Training Log Archive: bl

To start triangle, maybe my longest trek.

Bear Brook, warm breezy day. Found a suitable pre-printed map (not sure for what event/reason, given start location), no NS lines, scale appeared to be 1/7500. Start was on trail on east shore of Bear Hill Pond. As I left the house, I did consider that the gate above Podunk parking might be closed. Was not going back in to get any other BB maps, however. It was closed and it was a long trip to the start.

The first few points were fine, then trouble with boulders as mapped. Actually lost map contact along the edge of the one unmapped section, bailed W to the trail, relocated and continued, only to lose contact again - same subject, namely, boulder interpretation. Spent time in the arborized logging areas which are now scratchy and best avoided. Finally came on the path again and made way back to Podunk Rd & parking. Feel like I need a break from BB map & woods - too familiar, too scratchy, often too thick etc.

Came home & drove Beth off to end of WH for a woods experience of her own. Talk of hiking in July in the UK spurs her to try out her sciatica.

Hopkinton Village Greenway, ccw, Slo Go. Another fine day w/o wind. Yesterday's wind killed a Weare driver when a tree came crashing down on the vehicle roof.

Kimball Pond satellite on a blustery March day. Very windy - shook the house last night & has not let up much. 310 wasn't up to it. Thought it was fully charged but lo battery. It did have a night sitting in the car. Good for "search location" function anyway. Tripped once, stumbled twice on short, 2"like, cut tree trunks sticking up on the path, covered by leaves. Heard a chorus of peepers - had not expected that. The beaver dam was flooded. I had second thoughts about crossing but the idea of returning was unpalatable. Found two long sticks and made my way very cautiously. It was about 4' deep either side in the center. There was a strong wind as well as strong current. On the downstream side, it would have carried me a bit into the Pond. The iPhone's presence did not help matters. Ziplock safety next time. Last visit was Feb 7th, walking on the frozen pond. A great way to spend part of an early spring day.

Another view of the dam.

C • Peepers? 5

Treadmill at the Y. Hard rain all day. Wanted something outside but the rain really did discourage - at least after a day at work. In the morning, the view can be different.

Walk in Mattapoisett - forgot running stuff & didn't have much time anyway. Spent night on boat with Beth, got some stuff done. Tired period w/o much flex time since returning from CA.

C • Mattapoisett 4

SPS XC route, been quite a while. Walked and jogged as well as ran moderately hard for parts. Nice place to train - pleasant rolling woods/fields, no hardtop or cars, as well as memory of splits from a faster era not so long ago that serves to goad into running harder, keep from slip slidin' away. Grey day w/o precipitation.

Parked at Common Man having noted a path along the Merrimack which I took. It ended abruptly after about 0.5 mi. Not wishing to return, made my way along exit 14 off ramp to Ralph Pill parking and back to Common man along the tracks. Passed 3 homeless sites, one appeared occupied. The others were eyesores, mostly re rubbish spread about but torn, abandoned tents as well.

Wanted something different after "Active Shooter" mandatory talk got me to NH Fire Academy at far end of Regional Dr. This last ditch opportunity filled the bill. A train came along the tracks, too - a rare sighting.

BHS track for a walk and 3 level effort on straights, 2 mi. total. But a group of HS kids showed up - which quickly grew. It was the lacrosse team, time to leave. Headed toward Turee and ran into the baseball team so cut that short. Early spring day, chilly, blue, breezy. Lots of activity poking up from the ground. Whitecaps on the pond.

Tired as evidenced by the noon nap. Nice to be home. California was most interesting, a great place to visit but not home. Morgan Territory was a Shangri La, pleased to have experienced it as well as all the rest of the green folds with their scattered rock gardens. Had window seats on the plane both ways. I'm intrigued how passengers can be so indifferent to what we fly over. Of course, people are different. The aisle seems the most popular, middle seats go for a pittance. We lifted off over San Francisco in predawn darkness, the city and GG ablaze in lights. Then snowy, lonesome mountain ranges, ordered plains, finally the wooded hilliness of our neck of the woods. And no place like home.
Departing Chicago, a city (with a lakefront life) I spent 3 years living in - stirs memories!

C • airplane seats 11

Sprint. Felt OK about the run. Finished, met up with Beth, grandchildren and Lyn and Jim. We walked a yellow course. Everyone had fun. Got back to upload about 50' post finishing, picked my map off the ground, put my SID into the upload station. The first 3 letters that appear are "dnf". Wtf! :(. Blockedhead left out a block of points, going from 4 to 9. Mindfulness not.

Nice weekend anyway. No rain, nice venues, and catching up with O friends. Mills College is an intricate and lovely campus and was excellent for the sprint O. Did get a first and a "crippled" third to cheer me up.

.

Brown Sprint - Splits

Brown long course. Found all the points w/o difficulty. The first was down and then up, maybe around would have been as good, maybe better. The second was contouring. I found a bovine trail which just about led me there. A bit high, I did not see the point at first, headed down and saw it (maybe 15” lost). Three was up and up - about all I could do to to get to it.

The big problem was my compass coming apart on the way to #4. The dial came off the housing. I had it, as well as a bronze lock ring in one hand, baseplate and housing in the other. It wasn’t due to a fall. I considered my operative attitude like a well-tuned guitar and a string just broke! My psychological adjustment was not the best it could have been because I learned this lesson before, in Scotland in 2011 when I fell near the finish and my new Silve ty5 baseplate broke in half. No need to travel thousands of miles to run in Europe or CA w/o a contingency plan. But my spare was in the trunk of the car, not on my person today. Distracted, I progressed along - a mix of map reading and trying to rotate the housing which was still in the baseplate. I figured that out, made #4 ok. The 5th was perhaps the most compass-dependent leg. I was shifting to trying the compass in thumb compass style - all the while the housing becoming looser. I missed a junction on the way to #6, figured that out (maybe 30”). 6 & 7 were ok, 7 a bit slow w/o compass.

Off to #8: the large map was folded, so I did not actually take the time to see #8. I set off contouring, all the while distracted by the compass issue (and yet, doing w/o the compass efficiently on this leg was doable I think). About 150m along, I unfolded the map, saw where the point actually was and that the nearby path would take me almost all the way there. My concentration had been altered. I did not really consider possible disadvantages of the path route enough, wanting to save seconds…. So a bit SE of 7, I headed NE to the nearby path. First it went N and then SE forever and down and down, to Purgatory, I eventually decided. After an eternity, I came to the bend, just off the edge of the map. And now, the trail started up with a vengeance. It went up and up and around this and that - painful. I’d have given anything for the sanity of contouring. Finally, a last curve as attack point and #8 was reached - after 32’. 8 to 9 was fun, being open and using contours. Didn’t need a compass much after the midway point to 6. On the way to 8, I’d separated the housing from the baseplate.

Pennywise, pound foolish re fretting seconds and forgotten lesson relearned. I don't care for a spare compass in the zip pocket small of one's back - seems too hard to get it out.

More than 250m climb by quite a bit. 4.15 mi per 310XT seems too much wasted effort.



Initial points

The long route in the green area.

End of the road

C • Nice recovery 6

Brown X Long - Splits

Event: US Individual Championships (M/L/S)
 

Morgan Territory brown middle, 3.1k, 13c. A good run, I’d give it a B+. Missed the first, not seeing that the path led just about to the point. It was partly hidden by the line to the point - lost about 45”. Also lost about 15” on #3. The rest were straight to. Was pedantic, checked all the point numbers & set my compass leaving the point nearly every time. Walked some, too. Could not have covered it as fast as Dennis including his #11 misfortune. Singularly beautiful place! This photo is immediately to the right of download, assembly, parking (waited til competitors were invisible). Route. 310 isn't going to work, given interest I have in trying at present

C • Congrats ! 1

Brown-X Middle - Splits

Visited the Sunol map, steep with 7.5m contours. Green as Ireland. Actually, the terrain resembled Scottish experiences. The 5.7k, 27c green course from February seemed over the top. Sampled about 8 points, crossing two small streams that were so steep-sided I, not being "adrenalized", spent several minutes getting across. Pleasant and a worthwhile visit, helped much getting oriented.

C • Pleasant 2

From Bo's down to Tomales bay, ended up at Shell Beach. I'd allotted 1.5 mi out (and down) and wondered if I'd have the time. Finally I could see that the water was actually closer - and voila, the beach. Pretty forest of eucalyptus, pine and some oak. Very quiet.

Drove up to the regional park at the top of the ridge & jogged around and to Mt. Vollmer summit and environs. Everything is so green. Have not been in the Bay area in springtime, I don't believe.

Brought only an iPad and don't think I can get 310 data to AP and doesn't seem plausible on Beth's MacBook Air either.

C • Ipad 6

Bone weary day. Haven't shaken the torpor. Arose 0310, hurried off, made mistakes making me hurry more. Got to MHT only to wait. I can think how it could have been done had I really recalled. I've become rusty re airport-plane travel. Got moved to BWI vs Midway, then to Oakland. Always a treat out the window: hills, prairie, utmost aridity, later freshly snow-covered mountains. Finally emerald coastal mountains east of the Bay. A tiring day, 6.5 hrs to Oakland, endng up on a Orinda hillside where homes cling to steep slopes.

C • Been there. 4

Harris Center on a fine spring day - memorable with its joie de vivre feel. Made a course, walked-jogged accurately enough. Hard to keep map contact in the black stuff. Saw no one/nothing. I was sitting in a chair in the garden at the end and a older lady came by to chat. She was the garden curator & was both pleased and curious to see me in a chair, actually sitting in the still-too-early garden. She said she’s lived in Hancock for some 30 years. A nice place to live, I can see that.

Noted this scene - the folk song "Where have all the flowers gone?" seemed to be staring back.

C • Harris Center 2

BHS track around 5p. Calm, pleasant. Past years, there surely would have been some snow in sight. Best I did was an 800 a bit over 8'/mi pace.
Got the HR up some.

Token entry. On the PL with Mocha. Not much energy today - stayed up late watching a movie, got up early for a 7am BLS course at work. Drove Beth to the airport for her flight to California. I'm just beginning to look forward to CA - haven't done much travel in the past 3 yrs. I don't yet have a USOC focus though. I suspect it will come at the last moment.

Turned to pretty steady rain, mid 50s. Weights at the Y and made a point of working hard filling in the propane line trench dug last Nov., the soil gradually thawing and making it possible.

A record 77F in Concord yesterday. Previous high was 67 in 1978.

Nottingcook wander with O map. 74F today. T shirt & shorts. Nice time, some nice forest. Did note 2 swamps not indicated on map tho I've always noted them in the forest and one open marsh with only the yellow - odd since I've seen these so many times. Now to find the most recent map file... Watched the watch record about 6 splits with time & yet cannot find the damn things. And nothing under "recorded splits" when I try there. Not an issue with the 305 - never thought about it.

To start of brown course.

Did a brown course at BB, thought it was a Boulder Dash 2013 but seems not - just found it in a stack of BB courses. Mid 50s, really fine time to be in the woods with maximum visibility. Slow but accurate - the more the contact, the better the outing. Took splits, don't know what happened to them, seems watch ignored them.

Return to parking.

Spitting rain after work, so I chose weights & some cardio at the Y.

Old Johnson Rd over to Robinson, with fine spring weather. Phone rang, Bruce calling - how odd that can seem in the woods, even in this day & age for an occasional subscriber. I might have spent 35' talking. Timing was excellent given time & place. Watch indicates I walked a quarter while talking & I spent 20' in one place as well. Back on Rob & Dean. This was a walk-jog and time for this new activity should be ID’d as such. No energy again. Not sure I’ve been so w/o energy before - a long time anyway. Napped away a good portion of the pm.

From BES home, Beth dropped me off. It was that or Kimball Pond. More tired than I care to be - I'll ascribe it to the cold. 310 was low battery right out of the block. Had no time piece for practically a first.

Finally took a look at Open Orienteering Mapper. Threw in a Bear Brook ocad file as template and scribbled some. It seems to draw the same as OCAD, at no cost. And now that lidar imagery is reasonably available, it seems many a mapper's dream come true.

C • OOM 2

C • Did you have a storm? 2

JSTF as a surprise. Looked at the web site around 7:15 this morning & noted a V1 clinic at 10a which proved the necessary precipitant. Had not really driven anywhere this past winter for skiing.

A drive from bare ground to winter for sure, little Jackson (and the northern NH I saw) indeed being white. Freshly groomed and unused tracks with big flakes drifting down for some of the time. Later shafts of sun. Worked on various techniques with the instructor. I was the only one who came. A pair who did appear in the afternoon, Tony & Suzanne Federer! Heard Tony's voice from afar. There was a friends’ group ski which they participated in regularly in the past & were at it again today. I went out again after lunch. Didn’t wander much as the point was technique practice.

Gray lady

Still tired from a cold, about 5 days now.

Home via 16 and 28, right by BB to Hooksett. Much preferred, new to me and avoided much of the ticky tackiness along 25/Meredith area. Glad to have gone although the nearly 5 hours RT driving I view skeptically these days.

C • Friday glider 2

Pretty much a reflective walk on SPS campus. Still under the cold spell with added conjunctivitis last night. Put up with a few icy trail patches then got to fields, to the track and back along Silk Farm. Lots of kids in shorts & some in T shirts with temp hi 30s. Nice walk. Crappy weather coming tonight and tomorrow. Meanwhile, a Joan Baez concert tonight for something different.

Burned up energy earlier today with a file cabinet that wouldn’t fix, even after I got an extra pair of hands and with O-Ringen entry with which I did not completely succeed. Got myself entered but not Beth. Her CC payment was rejected, no explanation (20’ after mine was accepted - couldn't see any batching opportunity). Thinking I might have mis-typed, I tried again - same result. It was the CC company rejecting charges overseas w/o prior reassurance. I had Beth call to discern this as I was fed up with spinning wheels. If the red-lettered message had explained the situation it would have been straightforward enough. Still have to return to enter her and make lodging arrangements.

C • CC problems 4