Training Log Archive: iansmith

My calves are a bit sore from the training camp, and because I'm a sissy, I have elected to take a rest day. Marit Bjoergen would be ashamed.

Revised plan for the week:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: Cruise intervals
Wednesday: O-training
Thursday: long
Friday: easy
Sat/Sun: CSU Pawtuckaway training camp

I gave blood on Monday, and the lethargy I currently feel is likely due at least in part to that. The tightness in my legs - in particular my right calf and left hamstring - also is somewhat disconcerting, so a lower intensity week seems in order.

C • Bjorgen 1

Setting controls for the morning exercise. I spent quite some time deliberating the location of one particular control (long #12) before I decided I was satisfied.

The morning's training session was designed by Alexei to imitate what conditions will be like at the 2010 Denmark JWOC. Apparently, the vegetation will in general be so gnarly that the optimal route is typically finding trail routes. The session was set with controls often occurring in pairs at some distance, with a trail route existing on the longer legs. I felt a bit tired, but I had a good run (and only had set two of the session's controls).

C • Is Alexei in the USA now? 3

Setting six controls for the sprint. It took a particularly long time because at some of the features, I had to find dead branches to prop against cliffs to hang the control.

Afternoon sprint race, designed by Ross. I had previously set controls 1-6, so I was moving comparatively quickly at first. I started about 90 seconds behind Sam, and she was in sight for the first eight controls, at which point I lost sight. My muscles were strained from the repeated sessions, and I lacked much power during the sprint - so much so that I slowed to a walk on parts of the uphills approaching ctrls 13 and 14.

Overall, I had a clean race, but it was sluggish at best. I must get faster. The numerous Canadian geese on the course didn't seem to appreciate that my mockery of Canada was sarcastic. It required some agility to escape their militant wrath.

Picking up five controls from the sprint course.

Sprint - Long - Splits

Sunday Morning - Long - Splits

Setting six controls for the morning's shadowing exercise.

Two control setting sessions (distance is a guess):
1. Moving six controls from the following exercise to new locations on the control picking exercise.

2. Setting four controls for the 3 PM route choice exercise, then running to the track to see the kids running the 3 km time trial. Unfortunately, the track was just off my map, and I didn't realize there were two adjacent tracks. The kids were at the more distant track, so I ran back to the lodge without seeing anyone.

Training session: the control picking exercise. I started 1:00 before Ethan, and 2:00 before Ross. I had set six of the 21 controls, one of which (11) I made a twenty second error on. I passed Carl around control 13, and was then caught by Ross at 15. He and I then proceeded to make a 60-90 second error at sixteen, despite the fact that the flag was visible from 15. It was nevertheless a good exercise; I know Big E finished in 28 minutes and change.

Setting three controls for the 3 PM route choice exercise, and picking up twelve controls from the control picking exercise. I was quite tired at the end.

Event: 2010 NorthEast Junior Training Camp
 

This weekend, I attended the Junior Training Camp at Blue Mountain near Peekskill, NY as a member of the support team. My primary responsibility was setting controls for the numerous courses and exercises we ran, though I had time to run three of the four individual courses.

I had a great time, technically and socially; we had a fantastic group of adults and juniors. The eagerness of the support crew to help made the work quite easy, and for me, the weekend was a long, hard technical and physical orienteering session. Big E showed me some of the map creation features of Catching Features (we made a course on the Pine Banks map). The camp was doing a bigger favor to me by allowing me to come and run with them than I was setting controls.

A Critique of the camp:

1. The training was well planned and diverse and made good use of the terrain. I enjoyed all the courses (though the "learn to run on trails" JWOC Denmark training isn't so relevant for me).

2. The organization was excellent. The juniors were divided into groups of appropriate skill. Jeff, Ross, and Sam seemed well appraised on the courses, with Judy Karpinski and Mary Jo Childs in charge of the beginners. Janet and her posse kept everyone well fed and watered. Everyone on the support team - Jordan, Carl Childs, Randy Kemp, Tim Parson, John Campbell, Corinne Porter, Ross, Sam and I - was eager and diligent in setting courses, keeping to a time table, and being flexible with plans.

3. Naturally, there was good camaraderie, both among the young people and the old people and between the two sets.

Suggested improvements:
1. Discuss and practice warmup and cooldown; in many cases, kids (and "coaches") started races cold.

2. Do more individual coaching - while the juniors tended to discuss the courses amongst themselves, it would be constructive particularly for the less experienced juniors to have a more experienced orienteer go through their course with them. There were a number of group briefings, but interactive individual attention would be a big plus.

3. Soliciting feedback and comments from the juniors about the components of the camp would help identify future improvements.

4. Armchair exercises - for example, reviewing a WOC or a JWOC course groups of 4-5 - would add much more mental exercise without pushing the physical limits of what the juniors could do.

C • good points 5

Unplanned rest day - my efforts to get everything done in advance of the junior training camp requisitioned my training time.

Running to and from the Tufts track, plus 2 km at 7-minute mile pace (1:45 400s or 4:22/km) for warmup.

Intervals workout with a target pace of 88s/400 based on my mile time trial. I ran the following intervals, with 200m rest between each:

Interval distance: time on (seconds) / rest time
400m: 82.5 / 58
800m: 179.1 / 75.9
800m: 178.9 / 72.8
400m: 87.7 / 84.7
800m: 187.5 / 83.1
800m: 178.8 / 109.9
400m: 85.2

Running about at the CSU Harvard Harry Potter-O training night, set by Lori. I visited the 18 controls on the score-O and 3 of the 5 hidden controls.