Training Log Archive: iansmith

Terrible day. We played against Sans Blocage, and I only played in the outfield. Fielding was ok without huge errors, but I was 0-2 on fly balls - one of which was a foul, and both hit my wrist. Batting, I went 2-4: I hit the feeblest single ever (didn't reach the pitcher), struck out, popped fly out, and hit a nice line drive single over the shortstop. Unfortunately, while we were up 20-12 starting the top of the 7th, they scored 9, and we scored 0 in the 7th to lose the game. Hugely disappointing.

I went to a slow pitch batting cage and took 96 pitches to practice my hitting. I'm pretty sure I'm still bad, and that I have only tapped a small amount of my potential as a hitter given my size and strength.

C • still bad 2

Thus far, I assess The Once and Future King to be inane drivel.

I found my old Lunarlites and brought them out to use up any miles they have left so I can discard them. My current generation of running shoes is nearing its demise - the Canadian scrambles consumed my Asics Gel Sonomas, and the uppers on the Saucony Ride 6s are so shredded from snow trudging that my ankle stability is declining. A new generation of running shoes will soon debut. It rained a little during this run.

This is a great route for a tempo run around Fresh Pond.

Softball vs Rand Slammers. We lost 22-13, dropping our record to 2-2. This is my first game of the season, and I played poorly. I batted 1 for 4, with a single, infield ground out, and two pop flies. My fielding was also mediocre at best. I missed one pop fly that was at the limits of my range, and I started by running the wrong direction. I need some batting cage practice. I did score a run on my single, fortunately.

Wee bit of soreness in my achilles and lower calves, possibly from all the sick accelerations I made during the softball game. During the run today, I felt as graceful and lithe as a bison. Fun fact: the bison is the largest extant land animal in the Americas [citation needed].

C • largest 6

"The organisers of the 2020 Olympics on Monday nominated eight new sports for possible inclusion in the Tokyo Games: ... baseball/softball, bowling, karate, roller sports, sports climbing, squash, surfing and martial arts."

Looks like CSU Bowling is getting a head start on the next new Olympic phenomenon. More seriously, the article's claim that "inclusion of pastimes like bowling... was sure to be popular" is specious. I don't have detailed statistics, but superficially, the bowling audience in the United States is small and old.

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/life-culture/olymp...

Morningjog. I felt slow; my legs felt like they have atrophied.

Bowling with Meagan. I bowled poorly.

71 8- 8/ 81 X 9- 35 8- 62 7- = 102
8- 8/ 6- 8- X 7- 8/ X 5- 7/1 = 113

Skyline run from Bellevue; felt weak and sickly for most of the run. Actual time on the Skyline was 1:18.

I went to a Red Sox game with my (adopted) work group this evening. In addition to beating Atlanta 9-4, Brock Holt hit a cycle - hitting a single, double, triple, and home run in a single game. The Cycle is a very rare event; it has occurred 306 times as of today. This is about as rare as a no-hitter (288 times), and equates to about 2.5 cycles in a 160 game season with 30 teams.

I can't seem to kick this cold; I've been ineffective for two weeks now. Headache and malaise reared their ugly heads again tonight. My plan for the next week is to sleep at least eight hours each night and run 30 minutes easy each day to get the legs moving.

Event: NEOC: Nobscot O-Event, Annual Meeting & Picnic
 

At the NEOC AGM today, I gave a summary of the work of the mapping and A-meet groups that I chair. I'll put this on the NEOC website soon.

A-meets are the highest form of orienteering competition in the US, are the pinnacle of orienteering experience in the US, and are vehicles for funding new maps which can then be used for years. After a long hiatus from about 2006-2012, NEOC resumed funding major mapping projects directed by the leadership. There are and always have been - enterprising members who have made maps; in particular, Earl's Trails, Estabrook Woods, and Beaver Brook by PG, mgb, and Jim Crawford.

Starting in 2013, under the impetus of new A-meets, NEOC has made new maps of Townsend State Forest, High Rock (F. Gilbert Hills State Forest), Noon Hill Reservation, and Upton State Forest. These projects have cost around $30-35k and will be used for three A-meets, the first of which was in 2014. They are professionally made and use LIDAR basemaps.

Planned National Events in the next three years:
April 16-18, 2016: A-meet at High Rock. (Patriots' Day in MA)
May 2016: Billygoat at Townsend, organized by Alex and Ed
Spring 2017: A-meet at Mt. Tom, Phil Bricker
Spring 2018: US SML Champs in Northern MA

Revenues from A-meets necessarily lag behind mapping expenses by a few years, and it is our hope that if we organize the A-meets well, the majority of the mapping costs will be recouped directly from A-meet revenues. The cycle of generating exceptional maps and holding A-meets on them, in principal, can approach revenue neutral and leave the club with huge improvements in map quality.

Easy jaunt after the NEOC AGM to pick up eleven controls. It was pleasant to get into the woods, though I was not moving all that fast. At the meet, I was considering running a course, but before the event, I stopped at Boston Common to drop off US team uniforms with the sprint camp folks in attendance. This took forever because, to paraphrase TSwift: "I am never ever ever gonna find some parking." I still felt crappy with upper respiratory infection symptoms, so racing was probably ill-advised.

We found that one control was left out, so I scampered off at tempo effort to retrieve it. Didn't start das Garmin.

I had planned to go for something longer - say 60 minutes easy, but I had very little energy today. So, instead, I went for a typical easy run with some difficulty breathing.

I thought this was a 5k little loop, but I accidentally extended it a bit. I still felt shaky and weak after the summer cold from hell, but I'm sufficiently on the mend to do a little easy running. Saucony uppers are failing, presumably adversely impacted by the snow. My Asics uppers were annihilated by scrambling in Canada, so it's time for some new running shoes. I coughed a bit during the run.

My next training target is Canadians in August, so hopefully I can get back into shape by then.

Perhaps orienteering clubs could consider goatscaping some of the more heinous pokey/stabby dark green areas on our maps:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/06/09/boston...

C • A couple of the maps down i... 4

I am dying.

C • dying 6

Long day at work. I didn't feel good; I may be getting sick.

Rest and travel day. All good things must end.