Training Log Archive: Jon XIn the 7 days ending Jun 15, 2008:
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Sunday Jun 15, 2008 #
Orienteering race 1:58:39 [5] ***** 12.3 km (9:39 / km) +450m 8:09 / km
spiked:21/26c shoes: VJ Falcon
Jukola 2008, leg two for JOK.
Felt curiously un-nervous and short of adrenaline in the warmup pen, the setup maybe didn't help as runners waiting to go out could not see the big screen - and waiting at the changeover point did not give much of a view of people coming in.
I did use the clever 'check your team's progress' thing a couple of times - the first time Rosco wasn't at the third check when I thought he might well be - the second time he had picked up 150 places and was almost back - now that was good for the adrenaline!
Got to the changeover where there was about 4 yards of space per 100 teams and a huge scrum of people, couldn't see much through the crowd in the 500-600 section. Thought I could see enough though, right up to the moment when I heard Rosco shouting my name - oh shit - sorry mate - could only have been a few seconds lost but more adrenaline.
Ran off telling myself to be calm, turned on my torch - looked at map - couldn't see anything - torch not working - oh shit oh shit. Let's try full beam, that works, try the other again, success, thank god for that, now be calm- long race - be calm.
And I was calm, could have gone faster on the long leg to #1 but settled into a line of runners going straightish without trying to leg it past them, splashed through the first man-eating bog thinking of the chaos there must have been there on leg one, kept reaonable track of where we were, picked it up okay nearer the flag, across the stream and up the little slope and left towards the control. Others stop at the boulder but I know it isn't mine (and in fact wasn't on leg two at all) and I see it ahead of me. Good start and I feel into the race.
Another long leg to #2 and I am straight out to the track option to the left, don't feel great and others are going faster but I am doing my own thing, confident enough to cut the corner through the green leaving the track, confident enough to ignore every single other runner heading up the marsh to my left whilst I go east-ish up the snall hill. Confident right up to the moment when I stop - no flag - no people - I am wavering - aha lights ahead slightly higher than I was headed - get up there, open hill and runners all giving it that distinctive 'I hope someone else finds it' look - time to be confident, I thought they were too high, they must be, 15 yards down the hill there it is, I lead them all in but a minute or so lost, stupid.
#3 is common, #4 is easy on a road although the drinks throw me as there are two sets and I haven't seen the first set on the map, #5 looks very tricky and vague - must be careful, pick my way up the big rocky re-entrant and then lose touch on the vague slope, dammit, idiot. Again there are lights eveywhere. Ignore them all this time and pick my slowly way along it, relocate on the way, there it is!! Lots of lights at this one, all stood still trying to work out what the control is on - it may not be theirs but it is mine, very satisfying! Probably a minute lost but disaster averted, big relief!
The next section is rough and tough and (it turns out) common. I am struggling physically to #6 and #7, my ankle is sore, my back is killing me I keep falling over, and it is pissing down. Hopefully not too many runners around me understand my expletives. #8 is a long vague leg and looks very tricky, I am sure it must be gaffled after the common section in the open, and am relieved to see my catching feature show up after 5 mins on rough compass, do my own thing into the flag and find it fine. Can't believe it in the week when I find out the control was common!
Easy leg to #9 and a track run to #10, no-one seems to want to cut off where I do so I bash through the next block on my own, control is tricky and lots of lights stood around, I am very pleased with myself as I pass them all and sneak straight into it. Maybe too pleased with my self and not concentrating, tricky short leg to #11 sees me get distracted near the control and dragged too low, a moment's thought and I know what is wrong but 90secs lost to get back up to the flag.
Another common section through more felled grot and another TV control, still feel I am struggling a bit and again lose a few places on the running even though no-one seems to be going that quickly, somehow I don't seem to be able to either. And then a tricky-looking section through some nice white forest, it all seems to be confusing people or very gaffled as there is lots of hesitating and running in different directions, but I know where I am and find #17, Then suddenly I am all alone again, trust my compass and bash through a vague green flat bit, think I know where I am but not 100% sure, it should be just there - another light coming in from my right - there it is!
Not that far now, off we go to #20, looks tricky but the rocky ridge is nice, cut down it to run along a flat veg change, don't think much of the white to my left as it is all low trees, but here's the hill - up onto it but it seems further to the top than I think, can't make it fit, runners everywhere asking "118? 118?". Even in my panic I expect to see mustachioed runners in GB vests appear any second. But no, nothing appear except some big cliffs where there should not be any - some desperate runners even descending them to search for the flag. Cliffs - big cliffs - on the north side - oh no - wrong hill - wrong veg change - all going wrong - am right over there - back we go - no problem with adrenaline now - here's the right hill, worryingly there are people thrashing around all over the place here too - careful, should be here - YES! IT IS! 118!
Get on with it after that but it is a single line of people to #22, I am a slow learner as again I think we are too high but stay in the queue and again the flag is not mine, start to drop down but then see another flag, check that out too - finally go to where I wanted initially and there it is, strangely dark and silent but definitely mine. Another minute lost, will I even break two hours??
Try and push the rest even though I am running along like some crippled old man, holding my back and digging my fingers into the muscle to try and loosen it a bit. Pick up a few places including Peter Hodkinson for NOC (has passed me at #20), can't hold him off on the run in though.
Finish in under 2 hours with about 10 min lost to mistakes, 5 mis of them at #20. Pretty disappointed at the finish, struggled physically which I didn't expect particularly after feeling strong at Forssa, and raging about how stupid I was at #20. Would have been happy with a few minor misses as after all it was quite tricky and quite dark.
Am totally wrecked at the finish, soaked and muddy, stiffen up quickly and get very cold. So I know I tried! Rosco and Ian Cumpstey are there, they tell me that the hot showers are fab and the sauna is amazing - and they are right, what a lifesaver!
And the 5 mins was very significant at the time, if not overall.
On the leg I lost 49 places, from 313 to 362
5 mins quicker would have been a gain of 6 places, from 313 to 307
On leg time I finished 458th of 1368
5 mins quicker would have been 106 places higher, 352nd.
And we finished 256th, 5 mins quicker would have squeezed us 6 places higher and in the top 250 - would have been nice!
Felt curiously un-nervous and short of adrenaline in the warmup pen, the setup maybe didn't help as runners waiting to go out could not see the big screen - and waiting at the changeover point did not give much of a view of people coming in.
I did use the clever 'check your team's progress' thing a couple of times - the first time Rosco wasn't at the third check when I thought he might well be - the second time he had picked up 150 places and was almost back - now that was good for the adrenaline!
Got to the changeover where there was about 4 yards of space per 100 teams and a huge scrum of people, couldn't see much through the crowd in the 500-600 section. Thought I could see enough though, right up to the moment when I heard Rosco shouting my name - oh shit - sorry mate - could only have been a few seconds lost but more adrenaline.
Ran off telling myself to be calm, turned on my torch - looked at map - couldn't see anything - torch not working - oh shit oh shit. Let's try full beam, that works, try the other again, success, thank god for that, now be calm- long race - be calm.
And I was calm, could have gone faster on the long leg to #1 but settled into a line of runners going straightish without trying to leg it past them, splashed through the first man-eating bog thinking of the chaos there must have been there on leg one, kept reaonable track of where we were, picked it up okay nearer the flag, across the stream and up the little slope and left towards the control. Others stop at the boulder but I know it isn't mine (and in fact wasn't on leg two at all) and I see it ahead of me. Good start and I feel into the race.
Another long leg to #2 and I am straight out to the track option to the left, don't feel great and others are going faster but I am doing my own thing, confident enough to cut the corner through the green leaving the track, confident enough to ignore every single other runner heading up the marsh to my left whilst I go east-ish up the snall hill. Confident right up to the moment when I stop - no flag - no people - I am wavering - aha lights ahead slightly higher than I was headed - get up there, open hill and runners all giving it that distinctive 'I hope someone else finds it' look - time to be confident, I thought they were too high, they must be, 15 yards down the hill there it is, I lead them all in but a minute or so lost, stupid.
#3 is common, #4 is easy on a road although the drinks throw me as there are two sets and I haven't seen the first set on the map, #5 looks very tricky and vague - must be careful, pick my way up the big rocky re-entrant and then lose touch on the vague slope, dammit, idiot. Again there are lights eveywhere. Ignore them all this time and pick my slowly way along it, relocate on the way, there it is!! Lots of lights at this one, all stood still trying to work out what the control is on - it may not be theirs but it is mine, very satisfying! Probably a minute lost but disaster averted, big relief!
The next section is rough and tough and (it turns out) common. I am struggling physically to #6 and #7, my ankle is sore, my back is killing me I keep falling over, and it is pissing down. Hopefully not too many runners around me understand my expletives. #8 is a long vague leg and looks very tricky, I am sure it must be gaffled after the common section in the open, and am relieved to see my catching feature show up after 5 mins on rough compass, do my own thing into the flag and find it fine. Can't believe it in the week when I find out the control was common!
Easy leg to #9 and a track run to #10, no-one seems to want to cut off where I do so I bash through the next block on my own, control is tricky and lots of lights stood around, I am very pleased with myself as I pass them all and sneak straight into it. Maybe too pleased with my self and not concentrating, tricky short leg to #11 sees me get distracted near the control and dragged too low, a moment's thought and I know what is wrong but 90secs lost to get back up to the flag.
Another common section through more felled grot and another TV control, still feel I am struggling a bit and again lose a few places on the running even though no-one seems to be going that quickly, somehow I don't seem to be able to either. And then a tricky-looking section through some nice white forest, it all seems to be confusing people or very gaffled as there is lots of hesitating and running in different directions, but I know where I am and find #17, Then suddenly I am all alone again, trust my compass and bash through a vague green flat bit, think I know where I am but not 100% sure, it should be just there - another light coming in from my right - there it is!
Not that far now, off we go to #20, looks tricky but the rocky ridge is nice, cut down it to run along a flat veg change, don't think much of the white to my left as it is all low trees, but here's the hill - up onto it but it seems further to the top than I think, can't make it fit, runners everywhere asking "118? 118?". Even in my panic I expect to see mustachioed runners in GB vests appear any second. But no, nothing appear except some big cliffs where there should not be any - some desperate runners even descending them to search for the flag. Cliffs - big cliffs - on the north side - oh no - wrong hill - wrong veg change - all going wrong - am right over there - back we go - no problem with adrenaline now - here's the right hill, worryingly there are people thrashing around all over the place here too - careful, should be here - YES! IT IS! 118!
Get on with it after that but it is a single line of people to #22, I am a slow learner as again I think we are too high but stay in the queue and again the flag is not mine, start to drop down but then see another flag, check that out too - finally go to where I wanted initially and there it is, strangely dark and silent but definitely mine. Another minute lost, will I even break two hours??
Try and push the rest even though I am running along like some crippled old man, holding my back and digging my fingers into the muscle to try and loosen it a bit. Pick up a few places including Peter Hodkinson for NOC (has passed me at #20), can't hold him off on the run in though.
Finish in under 2 hours with about 10 min lost to mistakes, 5 mis of them at #20. Pretty disappointed at the finish, struggled physically which I didn't expect particularly after feeling strong at Forssa, and raging about how stupid I was at #20. Would have been happy with a few minor misses as after all it was quite tricky and quite dark.
Am totally wrecked at the finish, soaked and muddy, stiffen up quickly and get very cold. So I know I tried! Rosco and Ian Cumpstey are there, they tell me that the hot showers are fab and the sauna is amazing - and they are right, what a lifesaver!
And the 5 mins was very significant at the time, if not overall.
On the leg I lost 49 places, from 313 to 362
5 mins quicker would have been a gain of 6 places, from 313 to 307
On leg time I finished 458th of 1368
5 mins quicker would have been 106 places higher, 352nd.
And we finished 256th, 5 mins quicker would have squeezed us 6 places higher and in the top 250 - would have been nice!
Saturday Jun 14, 2008 #
Event: Jukola 2008
Running warm up/down 35:00 [3]
shoes: VJ Falcon
Warm up for Jukola leg two - race started at 11pm, watched the carnage that is the mass start, watched the first TV control for a while until "there he is!" meant that Rosco was safely through and going okay, then headed off to get ready and start some stretching and jogging.
Somehow had never really twigged until now that I was doing over 12km in the dark. In Finland. In rough tough Tampere forest. And that this may be going to take quite a while.....
Somehow had never really twigged until now that I was doing over 12km in the dark. In Finland. In rough tough Tampere forest. And that this may be going to take quite a while.....
Friday Jun 13, 2008 #
Orienteering 1:10:00 [3] ****
shoes: VJ Falcon
Managed a long lie, woken by pneumatic drill outside window at 7.30am but showed good sleeping skills by managing to ignore it and go straight back to sleep.
Headed up from Tampere to Jukola training forest, pretty nice in general, not as rough as Forssa race on Thurs.
Took it easy and stopped a bit to look at how things were mapped etc, started to feel v tired in last 20 mins though. Also left ankle a bit sore, has happened a few times lately, bit worried it is bone impingement similar to what was removed from my right ankle in 2003...
Headed up from Tampere to Jukola training forest, pretty nice in general, not as rough as Forssa race on Thurs.
Took it easy and stopped a bit to look at how things were mapped etc, started to feel v tired in last 20 mins though. Also left ankle a bit sore, has happened a few times lately, bit worried it is bone impingement similar to what was removed from my right ankle in 2003...
Thursday Jun 12, 2008 #
Event: Forssa Games
Orienteering race 33:51 [5] **** 3.7 km (9:09 / km) +125m 7:50 / km
spiked:10/12c shoes: VJ Falcon
Another day. Another race. Another country.
Forssa Games H40. Left home at 6am and got there at 6.30pm Finnish time, just in time to change and run to the start, perfect preparation.
Took quite a while to get into the map so a bit hesitant early on, when I felt more confident I speeded up and made a mess of #7 and #8, lost 4-5 mins in total.
Okay apart from that but well behind Ben (29mins) and the winner was well out of sight (24mins).
Felt fine running though, terrain was pretty rough and tough and felt strong moving through it.
Forssa Games H40. Left home at 6am and got there at 6.30pm Finnish time, just in time to change and run to the start, perfect preparation.
Took quite a while to get into the map so a bit hesitant early on, when I felt more confident I speeded up and made a mess of #7 and #8, lost 4-5 mins in total.
Okay apart from that but well behind Ben (29mins) and the winner was well out of sight (24mins).
Felt fine running though, terrain was pretty rough and tough and felt strong moving through it.
Running warm up/down 20:00 [3]
shoes: VJ Falcon
To the start, no warm down except a coffee!
Wednesday Jun 11, 2008 #
Running race 57:43 [5] 10.0 km (5:46 / km) +450m 4:43 / km
shoes: Inov8
Cort-ma Law hill race.
Didn't go too well really, felt okay but couldn't turn my legs round quickly enough.Lard passed me once it levelled off and went away pretty easilt, bradc looked like he was struggling too but wasn't getting any closer. Ross was of course away and gone on his way to 4th.
At least I had a huge gap behind me so didn't lose any places in the second half and could mince slowly down the final descent.
Not really a race for the heavier runner either, even in dry conditions it is pretty boggy on top, I got well and truly stuck at one point!
Winner equalled the record (48:16), Rosco was 51;09, Jase 55:43 and Brad 56:15ish.
Ho hum.
Didn't go too well really, felt okay but couldn't turn my legs round quickly enough.Lard passed me once it levelled off and went away pretty easilt, bradc looked like he was struggling too but wasn't getting any closer. Ross was of course away and gone on his way to 4th.
At least I had a huge gap behind me so didn't lose any places in the second half and could mince slowly down the final descent.
Not really a race for the heavier runner either, even in dry conditions it is pretty boggy on top, I got well and truly stuck at one point!
Winner equalled the record (48:16), Rosco was 51;09, Jase 55:43 and Brad 56:15ish.
Ho hum.
Running warm up/down 30:00 [3]
shoes: Inov8
Pre- and post- race jogging, felt fine afterwards to be honest.
Tuesday Jun 10, 2008 #
Running 35:22 [3]
shoes: Brooks Adrenaline Jan 2008
Ended up at work until after 8pm so missed the FVO run from Will and Susan's place (sorry guys!).
Still pretty knackered and short of sleep, and (of course) have overnight race at Jukola this weekend, but felt the need to do something so headed off round the Leckie Woods loop.
Glad I went, felt a bit weary in general but legs not stiff or sore after the weekend. Cort-ma Law hill race tomorrow so we will see how that goes, am still a bit wary after the Knock of Crieff fiasco and unsure whether I am properly back to where I was a month ago. We shall see!
Still pretty knackered and short of sleep, and (of course) have overnight race at Jukola this weekend, but felt the need to do something so headed off round the Leckie Woods loop.
Glad I went, felt a bit weary in general but legs not stiff or sore after the weekend. Cort-ma Law hill race tomorrow so we will see how that goes, am still a bit wary after the Knock of Crieff fiasco and unsure whether I am properly back to where I was a month ago. We shall see!