Training Log Archive: iansmith

A brisk jog from Alewife Station to Menotomy Rocks Park to set the CSU training session. I ran with my backpack, which has always caused a measure of physical discomfort. I walked part of the way to avoid perspiring too much.

Course setting; the course I designed was approximately 4 km in length with 14 controls. Learning from my past course designs (including one at Menotomy Rocks), I tried to set each leg to maximize route choice options, and generally ignored distance considerations. Since the park has so many trails, my general objective was to ensure that the optimal route was not on a trail; climb also allowed some route choices options. The comments I received were generally positive, though I still have much to learn for course design. The biggest limitation of my design was the clutter on the map due to the many criss-crossings.

I didn't get a chance to run the course because I was babysitting everyone's stuff. I also just barely finished setting all the controls at exactly 6 PM. Alex Jospe showed up first, followed by Keith Durand, Clem McGrath, and Wendy Johnecheck.

Orienteering is a very social sport - perhaps because it is so antisocial in its execution. I always feel encouraged and uplifted when I interact with my comrades and peers in the orienteering community.

I also must remember to specify exactly where the start is in my meet announcements rather than presuming everyone knows how to get to Menotomy Rocks. Clem demonstrated his tremendous skill in arriving at the start without any information except that the park was Menotomy Rocks.

C • Skill? 3

Resting my legs after a brutal weekend of climb. Unfortunately, at the end of the long course, on my way to the finish from the last control, I was tripped up by a barbed wire fence and smashed my knee against something unyielding. I don't believe the injury is more serious than a significant bruise, but I will apply precautionary RICE.

The Blue Long race at the QOC "Ran-It Granite" A-meet in Patapsco Valley State Park, Granite MD. Conditions were misty and overcast, with a temperature of about 10 C throughout my run.

First the good: I intended to run a clean, conservative race with a target pace of 10 minutes/km. I generally succeeded at that, with two major errors totalling about 8-10 minutes. I planned ahead on my legs well and reviewed my route choice options; with the exception of one of my error controls, I was pleased in retrospect with my routes. My overall pace was 10.8 minutes per kilometer; this was my best A-meet Long result to date.

Criticism: I have been running more frequently over the past three months than I had for any consistent period in 2008, despite the breaks I took from training. This meet, with its many hills, has made it painfully clear that my fitness level is inadequate for the challenges I am undertaking. Given that I had relatively clean runs both days, my limitation is how fast and hard I can push for 90 minutes. Based on that, I have decided to train for the May half Marathon in downtown Boston.

Blue Day 2 - Splits

The Blue Middle at the QOC "Ran-it Granite" A-meet in Patapsco Valley State Park, Marriottsville, MD. Conditions were dreary; there was a perpetual light mist coming down, and it had rained the night before.

The course had many legs which involved descending from a hill through a stream reentrant and up another hill. This made some of the legs rather trivial navigationally, because you sometimes just had to aim up a hill. The leg to control three, which was the longest at about a kilometer, had a parallel field a short distance away for about 80% of the length of the leg. This was one of the easier navigational middles I have run, but one of the most physically demanding.

I messed up the first control via a parallel error on a stream - costing perhaps 3-4 minutes. The other errors the attackpoint analysis indicates - controls 6 and 10 - were just hesitation and extreme sluggishness charging up a hill respectively. Otherwise, my course was clean (if slow).

I ended up with a pace of just under ten minutes per kilometer, but given how easy the navigation was relative to my expectation for a middle, I hoped I would have been faster. Emily Kemp, who invaded my country, age group, and gender (and necessarily course), beat me by about five minutes (which is unsurprising); I was 1/4 against her on courses we had in common.

The other blue runners I spoke to agreed that the course was somewhat trivial, and that while the terrain was very limiting, expressed dismay. Erik Nystrom won with a time of 32:52.

The Sprint Relay at QOC Ran-it Granite; the courses comprising the relay were intended such that a combination of any three individuals could form a competitive relay team. More precisely, this theoretically meant that the fastest times on each of the courses would be approximately equal. It is clear from the results that this was not the case; the shorter, easier classes were invariably significantly faster. For instance, the fastest time on the blue course - with such meaningful participants as Jon Torrance, Ross Smith, and Will Hawkins - was 17:26. The fastest time on the easiest course (Orange/Brown) was 13:04, set by Carl Underwood. Clearly the optimal strategy was to combine the fastest runners eligible for the shortest course - any three of the fastest nine runners on the Orange/Brown course would have beaten the winning team. In contrast, the three fastest blue runners would have finished fifth.

In any case, the event was still modestly entertaining. My teammates were Gerald Yip and Vladimir Gusiatnikov; we were hoping to have fun. Gerald had a fantastic starting leg, finishing 14 seconds behind Jon Torrance, who would have the fastest blue course time. No one starting with me was running blue, so I navigated alone through control 8, at which point Will Hawkins, who had started two minutes back, caught up. I tried to keep up with both him and some cadets I encountered, but my legs would not move. I'm not overly discouraged about my finish (four minutes slower than Gerald) given the Middle earlier, but this further highlights my inadequate fitness (which I must try to remedy for West Point). I finished 12/18 on the blue course, at the trailing end of the distribution.

Because all the short course runners finished so quickly, we were in 12th after Gerald's leg; after mine, we were in 13th. Vladimir had an excellent finish leg and passed five teams, putting us in a comfortable 8th of 38 teams, 9 minutes behind the winning Canadian team of Jon Torrance, Eric Kemp, and Emily Kemp.

Blue Day 1 - Splits

Sprint Relay Blue - Splits

Event: Ran-it Granite
 

The QOC A-meet sprint 1 (which was not an A event). Overall, I finished 33/144, but discouragingly five minutes back of the winner - Jon Torrance, 13:24. Other notable benchmarks include Ross Smith at 14:06, Nate Lyons at 15:14, Emily Kemp at 16:03, Sam Saeger at 16:30, and Gerald Yip at 17:49.

Achilles was a little tight at the end, but nothing debilitating.

QOC A-meet sprint 2 (not an A event). I was pleased with my performance compared to sprint 1; the course was navigationally simpler and had less climb. I passed a number of people in the course of my run, which always feels good. I spotted Tom Overbaugh ahead of me (I think) as I approached control 5, and managed to chase him down by the end. We sometimes diverged on our route choices, but he managed to stay just ahead of me until I mustered my last bit of stamina for the go control leg and the finish chute.

Notable benchmarks include Erik Nystrom at 12:11, Ross Smith at 12:20, Gerald Yip at 14:02, and Emily Kemp at 15:10 (for what I believe is my only victory against her thus far).

Sprint 1 - Splits

Sprint 2 - Splits

Resting so my poor left achilles can recover a bit. Some stretching, ice, massage.

CSU street-O with Lori, Brendan, and (at the beginning) Dean. A fun run, but my left achilles was increasingly bothersome throughout the run; at the end, I decided to abort the Harvard-O to rest it. I'm hopeful that the problem is my (somewhat old) running shoes, because the discomfort in my achilles tendon has increased since it first appeared on Saturday night. I have discarded NB Absorb Beta, and I have a relatively new pair that I will employ. Also, I will take a rest day with RICE on Wednesday to allow my left to recover as much as possible. I really want to avoid physical therapy; I was able to run competently today, but I assume the probability of severe injury is escalating with time. At the moment, sprinting is virtually out of the question.

One comforting thought is that on Thursday, when I first put on my O shoes (trail runners) again, I noticed no discomfort. It is my hope that the O shoes did not prompt this problem.

Gentle run at exactly the pace I planned. Breathing was 4/4 throughout, route was Elm St - Cambridge st loop. I raced a street cleaner running down Beacon St. Temperature was -5 C with clear skies and 16 kph winds. I wore two shirts, long shorts, a sweatshirt, gloves and a hat. For interested parties, I ran at 12:30 AM.

Discomfort in my left achilles was moderately noticeable, increasing at the end. I would never describe what I felt today as pain, but I am displeased with my state. Also, my right hamstring was tight and bothersome during my run. I'm hopeful that these are correlated, and that the root cause is as simple as nutrition.

In any case, I attempted some brief strides midway through my run without significantly adverse effect. I will be ginger in my running this week, but barring some significant change in my condition, I will run the Ran-it Granite (with a gentler approach to the sprints than is my usual fare).

A long run, with a river loop from Western Ave to the Weeks footbridge. It seems overzealous to refer to a 7.7 mile run as "long," but I am satisfied with my performance and the ambition of my training regimen. I ran at 2 AM after a BSO concert with Lori; I was initially reluctant to go out. I played a few games of Starcraft with Ed (in the last of which I had all but crushed my opponents, yet managed to lose) and was angry enough to require a break through exertion. It's worth pointing out that before this run, while playing Starcraft, I somewhat unconsciously ate about 20 oreos. This bodes poorly for my weight loss ambitions.

I ran at an easy pace, running at the pace I would if I had to travel an arbitrarily long distance. I listened to JFK's inaugural speech and the oral arguments for the Supreme Court deliberations for Gonzales v. Planned Parenthood.

I had never ventured further west by foot along the river than the Gerrys Landing bridge, so this was something of an adventure. Conditions were clear, 1' C. I ran in my tights, a wind breaker, a hat, and gloves, and I was comfortable. My breathing was 4/4 throughout the run.

I noticed an uncomfortable tightness in my left calf about 30 minutes into the run; I don't believe this run was strenuous enough to cause such tightness alone. I may have stressed my calf - which has never previously shown any sign of injury - at the Hammond Pond orienteering on Thursday or going down stairs at the Porter Square T stop. There is pain about six inches above my ankle that is excited when I squeeze the back of my calf from the sides. I was able to finish running without trouble, and I have no trouble moving my foot and leg through their full range of motion. I cooled down for about five minutes and stretched for 20.

I will take tomorrow off, apply some RICE (maybe Uncle Ben's?), and keep a very gentle running schedule this week. Six days before my first A-meet of the year is an inconvenient time to get injured.

C • leg pain worse in the cold 6

A curious incident:

I ran from my office to the T to return home rather late at night, when the streets were essentially deserted. I ran not out of concern for my safety or even really as exercise, but simply to warm up a bit, stretch my legs, and get home slightly faster.

While passing a pile of trash laid out for pickup, I heard a noise and noticed a small object emerge. On my next stride, I heard a squeak and felt something under my shoe; it is clear that while running, I managed to step on a rat. The rat scurried away, my shoe had no fluids, and the impact was on the outer edge of the shoe, so I suppose the rat was relatively uninjured. I did distinctly step on the rat rather than kick the rat. I hope the rat is either ok or so critically injured that it died quickly, but with some closer examination, it is clear that the lives of rats cannot be particularly comfortable nor devoid of suffering, so it's ultimately rather moot.

CSU Training Night-O at Hammond Pond, courtesy of Ross Smith. I arrived late, after the group had started, so I didn't see several attendees: Alexei, Dean, and Alex. Ross and Pia were hanging out at the finish, and we chatted until Brendan (who started after I did) returned.

The course was pleasant; the network of trails in Hammond Pond meant that what I deemed the best route was often along a trail. I didn't bring my compass, so I was compelled to pay more attention to the features around me. I generally chose conservative routes, but I always was in contact with the map and usually had planned the next leg.

I never felt that I was moving faster than I could navigate, nor did I feel that I was moving very fast in general. I had a moderate pace for most of the run; I had a long trail leg from 8-9 (over which I probably traveled about 550m) that is representative of my speed.

I'm still bad at reading contours quickly; while Hammond pond has some confusing areas (specifically where I find it difficult to at a glance realize which direction is up), it's a simple map relative to most A-meet maps, e.g. I'll have to schedule some armchair orienteering in the near future.

For reference, Ross finished in 38 minutes; Pia and Brendan finished in 41.

C • simple map 3

CSU Hammond Pond Night-O - Splits

An early morning run; I didn't run yesterday, so I'm hoping to run a short, easy 30 minutes later this evening. I woke at 6 AM to my alarm; to avoid falling asleep again, I stumbled over to my computer and watched about 5 minutes of yesterday's Daily Show.

I ran a simple river loop at a purposefully moderate pace; when opportunities to extend my route presented themselves - e.g. the next bridge - I avoided them. My breathing was consistently 4/4 throughout the run. Early along the river component, I spied a girl ahead of me moving at a decent pace; I decided to overtake her, and about 3 km later was about 100m ahead of her.

I listened to a speech by Justice Antonin Scalia given at the Wilson International Center for Scholars from 14 March 2005 (transcript here: http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/gue... ). It was illuminating; while I have not thoroughly examined the argument for what Scalia terms the "originalist" interpretation of the Constitution nor that of the "living Constitution" argument, Scalia's case was very compelling. I think the root of the controversy about the interpretations by judges is the incompetent legislature; prima facie, one of the greatest hurdles to an effective legislature is the filibuster constraint in the Senate and the required 60 votes to overcome it.

Ran-it Granite in 10 days! The orienteering season is about to begin!!

A hard, short late night run. My goal for today was a 30 minute run; I decided to set an ambitious distance of 4 miles. I didn't warm up enough, but I felt pretty good throughout the run. My breathing pattern was 4/4 for the first ten minutes, then I pushed to 3/3 up to the conclusion.

I cooled down and stretched for about fifteen minutes.

On an unrelated note, as I have ramped up my training over the past few months, my legs have become significantly more muscular. I don't clearly recall what level of fitness I had when I rowed crew my freshman year, but even the paltry amount of training I have done has had significant physiological impacts on my body. I'm curious to see what a year of aggressive training and competition will do.

Today, I completed an unusual long run; I ran to Menotomy Rocks park, completed a old park-O of my design from May 2008, and ran home. This entry is the run to and from the park. In general, I felt very sluggish and tired today; there was much more climb in my run today than I usually have on river loops, both in Somerville and at the park itself. Had this been an orienteering course, I would have lacked the energy to have run it aggressively.

It is clear I need to do more training running for intervals of one hour or more; notably, the Ran-it Granite long is in 15 days.

I orienteered using a park-o map I designed in May 2008; my lack of speed comes not from navigation, but running slowly, the climb I incorporated into my park-O, and the climb I endured on the run and approaching the park.

Late night (1 AM) running; temperature was -3 C, and as discussed in some other logs, I could have used a third glove. I had gloves, tights, and a windbreaker; I probably should have worn a heavier wrap and a hat.

My breathing was 4/4 throughout; I felt good and strong during the run, with some tightness in my calves and a few minor twinges in my ankles. My goal was a moderate intensity run; I tried to push my pace while breathing at 4 steps per inhale/exhale. I would eventually like to be able to comfortably run at 5 min/km in excess of one hour. I don't have any reasonable goals yet for my target paces for 10 km or more, e.g.

I went to audible.com today and downloaded some of their free audiobooks (mostly material in the public domain). I'm considering a subscription, because listening to material while running is an excellent way to use exercise time, and I'm willing to pay $15/month if it will prompt me to read more. I will explore other audiobook cost options.

Today, I listened to part of the first presidential debate between Bush and Gore in 2000; a few observations:

- There was an amusing comment in retrospect where Bush voices his reservation about the policy of "nation building;" in general, Gore came off as more hawkish than Bush. Naturally, this sort of debate will invariably make the eventual President look worse because he actually has a performance to measure against.

- The contrast of the material of the debate to those of the most recent debates is tragically humorous; in 2000, they were making references to the generally strong state of the US military, the budget surplus (lol), and the most pressing problems of prescription plans for the elderly, how soon the national debt would be paid off, vouchers in the educational system, mandatory public school testing, and social security. Those problems are rosy compared to economic bailouts, two occupations, depression, foreclosures and the like.

- The problem of encapsulating information sufficient to describing the state of the country and certain key problems in 2 minute segments over a 90 minute interval is distressing. Especially given that many Americans will only glean significant information about political candidates from the media and debates, it's amazing our country is functional at all. The solution is not more effective debates (though that would help), but a more motivated and intelligent society. The American people lack the attention span, analytical capacity, objectivity, and motivation to make an intelligent informed decision; the recent movement of this past election cycle was a positive change from previous electoral charades. It's worth pointing out that the political establishment does not make this easier, and in some cases makes discernment and understanding more complicated, but the problem in general lies with the people (note that the state of the media is primarily defined by the interest and viewing preferences of citizens).

- Similarly, soundbytes about numbers and proposals as complex as tax plans, educational plans, and bailouts (e.g.) are inherently contrived; because these proposals have extensive complexity, they can be portrayed in virtually any light given the appropriate statistic. What is needed is an objective team of nerds breaking down and presenting data more efficiently; I'm not sure what the most efficient way to do that is, but a soundbyte is certainly not it. I suppose Nate Silver is a good proxy for this "Team of Nerds." Once again, we encounter the limited attention span problem of the American people.

I meant to go out for a ~30 minute run, but I decided in the evening that it was suitable to take a bit of a rest given the time trial.

This run is composed of several disjoint segments from tonight's CSU training session (which Lori, Pia, Ross, Presto and I attended):

- A gentle warmup run of from Lori's apartment to the Harvard track
- 400 m which I jogged and stumbled after the mile time trial (it probably took me about 3 minutes)
- a return to Lori's apartment via an alternate, more scenic route.

It was originally Ross's idea to do a time trial, which I welcomed - I haven't run a mile since January, due to a combination of illness, lack of motivation, and focus on my concerto performance. I was originally planning to use my mile performance to gauge my running progress, though it's not a great measure of the distances and speeds I run as an orienteer.

In any case, we had a very pleasant, conversational group run. The time is a guess. I felt limber, light and good even after the time trial, though my calves were tingling.

The mile time trial at the Harvard track with Lori, Pia, Ross, and Presto. Technically, I only timed a 1600 meter trial (which I guess puts my mile time at around 5:34). Nevertheless, I am quite pleased; my previous PR was 5:45 in January in El Paso. My training since then has been intermittent at best, yet I felt good during the trial (or as good as I ever have while running a time trial).

A few important factors influenced my run:
- There was a slight breeze; NOAA reports 8-10 mph winds. The temperature was a pleasant 4 C.
- We started the time trial simultaneously. I knew Ross would be setting a faster pace than me (he ran 5:07), but that he was in visual range ahead of me was motivating. Seeing Lori and Pia ahead of me also gave me motivation to push hard near the end.

My 400s were:
1.17
1.26
1.27
1.22

I ran the first 200 in 0:35, even though I was a non-trivial distance behind Ross at that point. My target time was 1.22.5 for each 400 to give a 5:30 1600m time; I started too hard again. I think if I ran a consistent pace, I might be able to breach 5:30 without too much difficulty.

My breathing was 3/3 for the first 700 m; I kicked it up to 2/2 for the rest because I felt myself fading at the end of the second 400. I strongly prefer mile time trials to 2k erg tests, possibly because you have something to think about besides the distance ticking down on the erg.

C • nice 1

- Splits

An evening run. Since my concerto has concluded (to great success), I will now devote my energies to training for the spring competitive season (which should for me be comprised of Ran-it Granite, West Point, CSU, and the Billygoat). I would be thrilled to get my initials on a control at the Billygoat for next year.

Conditions were clear, with a light breeze and temperatures at 0' C. There was a mix of snow and slush on the ground near the river because of higher than freezing temperatures today. My right calf is a little tight, but my muscles and breathing generally felt good; I held to a steady 4/4 breathing rate throughout the run.

I no longer plan to record cooling and stretching as part of my training, though I did both for about fifteen minutes today. Stretching feels magnificent.

C • congrats 4

CSU Street-O with Brendan, Ross, Lori, and Presto. Time is a guess because I didn't bring my watch. I ran rather hard today (2/2 at times); and saw Ross reach control 4 (of 5 of the street component) about 100 meters ahead of me. Brendan and I reached Mass Ave together, but then I failed on the first control of the Harvard-O; I was slightly disoriented, and focused on staying ahead of Brendan rather than navigating. At the end of the day, I was about 4-5 minutes behind Ross and 3ish behind Brendan.

Update on my unfortunately younger, female, Canadian nemesis: she gave blood recently, which will hopefully leave her in a weakened state for Ran-it. Perhaps this opens the door for a Smith victory (probably not)!

C • dangerous 5

Warm up, cool down, and stretching.

Rest day, both for running and horn practice. My concerto performance is in 7 days. I find that when I run outside, my throat gets agitated by the cold air, so I won't run that much this week. However, I've learned that Emily Kemp is running blue at Ran-It Granite, and I simply will not tolerate getting crushed by a Canadian, a girl, and a person like a third of my age ALL AT ONCE, so I will have to prepare aggressively for the meet. I will still probably lose, but hopefully not by much.

C • extra motivation 2