Training Log Archive: iansmith

Easy run around town while the wrath of the outskirts of Hurricane Sandy battered New England. After 25 minutes, I ran 3x(4 min on, 1 min rest) threshold intervals. Conditions were unusual , but not particularly hazardous for a runner - windy, with speeds of 50-60 kph, a temperature of about 15 C. I saw a handful of downed branches, including one which severed some power lines.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=5723231>Ghettotrack.

Event: NEOC: Townsend
 

Funny remark from Jeff Saeger about Pawtuckaway (paraphrased): "Course setting at Pawtuckaway is easy! If you throw a bunch of darts at the map, you look at the result and say 'what a great course!' "

Focus like Jordan (from Eddie Bergeron)
Profiles in courage and/or moisture.

Picked up controls from Townsend.

Event: WCOC Fall orienteering weekend - morning sprints
 

Event: WCOC Fall orienteering weekend - afternoon middle
 

Pete Bundschuh designed and streamered great courses at for the local meet at Townsend. I set out to hang the controls with clutch help from James Tasker; he took the section nearer to the start while I meandered around the rest of the park.

I had never been to Townsend before, so I was eager to explore the woods. NEOC is considering holding an A-meet at Townsend in 2014, and that conclusion was predicated on the notion that the map was currently acceptable albeit in need of minor updates. I was impressed with the map, though I think the rock is undermapped and the vegetation is ourdated, especially in the southern half. However, some terrain in the northern sector is among the best I have run on in all of New England - it was sublime. Coupling the existing map with unmapped areas to the west, the meet could be very successful. James put it well when he remarked that he didn't know why NEOC hadn't used Townsend since 2005.

I had a bit of O practice as I marched around with k <= 15 stands, but darkness approached while I still had five controls to hang. I increased my speed - since Pete had streamered the locations, I stopped checking them and just navigated to the streamer. One control, on a boulder in a field of mountain laurel, was a bit tricky in the semi-darkness.

As I blasted down the edge a reentrant toward my penultimate control, I spied four or five fuzzy black shapes about 50m away: black bears! I had never encountered a bear while orienteering, to say nothing of a posse of them. Fortunately, I make a lot of noise crashing through the woods, and the bears were alerted that something fearsome and unstoppable was moving toward them. I saw no cubs; all the bears looked full size - about 3-4 feet at the shoulder. As I warily skirted the wood around them, they trooped off into the woods. I loudly monologued about how I was a human and they were bears and that they wanted no piece of me and my superior technology. About 150m further down, I saw a single bear, who also scrupulously avoided me. Had they confronted me, apart from the motivation to make a quick escape, I was carrying two stands with which to fend off a few hundred points of bear. Even more remarkably, I lost contact with my exact position on the reentrant due to my ursine companions, but stumbled across the streamer moments after leaving the bears' vicinity. Woo.

Perhaps the bears were having an A-meet meeting of their own to consider the possibilities for the future.

C • Sounds good, but... 3

The non-orienteering component of the session.

Met with the NEOC A-meet planning group at my apartment to discuss future NEOC A-meet possibilities. The plan right now is to hold a 2x classic A-meet at Townsend in Spring 2014 after updating the map, with a possible September 2013 joint A-meet with CSU, with NEOC supplying 2x middle distance. Group members included Dean, Magnus, Jeff S., other Jeff S., Ed, and Tim.

Full report coming soon.

Unplanned rest day.

Easy evening run. I was thoughtful, and I continued Unbroken.

Update: some recent discussion on the forums prompted me to revisit some of the classic AP discussions (and inevitable logical fallacies). On the L&F discussion, I glance at my bathroom scale periodically, and I have been hovering around 180 lbs for the past few months. My base hasn't yet reached high volume, and I'm hoping that my body will become better optimized for running with training. I'll probably make a more concerted effort to avoid inopportune snacks in favor of a regular and sufficient meal schedule, but whether my weight will change remains to be seen.

C • Recent discussions 7

CSU street-O training set by Lori. I showed up with the intent to do some tempo running, and I was spurred on when I found myself cruising around the course with Ari. He and I pushed hard, trading off the lead periodically, and ended with a kick finish. I edged him out by a few seconds, but I think I started a little before he did. The effort was probably harder than tempo, but it was great to have a quality workout.

To my humiliation, I made one big error and two small errors. The big error was at 1 - upon reaching Line st, I turned left instead of right and had to run around the block before getting to Buckingham St - easily costing 40s. At control 5 in Harvard yard, I thought the control was on the John Harvard statue instead of the adjacent building. Finally, at the stadium, I overshot the control by about 5s before doubling back. Certainly the map was imperfect - an old street map with building footprints - but all three errors should not have happened.

Ari was ahead of me at km 1 after cutting through the Walgreen's parking lot; I passed him at km 2.4. He took the lead after I hesitated in Harvard yard and held it until I pushed at km 8. I expanded my lead on the long stretch to 9 and kept it.

I was nearly hit by a car coming out of a parking garage on Mass Ave. I was running up the sidewalk and an alert pedestrian ahead of me suddenly yelled "Lookout! Lookout! Lookout!" As I screeched to a halt, a car bumper abruptly protruded into the sidewalk moving too fast to have stopped. Ari suggested that I should have jumped on the hood to indicate my displeasure. I'm grateful the pedestrian was attentive and took initiative.

Ghettotrack

C • not hit 3

Cool down run around the block.

Ghettotrack