Training Log Archive: iansmith

Warmup in the sprint quarantine, with an additional ten minutes of walking around on the model map checking out features. After waking up at 5:55 and breakfast at 6, I went through my equipment, geared up, hydrated, and trooped over to the quarantine at 7:25. I started marching around trying to familiarize my brain with the impending task at about 7:40, then started warmup in earnest at 7:55 after bathrooming, about 25 minutes in advance of callup for my 8:24 start.

NAOC 2012 sprint. The course was interesting, with a mix of forest and urban terrain mapped to ISSOM. I started hemorrhaging time from the start, typically 30% back of the leaders. Full course review to come; my orienteering wasn't bad, but I wasn't clean either. I made a bad mistake on 13-14; I fumbled the trail junction adjacent to 13, and then missed 14 left, hitting a control lower on the spur before ambling back up. I estimate I lost thirty seconds. I took a bad angle through the green on the approach to 6 and navigated haphazardly from 10 to 11. The feature was obvious, but my route could have been quicker.

Overall, this was another disappointing race. Finishing 21% back of Ross is ludicrously far from being competitive.

Blue - Sprint - Splits

After breakfast, packing, and dressing, I deposited my belongings at the PEEC and set off on a quick jaunt around the 1:15 model map. It was helpful to adjust to the scale, and I visited a handful of controls. I wonder if in hindsight, given my current fitness, it would have been wiser to eschew map calibration in favor of conserving my stamina. Clearly, the correct decision was to visit the model map either on Thursday or Friday.

C • Model 4

NAOC Long distance race. Despite a fantastic course and magnificent albeit steep terrain, my performance was very disappointing. The splits tell a coherent story: I was about 30% back throughout the course and on most legs. My orienteering, while not terrible, was unremarkable - I lost perhaps two minutes on the two long legs relative to what I was capable, but even they weren't far outliers from my trend. Physically, I was unable to race and to run fast relative to the field, and the climb was devastating. Controls like 19, which were navigationally easy but included long climbs, depleted any lingering energy reserves.

I began the course with two costly mistakes at 1 and 3. On the first, I tried to navigate using the marshes, but drifted on my compass through the vegetation and skirted the rock wall to the right. I ended up overshooting and doubling back. I refocused and had a good run to 2, but missed control three to the right. On the way to three, I slid down a spur and gashed my right hand on a sharp cliff, but the cut didn't seem serious. As I ran up the reentrant into 3, Brendan came in from my left and punched just ahead of me. I noticed him drifting right on 4, but I stuck to my plan to attack from the saddle and reached the control first. I had a decent string of controls apart from a 30s error drifting left at control 9 before the long leg at 10.

After some consideration of the leftward trail route, I decided to go nearly straight to 10. The route wasn't bad, but I think the trail would have saved me about a minute. I was pleased with my execution at 11, though it was sluggish. I just managed to spot it below me as I marched down the spur; visibility wasn't great. On the long leg to 13: again, after considering the left trail route, I elected to go straight. My execution was acceptable - I stayed in contact and labored my way over the hills and spurs; I saw Ali traveling perpendicular to my route. Unfortunately, I decided to attack 13 from the right along the edge of the marsh, which was very slow. As I was drinking, Brendan came into the control from the left. I was spurred on, and was very focused for the next four controls. I hesitated briefly deciding which was to go around the cliff to 16 and had to fight through a wall of green to get to 17, which was visible from 30-40m on a hill. Control 18 to the end were a death march; I made many little mistakes, like going over small hills when it was unnecessary. My big error was going left at 21 rather than taking the trail to the right. Brendan passed me on this leg, and at the control, I saw Greg, who started three minutes before me.

I spent the rest of the course chasing Greg down. We were both tired, so it was a pitiful sight.

Warmup before the race.

Blue Long - Splits

Warmup before the Middle Distance race. I didn't leave quite enough time to prepare to my satisfaction; I arrived at the about ten minutes before the first call up. While running along the trail to warm up and reading the map, I tried to get into a race mindset.

NAOCs Middle Distance race at Adam's Creek in Dingham's Ferry, PA.

In summary, my race was unremarkable. I knew the terrain was technical - in particular, the vegetation was intricate. I haven't run much recently on maps with complex vegetation, or with maps with vegetation sufficiently well mapped to really pay attention to it, so that was a novelty. I would say that I struggled to race, but it's hard to define that: while I was concentrating and running, I lacked the urgency, imperative, and impervious focus that characterizes "race mode." Perhaps I'm indulging meaningless psychological speculation, but it seemed a problem to me.

Apart from not being fully engaged, I made a few costly bobbles - notably on 3, 4, 7, 11, and 12.

Finish chute is too loooong.

Middle - Blue - Splits

Event: 2012 North American Orienteering Championships
 

Easy run in to work to check the status of the legs. They felt ok.

Ghettotrack. Ran home while listening to Unbroken, a best selling account of a track star's survival in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in World War II. It is promising so far, about 12% through the book. The time is an estimate as I forgot my watch, but my pace was very relaxed and comfortable.

Profiles in Courage
Also note the sweet 70-200mm L; it looks like an F4.

Plan for this week:
While I'm not at a peak in my training, I want to have the best races I can produce at NAOC. My goal is to finish in the top 30 in all three races, with a reach goal of top 20. I can benchmark my performance against the usual suspects - Ken, the Zhyk, Giacomo, Eddie. I plan to have an easy M-W, with 5 mile runs each day; I will rest on Thursday. I shouldn't have any trouble getting enough running in at the end of October to exceed 100 miles for the month. The most important race to me is the long; I need to manage my endurance and my technical focus. While I can't directly control the results relative to the field, I want three solid races - with no mistakes bigger than two minutes.

Evening toodle around Cambridge, centered around a trip down my trusty, wind-sheltered Franklin St. Ghettotrack. I ran in silence and contemplated my life. Every step is a victory.