Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Back home after being away for (most of) the month, and very surprised to find zero trace of winter down in the valley. Ran trails at Happy Jack, where there is some snow in shaded areas, however it didn't feel much like winter up there either, at 51F. Hard core skiers can't be happy, but I won't complain--I got to go on a wonderful bike ride before running, and did so in shorts and a t-shirt! I reminded myself to enjoy it while it lasts, because surely it won't last.

After spending the night at the edge of the Ozarks, I had planned to find a trail to run on before driving up to Lawrence, KS to pay a visit to Maprunner and Spike. And I had picked out a likely candidate. Right before leaving the motel, serendipity struck when I checked email, and found a note from Spike, who suggested running at a place I had never heard of--Hobbs State Park/Conservation Area, near Bentonville. He was running lidar for a KP map of that very area at that moment!

That was enough to change plans, and point my car towards Hobbs State Park. How could I do otherwise?

It turned out to be quite an area, about 98% (from what I saw) wonderfully open mature oak forest with some pine on ridge tops, hilly, and well dissected with a steep reentrant/valley system. I found some nice trails to run on. And then, when I reached Lawrence, I was able to compare that with the piece of finished KP map Spike had. It would be a great area for orienteering, and the kind of area where strength in climbing (and descending) hills would pay big dividends.

Intervals, KMSP.

Crossed one off my list by observing in the wild the very rare Mountain Sweet Pitcher plant. Visited two localities, with one being a cataract bog that involved a climb up a nearly vertical slope and through several areas of all but impenetrable thickets liberally laced with thorny vines. Seeing the pitchers made it all totally worth it though.

C • Nice 2

Day 2, US Classic Championships. I may be the only one, and maybe it's old school thinking, but I still much prefer the Classic Champs over the SML. The S and the M do nothing for me, and as everybody knows, a stool can not be balanced on one L.

Went out briefly into the forest at the model area on Friday--for my first time in an eastern forest this year--and came back out feeling very nervous. The woods felt thicker with less visibility than I remembered, and I was concerned about how straight I could hold my running and how hard controls might be to see in lower visibility areas.

This affected my Day 1 approach, where focus was entirely on being safe on each leg and trying to keep things as simple as possible. I ran by one control without seeing it (must have been very close) and took out some insurance on another leg by swinging out of a low visibility area to be double certain about where I was before heading into the control. Otherwise I was satisfied with how things had gone.

The results, however, revealed I was well off the pace of the best runners on the day.

On Day 2 I ran with a greater measure of confidence, and pushed on the pace needle a bit harder. Except for a minor swing on one control it was a very clean race, and run at a more competitive pace.

Even so, to be close to what I'm capable of, my estimate is I would have needed to have been in place long enough to get a dozen or so high quality training sessions in, in relevant terrain and vegetation. Quite possibly others are better at making comparable transitions in forest types and don't require as much time.

Really enjoyed the weekend, and getting to race on new maps was a special treat when it's become relatively rare to get never before used areas for an important event.

Day 2 - Red - Splits

Race, Day 1 US Classic Championships.

Day 1 - Red - Splits

Don't look now, but Baylor is about to win a game, and leave the ranks of the unwon teams.

C • Rock Chalk? 2

Biked and included a pass through the tailgating prior to Border War with CSU, and then headed up to the hills to run. Heavy cloud cover brought on darkness prematurely, but since it was snowing pretty good by then, it hardly mattered, and I ran for a good while past nightfall in the snow. Not sure what the forecast was, but the way it was looking, it might turn out to be a fairly bigly amount.

Yesterday and today - ran trails at Happy Jack and observed there was in fact a nice harvest of pine trees by the winds.

Also today, took a ski friend out who wanted to give orienteering a try. Remarkable Flats is a friendly venue for folks going out the first time, so that's where we headed. A good choice in so many ways, but even better today because by some nice afternoon breezes were ripping along, and for the most part at Remarkable Flats, there's no hiding from the wind.

Very windy last night and all through the daylight hours today--strongest winds we've had in the new winter season. I expect to find new trees down
at Happy Jack.