Training Log Archive: Gswede

Shaking the legs out.

WOC Relay, titled, "A glimpse of what could be"

A sickness went through our team at this WOC. It got to the point that everyone had a cold except for Eric, Alison, Evalin, and Cristina.

So, as soon as I started I could tell I wasn't at 100% physically, maybe not even at 80%. Climbing up a 2 contour hill exhausted me.

But I could read the map which is apparently something many people struggled with here. When Russia and Italy caught me I was surprised there were still people around because I thought I was very far behind. Normally this would have given me a rush of adrenaline, but I couldn't do much more than a light run through the woods. Even learning that I was in 16th at the arena passage wasn't enough to keep me running hard.

My foggy mind really went to crap after 10 when I started running towards 12. It would seem I was only able to think clearly for about 15-20 minutes and then it was done.

That's frustrating because I could have finished top 20 ahead of some of the really good teams. But it's also encouraging because I know that I can be there, given the right conditions, i.e., not being sick.

For the future, as soon as a team member feels ill, we're going to quarantine them. But we still love them.

GPS tracking:
https://www.tulospalvelu.fi/gps/2017wocRelayM1/

Evening jog.

Recovery jog today. First 10 minutes felt pretty bad, then 20 minutes of bliss, then the last 10 minutes I was slogging it in.

47th in the WOC long! Very stoked with the performance. My body gave out after 20, so I'm clearly not physically ready for a WOC long yet. That takes years though. Overall pretty happy with my technical performance. There are certainly some things I need to improve on, but it was decent.

Map (not my forking)
>

So in terms of overall error time, I counted about 7 minutes and 45 seconds.

The errors were
1) Losing contact when finishing up number 2
2) Losing contact when heading downhill toward 5
3) Poor bearing to 7 and consequently swinging too far left
4) Not finding good runnability to 18

It was very clear that living in Estonia for the past month paid off big with this performance. My early starting time meant I had to fight through a lot of green that would have elephant trails for later runners. I wasn't concerned. I had been preparing for green that thick since late May.

I took the time I needed (8-12 seconds) before the long legs to decide on a suitable route before taking off. Once I decided on a route then I started pushing hard to execute it. That strategy worked well here.

My hamstrings began to cramp on the way to 16, which is a problem that continues to occur in long distance races. I lost a considerable amount of time (3 minutes perhaps) after 20 because my hamstrings simply began to cramp too much. I couldn't run quickly or drive up the hills without a cramp paralyzing my leg. I'll have to solve that.

A big thanks has to go out to everyone who helped me to this performance. First off, my parents and family who support me and are perhaps my biggest support structure, everyone who supported me in the GoFundMe campaign for a WOC training camp, my roommates and training partners in Madrid, and countless people behind the scenes.

Many people may not be happy with 47th place, but it means a lot to me and my country. As best myself and others can tell, it's the best finish for an American man in the long since '89. That's not completely fair because there was a period that WOC competitors had to qualify for a final. But still, not half bad.

I'm excited to continue chipping away at the long distance. It's a race that takes years to master, but I'm ready to work toward that one day at time. I hope everyone who reads this will join me on that journey in this crazy little sport. Thank you.

Men Long - Splits

Shaking the legs out in Otepää