Training Log Archive: pwentz3l

For a long race, this is not the way to start....

First control.... BOOM. 18 minutes on a 6 minute control. I wasn't on the map very well when we first entered the woods and way overestimated the distance traveled. I should have gone NW when I saw the first minor dip in the terrain, but continued North, going through several ups and downs before even finding the first control. I then settled down a bit, reoriented and went on my way. 2-6 was easy.

7... an early route choice flip flop. Head straight and deal with the elevation, or go around. How about start in one direction and then change your mind. I started direct, then changed and went NE. A little too far E, but made it to the trail... or linear mud feature. My split for this was almost mid pack. Surprising... Picked up Nadim at this point and raced with him through 17. We flip flopped for a few controls. Him leading, then me, then him. We settled down on the road run to 15 and had a nice chat.

8 Opted for the road route, but I think the lake may have been quicker.
9 Opted for the lake route. Legs tired leaving this control.
10 a little bit of a road run, then jumped on the spur and bombed down the hill after seeing the control from 300+ meters away.
11 Great attack plan. Went down through the reentrant and climbed up through the saddle, but then the terrain played nasty tricks on me.... and had to hit the trail to reorient.
12-14 I got in front of Nadim for a few controls.
15... long run. Legs starting to feel sluggish. No issues finding it or 16.
17 Opted for trails, which was probably not smart. It was a slog through the slop. Eventually went XC and sped up a bit.
18. Got dropped by Nadim. Ran in to expresso who had a few choice words for the course designer and said he was bailing. I fell in the creek. Nice to get the shoulders wet.... Was a little mis-oriented in the creek bottom, then got my head on straight and took the good route North. Easy find, and did the same for 19. While punching 19, here comes Nadim from behind. I leapfrogged him somewhere in there.
Nice route back to 20. Again dropped by Nadim. No nav issues until the last 100 meters. I aimed a bit off, and ended up a lot off...
21... for some reason, these flat areas were miserable for me. I got stuck in the green hash and wouldn't stay on bearing. Found the trail, found the vegetation boundary and 21 was no issue once the first 50% of the route was done.
Easy run to pick up the last two controls on the way in.

Nav obviously wasn't super great, but I think I lost more to fitness. Will work on that. Ended up 3rd, 66 minutes behind the winner, and 6 minutes behind Nadim... who I thought was in a different age group. 4 dnf's in the age group helped my standings I am sure. Perseverance....

US_Ultralong_2012_7 Red - Splits

Not the best outing for me. followed to #1 which was allowed. Same to #2, although the gap the fast guys were opening was already growing. #3 and 4, no issues, but the hills are starting to be a bit of a drag. Every control is 100' down and back up. I leave 4, and I am off of my line too far to the left. Can't see the features as the brush is real thick... map shows white. Can''t figure it out, must have gone too far, so I turn back and return to the prior hill.... nothing. Realize I hadn't gone far enough. Yikes. Sorry team...

Back on course, I have to execute a long leg. Have a good plan and executed it fine.... until the last 100 meters. GPS shows I was headed right at the control, then veered to the east, missing the control and wandering around the vague depressions for a bit. Sorry team.

The next 3-4 are tricky. All on the wide ridge with minor depressions. Found them easily enough, but was surprised by a few. Not good orienteering. Felt like a church basement bingo.

Off the ridge, back to the vicinity of #1. Find it with no issues, then a moderate distance leg to the last tricky control... and I can't maintain a straight line. sorry Team...

Limp in for 6th place on the relay. Well behind #5, but still middle of the pack. Tom outperforms the rest of us with 4th on his leg. Molly and Biz are both 7th, but much closer to the leaders than I was. Still good fun in the woods. Burrrr filled woods.

Green - Splits

Event: OCIN A-meet (Night, Relay, Ultra-long)
 

So, my first US champs in a year, and it happens to be the night champs. I like night O, so this should be fun. We arrived in Cincinnati and are taking our time, doing a little shopping, etc... then what time is it.... with the time change, a few of us were off an hour. I wasn't too concerned, because I thought the drive would be 20 minutes and we had 1:15 to get there. Well... it took us 15 minutes just to get on the interstate, 30+ to get to the area and a few more to get to the parking area... Nothing like showing up to a big event 15 minutes prior to your start... :-0 Luckily, we had the Silver Bullet, and I was all prepped as I jumped out the door and immediately converted to warm up mode.

Control #1... wasn't supposed to be a punch, but was... hmmm... took a slow jog to the control to see what the course had in store for me.

#2... decent speed to the road, but hesitated on which direction to adjust for my attackpoint. Remembered to breath, then adjusted to the dark and headed to my attack point and right at the control. At this point, early in the event, there were lights everywhere in the woods. Glad I didn't do my usual panicked follow.

#3 Still getting on the map. I was counting trails, hills, creeks... then realized I could just bomb to the road, good attackpoint is there. Just execute.

#4 Easy road run

#5 A little in decisive as to whether I should go straight on, or use the roads and avoid the elevation. I told myself... you aren't running Orange, man-up, and went direct. Unable to avoid the thick stuff which cost me a bit.

#6 The best laid plans.... and a parallel error. Everyone took this route, I messed it up. Biggest mistake of the night. I willed the trail to be there, it was... but so was another. 50/50/90 rule.. Even so, dumb mistake as both were mapped. Ran in to Erin, and did my usual... Where are we?

#7-9 Close controls and good fun. A few controls from other courses around also, but didn't get baited in.

#10 Bingo control. 4 depressions, below a pile of brush. A few lights milling about. I nailed the control, which brought everyone else in. Some minor acrobatics required just to punch. Difficult control just to extricate from.

#11 Straight forward execution. Long leg with no issues.

#12-15 No issues, except the liberal use of pit, small and regular depression. I couldn't tell the difference.

#16 Easy peasy, but saw a person coming at me from the control. Punched and then looked at the route. Was getting a little tired of the brambles, so followed the other person out.

#17 Maybe not the most efficient route, but it worked. Mid pack by doing the "orange course" road run.

#18 Had already run by the finish control 2 times, so no surprises here.

A nice hilly course. Just one major nav error and one minor. Fitness more the issue than map reading. One nasty cut on the head, which is par for the course.

US_Night_2012_Red - Splits

2-1 loss. Seagate League. We played a good team, so I'm pretty happy with our improvement. If we would have played Andrei's team this well......

Nice OTNT training jog with Jim, MoBiz, Tom, Julia and Dana. Great night for a run.

Post run hot tub, shower and eats!!!

Soccer. 3-0 win. Good for the team. I played poorly. Poor passes, poor decisions, poor hustle.

Shoulder is killing me. Not sure what the deal is all of a sudden. worse pain in 4 months tonight.