Training Log Archive: iansmith

Event: Hudson Highlander XVII
 

Streamering courses at Blue Mountain.

C • Blue Hills...interesting statistic... 2

Event: NEOC: Powissett Night-O
 

Setting controls at Westmoreland Sanctuary with Alex in anticipation of the NAOC training camp. I was very tired from not enough sleep, and lacked enthusiasm. Nevertheless, it was good to set out in the woods.

Following hanging streamers, I ran a subset of the controls from Boris' Westmoreland course. I stopped to check a few streamers and found everything comfortable. The woods were pleasant albeit rocky; the park reminded me of Harriman.

C • Your efforts deserve great plaudits. 3

Two notes:

1. Number of North American competitors in M21:
   
   • Middle: 79
   • Long: 68
   • Sprint: 81
   
   This is going to be epic! With such a deep, rich, multinational field, it will be incredibly exciting to examine the data for each leg, for each split. To win a split would be impressive.
   
   
2. My Oroc-280s are holding up surprisingly well compared to my historical performance for my X-talons. Perhaps I'm overly hard on shoes - tying them extra tight, running through swamps, etc - but the X-talons don't typically last longer than about 200 miles. The failure has usually been holes getting ripped through the sides of the shoes such that they no longer protect my feet from pointy objects like rocks and sticks. My Orocs, while certainly not new, are still very sturdy. Perhaps the construction is more resilient.

C • My x-talons are holding up ... 4

Easy run through Davis, Porter, Harvard, and Union Squares. It's likely that I ran through several other squares without realizing it. During the run, I alternated between running on my toes and mid-foot striking, changing approximately every five minutes. Right foot still felt a bit strange, but not debilitatingly so. I will ice and stretch it. I continued Irrationality, which is somewhat tedious, pretentious, and ironically anecdotal. The chapter on overconfidence was particularly amusing. I suppose any book that is brief enough to attract interest that comments on the fallacies of making hasty generalizations, being overconfident in analysis, or not taking accurate account of the available data will be incidentally critical of itself.

Ghettotrack.

Easy cruise around Somerville and Cambridge, including an extended section along the river. I listened to Stuart Sutherland's book Irrationality. My right arch near the ball was tight and started to feel uncomfortable near the end, presumably from my fun experimentation with the the Inov-8 RoadX from Monday. I should probably stick to shorter outings in that shoe while I get used to it. Conditions were cool and humid: 15 C, 100% humidity. I ran shirtless for a time on the river where there were very few people.

Ghettotrack.

I set out on a post-Presidential debate jaunt home via a meandering route. Prospect Hill Parkway is very steep; to run from Union Square to the top of Prospect Hill would make a great interval. I followed with some (apparently) scrumptious Annie's mac and cheese with leftovers from my salad yesterday. (That's right, I made a salad.)

The Presidential debate format is interesting - it's exceedingly difficult to substantively discuss points in two minute sound bites. The game then has nothing (or very little) to do with actual policy; the objective is to succinctly pitch your product, summarize your point, make an impression, and undermine your adversary. I would very much like to see the effect of a "your mom" and a "that's what she said" joke in such a format.

Ghettotrack.

But I am le tired.

Easy evening run to and from Fresh Pond by an apparently inefficient route. Oops. I listened to Part 3 of Pacific Crucible, including the section remarking on the role of the decrypting group "Hypo" in the early Pacific war, their quarrels with OP20G, the naval decrypting group in Washington DC which was run by the noobtastic Redman brothers.

The evening was calm and peaceful, with a temperature of 15 C. I found my new Inov-8 X-255s comfortable. I walked around in them last Friday to help break them in, and had no hotspots. They are easy to overtighten. Despite the relatively high weight (255g), they feel much more minimalistic than my conventional running shoes - Asics and Mizunos. I can only imagine what Ali's simultaneous purchase of the Bare X-Lite 135s feel like.

Ghettotrack.

C • weight 4