Training Log Archive: W

Headed out for some intervals in the morning. We started with 7 people saying they'd come, and ended up with only two showing. Terrible.

Anyway, opted for intensive trail intervals, so I bet they were a tad slower, but much more dynamic. 7 x 4 minutes at 10k-ish pace, though a solid 3-4 of them were full on dynamic single track. Lots of turns, mud, etc. I hope that doing a bit of speed in twisty terrain will improve my rough terrain speed and agility. When those Euros (and Carol) bomb down hills like nobody's business without a care in the world, I slow down out of fear of smashing my face. And we just can't let that happen.

Faced with a really tough decision today, should my new sprint shoes be the:
Asics Gel-Tarther
Mizuno Musha
inov-8 F-lite 190 (last year's choice)

or something completely different. Thing is that both the tarther and musha are heavier than the f-lites, but I think the f-lites really strain my calves and I want a bit of stiffness for propulsion. The Musha's have a light amount of stability that might help my PF, but the Tarther seem a bit gripper, though the heel retention seems quesiton.

I suppose the Saucony A5 is also a possiblity. Decisions, decisions....

Verry busy day, working all day, then helping out at the ultra, then picking up all the bloody flags, which took a long time by myself. Worked up quite a sweat, but wasn't a workout, per se.

Headed out for a light jaunt. Calf still feeling a tad on the stiff side. Well, not calf, but distal from the calf. It really feels and acts like a bruise, but the soreness seems to migrate around my leg. Its a little weird, and entirely located on my right leg, which is the site of all my other injuries.

Didn't get enraged by a single off-leash dog today. Its a minor miracle!

Took the day off to let everything recover.

Stepped off the plane and drove straight to St. Albert for Wednesday night orienteering. This is really, really, not a great map. Its just way too green, emblematic of most of Edmonton, but this has no side trails or anything to jazz it up. Mostly a trail jog, and admittedly, I wasn't paying attention for much of the time. Bad me.

Re-ran another course, from Tahoe City. Really wide open forest, which actually made it quite difficult because it was also kinda flat.... on the long featureless leg I was pleased that I, with quite a bit of slow moving, generally figured out where I was relative to the control, made the right decision, and eventually found what I think was the right location. I followed that up by botching one a few controls later. I really didn't have any semblance of plan so when I left the trail I was on, I couldn't really tell where I was. It actually turns out if I'd just continued on the route I was going directly before crossing the trail, rather than running along the trail for a while, I would've gone straight to it, pretty much directly under the line. Almost on the possibility that my compass was leading me in the correct direction. Did that just happen?

Joined the Truckee running club (Which consists of 3 people :), for some hill-tervals. 12 reps of approximately 30-40 seconds uphill. The uphill was good because at first it was steep, then levelled out for the last 10 seconds, which allowed you to keep your speed despite your legs turning to lead. Channeled my inner desire to make the sprint final again, and powered through the last half.

Times were 39, 37, 37, 36, 35, 32, 34, 35, 35, 34, 34, 33, and my heart rate maxed out at around 169. I suppose the intervals weren't long enough to get really really high.

After a lengthy weekend of training at altitude, I went for a simple run. The right calf has been feeling quite stretched, or tight, or something, so it was a tad on the sore side. The single track trails I found up in Tahoe - Donner are really, really awesome for running. Also briefly got lost when I came upon an unexpected pen full of horses. I'm generally conditioned that jogging past horses = enraged landowners. Turns out the nordic ski club is also an equestrian centre. Seems like an odd combination to me.