Training Archive: Cristina

Orienteering 59:00 *** 4.7 km (12:33 / km)
18c shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

31 Day Challenge - Day 10

Headed over to Sweetwater in the afternoon for some (physically) easy training. I set a course for myself on the half of the map that I had not been to, which also happens to be the half that looked like more fun. Hadn't been off trail here yet at all and it's too bad that we're probably not going to get permission to hold a meet there off-trail. It's neat.

This was quite different from yesterday in many ways. For one, the ground is rocky almost everywhere, with really big rocks where it is marked as stony ground. There is also a lot more cactus. And a lot more detail on the map. The running is more physical and it's hard to read on the run because of the footing. In other words, good practice!

I set the first two legs and the last leg to just be warm up/down legs on trails. Looks like some of the trails have been reworked, so this new map is already in need of updating. I tried to pick obvious point features for my controls, including several green dots. I assumed that a green dot was a prominent mature saguaro, but that's clearly not the case. I was stumped by the first two because there were easily a half dozen prominent mature saguaros in the area of the control. Same with the third, and that's when I read the legend, which said that the green dots were "special cactus". In this case there was a lone ocotillo suspiciously close to the center of my circle, so I guess that was it. It wasn't very obvious, though. So, I spent a bit of time trying to figure that out. The next one appears to have be a crested saguaro, which stood out to my eyes but I'm not sure it would to others. Otherwise, a fun little jaunt. Tough to switch gears from yesterday.

Map.

Running warm up/down (dirt) 20:00 [2]
shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

Warm up (10 min) before running the red course, then warm down (10 min) after running the red course.

Orienteering race 1:00:05 [4] *** 7.7 km (7:48 / km) +80m 7:25 / km
ahr:187 max:195 12c shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

31 Day Challenge - Day 9

GPHXO local meet at Robbins Butte. Red course.

First time at this area, and looking forward to it since it sounded like a friendly place to run. And it is - mostly packed ground with scattered creosote bush, so you can really fly. Exhibits A + B: HR and min/km. Occasional rocky sections. The map is typical Phoenix, as in mildly improved USGS. The map was 1:15 with 20' contours, and the contours weren't terrible. On the flatter sections there is certainly a chance for 'dead running', but it is tricky to figure out exactly where you are as you near the circle because there's so little on the map. A place where being able to run in a straight line is a very good skill to have.

It was nice out, not too warm (60's but breezy) and I felt really great. I think the pretty good fall training period and the following break really did me some good. And all the map time recently, even though not all of it was high quality, seems to have made me feel "with it" right from the start. I like it.

Not a clean run, but lots of good things going on. The basic strategy was to go pretty much straight and aim off just a bit on the flat stuff, and that worked well. Except for number 7, which was the first control near a significant contour feature and I made a parallel error and climbed too much, until I realized I was way too high for 20' contours, slapped my forehead, and headed down to the control. About 3 minutes lost there, and another 1.5 at the next control, where I probably should have stayed lower the whole way. Certainly I wasn't perfect everywhere else, but it was generally a quite satisfactory execution.

It was fun to catch and pass people, and it was nice that Raffael started far enough behind (and made enough mistakes) that I didn't see him until the end. He ran ~44, but with perhaps 10 minutes of mistakes.

Good times, notwithstanding the very long drive.

Map

C • Map 9

C • map time 2

Orienteering (retrieval) 20:00 [1] ***
ahr:152 max:173 4c shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

Picking up 4 controls.

Orienteering 13:00 *
ahr:157 max:180 17c (rest day) shoes: Needs a name (2140)

31 Day Challenge - Day 8

I like Fridays to be easy or rest days, so today I squeezed in a very short GoogleMap-O in a very small local park. Melissa drew the course and my goal was to run easily but smoothly - no stopping, no matter how slowly I had to go, but no mistakes or bobbles. This should have been super trivial, but it was a bit more difficult because many of the trees (which were most of the control locations) had been removed. And I would have succeeded in being smooth had I not been attacked by a dog at the 10th control.

I don't know what it is about me that makes me such a target for dogs, but it's really not funny any more. I'm lucky that this was a very small dog, because he got in a good four bites before his owner managed to grab him and take him back home. The dog seemed really pissed, and all I was doing was being my charming self. I didn't even see the guy before he leapt at my groin region. Yes, there, and just one more reason I'm glad that I was made without the help of a Y chromosome.

I never feel like I react with the appropriate level of anger in these situations. His owner seemed pretty shocked, too, and ran off to put the dog away, so I didn't say much. My leg was barely bleeding in just one place, so after I was done being shocked I finished my course and ran home. But I really feel like I should have said something about leashes, or controlling your dog, or something. I guess I just felt that she'd keep the dog under better control from now on, but maybe that's wishful thinking. Dogs are not my friends.

C • Reaction 9

Orienteering 24:00 *** 2.55 km (9:25 / km)
ahr:164 max:182 13c shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

31 Day Challenge - Day 7
Morning run at Greasewood Park, much easier pace than yesterday, on a course drawn using the permanent controls. No compass - trying to build those good habits. I wanted it to be a terrain run with navigation.

I'd forgotten how nice the running was here. Also, with 4 ft contours the details in the terrain are well represented. I was not very impressed with myself at 32, but quite impressed with myself with the leg to 31. Felt nice to be out. Sunny, about 50.

Here's the QR map.

Running warm up/down (trail) 14:00 [2] 1.3 mi (10:46 / mi)
ahr:165 max:180 shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

A little more running to get in full workout.

Running warm up/down (trail) 12:00 [1] 1.1 mi (10:55 / mi)
ahr:156 max:172 shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

Warming up on the trails at Lincoln Park after work. I got in quite late last night and "slept" terribly, haunted by all that I have to do. By the afternoon I was useless at work and my head hurt. It still hurt when I started to run but I hoped the orienteering would make it go away.

Orienteering 39:30 ** 4.6 km (8:35 / km)
ahr:179 max:189 15c shoes: Rory (Inov8 X-Talon 212)

31 Day Challenge - Day 6
Today I went to Lincoln Park and ran a course drawn by Melissa. The park is very close to work and thus easy to sneak in at the end of the day before dark. It's also quite small, with lots of trails, and the map is at 1:3500. I thought I'd end up with a 15 or 20 minute course, but she really had me running all around that place. It was fun! And my head didn't hurt at all, proving once again that orienteering is a great cure for common ailments.

No compass again, though this was mostly on trails and not exactly the most technically challenging. For the most part I did well at keeping a good flow, which is something good to shoot for when moving fast. It was also fun to be running in shorts and a t-shirt (mid 60s) as well as comfy shoes again.

Here's the map, though I guess the split/control locations don't show up. Hm.

Note

Jan at WoO seems to think that the Knock-out Sprint format being used in the World Cup this year is based on something they do in the XC skiing world. I rather think they've been inspired by the SS finals all these years, and am just waiting for them to announce that the quarter final heats will be referred to as Hares, Impalas, Jaguars and Kangaroos.

C • I copied it from an Australian local event 1

Orienteering 48:00 [2] ***
ahr:166 max:189 shoes: Integrators (silver)

31 Day Challenge - Day 5
Morning run at Nobscot on an old orange course. No compass, practicing frequent map glances and looking ahead. About the same conditions as yesterday. It took me a few minutes to get to the start but then a lot longer to get the first five controls than I thought it would - a combination of the snow and my uncertainty that I was in the right place at a few of the controls. So, I had to cut it short and head back after little more than half.

I did slightly better than usual at reading frequently and looking up (though that still needs work) but I wasn't always forming a good picture of the terrain in my head. Once I arrived at a control location and stopped "running" and had a good stare at the map I sometimes noticed some rather helpful and significant details that I had missed while running.

A few months ago I tried a little exercise where I would look at a control circle on a map for a few seconds and then take a few seconds to draw a sketch from memory of the important features. I don't know if such a drill would help me, but it seems worth trying again. I need to do something targeted at pulling information from the map quickly while running. I think even more helpful is to re-run legs/courses to practice at speed, but that's more difficult logistically.

C • Back at Harriman in October... 6

Note

FlowingData presents the Resolution Cycle, covering the path of New Year's resolutions:

Orienteering (snow) 59:30 [2] ***
ahr:164 max:182 shoes: Integrators (silver)

31 Day Challenge - Day 4
A little bit of afternoon shoe-Orienteering at Hammond Pond in the snow. I heard from Ross that there were streamers still out from some training and that Brendan would have a map. Brendan is currently geographically separated from his map but did his best to remember many of the locations. What I ended up with was a map with arrows pointing to locations he was reasonably sure of and circles around areas he was less certain about. (like this) I decided to use the map as it was because that seemed like a perfectly reasonable way to run around.

A nice day, mostly sunny, just below freezing. There was generally a little over 6" of snow out, which I thought would make the running too difficult to be enjoyable, but I was completely wrong. It was actually very fun, though the fact that I wasn't concerned with my speed probably had a lot to do with it. I'd never been to Hammond Pond before and I was was pleasantly surprised - it's a very neat little area. Too bad it's not at least... three times bigger!

The actual orienteering was fun, though there were several streamers that seem to have been disappeared. The scale threw me for a loop, in the woods with 1:5000 meant that objects were way closer than they appeared. By the second half of the controls I was a bit more used to the scale and reading things ahead better. I would call this a 'getting on your feet' kind of training. I did try to look up, since you can almost always see some kind of obvious rock feature.