Training Log Archive: bradc

Knees totally shot today!

C • Your body doesn't like soft... 2

BUCS Men B course, Devilla - 7.3km +135m. Helping out with the WOC radio control testing, I managed to sneak out for a tootle around the B course. Typically tough going, but today I enjoyed it, up to about the hour mark, when the lack of terrain fitness kicked in.
Set off a minute ahead of RonaL, but 30s faffs at 2 and 4 meant that she'd caught me up by then. I stayed ahead until #8, when my deviant wide route to the right left me having to cross the man-eating bog into the control - stupid. Flounder. OK to #9 and ca 45s ahead again leaving that, but I missed the fast track route to #10 due to over-aggressive map folding, and I allowed that to put me off executing my planned route - bang, four minutes lost. Stupid, stupid. Now >60s down on Rona, who was 30s out of #10 as I approached, but I let my focus wander on the final short section, losing a further 4 minutes in the last 20. Three of those minutes happened because I fell over en route 14-15 and after picking myself up started navigating the leg in reverse! Jogged home then from 15 through 17 and at about 25% up the run in.
Positive, I was decent enough for the first 50, then let annoyance at my mistake distract me and lose focus, which meant that I slowed and orienteered worse. These are correctable errors.
TRIMP 206.5

Crip today - both knees wrecked and back sore. My body doesn't like hard surfaces.

Event: FVO Night #8 - Fallin
 

FVO Night O at Fallin, Long ABC 6.2km. New area! And probably the only reason why anyone would come to Fallin for a run. Will set expectations suitably low with his comments about dog poo and treacherously sawn-off birch stumps, but it was the boggy heather and tricky forest that were more challenging!

As usual the pack steamed off, but I was still in touch with Helen and Patrick on the first loop, missing my #2 (182-ditch) by 30s but then clean back up to the #6 butterfly centre. From then, though, I was on my own for the short butterfly (executed OK). On the third butterfly I nailed #12 despite crawling over the boggy heather. Lack of leg strength was obvious from both that and from when Oleg came steaming past through the forest to #13, although I got that OK too. Then two fluffs, 2 mins on #14 (poor route choice, big relocate) and >45s on #15 (hadn't aimed off on the earthbank and picked the wrong direction to run along it, d'oh). Brain addled back to the butterfly and then off to the urban which I was fine on, apart from one huge howler en route from #18 to #19 when I misplaced myself on the map and threw away >90s, despite being with JonX at that point. Oh well!

I'd have been happy with just the 3 mins of forest blunders but the extra 90s in the urban was poor. Leg strength lacking on the tough stuff and leg speed only average in the urban - work to be done, but my knee survived OK so there's still hope I can get fit in time for M45L in the SOLs, JK, Six Days... eek. TRIMP 156.

C • 18-19 4

Return to FVO Pilates session. More stretching than core work this week.

Circuits. Pressed for time, so I suggested one set of paired 30s exercises. That second set of a core exercise is always gruelling. Very much feeling the 3-week layoff.