Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

Running Smålandskavlen on the Linné 2nd team. Feeling a little bit of pressure to perform well, as the rest of the team was pretty good. Certainly feeling a touch like the weak link, but mostly just happy to have a chance to run.

On Saturday night, David and Josef had pretty decent runs and that put our team about 13 minutes behind and in 31st place. I had woefully forgotten the vuvuzela at home this weekend, and I was relegated to just shouting real loud as a cheering section of one. Boris went out looking hardcore and I started to warm up and get ready for my own course.

Boris had a good run, made up a bunch of places, and (After some fumbling in the changeover zone) I set out in 25th spot. I felt great, and the first couple of controls had me feeling pretty confident and strong. I was moving well through the forest and not letting the many people around distract me.

I had a few minor bobbles in the first section but my first big mistake came on my way to 11, where I chose a very cautious route to the control that had some extra climb, some thick forests, one regrettable electric fence, and lost me about 2 or 3 minutes. I botched the next by not reading my control descriptions properly and navigating to the wrong boulder, and another bobble a couple controls later where I didn't notice the cliff I was looking for but knew I was in the right area so stood there confused for a bit until I turned around.

I guess these were all indications that I had gotten a little tired, and a tired Ross makes more mistakes than a fresh Ross. I passed off to Olle in 40th position, and felt like a good run for me would have been about 75. (Robbie ran his leg 4 in 69, which would have needed a great run from me).

Very happy with the first 10 controls and it would have been nice to get a chance to redo the 11-15 set :)

Olle had a good course, having the longer forking and running his 13 k course faster than my 10 k course. He almost caught the Umeå team (who were friendly rivals) and that put us in 42nd.

Linné 1 for the men was 3rd, Sam anchored the Linné 1 women to 10th. Another awesome weekend of racing, good weather, and team bonding.

Hurray for Boris feeling cautiously optimistic about his ankle. We had a long travel day, so we decided to go for a morningjog. Boris had the helm, and unsurprisingly we ended up by the hairy cows. At about 20 minutes, Boris switched over to doing some running drills on the bike path and I picked up speed a little and started a little tour of the Stadskoggen and Norby.

As per usual, the relaxed tone of the morning turned frantic when we needed to scarf down some lunch and make it to the clubhouse in time to load the mini-busses.

A long week, and not much motivation to go train. A quiet evening to play games at home seemed like a prudent choice. Rest day!

Biking in Uppsala

Warmup consisting of running to the clubhouse and then some on the trails in Norby,

Intervals tonight were {5 x 2 minutes on, 1 rest} x 2 with 4 minutes rest between sets.

Feeling quite good during the training, and keeping up with the leaders fairly well. Only 20 minutes of interval time tonight, which I was pretty happy with, as a longer workout would have been daunting.

I really like how when we finish an interval at the top of a slope, in the rest period we jog back to the bottom to start the next one with another climb. I think that is definitely the right attitude when it comes to workouts.

Boris and I had a plan for something gentle, and a time limit of at most 1 hour since we were heading down to the Uppsala Short Film Festival at the end.

I looked at a map and suggested going south, so as to run through a wooded area I haven't visited yet, and so our run took us on a pleasant track thataway. I was feeling super frisky and chatty, Boris was crashing after his Coke sugar high faded.

After we got home, Sam got grumpy because she made us dinner and we didn't have time to eat it before heading out the door.

Movies were good though, and it's nice to have a social life that involves some culture-y bits :)

Night orienteering on a tough map, on a foggy night, and a warning that some people had made big mistakes (30 minute mistake) while running the course during the day! Yikes.

There was a surprise start order, and we had about 15 seconds to prepare before getting sent out on the course. I got sent out at the same time as Olle on the long course, but since there was forking, and I was slow along the first hill, I didn't see much of him. Footing was treacherous, but I was going okay until about a quarter of the way through the long leg to 2. I got turned around on a sketchy trail (map needed some updating, we had been warned) and then managed to drift way off the map and proceeded to take the next 20 or so minutes to finally hack my way out to the road where I discovered that I was much farther north than I had intended. The troubles did not stop there, as I still had difficulty with the flag and was now thinking that I would need to lop off a section of the course so as to not have people waiting around for me. Another big error on 4 sealed the deal, but the sudden dimming of the headlamp was what really got me to head for home. I didn't have my backup with me, and it was a long way, through awfully junky forest, back to civilization.

A cautious approach to getting home was attempted, but that just meant that I tried to get out to the trail as soon as possible so that if my light died I would at least be able to work my way home. Since the trail had already proved elusive once, I was not sure I would be able to rely strictly on that plan. In the end I just aimed for and hit the fields and then road with enough battery life to get me back to base.

Pretty poor showing, with only four controls visited and none of them spiked, but an adventure on a wicked hard map, so I might chalk it up in the win category anyway.

Got a little behind schedule and so didn't get started on my plan for two loops of the backbana until just before 5 tonight. There was an entry in the training bank for the morning, suggesting 2 loops of the course but the meeting time was during working hours, but I decided that I would do the same workout, just on my own.

Conditions were not ideal, wet leaves, some fresh downed trees, and getting dark near the end. So this time was all that I had in me for today. Not too slow in the start, coming through the half in 12:34, then got a little tired and slightly lost on the last woods climb (hard to see the goat path in these conditions), so through one loop in 27:12. (no garmin tonight, this was on my timex)

Slipping a lot down the hills for the next loop (most of the dobbs on these shoes have pretty much rusted/fallen out. Bought them in June or July I think) half way on this lap was 14:01, and really finishing in the dark second lap was 30:32.

Not a bad effort. Will have to come out and run a few more doubles/triples/(quads??) at somepoint :)

Janne's backbana in Uppsala - Splits