Training Log Archive: bradcIn the 7 days ending Oct 5, 2008:
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Sunday Oct 5, 2008 #
Orienteering race 37:48 [4] *** 5.7 km (6:38 / km)
ahr:163 max:175 shoes: Silva K80 dobs
VHI Relays, Woodburn, NI. 1st off for team 4, on a medium leg (4.5km). This is it - I'm running well so I should be able to make the most of any pack running. I promptly duff #1, badly, by heading off with the long boys, and by the time I've relocated and got back, I'm 2 mins down. Idiot. Bang goes my advantage. Desperately try to get myself back in contention on #2 and go off too fast, not concentrating, and lose another three minutes on the fastest - it would have been less, but I discover that the hatched green on the map is impassable, particularly the stuff in open land.
Right, get a grip, I start concentrating (too late) and running hard. Pretty soon I'm flying along. No more mistakes! Absolutely pegging it along to and through the spectator control(s); this is the hardest I've ever run in an O race. By the third last, after 32 mins, I've caught up EddieH and all 5 mins I lost to him early on. We then both take the obvious route choice to the penultimate control, and get pinned in the most awful bit of boggy open with 6ft + high maneating brambles, torn to shreds - 2 more minutes lost, according to Tim G's time (he diverted through some green instead). Much use of very choice language, Eddie is still in shock, I think.
So - storming along, very bad at the start but I really got into it and was orienteering well whilst tanking it; pleased with that, at least.
So as the teams came in, it was Scotland, England, Wales, England, England, England... all looked lost. Then a rumour that one of the English teams was DSQ'd. Was it one of the ones already finished, or the one still out? (They only had 5, as the first guy out on the 6th team had broken his wrist in leaping a ditch in a pack en route to control #1, poor bloke.) In comes Scotland, Scotland, Scotland. And, yes, they WERE disqualified. We've lost the relays by 2pts but have won overall - yippee! Ha! Serious bragging rights. Ah. I remember the time I got called up for Scotland and we won the VHI trophy for the first time ever.... seriously, though, some superb runs by the team. By my standards I ran well, and was good enough not to be a drag on the scores. Chuffed!
Right, get a grip, I start concentrating (too late) and running hard. Pretty soon I'm flying along. No more mistakes! Absolutely pegging it along to and through the spectator control(s); this is the hardest I've ever run in an O race. By the third last, after 32 mins, I've caught up EddieH and all 5 mins I lost to him early on. We then both take the obvious route choice to the penultimate control, and get pinned in the most awful bit of boggy open with 6ft + high maneating brambles, torn to shreds - 2 more minutes lost, according to Tim G's time (he diverted through some green instead). Much use of very choice language, Eddie is still in shock, I think.
So - storming along, very bad at the start but I really got into it and was orienteering well whilst tanking it; pleased with that, at least.
So as the teams came in, it was Scotland, England, Wales, England, England, England... all looked lost. Then a rumour that one of the English teams was DSQ'd. Was it one of the ones already finished, or the one still out? (They only had 5, as the first guy out on the 6th team had broken his wrist in leaping a ditch in a pack en route to control #1, poor bloke.) In comes Scotland, Scotland, Scotland. And, yes, they WERE disqualified. We've lost the relays by 2pts but have won overall - yippee! Ha! Serious bragging rights. Ah. I remember the time I got called up for Scotland and we won the VHI trophy for the first time ever.... seriously, though, some superb runs by the team. By my standards I ran well, and was good enough not to be a drag on the scores. Chuffed!
Saturday Oct 4, 2008 #
Orienteering race 58:47 [4] **** 9.12 km (6:27 / km)
shoes: Walsh PB Extremes
VHIs, Magilligan East, NI: M35L course, 7.4km
OK, my first (and probably only) chance to perform for Scotland at a home international - best not blow it. Good job it was a nice easy area. And on a nice sunny day. Erk.
Heading off into the driving rain, I quickly noticed that it was harder going than I'd expected, and #1 was a reet tricky control. I lost a bit of time but so did everyone. Another 30s at #2, and a minute at #4; careless. I was feeling pretty good and running strongly but my nav in the circle was shakey. Then it was time to stretch out a bit, and after a repeat performance at #5 I started to get into the groove. The legs felt great. Another miss when we headed back into the tricky stuff, slow down, be cautious... more opportunity to press the pedal to the metal later, hey, I'm feeling good, the legs are on top form after all that rest! One more blunder in the circle at the third last. The finish, sub 60, phew, not bad - OK, so five minutes lost in big mistakes and probably another couple in being slow through controls (my great master plan of taking a map bag backfired - it took ages to fold each time and the map paper was better than Pretex, so it would have been fine despite the drenching) - and I'm actually only 5 minutes down! Just my bad luck that, this year, the results were pretty tightly packed, and I'm in 6th place - but thanks to Ben's 1st we've held our own in our class. And Scotland has won the individuals by 4 pts overall due to some classy running by others. Result! We made a happy bunch drying out in the NAAFI afterwards.
OK, my first (and probably only) chance to perform for Scotland at a home international - best not blow it. Good job it was a nice easy area. And on a nice sunny day. Erk.
Heading off into the driving rain, I quickly noticed that it was harder going than I'd expected, and #1 was a reet tricky control. I lost a bit of time but so did everyone. Another 30s at #2, and a minute at #4; careless. I was feeling pretty good and running strongly but my nav in the circle was shakey. Then it was time to stretch out a bit, and after a repeat performance at #5 I started to get into the groove. The legs felt great. Another miss when we headed back into the tricky stuff, slow down, be cautious... more opportunity to press the pedal to the metal later, hey, I'm feeling good, the legs are on top form after all that rest! One more blunder in the circle at the third last. The finish, sub 60, phew, not bad - OK, so five minutes lost in big mistakes and probably another couple in being slow through controls (my great master plan of taking a map bag backfired - it took ages to fold each time and the map paper was better than Pretex, so it would have been fine despite the drenching) - and I'm actually only 5 minutes down! Just my bad luck that, this year, the results were pretty tightly packed, and I'm in 6th place - but thanks to Ben's 1st we've held our own in our class. And Scotland has won the individuals by 4 pts overall due to some classy running by others. Result! We made a happy bunch drying out in the NAAFI afterwards.
Friday Oct 3, 2008 #
Note
(rest day)
...but no chance today either as it was work work work a.m. and then off to the ferry at 12:30. Rollocks!
Thursday Oct 2, 2008 #
Note
(rest day)
Another unexpected and unwanted rest day. All day in the office, with ca 5 hours of meetings and a late departure, then more slog in the evening. This week is turning into a write-off. I could really do with a nice easy-paced run to loosen out the legs...
Wednesday Oct 1, 2008 #
Note
(rest day)
An unplanned rest day - no opportunity to get out during the day, and that was it, because I was home alone with Jamie again tonight. Ho hum. A nice recovery run would have been A Good Thing (TM).
Tuesday Sep 30, 2008 #
Intervals intervals 28:30 [5] 5.6 km (5:05 / km) +50m 4:52 / km
ahr:156 max:173 shoes: Asics Gel-Trail Attack WR
FVO Intervals at the uni. I arrived just in time to start the intervals, too late for drills, but thankfully nothing fell off or went snap due to lack of a proper loosening up session.
On tonight's menu were 3 sets of 30/60/90/60/30, with 60s between each effort (save for the first 30 of both of the first 2 sets, when we went off 30), and 2 mins between reps. It's a good session, this; a test of both outright speed and a bit of endurance. I found that, in my case, after the initial 15-20s of blast-off, my outright speed is still not great, but I was finding it pretty easy to sustain it through the long reps, and through the 3 sets as a whole. Still plenty of work to do. I was generally keeping Ben company, behind Jamie and ahead of the pack (which included a Dixie and Steve taking it easy before this weekend).
For the record, my max HRs on the reps were:
148, 162, 167, 165, 167;
160, 169, 173, 171, 168;
168, 171, 172, 171, 170.
So, about 90% effort.
On tonight's menu were 3 sets of 30/60/90/60/30, with 60s between each effort (save for the first 30 of both of the first 2 sets, when we went off 30), and 2 mins between reps. It's a good session, this; a test of both outright speed and a bit of endurance. I found that, in my case, after the initial 15-20s of blast-off, my outright speed is still not great, but I was finding it pretty easy to sustain it through the long reps, and through the 3 sets as a whole. Still plenty of work to do. I was generally keeping Ben company, behind Jamie and ahead of the pack (which included a Dixie and Steve taking it easy before this weekend).
For the record, my max HRs on the reps were:
148, 162, 167, 165, 167;
160, 169, 173, 171, 168;
168, 171, 172, 171, 170.
So, about 90% effort.
Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 3.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: Asics Gel-Trail Attack WR
Just a quick jog to the start of the reps, and then a very easy jog back around the loch afterwards.
Monday Sep 29, 2008 #
Strength training (Circuits) 40:00 [3]
Home alone with Jamie (poor kid) so I wasn't able to make it along to the FVO circuits. Instead, I decided that it would be a jolly wheeze to do them at home, as Jase appears to have cunningly planned the exercises so that they can all be done without investment in lots of expensive machinery. Well, apart from any physiotherapist's devices needed to sort one out afterwards.
Being rough, tough, and dangerous to know, I decided to up the ante and did 4 sets, with 35s on each exercise and 10s changeover time. That was a bit wimpy really, I should have made it 40/5, but I'm getting old. The crab walks were getting to be quite hard by the last set.
Being rough, tough, and dangerous to know, I decided to up the ante and did 4 sets, with 35s on each exercise and 10s changeover time. That was a bit wimpy really, I should have made it 40/5, but I'm getting old. The crab walks were getting to be quite hard by the last set.