Training Log Archive: iansmith

Quick warmup jog with Misha to try to wake up the legs. It was largely unsuccessful.

Sunday's Blue classic course; I started with some energy, but faded down the stretch. I again started with Misha, but I didn't see him after the first control. I chased down Ian Finlayson at control 2. I made a 90s error at control 3 when I didn't have a clear picture of the terrain; this is visible at 13 min in the track. I also messed up control 12 or wherever at 48 min with a gratuitous 2.5 minute error when I misread the contours.

Any semblance of racing faded by about an hour in; I just didn't have it physically, and my concentration was waning with my strength. My Garmin died approximately concurrently with me; finishing was a death crawl on a series of uninteresting trail legs. I took a Gu at control 12.

So, it's unsurprising that Isak got me by 40 minutes today, and even Ethan outslogged me by 13 minutes over 9ish km of orienteering. I think today's course was slower than yesterday's, as it went through some crappy areas of Pawtuckaway, but I need to have the strength to persevere through an entire weekend. Blah.

Event: UNO Pawtuckaway Camping Weekend
 

Easy warmup after driving up with Jeff Schapiro.

UNO Camping Weekend Day 1 Blue. Misha wanted to start together - perhaps to get into Pawtuckaway, but we separated by the first control. I celebrated my return to Pawtuckaway by blowing nine minutes on an easy second control; I just didn't do a good job reading the map and understanding the terrain.

I made some dumb route choices later - losing a couple minutes to 8 by going over nasty hills rather than running around, and a bad route choice to 10 at 61 minutes when I lost contact and ran south of a swamp instead of north. Not a good day. 13 minutes behind Isak, who was orienteering on Pawtuckaway for the first time.

Canoe-O with Keith; the course was too long to finish in the 60 minutes, and we made some tactical errors. Still, it was a fun outing.

After the banquet and a quick 20 minute nap, I warmed up for the Night-O with a little jogging and some drills to wake up the legs.

WHNO; a pack quickly formed of Ethan, Isak, Michael Laraia, and me. I was first to 1, but bobbled the last 50m of 2 when Ethan and I went to check out a deer. I was first to 3 and 4 but couldn't break away on the run to 5, and Isak was with me crossing the beaver dam. Ethan and I took the trail to 6 while Isak and Michael went straight, but I didn't make up as much time as I'd hoped. Ethan and Isak blasted ahead to 7, though I saw Isak and Michael at 8. After some waffling, I ran the trail to 9, where I ran into Isak and led him into the control. I opted for the trail to 10, though I don't think it was ideal. Finally, I took the beaver dam to 11 when running right around the lake was probably optimal given the green crap around the dam. I saw Isak in the distance at 11 and 12, but couldn't rein him in. I finished third, two minutes behind Ethan. I was largely ok navigating - despite some bobbles on 2, route to 3, bad exit from 6, wiggles to 8, questionable routes to 10 and 11 - but I just didn't have it physically to try to break away from the group.

I had a beautiful moment of solitude crossing the beaver dam to 11 in the clear night sky; my light shone into the darkness and illuminated the still lakes. Serenity.

Kudos to Isak and Michael for their first Night-O in Pawtuckaway.

C • green crap 5

Community take note
iansmith: I propose a challenge to see who can run sub 18 on either a track or in a legit 5k race first among you, me, and Ethan.
BigWillyStyle: haha I accept

Once we break 18, we'll chase after AliC.

C • Good luck to all! 17

Run to and from track workout. I forgot my Garmin in its charging cradle this morning, so time is a guess.

Really rough track workout session - I think largely due to dehydration. The workout today was {800, 1200, 600} x2, and I tried to tag along with Kevin, Terry, and Amore. I failed, and elected to skip the last 600, as I clearly was finished. I had some abdominal cramping in the last 1200, which almost never happens to me. As I didn't bring my Garmin, I improvised by using my mp3 player as a stopwatch; I started a song with each bout and looked down at the clock as it finished.

Splits:
800s: 2:48, 2:59
1200s: 4:30, 4:58
600s: 2:12