Training Log Archive: Sandy

Brown course at Prince William Forest, another great piece of woods in QOC land. I had a few bobbles. For 1, I was doing great and then I thought I needed to be down below the bottom earth bank and turned around to find a way down only to read the map a little more closer and realize that I needed to stay above the lower one exactly where I was. On 6, I had some trouble getting through downed trees and swung a ways left but it didn't help. Leaving 6 I had to swing right to find a way down the steep slope to cross the stream but once across I was fine. And then didn't keep a very good line to 7 and hit the trail farther left than I intended. I got a bit lucky on 9 - I intended to go to the right of the gully but again a lot of downed trees pushed me left. When I realized I was already past the bottom of the gully I cut right to cross it and spied the flag right in front of me.

I ran in a few places - maybe 20 meters at a time, maybe half a dozen times. I'm not in any kind of running shape so this was jogging, but at least a bit faster than walking. Another good day in the woods.

Brown - Splits

Spent the weekend in DC. First up was a transfer of some OUSA paraphernalia. Next, I met Valerie for a training I designed at Great Falls. I didn't really know the park but the terrain looked fabulous on paper and it lived up to my expectations. Valerie said she wanted longish legs to practice staying on a compass bearing so the idea was to navigate to the control just before a trail and leave a streamer there if there was none and take the streamer if there already was and then regroup at the next control on a nearby obvious feature, usually a trail. I messed up #5 by stopping too short. I wandered a bit because while there were two hill tops nothing else looked right and so I knew something was amiss but took a long time sorting it out. Eventually I heard Valerie calling from the correct hill. Since we regrouped there we just left from there for the next leg. A great day in the woods.

I wore my new Garmin 10 and Valerie showed me how to upload tracks to QuickRoute and RouteGadget. I like the fact that the red zones on the track nail exactly where I stood still or in one case fell and had trouble getting back up.

5 minute warm up - mostly fast walking across campus since I was late as usual, and then a few trips up and down the stairs inside the building to finish it off.

30 minute - personal trainer. Felt pretty easy during the workout, but already just a couple hours later some muscles (inner thighs, triceps) are telling me they worked harder than they were used to.

5 minute stretching

Oohhh, so close. I wondered if I could do the loop in under an hour. Wasn't really gunning for it but when I decided on which loop I was going to do, I was guessing it was about an hour or a little more.

My pace was definitely faster than usual. I attribute it to several factors:
- it was a beautiful day out, mid 50's, blue sky so it felt like spring
- I wasn't listening to an audiobook; just didn't feel like it for some reason
- I was thinking about one of my classes (differential equations) and the examples I wanted to do in class tomorrow and for some reason thinking about something in particular rather than just letting my mind wander usually speeds me up. I think I get focused and it translates to my pace.
- All the personal training sessions are paying off and my core is a lot stronger and so I'm activating more muscles which puts a spring in my step.

Anyway, this was just a really nice outing. Heck, I felt so good I would have run if I wasn't afraid of breaking my knees. And to think I almost didn't get out. I'm having trouble adjusting to being back at work and being efficient about things like grading papers and prepping lectures. But it was just too nice out to not go; I may be up late grading tonight!

C • Enjoyed . . . 2

25 laps. Only forgot to hit the lap button 4 times. Still having problems with my toes cramping and today my right ankle got in on the action. Kicking with my feet flexed feels weird but does seem to get rid of the cramp reasonably well.

C • Laps 2

10 min warmup walking on the treadmill 4.2mph, 10% incline (or at least I'm guessing 10 means 10%)

30 min Personal Trainer; some tough ab stuff at the end

10 min stretching; finally found a good stretch for things around my knee.