint his face and go to the game shirtless...I assumed he'd also be dancing during time outs, and possibly wearing a wig of long blond hair). I was disappointed. The game was the outcome I'd been hoping for, but it wasn't really very exciting. All in all, it was a fun season and I'm already looking forward to next year.

1

Work commute. A little bit of rain both ways. The temp was pretty much the same all day - upper 40s.

At lunch I took my usual downtown Lawrence walk. It was kind of like this:

https://youtu.be/O3GiDF0tV94

Biking to/from Ulrik's Hill in a light mist.

With 4x Half Ulrik's Hill. My new watch tracks cadence, so as an experiment, I tried to run with a higher-than-normal cadence (>170 on my watch). It was kind of interesting. I worked pretty hard, too.

It was sort of fun and satisfying that I felt decent. Of course, nice cool weather probably was a big help.

2

Work commute.

The trip home was fun. When I started it was dark and a drenching rain was falling. It was a little bit cold, too. By the time I got home, the sun was out and the temp must have been 10 degrees warmer.

1

I just skimmed through the USA event restructuring presentation. I've looked at a bit of the AP thread. A few random thoughts:

Of the problems the presentation describes, I think the most important one is not enough national events in all regions. That is related to the idea of it being too difficult/burdensome to host a national event.

I really like the 2-day total time US Champs format. I liked the pressure that having to have 2 good days back-to-back brings. I also liked the every-other-year WOCs as well.

The number of US Champs doesn't bother me at all.

The timing of the events across the calendar doesn't bother me either. I like that a US Champs can be in October in Rhode Island or late June in Alaska.

Lack of arenas also doesn't bother me at all. Some of that is probably my Swedish experience where nearly any event had a better "arena" than the best US events I've been to. But some of it is that I just don't care about that stuff - some of my most memorable orienteering races were very small scale.

In prefer a lot of flexibility. Rather than trying to standardize, I'd rather just have clearer information available when it is time to make a decision about whether or not to attend an event. If a club is going to have an "arena" that's great, they should let everyone know. If a club wants to test an unusual format - great, just let me know in advance.

I'm sure that whatever OUSA does, I'll keep orienteering and I'll keep working to develop orienteering locally.

C • That's all wrong. 11

Work commute.

Biking to/from Ulrik's Hill.

On West Campus with 5x Half Ulrik's Hill. This felt pretty good. My legs felt terrible the first time up the hill, but better the rest. I was getting tired at the end.

There was a guy skateboarding on the paved football field at the top of the hill. That seems like an odd place to ride a skateboard. It looked fun. I think my skateboard is in the garage. It has been a long, long time since I rolled around on it.

2

Work commute. My legs were a little tired today - a good tired, but still tired.

1

Long run at Rockcrusher. I did 4x HU/ML/TR. I also did a fair amount of climb. My legs felt pretty good on the hills. Of course, I was going slowly almost the entire time.

I was tired at the end.

The woods are thickening, but I managed to get in some time in the terrain in woods that were surprisingly pleasant for Clinton.

4