Training Log Archive: jennycas

Yup, long first leg to the other side of the hill, as predicted. There was no pack-splitting; all the girls went left (apart from Shannon, apparently, who was disadvantaged by her mountain-goat route choice). And so there was a long chain of us slogging along the powerline track in the sun for the most part of 4km, with me nearly at the tail end thinking "If I get heatstroke it is going to seem a long way back". But getting into the shade of the forest was a relief, except that I was disproportionately slow off-track (already I was regretting having worn spikes because they make me unsure of my footing and which way ankles are going to roll) and lost sight of Anna/Bridget straight away. Then, despite having perfect bearings into 1 and 2, I didn't trust them, thinking that I should have aimed off, and my wombling in the control circle meant that Erin and Kellie went past me so I was chasing them back along the same track to 3 (which I think Erin overshot by going too far along the track). Up the hill to 4 (singletrack) across the hillside to 5, around below the lookout (nice view) to 6 just behind Bridget/Lucy/Kellie who all disappeared down the hill way faster than I could. I started out trying to take the singletrack down to 7 but that was a stupid idea, it was so rough that at about halfway I took the terrain option and, trying to read the green, came out nearly but not quite at the control and then wasn't sure if it was left or right...I may actually have been at a boulder which was hidden under the line, but anyway, 3-4 min down on others for that leg.

Butterfly loops were okay (but I bet they contributed nothing to splitting of the pack for the girls because I doubt there was a pack by that stage of the course) and going down into the suburbs again I was feeling not too bad because I knew that the second loop could only be 2km at most. Passed Bridget just before map change and the little loop was no hassles.

Finished strongly but what's the point of being able to run well across an oval if I am so crap at terrain running that I am 15 min down on people who do 50% of the volume that I do in training and/or don't have any serious hills to train on? I am giving full credit to the achiever(s) of those results, but wondering what I should be doing differently. I thought I'd had a reasonable, or at least reasonably strong run, so being that far down was a surprise.

Aiming off could have salvaged me about 3 min, I will concede, and maybe I should have run in the Inov8s for greater stability but again that's only another 3 min...and if I were a bit less sleep-deprived that could have been beneficial also. What stands out most to me, though, is that terrain running is always my weak point because I can't lift my legs over crap on the ground and I am so tentative about where I put my feet. But I will put some effort into terrain over the next 6 weeks and possibly go play in the Snake Pit because then I won't need to tape my ankles.

C • Finished Strongly 9

C • Shannon 1