Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: BFLO - The Ellicottville Adventure Run and Hike(mini-Rogaine)
 

Buffalo Ellicottville Adventure Run, 6 hr class. I managed to clear the course, but finished ~25 minutes behind Joe in a disappointing physical and technical effort. Different tactics are needed for an adventure race with often vague mapping (especially with respect to vegetation) compared to a high quality technical orienteering map.

I somehow managed to oversleep my alarm by 30 minutes when I left it on silent, and woke up on my own at 7 AM. I had cleaned out my platypus drinking pak the night before with bleach, and getting everything ready took a bit longer than planned. I hit the road at 8 AM, and arrived at the meet site at about 10:45. Registration and last-minute packing of my bag left me with only a few minutes to study the map before the race. I carried 2.2 L of 30% gatorade/70% water mix, a clif bar, a few GUs, and a candy proxy for shot blox.

My route was pretty good, but traded off too much distance for climb. Joe's route, which had less climb but a bit more distance, was faster. My first mistake was underestimating part of the technical challenge; while the map was good for an AR, it was still far from a complete description of the at times diffuse terrain. I lost at least 12 minutes on controls 20 and 9, only 35 minutes into the race. The rock city part was corn maze-esque and delightful. The climbing was arduous, with four climbs of 140-200m.

I tried to pace myself to a sustainable rate, but I started to fade about three hours in. Mistakes from 2:40-3:00 into the race were frustrating. I ran low on water at 3:45, so I stopped at my car to add another liter. Both legs viciously cramped up - for the first time that I can recall - on the climb into control 14, at 3:53. I stopped for about 60s to stretch, which seemed to alleviate the cramping. The rest of the course was a steady slog, though I had another big mistake at 4:50.

It was a great fun event, and I could have had a great day. Unfortunately, I felt fat, slow, and stupid, and I deservedly lost to Joe. I must tackle some more of these 6-hr races in the future. Six hours is just long enough that a few liters of electrolyte fluid and some munchies are adequate fuel, but a steady effort can be maintained. Next time, I think a higher concentration of electrolytes is warranted - say 1:1 with water. Also, I like the idea of having a small reserve bottle, like 250 or 500 ml, so I can drink liberally from my bladder without concern. My 18L backpack is excellent for these races, but I wish it had a small front pouch on the straps where I could store snacks. I had a great social time, bumping into Joe, Jeremy, Lina, GlenT, and my Canuck peeps Ralph, Raymond, and Frank.

I was repeatedly rekt by incidental comments at the finish:
Joe: "I thought you would be done in 4 hours."
Jeremy: "You were only ten minutes ahead of me?"
Lina: "Wow, you lost to a senior citizen."
Joe: (in his log) "had multiple moments of wtf and expected to be beaten by an hour"

I almost stopped at the hospital after those burns.

C • distance 10

C • I read your race report. Th... 9

Klepperton is very Canadian. "Ok, we're going to do one more hill now. It's going to hurt. Sorry."

Soundtrack action: Warriors by Imagine Dragons. The song has a typical verse-chorus structure with a guitar solo bridge and a resounding, triumphant chorus - in a minor key, as basically all good songs are. The lyrics are vague but compelling - that hard work will manifest in success, in achieving a plan and being the architect of your future. It has the resolve of Invictus with perhaps a more optimistic tone.

Signed up for the Buffalo Ellicottville Adventure Run on Aug 26; between a 3-hr and a 6-hr race, I would have preferred a 3-hr. However, the price was the same, and far more competitors were running the 6-hr, so I am, too. Hopefully, it will also afford me a chance to chat with the Buffalo orienteering folks. Competitive goal is to clear the course in under the time limit because I do not fear death.

And a bit of nostalgia: my first visit to Noon Hill was on 2015 April 25. I directed the inaugural event on a brand new, professionally map with LIDAR basemap the following year, in October 2016. Getting maps made and national meets run is probably the achievement I'm most proud of during my time in NEOC. The national meets could have been better, and I could have been better organized, more effective, and less stubbornly stupid, but stuff got done.

My experiences at Jukola and Tiomila with CSU were among the highlights of my orienteering so far. There's been a lot of talk about trying to set up a North American relay. Relay champs hasn't been sufficiently compelling of late for whatever reason. Perhaps attaching a fun relay to the Highlander would be intriguing? Harriman is such phenomenal terrain, and a relay the day before the Highlander could be attractive. Perhaps 4-8 km legs, with teams of 3-4?

C • relay 5

Event: Canadian Championships Long
 

Course 10 - Splits

10 - Splits

Despite some early morning Toronto traffic, I arrived at the Orienteering Canada AGM in time to join the lunch and late afternoon sessions. One of the most interesting parts was the Junior Development discussion led by Kitty Jones of FWOC and Jeff Teutsch.

Briefly:

1. Jeff and Kate Knapp are working on the Athlete Development Matrix - a curriculum for natural orienteering development. Part of this will include a Navigation Skills progression from basics to advanced with fairly high detail. (I'm imagining o-training.net but with lesson plans and in greater detail).
   
2. A big part of the discussion was how people would like to use it. Adrian and I suggested frequent beta testing - get out what you have and see how people interact.
   
3. The discussion turned to mentioning what everyone is doing: Adrian Zissos of SOGO in Calgary has ~500 kids, good advertising, and a neat booklet. Turnover to club events is low (~ 5%).
   
4. Gary from Edmonton has 30-50 kids in his group; bringing parents is paramount. They have a targeted event each season targeting families.
   
5. Kitty has information about researchers studying parent involvement and how it affects kids.
   
6. Meghan Rance of DGL noted that it takes time to migrate kids from the junior programs to regular clubs events - seeing top juniors training and discussion things like JWOC inspires others to greater ambitions. Hamilton has switched to social media in lieu of traditional media. They found getting into recreation guides was useful, as people come looking for activities. Finding parents who are social/network hubs is useful.
   
7. Jenn from Yukon observes that it's important to put a fun spin on each activity with junior dev.
   

C • Athlete Development Matrix 2

A bit of a pitiful little jog around the Perth sprint map doing the touristy scavenger hunt with Jeff Teutsch. Fun times. Total time was about 40 mins.

Afterward, I ate at the banquet, chatted up my Canadian peeps, and listened to a great talk - "Big Dreams for a Little Canadian" by Kempster. The evening was great, though the awards ceremony for the sprint was longer than necessary. I strongly support one applause line per class, and photos of one group while the next is getting called up.

Today's frantic eurotechno: