Training Log Archive: JanetT

Easy session in Chatham; enjoyed the stretching. The 3 planks we did today felt easy; we're doing 4 on Wednesday. Starting to 'up' the free weights I use, from 10 to 13 lbs for biceps and 16 for overhead triceps. 5 or 8 for other exercises.

Warm up walk/jog to the start. Blackflies were in attendance again, but if you had room to move around a little and kept moving they weren't too bad.

"Long" course 4 (= brown level). Perhaps a little short, but the woods were thick in places, though the course gave white-woods options for a large part. Where it was light green, there were lots and lots of maple saplings and they had started to leaf out so visibility was down in those areas. I was happy with my time and kinda glad I didn't do course 5 (W45-54) because of the long drive home afterwards. 1st (of 2) in W55, about 10 minutes ahead of Ilona D. of Canada. Third fastest on course, behind 2 M65's (7 and ~3 minutes behind them). Small bobble at 5 where I expected to see a wide reentrant between two rocky hills but due to visibility didn't see the second hill so climbed a contour up the first one only to go back down again (to the saddle between the hills), maybe a minute to 1:30 lost.

AOWN notes from the weekend:

Saw an unusual bird near the parking area at Gatineau Park, with bright yellow head, black body and some white markings on wings. A review of Google suggests a yellow-headed blackbird, though they're more common in western Canada than in Quebec. Since it was perched on a fencepost near a field, it suggests the blackbird habitat, and I couldn't find anything else that looked close.

Driving through way-northern New York between the Cornwall border crossing and Plattsburgh, we saw a farm that had funny-looking deer, most likely reindeer. :-) And a wind farm that appears to be brand new (saw headlines in a local paper about it just starting up), with a couple dozen towers.

Finally, on the drive home down the Northway, we saw what I at first thought was a fox but Glen said was a coyote (longer legs than a fox), hunting along the side of the road, probably only about 15-20 feet from the travel lane (mouse, rabbit or baby groundhog, anyone?).

Event: WCOC Huntington meet
 

Event: National Capital Orienteering Festival
 

Sedbergh School map, near Montebello, Quebec. Middle course 4 at Canadian NCOF (which were also team trials for the Canadian National O team), W55-64 category. Since I wasn't sure what to expect from the Canadian woods and since I'm running up (Green) next weekend I figured I'd take it easy and run my age group. Only two other women in it, versus 5 others in W45-54 (who I ran against in the sprint later on Saturday). 1st by 2 minutes, despite a sloppy attack on control 9. Second fastest time on the course (fastest was around 24 minutes posted by a Swedish M65).

The course was basically a loop around a pond, switching from one side of a trail to another through the first 7 controls, then a little hill climb near the end and a downhill finish (yeay!). Courses by Robbie Anderson.

Sprint, course 2, at the Sedbergh School. While the weather was sunny and comfortable (around 60) for the middle race, it clouded up and rained alternately heavy and light before the sprint started, plus it turned a little cooler. I had a late start and it was showering lightly so not bad conditions. Thank you to the person who sat at the finish line with no protection other than an umbrella!

Started a minute ahead of another W45, who caught and passed me on the 10 contour climb from controls 5-6 (where I bobbled a trail junction and went a short distance down the wrong trail). Kept her in sight for the next several controls (including a better approach from 8-9 because I had seen 9 on the leg to 4 in an open field and knew just where it was) but there was another hill climb to 10 where she was just stronger. Finished almost 2 minutes behind her, for second place in the category. Probably about 10th woman on course 2, so won't get many sprint points.

Awards are nice acrylic picture frames with a composite photo of tulips (from the Ottawa Tulip Festival, also this weekend) and other sights around the area including a clip of an O map. Thanks!

To the start of the Middle race, down the road and up a hill. Blackflies were swarming but not biting too much, joined by some mosquitoes.

On the way to the Canadian National Capital O Fest, we left a day early to spend time in Montreal (where I'd never been; Glen had been in the area on business). Where did we go first? -- to the biggest natural area, of course, the park at Mont Royal. (We found out later we should have contacted the Charlows for an O map of the park that John had done. :-) ) Pictures may come later.

We walked on trails in the park (to the chalet viewpoint and back to the parking lot) for about an hour, and then several hours around the city, which made for a tired body at the end of the day. Ate at two fantastic restaurants, both of which I'd recommend -- Café St. Paul for luncheon/midi-déjeuner (the paninis were wonderful) on rue St-Paul near the Customs House; and the Jardin Nelson for crêpes on Place Jacques-Cartier, where we ate on the heated terrace. Both are in Old Montreal. I suspect there are a few other good restaurants there too. :-)

Though we walked longer than 2 hours, that's the approximate time at level 1, I'm estimating.

In Chatham. A 5-5-5 workout today, and we did 3 longer planks (but still no longer than 30 seconds), mixing them up a little (one just leaning on forearms with hands together, one on forearms with palms down, and one where we dipped each knee below the opposite one, alternating -- that was tricky).

Going out for a run now...

66 to Pratt Road. Was going to run to the Bachus Rd. intersection but the road (dirt) was apparently being regraded (which made the footing tricky, thus good O training), and I decided to turn around when I saw the grader at the side of the road (worker apparently taking a break).

Pratt is an out-of-the-way back road that doesn't get plowed in the winter and normally I have no qualms about being on it alone, but a neighbor (female) has told me she doesn't go there by herself. I didn't want to deal with road workers, and anyway I probably would have been in their way.

Instead, I ran the steep hill (~ 0.2 mi) a second time.