Training Log Archive: Spike

I went to work on Thursday but left early. I've got a cold and need to sleep. I took Friday off and got plenty of rest. I think Thursday was the worst of the cold, but I'm still (as of Saturday morning) not normal.

My plan is to rest a lot today, but maybe get out of the house and walk around for 30 minutes. Something to get outside and moving around a bit. Maybe I'll feel good enough tomorrow to go for a run. If I do, I won't. I'll do something easier, like another walk.

I'll try to make some use of today. I've got a couple of mapping projects that I could do some desk work on. I might have some more to add to the Slough Creek map. Gene will use it for an event this spring. I've also generated a KP map of the Pigeon Roost area of Hobbs State Park. Be-the-map told me it is a nice area - a bit less steep than the area we've mapped at Hobbs and the trails aren't open to horses and MTB's.

I've got a cold. So far, not too terrible. But, I will make sure I get plenty of rest. The problem is I also had an O' race to put on. So I had to run around to get the markers put out.

I shuffled and took it easy (including driving a bit extra to cut down on the running). I moved slowly.

The event was the annual OK New Year's Day orienteering at Rockhaven. It went pretty well. We had a reasonable turnout on a cold day (20F but felt colder and a little bit of a north wind). We had two courses, a regular score course and a dog bones course. Both courses seemed to work out ok and I got some good feedback on the dog bones. I was a bit worried becuase I don't really like novelty events, but I'd run a dog bones at the sprint camp in Vancouver years ago and enjoyed it.

An advantage of dog bones is that you can get a longer course in a small area. Small areas are good for putting out controls and most of our maps are small. I figured the best route would involve about 6.7K of straightline running. I was thinking that it would be possible, but not probable, that someone would clear the course. Dean H. cleared it. With one second to spare - he did 59:59 with a 60:00 time limit.

I got a bit cold after putting out controls. That wasn't so nice.

On the plus side - I timed things well and had a bit of a break before anyone arrived to put on warm clothes and take a mental break. I remembered to pack some lunch (I think I forgot that last year).

My rhinovirus-addled brain was a bit slow. When everyone was finishing and I was the only one running the download, I felt a bit overwhelmed. Next year we'll figure out a way to have a second person if we do a mass start. Mass starts are good for the New Year's event because the weather can be unpredictable and having a single start time and most everyone done at about the same time is good.

It was fun to see a few folks I hadn't seen in a while.

Fritz and Mary handled registration - that was a big help. Gene, Paul, Bill, Dean picked up controls (I don't think I've missed anyone).

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I ran at Rockcrusher, carrying the map and looking at it a fair amount.

I saw a lot of turkeys. That was fun. I saw a few deer. I saw two trail runners. I saw one trail runner yesterday.

Trail runners are rare on the south shore of Clinton. Maybe it is becoming more popular. Matt Q lead a Trailhawks run out there a month or so ago. Maybe that inspired some more use of the south shore trails. Compared to the north shore trails, the south shore are rougher but more interesting.

My legs felt off the first 15-20 minutes, then felt good. I stuck with my plan to stop at one hour.

My throat feels a little scratchy. I'm going to be extra careful for a few days - nothing physically demanding, get plenty of rest, etc.

Oh, and a highlight of the day was hearing from Cristina-bot. It had been a while.

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