Training Log Archive: Jon XIn the 7 days ending Jun 21, 2009:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| « | » |
| » now | |||||||||||
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||||
| Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | ||||||||
Sunday Jun 21, 2009 #
Event: Harvester Trophy Weakend
Orienteering race 49:26 [5] 6.3 km (7:51 / km)
shoes: new Inov8 Roclite
Harvester Relay 2009.
Merthyr Common, South Wales.
Scary difficult terrain.
Well worth a club newsletter item so I may as well draft one out here...
Team FVO quite fancy their chances but know they need to keep an eye out for BOK, SYO and SHUOC in particular....
9pm
Tent and sleeping bag time for all except leg one and two runners. We have flown all the way down to race, we owe it to one another to try and get some sleep so we can run our best. And luckily we braved the brawl-tastic badlands of Tredegar earlier to get some beer to help with the sleeping.....
11pm start, leg one
Mainly steady stuff from Fraser, he and Ed Nicholas are back together in second and third. They have seen no-one ahead and think they are the leaders but far from it, Charlie Adams has run off the front for SYO and pulled out a 13 minute lead....
Leg two
Technical master Steve B has little time loss and pulls right away from the rest of the teams, gets SYO in sight ahead near the end, the gap is down to just over a minute at the changeover.....
Leg three
Marcus rises from his sickbed, sets off chasing Dave Peel and promptly bins four mins at #1, SYO lead is back to five mins. After that he rediscovers his own technical mastery and runs pretty clean, catches Dave at the far end of the area (Dave coming back ON to the map) and then puts two mins into him round the last part of the course. A two horse race by now with the third team more than 40 mins back already.
Leg four
Jason takes it steady and careful, and behind him Ricky Baxter for SYO is doing the same. A small miss by Jase is minimised by careful relocation but the gap is closed......it reopens but then Jason's torch dims and dims further.......a minute to swap to the spare battery and the gap is closed again before the spectator control.
Meanwhile I have woken from patchy sleep at 3am and made my way up the changeover. Periodically lights come into sight on their way to the spectator - when a bright one and a dim yellow one come into sight together I just know the second of them is the notorious Inman headtorch - and so it is. A short final loop and FVO still have the lead at changeover but only just!
FVO lead = 5 seconds
Leg five
Roger is our dawn expert but he finds himself going out in the dark - not what we had anticipated. And with another team still with us after the night legs - also not as anticipated. Early confusion sees Roger forget there is a 200m taped route to the start kite and instead try to navigate to #1 from the changeover.
Good news he is he doesn't kill himself at the edge of the quarry, bad news is that he is perplexed for quite a while and the SYO lead is back up to five minutes again. Luckily I have gone off to get ready, I am glad I didn't have to watch that!
Out in the darkness Martin Ward has missed at #4 and Roger is past, however before long they are back together - then separate - then together again before the spectator as it starts to get light.
Back at the changeover I am waiting nervously, hoping Rog is going to give me the lead I had banked on having for my leg. I am against Peter Gorvett who may be an M60 but I reckon he may be able to run and navigate as fast as me on this stuff....and I would rather not put it to the test!
But instead Rog and Martin arrive at the spectator together, now I am really nervous. Rog beasts it up the hill from the spectator and pulls out a small gap over the final short loop.
FVO lead = 22 seconds.
Leg six
Leg six is me. Adrenaline is pumping as I run out to the start kite and thoughts are rushing through my head....
"Need to keep it calm and controlled in this terrain"
"Rog has pushed hard for the gap, push hard and get out of sight"
"This is our chance to get the decisive break"
"Mess this up and it will be awful"
Luckily #1 is a short leg and forces concentration, I can already feel I am running strongly and that gives me confidence but doesn't stop me running too fast enroute to #2 and losing touch, pace counting saves me as I stop and work it out almost immediately.
Then into a good rhythm as I spike 3,4,5,6 and 7, my legs feel good and I feel in control, a couple of looks behind and I cannot see SYO, even the navigation doesn't seem that hard after all.
Over the hill to #8 and all seems fine, past the cairn and the stony ground, down and across the marsh and - and - and it doesn't look quite how I expected. It sort of fits (never a good phrase) and so I head to the pile of stones that must be the feature - thank goodness, there is a flag hiding behind them - but it is not mine! Manage to keep my head and relocate quickly, 100m off to the right and there is mine, not too long lost and still no SYO.
Back going well through 9,10,11,12, nearly home now. One more longish leg to #13, then it looks straightforward. Set off to #13 thinking "get this one clean and we'll have a gap, just need to keep control".
Leave the vague hill to my right and over the spur, can see the big re-entrant ahead running down to my right, I need a pond in a big hole on the far side of it. Keep my head up and I can see a big hole ahead on the far side, that should be it.
Down and up I go, can't see the hole now of course but I am on line, here's a hole but no flag, dammit, must have been one I didn't see in front of it, on I go. Another hole but still no flag.
And now I don't know exactly where I am.
Try to work the holes out but can't, try to relocate from position relative to re-entrant and holes in the bottom, find some pits but still no flag, starting to run hopefully from pit to pit, starting to panic.
Head up the hill a bit but it is all vague and I can't get a fix on anything, panicking more, time is ticking by so quickly.
But I need to do something rather than hopeful searching and decide on drastic action, dash up almost to the next control until at last I know exactly where I am and drop back down towards flag. In my haste I almost lose touch again, and even though I don't,I am still panicking as this seems to be exactly the area I was looking in before. As I drop down I spy Pete Gorvett heading up the hill towards #14, disaster.
But this time I do find it - it is not really in a hole at all despite what the map says but plenty of time to be upset by that later, right now damage limitation is all that is on my mind. Back up the hill where Pete looks like he is missing #14 to the right but at the last minute he veers back left into it just as I approach.
Push as hard as I can round the last bit to try and get Ross at least some sort of lead but can only pull out 27 seconds. At #12 I was five minutes up and by the time I punched #13 I was a minute down, what a waste. Furious with myself, just thought I had it under control and relaxed at the crucial moment, if we don't win now it will be a tough one to swallow.
FVO lead = 27 seconds
Leg seven
So it all comes down to the final leg. 13km.
Ross McLennan vs Andy Preston.
The only M21 in the FVO team vs the only M21 in the SYO team
.
And Ross misses early and SYO get away. So glad we didn't know that.
Then Andy returns the favour and is caught and passed by FVO.
My own nemesis control is trouble for Andy too and he loses four minutes there, and Ross has a potentially decisive gap.
As both sets of team-mates wait anxiously for the first visit to the spectator control (after two thirds of the course), a figure appears on the skyline....which one is it? The right arm flicking out to one side gives it away - it's Ross!
The gap is 3mins45secs at the first spectator but no-one is calling the result yet, we have been trading five minute leads all race....
.....and sure enough twenty minutes later Ross and Andy are heading down to the second spectator virtually side by side, nothing in it with only five minutes left to race!
Ross looks so strong up the hill from the spectator and is pulling away but Andy looks to be running a slightly different line as they head out of sight, planner Charlie Daniel says it is not gaffled - who is right??
All we can do is wait - Ross is on last leg for his ability to run away at the end and we have faith that he can do it, club jackets on ready to join him down the run-in when he appears. And there he is! He has a gap at the final control!
He flies down the run-in and we cross the line and savour the moment, fantastic, jubilation!
Ross is almost too relieved to be jubilant, after "the most stressful race of my life".
And then it gets more stressful.......much much more stressful.... download is a punch in the solar plexus with the words "you've missed one, you don't have control 142".
Celebrations stop abruptly.
Horror - it can't be true - not now - not fair - not us.
Panic - quick get Andy P to download - maybe unit has stopped working - he has it okay - oh no.
Stunned - Ross is sure he has been there, he remembers it, how can we prove it?
The Wrong One - download official says it is not the unit at fault, it is that Ross has punched a different one, 145 not 142
Wait A Minute - look at Ross's map, 145 is what he should have punched!
Redemption - his gaffle is programmed incorrectly into the computer!
Relief - and delight and jubilation - FVO's first ever Harvester win!
FVO lead at finish = who cares!
Merthyr Common, South Wales.
Scary difficult terrain.
Well worth a club newsletter item so I may as well draft one out here...
Team FVO quite fancy their chances but know they need to keep an eye out for BOK, SYO and SHUOC in particular....
9pm
Tent and sleeping bag time for all except leg one and two runners. We have flown all the way down to race, we owe it to one another to try and get some sleep so we can run our best. And luckily we braved the brawl-tastic badlands of Tredegar earlier to get some beer to help with the sleeping.....
11pm start, leg one
Mainly steady stuff from Fraser, he and Ed Nicholas are back together in second and third. They have seen no-one ahead and think they are the leaders but far from it, Charlie Adams has run off the front for SYO and pulled out a 13 minute lead....
Leg two
Technical master Steve B has little time loss and pulls right away from the rest of the teams, gets SYO in sight ahead near the end, the gap is down to just over a minute at the changeover.....
Leg three
Marcus rises from his sickbed, sets off chasing Dave Peel and promptly bins four mins at #1, SYO lead is back to five mins. After that he rediscovers his own technical mastery and runs pretty clean, catches Dave at the far end of the area (Dave coming back ON to the map) and then puts two mins into him round the last part of the course. A two horse race by now with the third team more than 40 mins back already.
Leg four
Jason takes it steady and careful, and behind him Ricky Baxter for SYO is doing the same. A small miss by Jase is minimised by careful relocation but the gap is closed......it reopens but then Jason's torch dims and dims further.......a minute to swap to the spare battery and the gap is closed again before the spectator control.
Meanwhile I have woken from patchy sleep at 3am and made my way up the changeover. Periodically lights come into sight on their way to the spectator - when a bright one and a dim yellow one come into sight together I just know the second of them is the notorious Inman headtorch - and so it is. A short final loop and FVO still have the lead at changeover but only just!
FVO lead = 5 seconds
Leg five
Roger is our dawn expert but he finds himself going out in the dark - not what we had anticipated. And with another team still with us after the night legs - also not as anticipated. Early confusion sees Roger forget there is a 200m taped route to the start kite and instead try to navigate to #1 from the changeover.
Good news he is he doesn't kill himself at the edge of the quarry, bad news is that he is perplexed for quite a while and the SYO lead is back up to five minutes again. Luckily I have gone off to get ready, I am glad I didn't have to watch that!
Out in the darkness Martin Ward has missed at #4 and Roger is past, however before long they are back together - then separate - then together again before the spectator as it starts to get light.
Back at the changeover I am waiting nervously, hoping Rog is going to give me the lead I had banked on having for my leg. I am against Peter Gorvett who may be an M60 but I reckon he may be able to run and navigate as fast as me on this stuff....and I would rather not put it to the test!
But instead Rog and Martin arrive at the spectator together, now I am really nervous. Rog beasts it up the hill from the spectator and pulls out a small gap over the final short loop.
FVO lead = 22 seconds.
Leg six
Leg six is me. Adrenaline is pumping as I run out to the start kite and thoughts are rushing through my head....
"Need to keep it calm and controlled in this terrain"
"Rog has pushed hard for the gap, push hard and get out of sight"
"This is our chance to get the decisive break"
"Mess this up and it will be awful"
Luckily #1 is a short leg and forces concentration, I can already feel I am running strongly and that gives me confidence but doesn't stop me running too fast enroute to #2 and losing touch, pace counting saves me as I stop and work it out almost immediately.
Then into a good rhythm as I spike 3,4,5,6 and 7, my legs feel good and I feel in control, a couple of looks behind and I cannot see SYO, even the navigation doesn't seem that hard after all.
Over the hill to #8 and all seems fine, past the cairn and the stony ground, down and across the marsh and - and - and it doesn't look quite how I expected. It sort of fits (never a good phrase) and so I head to the pile of stones that must be the feature - thank goodness, there is a flag hiding behind them - but it is not mine! Manage to keep my head and relocate quickly, 100m off to the right and there is mine, not too long lost and still no SYO.
Back going well through 9,10,11,12, nearly home now. One more longish leg to #13, then it looks straightforward. Set off to #13 thinking "get this one clean and we'll have a gap, just need to keep control".
Leave the vague hill to my right and over the spur, can see the big re-entrant ahead running down to my right, I need a pond in a big hole on the far side of it. Keep my head up and I can see a big hole ahead on the far side, that should be it.
Down and up I go, can't see the hole now of course but I am on line, here's a hole but no flag, dammit, must have been one I didn't see in front of it, on I go. Another hole but still no flag.
And now I don't know exactly where I am.
Try to work the holes out but can't, try to relocate from position relative to re-entrant and holes in the bottom, find some pits but still no flag, starting to run hopefully from pit to pit, starting to panic.
Head up the hill a bit but it is all vague and I can't get a fix on anything, panicking more, time is ticking by so quickly.
But I need to do something rather than hopeful searching and decide on drastic action, dash up almost to the next control until at last I know exactly where I am and drop back down towards flag. In my haste I almost lose touch again, and even though I don't,I am still panicking as this seems to be exactly the area I was looking in before. As I drop down I spy Pete Gorvett heading up the hill towards #14, disaster.
But this time I do find it - it is not really in a hole at all despite what the map says but plenty of time to be upset by that later, right now damage limitation is all that is on my mind. Back up the hill where Pete looks like he is missing #14 to the right but at the last minute he veers back left into it just as I approach.
Push as hard as I can round the last bit to try and get Ross at least some sort of lead but can only pull out 27 seconds. At #12 I was five minutes up and by the time I punched #13 I was a minute down, what a waste. Furious with myself, just thought I had it under control and relaxed at the crucial moment, if we don't win now it will be a tough one to swallow.
FVO lead = 27 seconds
Leg seven
So it all comes down to the final leg. 13km.
Ross McLennan vs Andy Preston.
The only M21 in the FVO team vs the only M21 in the SYO team
.
And Ross misses early and SYO get away. So glad we didn't know that.
Then Andy returns the favour and is caught and passed by FVO.
My own nemesis control is trouble for Andy too and he loses four minutes there, and Ross has a potentially decisive gap.
As both sets of team-mates wait anxiously for the first visit to the spectator control (after two thirds of the course), a figure appears on the skyline....which one is it? The right arm flicking out to one side gives it away - it's Ross!
The gap is 3mins45secs at the first spectator but no-one is calling the result yet, we have been trading five minute leads all race....
.....and sure enough twenty minutes later Ross and Andy are heading down to the second spectator virtually side by side, nothing in it with only five minutes left to race!
Ross looks so strong up the hill from the spectator and is pulling away but Andy looks to be running a slightly different line as they head out of sight, planner Charlie Daniel says it is not gaffled - who is right??
All we can do is wait - Ross is on last leg for his ability to run away at the end and we have faith that he can do it, club jackets on ready to join him down the run-in when he appears. And there he is! He has a gap at the final control!
He flies down the run-in and we cross the line and savour the moment, fantastic, jubilation!
Ross is almost too relieved to be jubilant, after "the most stressful race of my life".
And then it gets more stressful.......much much more stressful.... download is a punch in the solar plexus with the words "you've missed one, you don't have control 142".
Celebrations stop abruptly.
Horror - it can't be true - not now - not fair - not us.
Panic - quick get Andy P to download - maybe unit has stopped working - he has it okay - oh no.
Stunned - Ross is sure he has been there, he remembers it, how can we prove it?
The Wrong One - download official says it is not the unit at fault, it is that Ross has punched a different one, 145 not 142
Wait A Minute - look at Ross's map, 145 is what he should have punched!
Redemption - his gaffle is programmed incorrectly into the computer!
Relief - and delight and jubilation - FVO's first ever Harvester win!
FVO lead at finish = who cares!
Running warm up/down 40:00 [2]
shoes: new Inov8 Roclite
Really good warm up. Needed a decent jog on my own afterwards as well to sort myself out after my time loss late on.
Saturday Jun 20, 2009 #
Orienteering race 43:29 [4] 5.4 km (8:03 / km)
shoes: new Inov8 Roclite
Pre-Harvester middle distance race at Clydach Terrace, interesting complex contours with 28 controls in 5.4km.
Felt a bit sluggish early on and with trademark FVO sore left achilles, trying to take it steady but found the terrain fairly physical so working a bit harder than planned. Found everything looking different from how I expected - much bigger features and deeper re-entrants. Eventually realised that it was because map was 1:7500 but contours were 5m not 2.5m.
Reeled in by Roger who passed me 3mins at halfway - helped by me wobbling at 11 and 12 once I saw him close behind. Tried to do my own thing afterwards but it was quite distracting on such a visible area where route was mostly straight. Managed to spot when he wobbled at #18 (map strange) but then missed myself to the other side, caught him again with different route at #21 but then missed slightly at the end of my different route at #22.
Kept going pretty efficiently through to the end, really enjoyed course and event. An ideal warm up for the main event tonight and even with showers plus tea and hot dogs all laid on at the car park!
Felt a bit sluggish early on and with trademark FVO sore left achilles, trying to take it steady but found the terrain fairly physical so working a bit harder than planned. Found everything looking different from how I expected - much bigger features and deeper re-entrants. Eventually realised that it was because map was 1:7500 but contours were 5m not 2.5m.
Reeled in by Roger who passed me 3mins at halfway - helped by me wobbling at 11 and 12 once I saw him close behind. Tried to do my own thing afterwards but it was quite distracting on such a visible area where route was mostly straight. Managed to spot when he wobbled at #18 (map strange) but then missed myself to the other side, caught him again with different route at #21 but then missed slightly at the end of my different route at #22.
Kept going pretty efficiently through to the end, really enjoyed course and event. An ideal warm up for the main event tonight and even with showers plus tea and hot dogs all laid on at the car park!
Running warm up/down 30:00 [2]
shoes: new Inov8 Roclite
Friday Jun 19, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Wanted a jog but didn't have time
Thursday Jun 18, 2009 #
Running 1:03:00 [3]
ahr:120 shoes: new Inov8 Roclite
Soup run from Inman Towers, timed my arrival to make sure we did not have to set out in the rain.
Jase took us on an enjoyable route which mostly stayed out of the nettles and even took us through a Magic Purple Glade.
And fab soup and home made bread and bargain muffins afterwards, despite the shameful lack of provisions offered by the visitors.....
Jase took us on an enjoyable route which mostly stayed out of the nettles and even took us through a Magic Purple Glade.
And fab soup and home made bread and bargain muffins afterwards, despite the shameful lack of provisions offered by the visitors.....
Wednesday Jun 17, 2009 #
Note
(rest day)
Decided not to go to Ben Sheann hill race and instead to take the day off completely, seemed like a pretty good move as outside volleys of rain were cascading down from the murky gloom above.
Wavered a little in the evening as the intimidating clouds melted away leaving azure skies and lightly swaying trees glistening in the gentle evening sunlight.
But I resisted their blandishments and stayed in watching TV instead.
Wavered a little in the evening as the intimidating clouds melted away leaving azure skies and lightly swaying trees glistening in the gentle evening sunlight.
But I resisted their blandishments and stayed in watching TV instead.
Tuesday Jun 16, 2009 #
Intervals intervals 25:00 [4]
max:162 shoes: Brooks Adrenaline Nov 2008
Not too well fuelled or rested over the past couple of days so not that up for intervals, sure enough when we got into it then my legs felt pretty tired and heavy.
We did two sets of 6 x 1min on/1 min off, 3mins between sets. Never really pushed pulse that high until the final three when suddenly I started to feel much better, pushed pretty hard on the final one.
distances with max pulse and lowest it dropped to in recovery minute
292m (135, 112); 287m (140, 115); 296m (142, 119)
291m (142, 120); 290m (144, 121); 297m (147)
(down to 100 in the three mins, surprised not lower)
289m (140, 121); 297m (145, 126); 294m (144, 126)
312m (152, 133); 309m (157, 137); 337m (162)
We did two sets of 6 x 1min on/1 min off, 3mins between sets. Never really pushed pulse that high until the final three when suddenly I started to feel much better, pushed pretty hard on the final one.
distances with max pulse and lowest it dropped to in recovery minute
292m (135, 112); 287m (140, 115); 296m (142, 119)
291m (142, 120); 290m (144, 121); 297m (147)
(down to 100 in the three mins, surprised not lower)
289m (140, 121); 297m (145, 126); 294m (144, 126)
312m (152, 133); 309m (157, 137); 337m (162)
Running warm up/down 38:00 [2]
shoes: Brooks Adrenaline Nov 2008
Monday Jun 15, 2009 #
Running 36:35 [3]
ahr:130 max:151 shoes: Brooks Adrenaline Nov 2008
Got out slightly earlier than last night but not much - had to watch the last rites of England's participation in the World T20 first. Almost started to believe they might sneak through to the semi but should have known better!
Did a lap round Leckie again, pushed a bit harder on the road section at the end this time.
Did a lap round Leckie again, pushed a bit harder on the road section at the end this time.