Training Log Archive: Sandy

A bunch of PT and core exercises.

Some lackluster hill repeats. Just walking.

A guess at the beginning bit.

Forgot to start my watch until about 1/2 hour in. Stiff and sore but not too bad. Need to get back to all the PT stuff. Did a little this morning; I could tell it had been a while.

NAOC sprint.

Not really into this. Really sore from the long.

There were some barriers and signs saying not to cross some recently painted sections of a road on the way to #2 and I wondered what the right thing to do was - it wasn't marked on the map so not sure. I went around but wonder if others did. Lost focus on my way to #6 and had to stop to try to figure out what I was doing. Had to turn around to punch the control and so lost my sense of direction and went the wrong way out of the control to #7. By the time I sorted it out I had gone around an extra building. Settled down after that but had no incentive to try and run hard so just tried to keep moving at a decent pace. Jogged most of the course but did walk a lot in the loop after crossing the green. If I had been clean in the early part might have pushed harder. I was actually surprised I was able to jog as much of the course as I did - I haven't been doing any running lately.

Sprint - Brown Y - Splits

NAOC Long.
Loved this map. Really, really enjoyed orienteering here. A 1:7500 map would have been sweet (like the older classes got) but my glasses worked well and when I was careful I could read what I needed to.

Was careful to #1 and quickly realized the swamps were the best things to use for navigating. I couldn't hold a compass bearing because of having to constantly dodge around boulders and things but I was prepared for that after the model and so was deliberate in making sure I had good contact. And then was careful about 90% of the way to #2 and then lost focus and couldn't remember how many trails I had crossed and didn't read the map carefully. I was almost to the control but then somehow got turned 90 degrees and went into crazy mode. Finally settled down, figured out where I was and went back and got the control after about a 10 minute error. But I then did a 180 out of 2 and went completely the wrong way and only figured it out when I revisited the spot where I had relocated for #2. Got back to #2 and went the right way and nailed #3 but another 5-6 minutes lost. At that point I (foolishly) thought the race was over but I was really enjoying the terrain so I was determined to just have fun. But then on #4, I got to the control circle and saw the flag but could not figure out a way to actually physically get to it. There were a few others there and they offered to punch the control for me but I finally figured out a way to climb down the boulders without hurting myself and punch. But another 3-4 minutes lost. I found a way out of the control that did not involve climbing back up the way I came down and headed off to #5. I realized I had a shadow but it was a short leg so no big deal. Then on my way to #6, she asked if it was okay to follow me as she had been wandering around for a while, was relatively new to orienteering and was really having problems. I didn't recognize her but I said sure. I told her my race was over since I had made some big errors early so I didn't mind and did she want me to tell her what I was doing. She said yes so I started to talk my way through the leg saying what I was doing (going down the spur, looking for the big swamp) and she was just following along. We got to #6 and headed off to #7. She started chatting and I told her I didn't mind telling her what I was doing if she wanted to follow along but that I needed to concentrate since these woods were challenging so couldn't really be chatting and she apologized and said she really appreciated what I was doing. So on the way to 7 I was kind of doing a stream of consciousness - what I was looking for, what I was seeing and she would nod and follow along on her map. Nailed 7 then I explained my route to 8 (showing her on the map what I planned) and then doing just that. And to 9 the same thing. She asked a few questions along the way (I said "there are those blue dots" as we passed the feature and she asked what blue dots meant; she asked why I wasn't just using my compass and I told her the features were a lot easier and safer to follow if you could read them but that I was using my compass as a backup all the time). When we reached the trail to the last control I told her to go ahead and run - it was clear that physically she had a lot in reserve whereas I was pretty spend - and off she went. And then it turns out I was about a minute out of 3rd! I didn't really give up after my early errors but I certainly wasn't in racing mode. Then again, perhaps if I had been pushing I would have made more errors later on. Maybe verbalizing my plans and having an audience kept me focused (really didn't want to screw up with someone counting on me). And then there's the whole issue of whether what I did was "legal". But I enjoyed it and I think Mary Ellen (that was her name) did as well and hopefully it meant she would continue to orienteer. So a very strange day out in the woods but I so enjoyed the challenge of that terrain.

C • Good for you 1

Long - Brown Y - Splits

Event: North American Orienteering Championships 2016
 

NAOC 2016 Middle - Storrs Pond

After helping Max with his math homework, made the long trek up to the start. Was feeling ready and reasonably focused.

Made several errors but it was good enough for 2nd NA in F60+. First error was totally forgetting about the 1st control after punching it (it was just a control on a trail junction to get you away from the start triangle) so that when I cleanly navigated to my #2 I looked at the code for #1 and it didn't match. I couldn't imagine what I had done wrong but decided perhaps I was a little too far right and headed off to the left. But something kept niggling and I finally checked the code again and saw that it was my #2 and then it all clicked but lost about a minute. Good to 3, 4 and 5 but then missed 6 and had to climb back up to it (anther minute) and then took a not very fast route to 7. I also fumbled in the control circle trying to understand what I should have been seeing and finally turned around to find the flag behind me about 10 feet. My glasses were really fogging up by this time so it was hard to read the map but simplified things enough to not make any errors in the final section and only slowed down a little. So not a clean race but pretty decent. Was surprised by the placing.

Middle - Brown Y - Splits

Middle model and Long model, just moseying around and trying to get used to the mapping.

Meadow loop with Sandy.

More of the same - sloppy and slow.

Driving down to Seaside and then back to the event on Saturday afternoon/evening probably didn't help.

Sunday - Brown X - Splits

Event: 2016 US Two-Day Classic Championships and Sprint Relay
 

Sloppy and slow. Still feeling really tired, my knees are pretty achy and my hip/butt injury has resurfaced. Still, no excuse for wandering a bit at a few controls.

Saturday - Brown X - Splits

Model event. Copied the controls from one course to the map of the other course and then just visited a random set. Walked - no energy. Hills seemed huge and I really didn't want to climb which is unlike me.

A not very inspired outing but better than nothing.

Went in to school today and was reminded why I used to like my job (had some great conversations with several students and colleagues) and why I started to not like it anymore (attended a reception for the scholarship program I am no longer directing and interacted with several people who made that job stressful and difficult). I'm glad I'm on leave this semester but am hopeful that when I go back in the spring I can avoid all the non-fun stuff.

Why did this seem so hard??? Nice to catch up with Sandy though.

Intermittent jog/walk around the meadow loop.

I am definitely not in any kind of shape for the O events coming up but am in a great mental state after two weeks of rafting down the Grand Canyon with no access to the outside world. Super fun trip - will add some descriptions and pictures at some point but am still working my way through emails and getting sand out of everything.

C • Welcome back! 5

And then a flight home and back to cell phones and news and technology.

I really loved this trip - for some of the same reasons I liked the Kilimanjaro trip. There was a lot of time to just let your mind wander and you didn't have to think too hard about what you were going to do. Everything was done at a leisurely pace but there was always something to do. Camping for 11 nights wasn't bad and I got used to having sand in everything after a day or two and it didn't bother me as much as some of the others. I learned to not listen to the guides when they said the hike was easy and I could do them in my sandals - I just carried my trail shoes in my day pack and put them on whenever there was anything with rock scrambling involved which was most of the hikes. Just like Kili, the weather couldn't have been better so I think we got lucky on that front. All of the guides were great, each for different reasons, and while I didn't make any fast friends, I did met several people I really liked and it was easy to avoid those that I didn't. Definitely glad I did this!

Our guides:

We got helicoptered out of the canyon to the Bar 10 Ranch where we could shower and clean up. I got to ride shot-gun which was really interesting; never been in a helicopter before.

Then we took a small plane to the south rim and the main Grand Canyon Park visitor's center and it all seemed so anticlimactic to me - I know it's impressive but having been down on the river for two weeks, it seemed a bit of a let down. And from most of the lookouts you couldn't see the river. It didn't help that it was kind of a hazy day.

Our last full day on the river, we saw a lot of bighorn sheep.

We did the most famous rapid (Lava) but as I said, hard to get pictures. I always felt perfectly safe in the boats and had complete faith in the guides. (I was much more nervous about the hikes and in awe as they scampered up these crazy rocky trails and across narrow ledges in their flip-flops.) I was in the back of the boat for this one and got bounced around big time flying high in the air at one point - but it was easy to just hold on and you just came back down on the rubber raft so a soft landing. One of the baggage boat guides went out of her boat; she got an oar caught in the current and just got flipped out but had surfaced and climbed back in before she was even out of the rapids - quite impressive. But as I said, difficult to photos of the rapids.
View from our last campsite.

This was a very scary hike - always exposed, some shimmying around cliff faces on 6 inch ledges, but a really cool oasis at the end.

One of the more interesting camps we stayed at - called "Ledges" for obvious reasons. Carol was another woman on her own and we generally picked out spots near each other so we could help each other put up/take down tents and other things.

My spot was a little further up the slope. OK - I admit it - I was nervous about rolling over in the middle of the night and ending up in the river.

Another glorious morning.

Havasu Canyon

Another campground - this one showing the topeat sandstone formations which provided a nice handy shelf behind my tent. At this point I was still putting up my tent, but sleeping outside under the stars. I loved staring up at the milky way and seeing so many more stars than you ever see around here.

And another hike ending in a waterfall.

And this day was much like the others with gorgeous scenery and a hike up a side canyon with a clear stream and a waterfall at the end.

We hit Phantom Ranch early in the morning half way through the trip. The bridge is for the Bright Angel Trail that comes from the South Rim to Phantom (which is on the north side of the river). It was nice to have running water but while many sat in the air conditioned cafe and ate and drank, I just rinsed sand out of my hair and cleaned up a bit. I talked with a bunch of hikers doing the down and up who try to do as much of the hike before the sun gets too high, then stay at Phantom for the middle of the day, then hike back up as the sun starts to get lower.

We hit some good rapids in the afternoon but it's tough to get pictures since they want everything strapped down and put away when we get close. But I know there's one just around the corner because Jeri (the guide who is rowing) has her go down rapids shirt on and the guy in the front left of the boat is getting ready to put his go-pro helmet on to get video.

Other than the rain we had early in the trip, we had beautiful sunny days all the rest of the time with blue skies that were almost fake looking they were so blue.

Another perfect day, just winding our way down the river. This was my favorite section of the canyon - the schist rock with pink granite running through it.

After pulling in to camp and unloading the boats, the guides would all sit together on one of the boats and chat for 20 minutes, presumably about plans for dinner and the next day but we figured they were also dishing a bit on us. Our guides were great - very professional but really friendly and enthusiastic.

Another day, another hike up a bluff, this time overlooking a rapid we would be rafting after we got down. This was as close to the edge as I got - no looking over to see the rapid for me!

That night it rained some more and I hadn't done a good job setting up the fly and so there was a stream of water coming into my tent. But we slept on these 4 inch foam pads so I stayed dry although a bit of the sleeping bag got wet and most of my gear was in plastic bags so mostly just the outside of the bags were wet. But, we woke up to sun and there was a mist on the river.

We did a hike up the canyon wall to some granaries. The hike wasn't bad until they wanted us to climb on these ledges to get right up there. I couldn't really concentrate on the talk they gave about the granaries - I was just hanging on to my 6 inch perch hoping I wouldn't fall.


Drying out my stuff at camp that night:

View in the other direction:

A cool naturally made cavern (note the boat already tied up on shore and the person walking to get a perspective on how big it was):

Guides getting lunch ready:

In the afternoon it poured for about 45 minutes but then cleared up as we pulled into camp. We went hiking up a canyon but I overheard the head guide Heather talking to Corey, the guide leading the hike, telling him to be safe and turn around if he needed to. About 40 minutes in while we standing in a wash in a pretty narrow part of the canyon, we could hear thunder in the distance and Corey made the decision to turn around. So back we went. We got onto the part of the trail that was on the rocky slopes of the canyon and not in the wash of the side canyon and it started to pour and the thunder and lightning started. I was pretty stressed as the hiking was not easy in the first place (lots of climbing over rocks that were bigger than what I could comfortably step down so lots of scrambling) and with the rain it was slick. Eventually we got to the bottom of the trail and back to camp at about the time the rain stopped. And then we were treated to a rare site. There were waterfalls of red off the rim of the canyon walls (just washing all the red dirt over) and a flash flood down the canyon we had been standing in. Had we continued to climb we would have totally been toast.


This is actually a video but I have no idea how to embed it into AP>