Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Quite a few wind tower tubes were resting over in the Petro station parking lot.

Warmest day of the year so far. It's already 79, and so it's likely to go 80--which qualifies as summer around here. I'm pretty sure that last summer it never even made it to 90.

Very nice biking weather, with plenty of fresh air blowing up from the south.

I was not expecting to ride up on a (red) fox trotting down one of the neighborhood streets in broad daylight, but there it was, looking completely unconcerned about anything.

Killer Bee test loop; new PB for the year. It probably helped a little that the snow is now longer waist deep in the drifts. In fact, there was almost no snow left on the loop itself, though many of the traditionally moist areas were quite wet and sloppy. Also there has been some winter blowdown that should probably be addressed with some diligence and a crosscut saw.

Several times over the past few days--and today included--massive bases for wind towers have been rolling down the hill on I-80 as I have been rolling up, hinting that construction activity on some new wind farm west of Laramie is underway. That'll show the wind, which has been frenetic for nearly all of the past week! ; )

Also rolling along, and rolling into the national forest, were many, many camper trailers, no doubt getting an early start on Memorial Day Weekend, which is the traditional start to the summer camping season. The forest will be jam packed this weekend, and maybe in extra abundance since the forecast does not seem to offer any promise of blizzard snows, though the chance of some devastating hail storm can not be ruled out.

Nothing like a pleasant snowstorm on May 24; the budding tulips sticking out of the new snow look so fine!

Slightly sore throat when I woke up, which gradually ebbed away. Also a headache, which didn't. Probably from returning back to altitude after being away from a bit, but you never know. It could be a symptom of some incipient fatal disease. I'm going to stick with the altitude related guess, however.

Add another pileated woodpecker to the count.

Team Trials Long, Jackie Jones Mountain. Funny compare this race to the Middle yesterday, because while it didn't feel a lot different technically, the result was much better compared to the rest of the field. If the times weren't there to examine, it would be hard to believe how different the result list looks to me (through my eyes.)

I was nervous about the first couple of controls, because if there was one thing I noted during all my runs in Harriman the past few weeks (besides noting how hard it was to read the 1:15,000 version of Surebridge) it was that if I had to go into the laurel and try to navigate, bad things could happen.

The scariest control was #7 though. I considered going up along a weak swing to the right, and after the fact, I think that was best. Instead, however, I went directly for the control, and already after getting halfway along the leg and looking ahead, I absolutely couldn't make any sense of what I was seeing. The prominent reentrant before the control looked completely different to me, and there was what appeared to be a huge cliff on the opposing wall/slope, and I couldn't find anything like that on the map. It's not a good feeling to go 100m from the last control on a careful azimuth and feel like you no longer have any idea where you might be, based on what you're seeing! After considering the options--one possibility was to return to #6 and start over--I pushed on along a bit more and stopped again when I had some new features to look at. After looking them over, I also noticed that there was a control in sight and not too far away, which was a really, really good thing (actually, there weren't too many controls it was possible to see from much more than a few centimeters away in the first place; you may wish to allow for possible cowboy exaggeration.)

There were some sections of the course where it felt like I was making better time, but you gotta figure if you're running downhill on a paved road, everyone else is going to be making better time, too.

I also bobbled #25 a little, crossing the last trail about 80m right of the beeline, and then heading more or less straight up the slope and re-crossing the beeline on the way up. My plan was to first see if I could recognize anything on the climb--which I couldn't--and then hope to be within sight of the control up top, and then look for something up top I could re-locate on. Of course I didn't emerge at the control, and I chose move first to the SW until I found something. I saw a boulder I recognized on the map, which meant I needed to turn around and go the other way.

The funniest thing was running along to #10, and crossing through part of the butterfly loop. I had no idea I was crossing through the butterfly loop, even when I passed right below my #16 (a humongous boulder) and saw the control. I was thinking "well, that's a pretty cool boulder control" and it never occured to me that it was one of the controls I'd have later in the course. I think I must have been nearly totally concentrated on getting #10. Or maybe I was in voodoo land, and out of it?

Another fun, challenging course with great variety in the orienteering. It was a terrific team trials, and many thanks to the organizers, and to the competitors who came and ran so well. It's not much of a competition if nobody shows up, after all.

Word to the wise: if you were running in the Team Trials today, best to check carefully for deer ticks. Kissy and I both found some very tiny deer tick nymphs (pinhead sized, if that) on us after we got home. It's hard to believe there could be something smaller than Joe and Pavlina's dog, but there you go.

Blue A Long - Splits

M-21+ TT Only Long - Splits

Technically, not so bad, but not good either. The main thing was that I had no flow and I had to think in a fairly deliberate manner about the navigation, rather than simply do it. And also it wouldn't have felt at all bad in isolation, but when you have everyone else's times to compare with and se how much faster everyone else was racing, well, the times don't lie!

It was a fun course with good technical challenge, and a really nice day to be out in the woods.

The sprint felt a little bit more coordinated for me than the middle, but then it was much easier technically--so an apples and oranges type comparison, in a sense.

This was a fun course too.

Blue Middle - Splits

Blue Sprint - Splits

Exploring some new trails.

Funny to see the renewed discussion/debate over multiple call-up/move-up lines at a start, and a remote start triangle versus the start being where you get the map and where time starts etc. It's been re-hashed so many times over the years. I think it goes in the category of things people either get or they don't--and if they don't get itthe first time around, they're probably not ever going to. There are a number of things like that, where many people just seem make up their minds, and then that's it.

C • Where is the start line discussion? 3

Surebridge on an overcast, coolish day--very pleasant running conditions, with no blackflies. Saw one turkey, several streamers, and no other orienteers, though there was one short stretch of blueberry bushes that looked like they had been run through today.

The day felt like a success already when I got to the start on time; on the way there, I didn't think that was going to happen, but luckily my actual start time was 5 minutes later than I had thought it was.

On the way to #2, going to #3 first seemed like a good idea, but once I got to #3, I couldn't remember why it seemed like a good idea. Fortunately the two were close and it was a relatively short detour. Had some difficulties taking #8 when I just couldn't see from the map what was going on in the terrain. And got a little off track in one section on the way to #12, though I knew about what was going on and didn't dawdle or let it bother me.

At no point was I running fast, and in particular I couldn't detect any oomph on even the short climbs.

Technically, things mostly clicked, and otherwise nothing outrageous or nothing great, and overall better than yesterday. Hopefully with more real O' training and more running in the terrain as the season progresses, things will improve!

Blue1 Day 2: Long - Splits

M-21+ Day 2: Long: Blue combined - Splits

Running was OK, even if I never felt like I was moving at a decent race pace. Technically things were quite ragged which inevitably led to mistakes. Thus an overall very poor race. I think at root behind my problems was that it was quite dark in the forest while I was out, and that while I was able to run and see some some details on the map, I wasn't getting enough of the bigger picture to orienteer effectively.

Maybe my vision is just no longer up to snuff regardless of the lighting? That's possible. Or maybe I plain suck? That's a possibility, too. ; )

Just have to try to do better tomorrow!

C • BCGs 3

Blue Day 1: Middle - Splits

Trails--Patriot Path.

C • Black Monday? 2

The weirdest thing that happened today happened while I was getting ready to go out and do some training. I had been doing usual work stuff until the afternoon, when I stepped away for just a few minutes to get my training stuff together. When I came back to my computer for one final look at stuff, I had to do a double take; none of the prices made sense based on where they had been just a few minutes ago. It was like the markets were some aluminum can and someone had come along with a hammer. I tried to buy some things quickly using limit orders, but that didn't work because prices on the stuff I put orders on were gapping up. Totally weird, and I've never seen anything like it before. I could only bow to the gods of the so-called Efficient Market Theory (which could have only been dreamed up by academics with no practical experience in the markets.)

Then I went out a ran at Polebrook Mountain. Unless I was completely spacing a few days ago--it is possible--someone had been out since and had streamered the Men's WOC Short. But I think the streamers were new, because in several places it also seemed like there were scuffed up leaves.

Surebridge. This map could surely use some detail "pruning", making the details that actually matter easier to see. To each their own though, and many very experienced orienteers looked it over in '93 and prior, and must have found it satisfactory; their opinion would collectively outweigh mine.

C • pruning 1

Polebrook Mtn. Pleasant running conditions, especially compared to the heat of the past weekend.

Ran trails at Jockey Hollow. Streams were full from hard rain last night and this morning. The highlight was finding in two separate places examples of Showy Ladyslippers in bloom. Upper legs still sore from Saturday's fun, but I don't think the affliction will prove to be fatal. Will apply more curative cherry pie treatment this evening just in case, though--you really can't be too careful with this kind of thing.

C • Cherry pie treatment... 4

Day 2, West Point, Blue course. Legs better than yesterday (no post-travel cramping problems today) and only a little sore from yesterday. Technique was pretty solid and I didn't do anything that was likely to cost major time. Was fairly conservative with running downhill on any steeper, rockier portions. Main issue was how warm it was, and not much to do about that--I can cope better with heat than I did today, but with this kind of heat so early in the season and coming straight from Laramie, well, unmistakably there was some wilting out on the course, especially on any climbing in the sun. Satisfied with the effort, and the orienteering itself was fun--and extra fun to get back to this old area where I did so much running while I was a cadet!

Blue Long Distance - Splits

West Point Day 1 Middle. Ran Blue. Did better than I did at Surebridge the other day, and my legs held up for the first half of the course. The rest of the way they were more problematic, and I could maintain something like and easy running pace--more than a jog, but not close to hard running. No misses.

Blue Middle Distance - Splits