Training Log Archive: Sandy

Green Y course. I like the beginning of this course a lot but not the last half. Had a decent run as in didn't have any large blow ups but I wasn't particularly fast or clean. I took a long safe route to #1 - across the top of the ridge then down the spur - wonder if blasting to the trail and coming in off the bend was any faster if I wasn't going to go straight. OK to 2, 3 and 4. Very slow to #5 which was silly - should have just aimed right until I hit the trail and then gone in off the big rocks. 6 and 7 were fine although I was having trouble reading the map detail. Got left out of 7 so ended up taking the trail for part of the way to 8 which couldn't have been any faster than straight. 9 was fine but getting out of 9 was a mess. Not sure what the best route was for 10 but I doubt I took it - I went right of the line and stayed in the "white" which wasn't particularly easy running. I then bobbled 13 and 14 each for a minute or more. So again, no total meltdown like Saturday, but easily could have taken 10 minutes off my time without going any faster necessarily, just by being a bit more careful and concentrating. However, I have learned the last year or two that despite feeling woefully out of shape and whining about all sorts of aches and pains, concentrating is really my biggest issue these days. Unfortunately, I don't know what to do about that any more than I do about anything else.

Perhaps I'll have an epiphany before the US Champs. Wouldn't that be nice! :)

C • Mind games 1

GreenY Day 2 - Splits

Event: Boulder Dash 2007
 

Green Y. Excellent course, as in the course setter did a great job not as in I did a great job. I was having a decent run - nothing spectacular but staying in good map contact for the most part through the first 8 controls. I got hung up in some green out of #1 and worse out of #2 but was chugging along having a great time. (Really enjoyed the orienteering all weekend.) Got a little distracted on the way to #9 and let myself get confused when I must have been just on the wrong side of a tree or something to see the control since when I relocated I came back to what I think was pretty much the same spot and then saw the flag. So I'm not really sure what happened at #9 but it rattled me enough that I had a total meltdown on #10. Got too far to the northwest and found everyone else's control but couldn't figure out where the heck they were on the map. In retrospect it all seems so straightforward but at the time I must have started to panic since I couldn't figure it out for close to 20 minutes. When I did finally figure out what I was seeing, I ran right to the control. Finished in a rather disheartened state.

GreenY Day 1 - Splits

Should probably parse the time and figure out the part where I actually ran but I just don't feel like it. So the time includes a bunch of walking and stretching.

TNT - track workout. Clem and Eric.

Didn't wear my brace at school today - just didn't feel like it - and my knee ended up a bit swollen by the end of the day so not feeling all that great by this evening. So got to the track and jogged some and walked some and decided I would do intervals of some sort but walk most of the recoveries since my knee didn't feel that great. Did two 100's then two 200's then two 300's and two 400's walking or jogging slowly in between for the same distance. Both 400's were 1:59 which surprised me - that's the best I managed all last year; I expected to be slower. The 300's were 120 which means I slowed way down for the 400 - but I know I just took the whole thing at a slower pace that I thought I could maintain as opposed to slowing down during the interval.

Got a good stretching session waiting for Clem to finish.

Wonder if these kinds of workouts are good for me or not - but I find them fun.

C • good for you 5

A mixture of core work, some strength work, yoga and stretching.

TNT - hill repeats. With Clem and Ralph; Dasha showed up later.

Actually took splits! Except I didn't start my watch until we got to the trail head since I walk that part.
953 - jog down and along the drive to the covered bridge
220/227 - up/down
217/237
219/246
223/240
224/234
2215 - some stretching then the jog home; ran the road part of the hill

Walked the 4 miles home from the bus stop - a last minute decision. Not the best shoes so couldn't push it.

Leg 3 of the "Rockin' All Chick" relay team. Stellar runs by Sandy A, Mary Frank and Cristina gave us second place in the 12 point category.

An okay outing - one mistake for probably 2+ minutes - but lots of places where I should have been running and I just didn't have it in me. :( But I was 12 minutes behind the team in front of me and 14 minutes in front of the team behind me at the hand-off so a few minutes one way or the other wouldn't have made too, too much difference.

Really great woods for a relay - lots of fun, excellent course. Superb spectating opportunities and the club cheered everyone on. When I wanted to walk the last hill there were people there to urge me on and keep me moving. Really excellent!

Perhaps this was the incentive I needed to start training again!

Event: Sprint Series Final & US Relay Champs
 

Worked epunch all day for the sprints. Figured it would be pretty hectic and that it would be tough for me to get out so I didn't even bring anything to run in. Good plan - I think it would have been a lot of fun to get out and run the courses but I was plenty busy and enjoyed working the results since there were always plenty of people around to talk to.

A crappy week - have not stretched or iced and my neck and knees can tell. Bleah.

C • Bleah 2

TNT - an uninspired outing on the drive, 10 minute pace. Legs felt like lead. Should have just done hill repeats...

Just sat around and ran the computer for epunch. Had great help picking up controls and didn't have to do any myself. And the ranger even showed up as promised and drove someone out to retreive all the stuff at the water stops.

An excellent weekend despite a few glitches - people had to wait for maps to be drawn since I didn't print enough and Kseniya got a map drawn with the wrong feature circled for her first control and the last three orange controls which were on the yellow course that I didn't design had the wrong control codes since someone changed something somehow after I got the course file for yellow. Thanks to everyone for being patient, to Kseniya for being forgiving and to the West Point cadets for catching and reporting the control code errors and getting it taken care of for the later runners.

C • Courses 2

Hanging the rest of the controls in the camp area.

Was quite amusing - no matter where I went to hang a control for the night-o or the Sunday orange course I could see several controls that were out for the various training exercises.

Hanging controls for the night-o and Sunday courses at Hickory Run. Wanted to hang as much as possible since the forecast was for rain Friday night and Saturday morning. Started around 11:30 and finished at 5:30 and got everything out except stuff right in the camp area. Was greatly helped by the park ranger that unlocked the gates and drove me and 9 gallons of water out to the water stops that were a couple of km from the camp area. Left a pile of controls there and did the far loop then picked up the pile and hung a bunch more controls on the way back in. All very efficient. Then did two more loops to get the rest.

Walk home with the 20lb pack from the bus stop. Lovely afternoon.

TNT - Sandy A, Clem, Karl
Hill repeats on the hill by the covered bridge. Felt crappy and this time didn't feel better once I started. Walked one, ran three, walked one. Like I said, pretty pathetic. Each repeat takes me about 5 minutes - and about as long to get down as to go up. Time includes the run down and along the drive to the covered bridge and the run back.

Looks like DVOA will have 7 relay teams at the US Relay Champs. Including a rockin' all female 12 point team. Should be fun.

C • Rockin' all female 12-point team 4

Knees okay this evening after being very sore Sunday night, yesterday and this morning. I think the steepness of McKeldin must have been the culprit - that and maybe not stretching after the event.

QOC event at McKeldin. Made the drive down in order to sort out epunch equipment with Valerie. OK race - 2 minute error on #2 (arghh) and not the fastest routes to #3 and #14. Everything else was fine but it was hot and perhaps I was dehydrated some since I drank at every water stop which is highly unusual for me.

After hearing multiple horror stories of traffic on I-95 decided to take the back roads and it was a piece of cake and much more pleasant than the interstate way. Need to remember this.

Green - Splits

Event: DVOA - Norristown
 

Hanging controls for the Norristown sprints. Was busy for about 90 minutes but that included a lot of hammering stakes and assembling stands. On the other hand, I was lugging around a heavy rock for much of it so the running I did do was a good workout. Glad I wasn't running in the heat of the day.

TNT
A mix of slow jogging around the fields of the high school and then some hard running in short spurts interspersed with really slow jogging (some would say walking) towards the end. Although I can't sustain a fast pace* for very long it really feels good while I'm doing it.

*fast pace: Clem's recovery pace ;)

Some good stretching, push-ups and ab stuff while waiting for the guys to finish. And a few cartwheels just because.

Walk home from the bus. Picked it up a tad over last week.

TNT - with Clem and Dasha. Hill repeats. Did 6 to Clem's 10 today. Woohoo. ;) Felt like crap heading down to the drive and wondered if maybe I'd only do 4 but they somehow seemed easier than last week once I got started. I found yet another way down - very steep through the woods, but no rocks and lots of trees to grab so fun.

An early morning walk on the beach. Walking barefoot in the deep sand is really enjoyable, but hard work! Today however, it paid off. Literally. I think.

Yesterday afternoon, a garbage slick from NYC came ashore at Normandy Beach which is where my sister's beach house is. It closed down the beaches as there were syringes and all sorts of other good stuff washing up onto the sand. This morning they had machines out cleaning up and now - late morning - they've re-opened. In any case, it was pretty empty this morning, the lifeguards were telling people to stay not only out of the water but up away from the water's edge. So perhaps I was paying a little more attention than usual to where I was putting my feet. But as I was walking along, I found a $100 bill just laying on the sand. Couldn't believe it. Asked the life guards what the policy was when you found money and they said just keep it. I have no idea if it washed up or if someone dropped it or what. And it's possible it's fake. I don't normally carry $100 bills so can't compare but it looks real enough. But maybe not. We shall see.

C • $100 ! 4

C • Money = Medical Waste? 1