Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Down to the County Treasurer's office to get registration and tags taken care of. There was no line and it only took--yes, I timed it--1 minute, 14 seconds, and that's from the time I went in the door to the time I went out the door. Those folks are very efficient.

The biking was less efficient because of large amounts of wind swirling from various directions, but it was still good due mainly to the fact that I did not get struck by any large, stinger equipped insects.

Mix of trails and terrain at Happy Jack, taking advantage of a distinct cold front moving in. Big winds blew down a beetle killed tree across one of the trails, and while I've seen a number of trees across trails before, I think this is the first beetle tree to go down across one of the trails. Many, many more to come.

I think the wind must have scared off some of the other cowboys and cowgirls, because I didn't see a soul the whole time I was out.

Maybe everyone hit the bars downtown after work, happy to have survived another quarter?

75 and sunny on the 29th of September is beyond awesome!

Trails, after mapping. The moon was nice, and the planet, too.

Quote of the day: "I have never heard anything bad about Austin." They're referring to Austin, TX, which is my kind of town!

Another super-fine day! Yeah!

O' at Happy Jam, after mapping. I really like the way this map turned out, with the combination of part of Happy Jack on one side, and a different kind of terrain/forest (though similar) on the other. It's a bit rougher and more forested than most of the other maps, which is a plus too in view of things to come.

Rode by UW's newest (it just got underway) capital construction project, located at the extreme NW corner of campus. While that would be an ideal location for a massive wind shield, I don't think that's what is going to go up. Doubt it will be a facility for orphan pigs either.

C • Reviews of milk 6

Trails; ran most of The Hilly One. Another really nice day out with a fair amount of haze. Maybe from forest fires in locales other than California? Or maybe it's just hazy on principle.

Multiple truck wrecks on I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne closed the interstate in both directions, though luckily the road was open as far as the Summit Exit, so I could drive up top. Something weird must have been going on to have multiple truck wrecks along the same stretch of highway, at about the same time, and for them to have been bad enough that the highway was closed for a good many hours.

I sure hope it didn't involve turkeys from Cherry Hill, NJ.

Seemed like a good idea to take the day easy, even though the day itself was spectacular--a perfect Fall day from start to finish. Spent some time also working on the Happy Jack map, with today's efforts devoted to a ridge line and the front facing slope, which is steeper than K2 and twice as rocky; it will never get used for any O', I would bet! Consequently, the pressure on the mapper to "get it right" was somewhat low.

C • Ahhh 1

O-vals at Pelican Bay; did this in the form of running route segments in a route analysis of a complex leg from the 2004 TT.

C • Biking and O-ing 6

Pelican Bay.

Pelican Bay.

10:30 RMT, Laramie WY--Heavy blizzarding action has set in. Rumbles off to the west, which would indicate approaching thunderstorms in most locales, in this area hint instead of cold threats of renewed glacial activity, with the credible possibility several snow fences--the only remaining line of defense between the glaciers and I-80--will be overwhelmed in short order. The glacier fighters have been caught off guard, and urgent pleas have gone out to coal fired power facilities around the world to increase their soot emissions immediately.

Ran trails up at Happy Jack, though really it was more running in 4-6" of fresh snow than anything. It's always fun to get out in the first snow of the season. And--mercy!--what a sunset!!! The western sky was full of purples, oranges, corals, and red fire red--plus a solitary, very thin man crescent moon that even Dylan would have admired. A real treat to be out on a day like this!

The view late this afternoon from the Tie City Corral, looking out towards Antenna Hill:

From Desktop

Plutonic Pleasures. 15.3 kms, 700m, 34 c; time includes warmup/warmdown.

Tugged on some Cowboy gold for a top and headed on down to marker 412 and back. Brilliant Fall day!

Pitcher Hill, picture perfect late afternoon. 6 head of cattle, one swampfox.

Perfect weather for riding; rode west of town.

O'-vals at Plains of Despair.

You just never know who and when someone will be popping up in the news next; today's guest appearance would be none other than Mr. Tim Parsons, of NEOC fame: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125313981633417557...

Be forewarned: there is a picture in the article that is not for the queasy. It shows Tim in tie and yuppy Dockers. Talk about a specter! If you look extra careful, you can see a swap dangling out of one pocket.

Further analysis shows at least two of the students also pictured in the photo have detected the dangling swap and are hurriedly walking away as fast as they can, rather horrified by the discovery of their proximity to an unexpected derivative, and perhaps thinking: "If it could happen at a school like this, it could happen anywhere."

The other students are all doing their best to look away from the partially exposed derivative, but they must be more hardened to esoteric financial products because they aren't walking away.

Two new houses at the foot of Rogers Canyon that I hadn't seen before, and a fresh wreck at 30th and Harney with lots of backed up traffic. With my bike on my shoulder, I took the easy detour on foot (but not on foot-O.)

Mountain bikers take note: the International Mountain Biking Association has rated the trail system at Curt Gowdy State Park as "Epic".

I rate the "El Alto" trail as "Impossible", unless you are foot.

C • foot 3

Back to back courses at Diamond Bay. I must not have been totally lollygagging around, because when I was done I noticed my left sleeve of my shirt had totally disappeared sometime during the run. Yet my arm was unmarked. How the hell did that happen???!?

While I was headed down one steep slope I went over my right ankle pretty hard, and while I was hopping around and feeling the lovely pain sensation I tried to think which bad word (or bad word grouping) would be best for handling the situation. But I was off and running again before I made a selection, and two controls later I was running downhill "pa skra" without the least sign anything had happened at all. No swelling by the time I got back home either.

I've been lucky with my ankles. They've never really given me any trouble at all--just the very occasional sprain, and I can't even remember for sure when the last time I wasn't able to run because of an ankle problem. I think it was back in the early 80s though, when once I stepped off a curb the wrong way. That's right--I wasn't even running in the woods then!!

Or has it actually been luck? I can't remember that I've ever taped my ankles for support (and if I have, then it's been many years since the last time), and I've always run lots in the woods. It's hard to imagine someone being a truly good orienteer with weak ankles.

Having said all that, I think I am going to knock on some wood, as a precautionary measure.

C • word groupings 2

The vibe in the air suggests it's an unusually good day to plug in a guitar, dial in some distortion, and give "Taxman" a chance to ring out!

My original plan called for some O' running at Diamond Bay, but repeated interludes of rain and heavier rains gradually convinced me that running trails at Happy Jack would be a better choice today. I saw a few mountain bikers up there, one of whom was grinning wildly just after a wicked burst of hail. At one of the overlooks I came to, I paused, and counted 11 different storms of rain/hail around me. All of them had a comfortable familiarity to them that strongly suggested they had been dumping water on me at one point or another earlier in the run. It has been one rainy summer!

Maybe tomorrow will bring back Mr. Sunshine.

I went out thinking I would be "at one with the wind", but the wind had other ideas. Instead, I must admit we were not working exactly as a team, and were in opposition for most of the ride. It was OK though, because I found enough cowgirls to look at for the necessary happiness distraction. Plus, I didn't even get stung by any fiendish winged insects or flat out more than 3 or 4 times!

Out at Pelican Bay. Didn't even see a single ATVer the whole time I was out. But I did see another bull moose. It's a pretty rare day out here when you see more moose than ATVers. In fact, it's never happened before. Maybe it's a sign the Rapture is happening?

Orienteering at Twin Boulders, good effort and focus, stuck all the controls.

While warming up, I saw a large bull moose, and a few minutes later further up the creek I was running along, a smallish cow moose, making it a thoroughly moosy outing!

C • Watching the game? 22

Had planned to run an O' course, but the combination of getting up in the hills a little bit later in the afternoon than I had planned, opening day of the hunting season, and fog blowing in from the south with visibility reduced already and rapidly getting worse made me re-think the wisdom of the plan. I ended up running trails at Happy Jack instead, and to all appearances I had the entire trail system to myself. Fog was very thick by the time I was done.

Around town, taking in the sights.

Finished picking Goat controls. There were still cattle in the east pasture, while gunfire was going on in the west pasture (probably hunters getting ready for rifle season.) I paid no mind to either.

While I was out, I spent a little time thinking about last year's US Championship, and then some about previous US Championships (meaning the Classic Championships.) Back when I started with O', you could think of the sport being a barbell in at least 2 ways. NEOC was hugely dominant back then, and the next biggest club was SLOC, and in between there wasn't a whole lot left over. Terrains used were similarly barbelled inasmuch as most orienteering took place in various glacial terrains in New England and New York, and the hugest chunk of what was left took place in big ridge and valley terrains in the midwest. All three Intercollegiates I competed in were in big ridge and valley areas.

It's a lot different today. Practically speaking, both NEOC and SLOC are mere vestiges compared to what they were back then, and certainly in terms of how much they dominate the national scene (since they totally don't today, and once they totally did.) Back then, both clubs had active mapping projects with major maps always being planned and in the process of being surveyed, and both clubs had annual "A" meets.

And aside from the Flying Pig, it's almost hard to think of the last time I've been to a big event in what could be considered a standard midwest ridge and valley terrain--I think it would've been the N. Ams at Meramec, in 1996 or so. Maybe I'm missing an event that isn't coming to mind, though.

It's been 22 years since the last US Classic Champs anywhere in New England, and 18 years since the last one in Missouri (and there's never been one in any state adjoining Missouri, I think). That's a long time!

I wonder which will come first: another US Classic Champs in New England, or another one in Missouri, or another WOC in the US?

C • Trick question 1

Out to the airport and back. The airport had heavier than normal number of planes parked there, some of which appeared to have sets of longhorns mounted on the engine cowlings. They probably were flying in wildlife biologists making treks to Mortenson Lake to study the extremely rare Wyoming Toad. I'm sure they had nothing at all to do with the fact Texas is playing Wyoming in 2 days.

C • I assume they are also flyi... 2

Picked up another swath of controls from the Goat.

Wow (that's "wow" and not "TomWow!"). I just did laundry from Laramie Daze, and there were incredible amounts of grass seeds in the lint trap. It might have changed certain commodities prices at the Merc if only the traders could have seen what I saw. Who knew or even suspected socks could hold so many seeds? I could have taken those socks and re-seeded an entire prairie state like Kansas, South Dakota, or even Oklahoma with them, and still had seeds to spare, and that's for sure.

C • It is ok... 1

I really wanted to try out this year's Rocky Mountain Goat course for myself, with controls and punches, and so, after giving myself a day off to recoup a little from all the work of the Daze, that's what I did today. I went out midday, with the sun out and in warmish (for Laramie) temps. It was strictly pedal to the metal, with the only respites coming an occasion trip through the green where you had to do some picking through the aspens, and also the occasional downhill section.

My main take-away impression from the training? A very tough effort! I kept on pushing and pushing the best I could.

I was familiar with the control locations since I had streamered them and set out all the controls, but the way I had done that was counter to the flow of the course (except in the SE corner of the course), and the course itself felt "fresh" to me.

I did manage to miss #8 slightly, when I was a little too far west as I was pushing through the last bit of green, and so I had to circle back around. It was a good reminder to always keep looking as you enter the control ring; had I been checking off to my right I'm sure I would have detected the edge of the clearing the control was sitting in.

Other than that, I was clean all the way around, running exactly the routes I wanted and sticking all rest of the controls solidly.

From Desktop

C • 1:54? Did you stop for lunch? 3

With dinner, I had a Fat Tire Amber Ale, the official complaint beer for the 2009 Laramie Daze (this will make no sense unless you were there, and if you weren't, too bad!)

Mix of trails and woods, out at Beer Drinkers Bay.

C • Be careful - sounds like th... 1

Checking and pulling controls for the Rocky Mountain Goat daze. This was a long 8 day week--probably about what the Beatles had in mind once upon a time--but totally worth it. I think everyone had a pretty good time and got a lot out of the week in the Laramie Range.

A little "warmdown" after Laramie Daze.

The legs might be just about ready to start signing some of those petitions you see sometimes at grocery stores, as long as the petitions are asking for a break from the running. Probably just a day or two and they would be happy and feeling fine again, but at the moment I think they are feeling a bit worn and maybe even a little dazed, as incredible as it may seem.

During todaze's race, a moose emerged from the woods on a slope above the start/finish, about 150 m away maybe, and started down the slope towards the road we were on. She (it was a cow moose) got about halfway down the slope towards the road, probably intent on the fine munchies (willow shoots) waiting in a lovely swamp on the other side of the road, but didn't like either the looks or the smell or both of an orienteer who was standing in the road more or less right in her path. So she turned around and headed back up the slope and disappeared back into the tree, setting a fine hill training example for all the orienteers watching at the finish.

Control hanging for Happy Jam and the Goat.

We had a bizzaro storm today. About 2 minutes after today's courses closed, a single cloud overhead that had been gradually gaining in size and grayness could no longer contain itself. It started raining, and it was still raining 30 minutes later when it was time to go over to hail. After hail accumulated to maybe 1 1/2" in depth on the clock table, it was time to go back to rain. It ended up raining/hailing for about 2 1/2 hours, and all the while from what was more or less a single cloud overhead that basically didn't budge. Anyone who has ever experienced Wyoming wind can tell you how likely it is to have a cloud in place without moving for that length of time.

It never rained in Laramie itself (a gorgeous day for the home opener game) and it never rained even in the eastern half of Remarkable Flats, just across the road from where we were!

All the generous control retrievers got totally doused in the ice rain, but not one of them complained!

Control hanging.

Control hanging at Pelican weather. Weather rating: So Fine!

Found a few freshly shot up beer cans near one of the control circles--clear evidence that some sub-morons must be around in the area. I wonder if they noticed the control streamer, and saw it as clear evidence of orienteers around in the area?

Control pickup at Bisbee. Microbreweries seemed to be faring especially well today to judge by the crowd on the hill by the finish.

Another stellar daze. Hope it holds right on through the weekend!

Checked One Cowboy Relay controls and hung controls at The Toe.

Saw some more horsy people while I was out, except these were the real deal this time--working cowboys.

Control pickup from One Cowboy Relay; hung remainder of controls for The Toe daze.

It sounds like the primo wildlife sighting for the day goes to the campers at Yellow Pine (ah, the memories evoked by the mere mention of "Yellow Pine"!) who, this morning at breakfast, were treated to a family of 3 moose--mama, baby, and sweet little baby moosus--strolling nonchalantly through the campsites, but reportedly eyeing the cooking pots of oatmeal with some degree of unfeigned moose interest. Nobody was stompled.

Control hanging out at Bisbee Hill.