Training Log Archive: iansmith

The ROC A-meet Ultralong Championships - Red X course. I dislike the prospect of running down, but it was a good decision both before the course and in hindsight. I don't think I ran this course as aggressively as I would have a race with my class (which may have prevented catestrophic errors). I did find the map dubious in many places, which encouraged a general tentativeness and hesitation throughout the race.

I felt better than I expected Sunday morning after a particularly intense sprint and moderately intense middle distance race. In general I struggled reading reentrants on the map; many that are mapped as watercourses were dry, and the size variation on the map seemed greater than what I actually observed in the woods.

I made a major error on my way to 10 when I unintentionally plunged through a difficult rough open section en route to a gravel road and lost 5:00. I never had to relocate, though the course was also technically straightforward (apart from reading the map difficulty) and had many linear features. I was hesitant or sluggish on controls 3, 4, 7, 8, and 11. My most satisfying legs were 5 and 6.

In general, I need to work on endurance and wood speed (emphasis on hills). I have difficulty moving large distances through essentially featureless regions, and perhaps via pacecounting need a method of approximating how far I have traveled in the absence of catching features. I need more practice following my compass.

UltraLong: Red X - Splits

Event: US Sprint & UltraLong champs
 

Warmup and model course before the ROC Sprint. While running the model, I decided to change from shorts to running tights. On the actual sprint it probably would have mattered little which I wore, but the added protection increased my confidence.

The ROC A-meet Sprint Championships. Overall, I had a clean, fast, fluid race with good flow and no major mistakes. This was my best A-meet race to date, I finished 11/30 in M21 - 17.8% back of the winner (Ross), and I'm very happy with my results. I beat Emily (improving my record to 2-10 lifetime, I believe), had the second fastest finish chute (after Erin Schirm), and outsprinted Ross when we simultaneously hit the Go-control.

The good: I ran fairly well throughout the race, pushing basically as hard as I could the entire time. I had good flow, and I was not distracted by other runners. The bad: I struggled at the very beginning to get into the map. I also struggled near the end discerning the vegetation and attacking the last three controls. My times on my good legs were 10% longer than Ross'; my speed is insufficient.

I started with Andrew Childs 30 seconds behind me and Ross 2:30 behind me.
Control 1: I read the leg quickly and cleanly and attacked via the obvious vegetation boundary. Adrenaline was clearly working, as I was 5/40 on this split.
Control 2: I started concentrating on reading the map and planning ahead and attacked via the saddle. However, three other runners converged on control 5, which was 40 m north of control two, and I had not collected sufficient data to discriminate. I quickly realized my error, but I lost about 30 seconds. 25/40.
Control 3-4: Andrew punched a few seconds behind me at 2, so I put on some speed and increased my focus to try to stay ahead of him. I had fast, clean legs.
Control 5: Andrew finally pulled ahead of me, and I took a slower route than he did, though still good.
Control 6: Andrew bobbled, I successfully ran my own route (straight up the hill), and punched ahead of him.
Control 7-8: I took slightly different routes than Andrew and lost a few seconds on each leg due to running speed.
Control 9: Andrew and I took different attacks into 9 - I punched straight through the green (around the south was faster); I lost ten seconds on a bad route.
Control 10: Straight.
Control 11: I went around the west of the veg, and beat Andrew to the control.
Control 12: The spectator control; I was getting quite tired. I lost 11 seconds to Jon Torrance on this leg.
Control 13: A trivial trail leg.
Control 14: I went south via the vegetation boundary and control 1 to the trail (as did Ross, Jon Torrance, and others), but I did not take the optimal path through the veg and hit the trail junction SW of 1, probably losing ten seconds on route. I lost another ten on speed on this leg (relative to Andrew, e.g.), and passed Dylan Thies.
Control 15-17: On the last three controls, I did not make majors errors, but was tentative and lost time. I had trouble mapping the vegetation to the map, and I lost 22 seconds to Andrew Childs on these legs. Amusingly, it didn't quite connect that 17 was the go-control, so I was trying to navigate carefully and looking for the trail, when Ross pulled up with me and said "keep going." I picked up my speed and punched the go concurrently with him, then hit the afterburners going into the chute. When I saw that he wasn't pursuing (since he had spent his energy on the course, gaining 2:30 on me), I slowed up a bit at the end.

In total, I estimate I lost 1:00 - 1:20 on routes and hesitation on controls 2, 5, and 14-17. I must be faster if I want to be in contention for sprints, but I'm nonetheless ecstatic about my result. In my previous best sprint (2008 Team Trials, Lehigh University), I was 22.7% back of the winner on an urban, downhill sprint (both of which probably favor me); this was a flat forest sprint.

C • Good job! 1

The ROC A-meet Blue Middle Distance course. The course was less technical than I expected and offered many trail routes. My performance was consistent with my previous efforts and showed minimal improvement relative to my Spring 2009 races. While I was not moving quickly, I did not make any major mistakes and generally did well reading ahead, staying in contact, and simplifying routes. I finished 20/33, 13:10 behind the winner, Ross (38.9%). I also lost to Emily by 5:46 :(.

I didn't see a great attack point for control 1 (I wasn't confident I could hit the white corridor just west of it), so I aimed left, hit the clearing, and followed it to the control. I had much more respect for the green on this map than I should have, so I ran south to the open field and the road to attack 2.

I made a small error at 3; I stayed high and ended up about 40 meters north of the control. 0:20. I ran up to the trail and followed that around the reentrant to attack 4, but I was confused by a smaller reentrant north of 4 that I didn't really see on the map. This hesitation probably cost 0:15.

I ran up to the trail and followed it to the rocky ground between 13 and 5 to attack; I lost a bit of time trying to cut the trail bend - I should have either pushed hard on the trail or attacked via 13. I'm not happy with this leg, and I probably lost 0:30. Controls 6 - 9 were all good, with well executed and planned routes; I probably could have pushed a little harder, especially on the road on 7-8. I bobbled 10 a bit when the trail network confused me (I ran into Lori at this point), but I just slowed - I didn't take any steps in the wrong direction. I'm not fast enough on trails.

Eleven was a mistake for me; I ran around the swamp and then attacked straight up the hill. I contoured far too high and couldn't see the control - which was much lower than I was. I should have followed the trail further and ran around the base of the hill. Time lost: 1:00.

I had an amusing bobble at 12 (in a pit) where I stopped about 5 meters just below the control because I was sure I was in the right spot but couldn't see the pit. A quick glance around and I found it - 0:10. At 13, I noted Mike Waddington was behind me; I had trouble making out the contours, so I ended up slightly north of the hill. I pushed hard on the way to 14, ran up the trail to the levee, went north a bit so I wouldn't have to go so far down into the reentrant, and attacked straight for a fast spike (my fastest relative split). I booked it down the length of the clearing to 15, but attacking through the green, I stumbled and tweaked my right ankle. I stumbled around for about 30 seconds before resuming my race, during which Mike passed me. I then messed up 16 when the green in the field confused me. I should have paid more attention to the map, especially given that the sprint had the same difficulties, but I found one other Go control before finding mine. 0:30.

Total time lost: 3:00. I assert that Middle is my weakest discipline, so the race was reasonably good. I was beaten by a few people I can compete with - like Paul Caston; I need to improve my wood speed and trail speed.

Sprint: M/F21 - Splits

Middle: Blue - Splits

A light run before the A-meet. I ran most of the route with 3/3 breathing, but I ramped up to 2/2 for 4 x 40 strides and the recovery from the strides. I generally felt good, and I love the sensation I get running in the X-Talon 212s.

Event: CSU training 090915
 

This week's CSU Training session was Sprint training at Prospect Hill, set by Alex Jospe and Ed Despard. There were three sprints, the last two of which formed essentially one continuous course. Ed heroically manned the computer at the start/finish and braved the swarm of mosquitos.

My first run was quite weak, with two 4 minute errors. My second and third runs were much cleaner; I was focused, I had realized conservative routes were the best strategy, and I was warmed up. Alex set some great courses, and the e-punching was a pleasant luxury.

Exact times, distances and splits to be entered later. I drove to Prospect Hill with Lori and Presto in a Zipcar.

C • Zipcar! 2

Prospect Hill Sprint1 - Splits

Sprint 2 - Splits

Sprint 3 - Splits