Training Log Archive: Jon X

Early start again today with bussing to the event arena and a 10am start - not helped by a late night drinking wine beside the canal in the old town after the night sprint!

Jog to the start via a few controls on the warm up map. Definitely not feeling so lively today!

Long distance race alongside the World Cup race, awesome terrain again.

7.5km straight line with a couple of long route choice legs. 13th of 51 but 27 (!) minutes down.

Average pulse tells a story - found it tough to go through the terrain at any sort of pace - not confident in my agility and balance in this rocky stuff (rightly I think!) and not necessarily picking the pace up between the rocky bits.

Missed number 1 again - didn't realise I could take the path virtually all the way there so cut in through the green and overshot. Only 2 mins gone today. Missed number 2 as well at the end of the long leg with a parallel error amongst multiple knolls and re-entrants. Not too bad apart from that, just very hesitant and tentative in the rough stuff, although stood still for a long long time before I could persuade myself to go into the right huge depression at #7.


Might not have been pushing that hard but tired by the end - happy to sit in the warm sun for hours afterwards with a beer or two and watch the World Cup race - think Thierry will be hard to beat next year!

Event: World Cup stage 10
 

Middle distance arena about 1km walk from hotel, a pleasant stroll down beside the lake in the sunshine :)
Then 2km uphill to the start, felt well warmed up and pretty good after that and some stretching/drills.....

....which helped me run strongly on the 200m uphill to the start triangle...and uphill on the tracks towards #1......and then off into the terrain at a pace which meant I lost contact almost immediately!

Pretty stupid really, intricate wooded limestone terrain meaning complex navigation and tricky underfoot - care was pretty obviously needed....

Made a right mess of #1 and got very confused by everything seeming to happen quicker than expected - then made a right mess of #3 where I hit a path I hadn't noticed half way along the leg and thought 'must be there already, everything is happening much quicker than expected'! When I did get near #3 I didn't realise a narrow ride on the map wouldn't really exist on the ground and lost more time.

So 20 mins by the time I got to #3 when the leader was 8 mins, ho hum. spiked #4 and spiked #5 - except that some 'interesting' overprinting with over-enthusiastic circle-cutting in the detail meant I was one of 11 (!) people who went straight from #4 to #6 (4-5-6 all short legs). Luckily I was one of only 3 of those 11 who realised.....five of the top eight finishers were caught out and disqualified!

Not so tricky after that and got on a bit better but still rushing and scrappy in the circle. 21st of 46 starters wiith somewhere between 10 and 15 mins lost and 19min behind the winner - not a good start to the weekend!

By 1.40pm it was time to be back in Annecy town centre on the Paquier lawns for the Orient'show.
Map at 1:1,000 with qualification consisting of three courses of 3-6mins and 20-25 controls. Forty mins between races.
No codes on the controls and 30secs penalty for each wrong one, more than 5 wrong is disqualification.
The map showing all controls is here (no codes remember!). It was awesome fun!

C • awesome! 1

Qualifier E first, think I was too concerned about the mispunch risk and took it a bit too cautiously.
Winner 3:20, I did 4:50, 45th of 94.

Qualifier F, pushed harder.
Winner 3:13, me 4:07, 22nd of 96

Qualifier D, one wobble costing time when I had a collision in the labyrinth and got disorientated for the next control.
Winner 3:37, me 4:39, 29th of 97.

Pleased to manage all three rounds without punching a wrong control!

Finished 28th when the qualification times are added together, top 8 to the semi-finall - 8th was 2 mins ahead! Would have scraped into the women's semi-final but got cuffed by Sarah, Rachel and Tessa who were the fastest qualifiers from qualifiers D/E/F....

A little of it before each round.

A few problems with the Orient'show on the day results meant the semi-final and final were delayed but we stayed around to watch first Pippa and then GG cross the line first and then lose the win on time penalties to Rachael (one of Pippa's punches not registering) and to Ralph (GG two wrong controls).
Mass start and multiple butterfly loops in the final meant it was craxy to watch!

Time for a quick shower/siesta and at last time for some very late lunch/early dinner in the old town - where the first starters in the night sprint started running past at about 7.10pm when it was still daylight!!

Last race of the day (phew!) - night sprint round Annnecy Old Town.

Well up for this as it was the race I thought I could do best in over the weekend. A bit miffed that it was light for the early starters though!

Felt okay after warm up and started off strongly, ran well on the climb up to below the chateau and checked description - misread it and went the wrong side of the wall, d'oh! Around 35-40 secs lost.

Ran well after that although not sure what was best on the two longish route choice legs, finished 7th of 37 but only 24secs behind 2nd, dammit.

The winner was miles ahead on 13:13 but started just after 7pm so will have run in daylight.....however not convinced I could have run that time in daylight anyway.....

Really enjoyed it although we mainly ran through the old sector where some other courses had more controls in it - some good route choices and a few traps though - great final race of the day.

To the start from the hotel, spectating the final few controls afterwards.

Up at 4am for a day in London, then travel out to Geneva after work, get hire car, drive to Annecy, check into hotel just before 11pm, then to a bar for food and drink.....perfect preparation!

FVO headtorch run from Doune, up the Teith and back the other side. Crazy heart rate readings early on but generally a nice cruise of a run, followed up by fantastic rhubarb crumble in the Woodside, perhaps we should run from here every week!

River and streams were v high after all the rain, not quite sure how I am getting my trainers dry before I leave for Annecy.....

Bonus of unexpected 2.5 hour meeting kept me in work late and then had to drop stuff at Brad and Beccy's where I also met The Girl Who Has No Name. Pleased to report that everyone seemed very well!

Finally got home and it would have been rude not to take advantage of the fact the torrential rain of this morning had turned into a pleasant clear night. So went for a cruise round Leckie, didn't feel too tired but didn't feel sprightly either.

Round the loch to meet the others, round to the start, drills.

5 times 3 mins with 1 min recovery, out and back at far end of the loch.

Felt okay and distances fairly consistent......however no distance or heart rate data as the strap on my garmin has broken AGAIN grrr.

Warm down laps.

Ouch. Especially the straight-leg lowering ones.

Including warm up and stretching afterwards.

Golf course lap with Dixie. Lovely soft grass to run on, kept my trainers nice and clean too....