Training Log Archive: SarahD

Map run on Shooting Greens to check out what state the forest is in. Remarkably pleasant (significantly nicer then Scolty ;-)) and the map is pretty up to date - definitely worth using for spring training. Zig-zagged down through the area. Wasn't going very fast as I was having difficulties interpreting all the rock detail - good complex stuff.

Decided to do some reps to get me back up to the car park in Shooting Greens, rather than just plodding. 6 x 1' got me up to the car park, but I was feeling pretty good, so turned left up the hill and did another 4 x 1'. Turned the run into a decent quality session.

Steady run with Jon from Dinnet. Over towards Loch Davan, out to the NW corner of the Muir, up the track towards Cambus, L down to the Vat Burn, then back round the S side of Loch Kinord. Minging day - didn't seem too bad at the start but very wet and cold by the finish. Legs felt OK on the flat but nothing in them on the hills. Spent most of the run trailing several m behind Jon who seemed to be cruising effortlessly along.

Newsflash - I have just retired 2 of my hellys after 20 years of faithful service. Let's hope the next generation are as long-serving.

Rest Day
My battered body needs some time to recover.

DNC Scolty. Quite simply the most unpleasant orienteering course I've had the misfortune to do in a long long time (ever?). Combination of impenetrable green (mapped as semi-open), wind-blow, rough open hillside and an uphill course (or at least it felt like it). Got completely stuck in the green after no 1. Left calf was cramping from the effort by the time I got to no 2. Had to double back at one stage on 4-5 to get round the windblow. etc.
Navigation was actually pretty good - not that I spent much time focusing on it.

Jog to start. As Jon said the most pleasant part of the evening...

Intervals on the road at Hazlehead. 10 x 500m off 3'. Legs felt tired, but times were better than they have been for a while. Splits were 1:56, 2:02, 1:53, 2:04, 1:58, 2:11, 1:56, 2:06, 1:56, 2:09

To and from Hazlehead

Good session

Rest day.
Legs tired. Went for a lovely walk in Cambus with Jon and Ewan in the afternoon. Beautiful day.

Punished myself for all the races I didn't run this weekend by running the Dess time-trial loop. Felt like I was working hard and going pretty well, but horrified to note that I ran this in 26' 47" in 2006. OK so it was wet and slippy underfoot today and the paths aren't as good as they were then, but....
Anyway, this can be the new benchmark - I obviously need to run it a bit more often.

Decent warm-up and down before and after the time-trial.

What a difference 11 hours of sleep can make. Did the SEDS training at Sluie from last weekend, collecting in the controls as I went. Felt physically strong running in the terrain and was orienteering well. Only a couple of misses - in places where the map is definitely a bit funny.Very positive.

Took Ewan out cycling along the railway from the gliding strip. 50' or so in total.

Headed up the Fungle with Jon. Had planned to do some hill reps, but rapidly realised I had nothing in me. I shouldn't be too surprised - 3 days of intensive workshop, short nights, and travelling is a great recipe for wipe-out. Continued gently up the hill while Jon did his reps and felt at least a bit better by the 'Seat'. Carried on up on to Carnferg. Jon went the long way round the back while I walked up the direct route through the heather. Felt very weary by the time we got back to the car. Nice day though.

As if that wasn't enough, I was signed up to go on a 'leaving do' rafting trip on the Dee in the afternoon. Almost pulled out but decided it would be a shame. As it was, it was fun and a workout for my arms for a change. A non-stop battle between the boats meant that we all get very wet and I was pretty cold by the end. On the water for an hour and a half or so.

Caught up on my missed class from Monday at Lumphanan. Mostly good.

Another early morning run, this time with the company of Jan, Jim and Cara. I love coming to meetings like this and finding that half a dozen other people have brought their running kit too. Headed out in the same direction as yesterday but stayed on the main gritted pavement this time. Started gently, but wound up to a decent pace on the return.

A few pilates exercises to help relieve the boredom of a hotel bedroom.

And the usual stretching

Managed to get up for an early morning run from the hotel. Just across a big roundabout I got into Vienna's Prater area which is a vast expanse of recreational park and woodland. Amazing that there's such a huge green area right in the middle of the city - I hardly touched most of it. A very pleasant run, although it was a bit icy underfoot. Felt virtuous for the rest of the day.

Rest Day
No time for training today

Took the train out to the W of Vienna to Purkersdorf. A microdot scale extension of my city map suggested there were tracks from there up to a viewpoint at Troppberg. I found the start of the tracks easily enough, together with good signposts, and followed them up a mostly steady gradient through the woods. There was a couple of centimetres of snow on the ground but although it had been grey and threatening in the city, the sun gradually appeared through the clouds as I climbed. I reached the top after about 45 minutes of pleasant running. With my confidence boosted by my route finding success thus far, I decided to continue on to reach a station on the railway further up the line at Rekawinkel. I picked up signs to it and followed them for a while, before losing them and then realising that the track I was following was swinging N - the opposite direction from where I wanted to head. I found another path that took me down to a road which I ran along for a km or so before picking up some more signs to Rekawinkel. I followed these, but after a while realised that I'd lost the signs again and so decided just to head S through the forest. Unfortunately I'd dropped and lost my compass somewhere, but luckily the sun was still out. I was getting pretty tired by this stage and regretted having consumed the remains of my cereal bar. Eventually I hit a road a couple of km from Rekawinkel and had a slow run back up the hill to the dead hamlet.
On reaching the station I discovered that the next train wasn't for 75 minutes (Sunday service), but thankfully spotted a snacks / drinks machine. Unfortunately I didn't have any change. At least there was a warm waiting room (~ -5C outside) and after standing around for 15 minutes or so, it occurred to me that I could buy a train ticket to the next station from the machine and thus get some change for the snack machine. The best £5 I've ever spent on a bottle of coke and some crisps ;-}
All in all a bit of an epic, but fun. The things you can do when you don't have any responsibilities for the day....

Rest Day
Walked round a few controls at the SEDS training at Sluie with Ewan. Flying out to Vienna in the afternoon.
Seemed really bizarre leaving the house just as everyone had arrived to go training. A bit like missing my own party!

Just about managed to find enough space in my hotel bedroom to do my stretching, without sticking my feet out into the corridor. Floor's a bit hard though.

Ran from Aboyne community centre through the woods to the golf course, Aboyne Loch and Coull woods with Jon. Did a big loop on the tracks returning to Aboyne Castle. Knew I wasn't going to be up for a full hill session after the Tues / Wed combination, but managed to do 2 sets of hill sprints to add some quality. Certainly wasn't feeling very bouncy.

2 sets of 5 x 30" + 30" sprints during the long run, plus a few short bursts.

Easy stop-start jog behind Ewan on the bike after lunch.

Rest Day
Had planned on a short recovery run, but it was so crappy at lunchtime that I decided a rest would be just as beneficial.

DNC at Glen Dye. Feeling physically tired from last nights intervals and mentally tired from work. Not normally a good start, but once I got going I really enjoyed it. Perhaps this was helped by catching Jon at no 1, and seeing him punch just ahead of me at no 3. Quite a few wobbles in the circle and a bigger miss on the last control - sloppy. Didn't have any sensible strategy for finding no 11, but luckily for me it was visible from a distance. Another fine night and altogether fun.

Short warm-up. Warmed down in the sauna.

5 x 4' + 2' + 1' extra for good measure, on the roads in Aboyne with Deeside Runners. Good session with 12 or so folk intervalling although I didn't seem to have any one to chase for most of it (all too fast). Felt I was going OK.

Usual warm up and extended warm down round Aboyne. Chilly night - I'll swear it was a few degrees colder than at home.

Must have done some good work at pilates last night. I've found some new muscles deep inside me.....

Took Ewan out to practise his cycling on the old railway. He was whizzing along so fast that I had to strip off my fleece and run, so I reckon I can count this as training. Think I'll wear my running kit next time.

Felt good.

Parked at Burn o' Vat. Headed out on the reverse of the usual Cnoc Dubh route. 5 min warm-up and then onto the hill. It's much tougher running it in this direction as the path is steep and there's quite a few short descents too, giving more climb to the summit. I was really wheezy on the start of the hill, but it settled a bit later. Ran all the way, but found it tough. From the top, descended to the high Cambus track , turned R and dropped eventually to the corner of Dinnet Muir. Felt I was plodding a bit after crossing the road onto the Muir, so remembering a nugget from Martin Hyman's talk (about always doing something fast on his runs) I stopped and did some sprints on the big track. Then jogged back through the Muir to the car.

10 x 30" + 30" sprints near the end of the run. Felt this turned it into a real quality run.

Planned to go for a run after the SOA meeting, but it looked so dreich, dark and blustery that we jumped in the car and drove straight home.

Run from Aboyne with Jon. Up the Fungle (doing hill-reps), R at the Guard and the L at the big pine. Ran out along the high track to its high point then climbed through the heather onto the shoulder and picked up a mown track down the other side to rejoin the Fungle higher up. Returned by the Fungle. Really cold down in Aboyne, but warmed up on the hill and a very pleasant run apart from the hill efforts.
Treated Jon to a birthday hot chocolate in the tea shop afterwards

C • Happy Birthday Jon. 2

11 x 1' + 1' hills up the Fungle. Felt dreadful at the start (still half asleep I think). Improved a bit later, but still a bit of a grind.

Rest Day
(or should that be stressed day....)

Run to / from start of intervals on road

First proper set of intervals since before Christmas on road at Hazlehead. 8 x 500m with 1 min recovery. Splits were 1:59, 2:12, 2:02, -, 1:58, -, 1:59, 2:15 (cut 4 and 6 short on 2:00). About as good as I could have expected, and something to work on over the next few weeks.

Jogged up the track and back to collect the start unit after the Night O. Thankfully Jon offered to collect the controls in on Thursday. Magic moonlit night. The O seemed to be enjoyed by all.

Easy recovery run round Hazlehead at lunchtime. Felt pretty relaxed.

Control hanging in Balnagowan for Wed night O. Cold crisp morning - took a while for the hands to warm up inside gloves. Forest still as lovely as ever. Didn't go very fast, but legs feel heavy now.

First pilates class since before Christmas. Felt OK.

Shadowed juniors in the forest at Maroc junior training.

Ran a couple of hilly laps of Dess woods. Once warmed up, I felt pretty strong on the hills, so worked a bit harder. Found myself 2/3 of the way up the monster rep hill without thinking about it and continued comfortably to the top. Best I've felt for a few weeks ;-)

Had planned to do a long run today, but still feeling tired, so decided to scale things back. Parked in Glen Cat and ran up by the forest tracks onto Craig Lash, then along to Corybeg and Lamahip. Dropped off the W of Lamahip and followed the mown path back N to the forest and the car.

Rest Day
Feeling tired - have done quite a lot in the last week, even if it's been mostly low intensity.
Went along to support everyone and socialise at the Detox. Brilliant runs by Carolyn and Oleg.

Drove up to Linn of Quoich for a picnic and a short walk. I then ran back along the N side of the Dee to Invercauld while Jon drove round with Ewan, then Jon ran on to the far end of Inver where we picked him up. Tracks were really icy, with the rain having frozen as soon as it hit the ground. Pretty dreich day, but an enjoyable family trip out and a positive start to 2009.