Training Log Archive: vmeyer

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Orienteering race (Relay Leg 1 Yellow) 30:08 [4] *** 3.2 km (9:25 / km)
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Today was the US Relay Championships. It was a small field of 16 teams spread over the three categories. The excitement was high before the race. [Photo courtesy of John Crowther]



Here I am doing some unofficial directing before the race start. [Photo courtesy of Greg Walker]



And, everyone lined up ready to go. [Photo courtesy of John Crowther]



Anyway, there was only three of us on the Yellow leg, Reta, Sharon, and me, and I so wanted to beat Sharon. I was so close, but she got me today, after me getting her on Friday in the Sprint. [Photo courtesy of Nadim Ahmed]



Tagging off to Kathleen [Photo courtesy of Nadim Ahmed]



I gave it my all. Luckily, my three teammates were ready to take up the slack, and we won the 12 point team gold!



Ted Good, who ended up coming to the event injured, took this picture. From left to right, Valerie Meyer (Yellow), Kathleen Lennon (Orange), Greg Lennon (Brown), Nadim Ahmed (Green).

I was confident that the rest of the QOC team would preform up to their capabilities, and the win on paper would transfer to a win in the field, and it did. The second Gold of the weekend. Yes, it was a small field, but it was a win, and that felt so good.

Things are sore, but left foot PF seems to have improved over the weekend. Go figure.

Walking warm up/down 30:00 [1] 2.0 mi (15:00 / mi)
shoes: Red Fish

Walking tempo (Walk to start) 10:00 [1] 0.6 mi (16:40 / mi) +12m 15:41 / mi
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Orienteering race (Middle Green) 50:10 [4] 3.9 km (12:52 / km) +100m 11:24 / km
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Actual miles = 3.0, climb = 127 m

Map - Middle Green



OK, last night was a little scratchy/sketchy, possibly compounded by the whole dark thing. Today was bright, cool, and a new day - AND, a new day in the woods, what could be better?!

Already strong F50 field was made tougher today with the addition of Kathleen, though, thankfully, Peggy was hiding over on F21. ;-)!!! So it was Erin, with an almost perfect run, followed by Kathleen with close to a perfect run, then me with the most perfect run I have ever had, except for circling some buildings near the end, when I was really needing to find a trail junction, followed by Sandy, who has some imperfect knees which were bothering her this weekend.

Today reminded me of a less steep version of the terrain at home, and with the familiarization from the event last night, I was actually "seeing" things today. A very good day.

Orienteering (Corn-O) 30:00 [1] *** 1.5 mi (20:00 / mi)

Walked the Corn-O with Sandy alternating leading legs. Had to stay focus or would be clueless on where I was. Wish I had shorts on, since it was pretty warm out in the sun.

It was an enjoyable afternoon spent with a a good friend.

Orienteering race (Green/Brown Sprint) 17:51 [4] *** 1.7 km (10:30 / km)
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

1.25 miles w/ 27 m climb

Map - Sprint Green



I got on the plane thinking that I wasn't going to be much good to the QOC relay team effort, and that I was thankful that there were five of us (Nadim, Ted, Greg, Kathleen, and me) with options for either a 12 or 8 point team.

However, Ted came limping up claiming some soccer injury from the night before, so it looked like I would need to figure out pretty quickly if I could run or not.

So, off to Sprint, and not just at a trot. Pushed as hard as I could, catching an 11 year old kid, who had started two minutes ahead of me, for a moral victory. Also beat Sharon, I think for the first time ever, though maybe there was another "victory" over this legend who is 14 years older than me in the last couple of years.

Orienteering race (Night-O Green) 1:40:21 [3] *** 5.0 km (20:04 / km) +150m 17:27 / km
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Per Forerunner, actual = 5.0 miles with 127 climb

Map - Night Green



Night-O - strong F50 field with Sandy and Erin Binder. Originally slated to start 2 minutes ahead of Sandy, and I just couldn't bear the thought of her reeling me in within the first 2.5 minutes, so I asked for a start time change, probably the first time ever I did this.

Changed to 10 minutes later, and I managed to miss that by a few minutes. Got there and asked to be slotted in a free space, but the other Green runner right then was Greg L, who would out-class me, so we decided that I would start then. Up to the last line, punch the Start box, no beep, dropped a kissy bomb, so, back to the Clear/Check, and, back again to the start line, and, then, finally off.

Carefree to the first control which was very close and managed the third best split of the night. A few adventures after that, but nothing too terrible...won the gold, my second in my short night-o career. Totally amazing for someone who is afraid of the dark - big light, um, not big confidence, but some confidence, for sure.

Walking warm up/down (Walk to start) 10:00 [1] 0.75 mi (13:20 / mi) +50m 11:03 / mi
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

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Walking 30:00 [1] 1.25 mi (24:00 / mi)
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Orienteering race (PW Heritage Day Sprint) 19:03 [4] *** 1.25 mi (15:14 / mi) +65m 13:07 / mi
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

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Had a great trip to MA/NH. Enjoyed spending time with Nancy, J-J, Pete and Lex, among others. All excellent hosts.

And, the drive home today was fairly painless, and a bit quicker with only 2/5 of the stops...

So, I am not terribly fond of dogs, but this weekend, I walked the dogs, slept with one of them, drove them in my car, fed them treats, etc. Did not clean up the one poop incident, and I didn't pet them. They are kind of like babies - always happy to hand them back to their owners after a while.

Jaz



Cody

Trail Run (Warmup) 15:38 [1] 1.09 mi (14:21 / mi) +4m 14:11 / mi
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Orienteering race (UNO Boulder Dash Green) 1:23:08 [4] *** 4.8 km (17:19 / km) +80m 15:59 / km
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

FR 310XT: 3.67 miles with 117 m climb



A much better effort today despite the rush to the start.

Again, things were well in hand when I returned. So, I got to do some hanging out, enjoying the beautiful day.

Trail Run (Warmup) 13:47 [1] 1.06 mi (13:00 / mi) +16m 12:25 / mi
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

Orienteering (UNO Boulder Dash Green) 1:52:17 [4] *** 5.0 km (22:27 / km) +105m 20:19 / km
shoes: Pink Ice Bugs #2

FR 310XT: 4.9 miles with 54 m climb



Some really good controls and some really bad controls. Not the most focused effort after getting things set up for the epunching. Realized that I was going to be longer then I had hoped/expected, and I hadn't set the program up to print results. Turns out that everyone was cool about it, and no one had been pressing for results to be posted. First had to change a code in the computer for each person before anything could be printed out. Don't forget the E1 and E2 code for multi-day events.

Beautiful day in the woods. Great group setting up and manning the Finish/Download area. Valerie Murray, the other Valerie M, manned the download while I was gone.

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A late start to the day, but I had just enough time to head into Maine for a little sightseeing and a lobster roll, which Roger requested that I give a try.







So, I went here and got a lobster roll to go.



Turns out that if you don't really like lobster, then you aren't going to like lobster roll either. I thought it would be more processed, like a crab cake.



Got my gas from a little gas station. The guy who pumped it was probably a retired lobster man. He said that now I had enough gas to get to all of the yard sales now. HaHa! Never have, never will.

Biking (Ayer to Nashua Trail) 2:23:26 [2] 25.02 mi (5:44 / mi) +252m 5:34 / mi
shoes: Shimano Bike

Nashua River Rail Trail

Headed out of the house before J-J, but he stopped and helped my put my front tire on. The tab things ("lawyer tabs" according to J-J) make it a struggle for me to get the tire on.

More practice taking my own picture. Here I am at the start.



A large part of the trail was bordered by wetlands.



And, the sign entering Nashua, New Hampshire.



Me with the sign, more work needed on getting the arms stretched out far enough.



OK, I am giving this a level 2 today. It was pretty much dead flat, but the wind was strong going out, and it was even stronger coming back. I had in my mind that it was 18 miles each way, but I was so happy to get to the end of the dedicated trail at ~12.5 miles. I don't think I could have done any more than this. No surprise given the lack of exercise of late.

Back to J-J, showered, and headed back to Nashua/Hollis, NH to stay with Lex and Pete.

Thank you to J-J and Nancy for the very fine hospitality.

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A little pictorial essay on my stops today on my drive from Arlington, VA to Lunenburg, MA.

The first stop at the McD's in White Marsh, MD went undocumented.

Next were a series of stops in New Jersey.

NJ Rest Stop 1



NJ Rest Stop 2



NJ Rest Stop 3 included stopping for gas



NY Scenic Overlook after crossing over Bear Mountain Bridge



A stop at Staples for a toner cartridge, just in case...still unopened a month later. Sadly, I blew right by the McD's when I sighted the Staples, and going back proved more difficult then it was worth, so no double cheeseburger for lunch.



NY Rest Stop. This was the cutest looking one on the outseide, but it smelled very bad inside.







CT Rest Sop 1 - two attempts at a self-portrait, something that Bash has mastered. I think it is her long arms...



CT Rest Stop 2 for an even 10 - I think I made it the rest of the way to J-J's without another stop.

Trail Run (Cowdrey Nature Center) 1:00:00 [1] 3.0 mi (20:00 / mi)
shoes: Red Fish

After arriving safely at J-J's, and with a consultation with him on where to go for a trail, I headed over to the Cowdrey Nature Center.

Crossed the creek



Went up this trail



And, this one.



Sadly, I didn't exactly remember the two turns I made, and I ended up getting lost. I was making my way back to the road when I hit a wider body of water created by beavers. So, I headed one way, when I should have been going the other.

At this point, J-J called from the parking lot since he saw my car as he passed by. After going away from the parking a little longer, I decided to bail to the road, and J-J picked me up and took me back to my car.

Slightly embarrassed. Glad that I had my phone on my since I was able to use the compass feature to head me back to the road.

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Nancy arrived a bit later, and we enjoyed a good Italian dinner and conversation.

Followed that up with helping J-J get the Hudson Highlander splits posted, and a bottle of wine.

Mowing/Yard 10:00 [0]

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