Training Log Archive: JanetT

From Vancouver we headed towards the ocean and stopped at Ruby Beach, and the Hoh River valley and rainforest trails. Though it showered a little on the drive, it was dry in the temperate rainforest, May-July being the low-rainfall months there. :-)

Strolled on beach and trails, 1.5 mi or so at Ruby Beach, and 3.5 mi at Hoh River valley.

Event: WCOC BBQ, Sprints, Meeting at DeWeese Farm
 

Green long course on Gold Rush Hills map, Idaho City, ID, temps in upper 40s to mid 50s at our early starts (just after 9 am).

Good routes to 1 and 2, then apparently did well to 3 -- others I talked to had trouble, I think trying to follow the beeline. I went slightly left of the line and hit a trail junction and was able to figure out which junction it was.

Twisted my left ankle (again!) in a pothole in a field on the way to 4; sat for 30 seconds, got up and hobbled for a minute or so, and then continued, but not reading terrain well. I hit the stream bed beyond the control, corrected back to a trail, and followed it to closer to the control (by which time there was another runner heading in).

Good routes to 5, 6, and 7; at 8 I dropped a contour too low on the wrong side of a thicket (but did well reading which spur to descend). Lots of ups and downs to 9; climb to road for 10. On the way in to 10 started hearing a sound that didn't quite sound like cows -- turned out there were several hundred SHEEP in the 200m between the stream and my control in a little reentrant, including one no more than a dozen feet away. I saw a person (shepherd?) and a border collie on my way out. Glen also had that control, though much earlier in his course, and had also seen the sheep.

CLIMB to the next control; I took the wrong reentrant and ended up even higher (a couple of contours and several hundred meters away) than I needed to be on a spur NE of my reentrant -- ugh. And then I visited the finish before the go control which was 60 m away up the reentrant. Still managed a first place (of 3 on F50) finish, 20 or so minutes ahead of Ardis and Sally Dow.

Then we started our drive across Oregon, finishing up just north of Portland in Vancouver, WA for the night. We're skipping the mid-week O days.

Green (F50) middle distance course on Gold Rush Hills map in Idaho City. Map, by a Russian mapper (Alexey Zuev), was printed 1:7500 (5m contours) -- really, really detailed and probably unreadable at 1:10000. Much of the area used was extensively dug/mined for gold in the 1800s, and the mapper did a good job of capturing the intricacy. Fun orienteering with LOTS of contour-reading required. The climb (and a few errors) was what made my per-k time so slow.

About 6-7 minutes of error (est.) including at least a minute on # 1 and almost 3 min on #4. I circled around 10 before finding it nestled between two little hills. Slow and steady on some tricky controls was key to not wandering. If this area wasn't so darn steep I would love this map more.

1st/3 F50 (Ardis had a 25 min error on # 2, wandering in the green south of the control). Should be interesting tomorrow when we're on the other side of this mapped area (with much less mining detail); Green tomorrow is twice as long and 20m LESS climb!

FR: TC 4.02 km, ST 4.74.

After running we headed back towards Boise, and took the turn onto the road to Arrowrock Dam (when built it was the highest in the world at 350'). Interesting travel along the edge of the reservoir (steep!) and not as many people on the water as you'd think for a summer Saturday. Saw 3 sailboats in addition to the motorboats and personal watercraft. Interesting AOWN: an osprey and a yellow-bellied marmot.

Dinner at another brewpub, Highland Hollows. Liked the food better than the beer this time. :-) Last night we went to Sockeye Brewery; very good beer, food was satisfying.

Event: 2009 Pacific Northwest Orienteering Festival
 

photos from around Boise, and beyond (more will be added throughout the trip)

Walked around the MK Nature Center in downtown--nice area with a pond for watching birds, mink(!), fish, etc. We saw a mink, and also 2 deer (which aren't necessarily part of the display, but are noticed now and then, esp. since they installed a native-plants garden where there used to be parking lot. Displays talk about the different habitats along a stream; crayfish; birds, etc. Inside, mounted bears, lynx, owl, wolf, even a badger. :-)

Then we drove up towards Table Rock (also viewing the variety of houses that overlook the city), and then down to Diversion Dam and Lucky Peak park (see photos).

Before and after the Boise State campus sprint. Before, along the path near the river; after was jogging back to the car parked in Julia Davis park.

Middle sprint at Boise State Univ. Could have had better map reading on the way from 3-4; was confused by the mapping around the tennis courts and unsure what was runnable and what wasn't, so went around where I probably didn't have to. Later on, checked a tree that wasn't mine (on the way to 10) but it didn't slow me down too much. Only climb was up to the finish (about a contour or so), plus a dot knoll on the course (about 1.5 m high). :-)

I'm registered for F50 for the sprints this weekend and next, and F50 for the next two days, but F55 next weekend (Middle Champs and long course in Cle Elum). I was 1st/2 F50, but maybe 7th (or so) woman overall on the middle-length course--a couple of F60s beat me, as well as a couple of F20s.

Around Julia Davis Park (along the Boise River) and downtown/old Boise after dinner at the Table Rock brewpub (nice beer, okay food). Distance is an estimate.

Flights here were uneventful; pilot/s arrived alive as far as I know (unlike the Continental Airlines pilot flying from Europe to Newark today...). We were in the last row on the second flight, next to the jumpseat for one of the flight attendants, who was a young woman (named Raven) doing this before grad school to earn money and get some travel in before settling down. :-)

In Chatham. No stepping again, but at least the warm-up was shorter. We may have to talk to the instructor...

At the Y. We used the elastic bands (therabands) as a supplement today; there were only pink ones (lightest resistance, but that was okay for me since I doubled it up where it wasn't strong enough). Side leg raises (using the band) got my muscles so tight I had trouble stretching them shortly thereafter.

Warmed up to do some hill work on the treadmill.

Hill intervals, quarter mile at 5% incline then .20 mi at 0% for recovery, x 2. Then I switched to hiking/walking.

Walking at different inclines (10, 8, 5%) with breaks.

Cooling down.

Forgot to add our AOWN experiences of the past couple of days.

We have two fairly large meadows/fields behind our house; a local farmer comes and cuts the grass for hay once, sometimes twice a year. He cut a few days ago, so now we can see who's rustling around in the meadow again.

Yesterday we saw what at first looked like a black dog, but not really--it looked more purposeful. I grabbed the binoculars and noted it had no collar and looked much more like a coyote (we've seen them in the fields the past several years), but almost black. Thinner tail than a coyote. Perhaps a crossbreed (coy-dog; part labrador, maybe?)?

Today's sighting was a bobcat! I'd seen one cross our rural road about 10 years ago, 4 miles away, so knew they could be in the area. Since our neighbors across the way have a large (100 acres?) wooded parcel, it's really prime habitat for these larger predators since there are lots of deer, rabbits, and groundhogs around too.