Training Log Archive: PG

I told Phil yesterday that I'd be happy to pick up some more controls, so yesterday evening he sent me a map with 9 controls on it. I proposed he add a few more that I could do if the spirit moved me, and the map got 4 more points added, no controls there, they had been picked up, but the water stops there had to be cleaned up.

Headed out a little before 7 this morning. Overcast, chilly, a little rain. Perfectly fine in other words. Worked my way from Lake Bray SW along the lower slopes picking up the first 6, then over in the direction of the ski area where the first of the water stops was.

Except it wasn't. The spot, a little dot knoll, looked as clean and tidy as could be. Did one circle just to be sure I was where I thought I was, and then moved on.

It seemed to me that just because one of the four had actually been cleaned up, that didn't necessarily mean that all 4 had been cleaned up. Because may Greg had been strong enough to carry all the controls plus one set of bottles and cups, but maybe not all four.

Went to water stop #2. Clean as could be.

Interesting. Was I pissed to be on what was seeming to be a fool's errand? Not at all. I looked at it as a choice where I was clearly getting the better option -- the choice being do you want to pick up the mess and carry it all the way back to the car, or would you rather not? See, pretty easy what the preferred option was.

On to water stop #3. Greg is a strong young man. :-)

On to water stop #4. I'm bracing myself for all the stuff from all four stops being here, maybe Greg figured he could collect it all in one place, make it easier for someone to come and pick stuff up. Nope, nothing here either. :-)

I headed back in the direction of my car, NE along the I-91 ridge. Collected the last three controls. Then back to the car, look, there's another control. Picked it up too. Then figured I might as well see if the model controls were still out, they were, so I grabbed three of them.

Which made me feel much better about things, because I'd been sent out to fetch things from 13 control sites, and now in fact I had things from 13 control sites, just not quite what was expected.

And, yes, Greg is a strong young man.

C • Oops! 6

Checking / waking up 11 controls. Very disconcerting when I got to the ninth one and there was nothing there. Nothing. No flag, no post, no orange streamer, not even a little piece of a streamer.

Spent about 5 minutes being absolutely sure I was in the right place, also checked similar features within 100 yards or so. Nothing.

Went to the last two, in more of a hurry now, not a lot of extra time. Got back, told Ed. I didn't have time to take a replacement out, had duties at the start for all the juniors and needed to be sure it was ready to roll well before the first start. But Alex went off with the replacement, and then Greg checked it, and all was well.

Except what happened to the original?

I had left to head home, stopped in Northampton for a cup of coffee, discovered an e-box in my pocket, and figured I better just take it back.

Did that. Saw Phil, thought about the fact that I think there were 126 controls to be picked up, and offered to get a few. He gave me a nice cluster close to the road, 11 controls, and it went quickly, no codes to check, no streamers to take down, and my brain was working.

Not much of a contribution, but a little is better than nothing.

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My sense is the event went very well. I certainly liked having all the juniors there, added a vibe that was just plain fun. Phil did a huge amount of work with the courses, brilliant. And serious work from Ed, Steve, Alex, Becky, Greg and many others.

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I was fortunate to get hooked up by Gord Hunter with the group from South Sumter High School in Florida, 12 kids and 5 adults. I was a little apprehensive about how it would play out, not having any idea of what their skill levels were, plus it has been some time since I did any coaching. There was a little more anxiety than I wished, a little less confidence.

We spent three hours at the model terrain on Friday, luckily starting mid-morning and getting done just as the rain was settling in. Seemed to go very well.

After we were done, and with the weather deteriorating, they headed back to their motel, where Gord spent a bunch of time with them going over old courses at Mt. Tom.

Realize that few of the kids had ever been outside of Florida and none had ever orienteered outside Florida. My expectations were that Saturday was not going to be a happy day. I certainly tried to tamp down expections, stress how hard it was going to be.

And so imagine my surprise when on Satuday all 12 finished, most with very respectable times.

Today was tougher, the rain and the cold (they're from Florida, plus quite a few wear glasses). I think 3 didn't finish. But I was really proud of the whole bunch. And I think they were quite amazed to have managed as well as they did in terrain that was so unlike anything they had ever seen.

There were 5 adults in the group (they drove up). I really enjoyed talking to them too, just a real nice bunch of people.

Gord thanked me afterwards. I said I was the one who was thankful, for a really wonderful experience.

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Friday morning before I headed down to the model event I wrote up a few notes on things I hope to cover in our training session. I figured it might help them afterwards to remember what we were trying to do.

Here's what I wrote. It doesn't cover everything we talked about, but it gives an idea of things --

Understanding contours

-- How far apart lines are shows how steep a slope is. How many lines there are show how big the slope is. The way the lines curve show the shape of the slope.
-- Closed “circles” show hills. Small hills can have as little as one contour line. Large hills can have many. The lines show the size, and also the shape.
-- Which way is up? Generally, streams flow down reentrants. Where contour lines cross a stream, the “U” in the contour line points uphill.

Using contours to navigate

-- You can use contours as handrails, just as you might use other handrails (the edge of an open area, a power line, a trail). Some examples are a long reentrant, the top of ridge, along the bottom of a slope, going straight up (or straight down) a slope.
-- Look for the big obvious features and navigate using them.

Understanding rock features

-- Generally, boulders must be at least a meter (3 feet) high. A large bolder at least 1.5-2 meters (5-6 feet) high.
-- Generally cliffs must be vertical or nearly vertical and at least 1-1.5 meters high.
-- There will always be boulders and cliffs that are not on the map because they are just a little too small. You have to accept this.
-- When you have to navigate to a rock feature, see how the rock feature sits in the terrain, ie. look at the bigger picture. So if it is near the top of a hill, navigate to the hill, and only then to the rock feature. Just because the control is on a rock feature doesn’t mean that you should ignore everything else on the map, especially the contours.

Overall

-- Orienteering at Mt. Tom is difficult. For everyone. Do your best. Try to learn things on Friday so you will do better on Saturday. And then learn things on Saturday so you do even better on Sunday.
-- Use you head. Don’t worry about how fast you are running. It’s OK to walk, it’s OK to stop. Think about navigating, about always knowing where you are and where you are going. Do that and you’ll make out just fine.

Peter

C • So great 4

Walking around checking and waking up about 10 controls. Nice morning. Then got recruited to help at the start, so spent about 3 hours there. Turned out to be a pleasure, as everyone passed through, got to say hello to lots of folks I hadn't seen for a while, plus dispel any notions that I might be in a rest home or have already passed... :-)

I'd brought my bike with me, so when the start was done there seemed no reason not to head out for a ride. I had no plan of where to go, just a wish to do something like 20 miles. And I figured, with a starting point at the finish of the O' meet, there was no way to avoid some uphills toward the end of the ride.

Headed out the south access road, then kept going south, mostly into the wind. Didn't really know the roads, but I figured I could go out 10 miles, then turn around and come back. For a while I was on roads I'd never been on, but then I came out at a familiar spot, and decided to loop around through Southampton and a bit of Easthampton and do the climb up Mountain Road.

All worked out fine. Lots of either wide shoulders or smaller roads with minimal traffic, except for Mountain Road, aka Rt. 141. Minimal shoulder, steady traffic. But nobody came too close for comfort and pretty soon I was up, and heading back north on the access road, wind at my back. Fine way to finish. And for a moderately hilly ride (60' climb per mile), the pace was OK.

Put out some controls for the Junior Nationals this weekend at Mt. Tom.

Also spent not quite 3 hours in the model terrain with about a dozen students from South Sumter High School in Florida. A fine bunch of kids. Ditto the parents making the trip north with them. Thanks owed to Gord for arranging this.

Over into the lower Whately and Conway hills, maybe 3-4 miles of dirt road. Getting windy so went a little earlier than usual. NW 10-15.

Continued nice but windy, upper 60s, S 15-20. North to Millers Falls, then the climb up to Wendell SF at Ruggles Pond, then made my way home. I was determined not to work too hard. Set a limit of 135 on my HRM, and pretty much kept to that. Takes a little longer to get up, but it sure doesn't hurt as much.

Getting into summer route planning -- had 5 sections of dirt road, one of which is more accurately old woods road. They all a bit of spice, even if the total distance was only about 3 miles.

Low 70s, sunny, S 5-10 mph. If the weather keeps up like this, it's going to be too hot before very long...

Pretty good ride, put out a little more effort than I planned to, but such things happen.

Nice to see spring has arrived! Low 603, sunny, NW 10 mph. Legs actually had some zip today. :-)

Nice day, sunny, upper 50s, though still windy, NW 15. Over to Whately and then up the unmaintained and rather rough and muddy road through Whately Glen, nice to get back to doing that stuff. Then north a bit through Conway, still in the hills, so when I got back down in the flats, and out in the open, home was off to the SE. :-)

Upper 40s, NW 15, apparently March isn't over yet. No particular sense of urgency, other than a bit at the start to generate a little heat and then a brisk effort up the Cat 0.1 Cote de Mill Valley. That was enough to get the heart going.

I was having my usual Monday lunch with Dave, a running friend of many decades, and the subject naturally turned to today's marathon. It was pouring out, and cold, and windy from the east (meaning headwinds), and the conditions in Boston were similar.

It's been more than two years since I last did any running. I miss the experiences and the adventures. I miss the discipline of the watch, the knowing from it just what you are made of. I don't miss some of the training, nor all of the aches and pains.

And it's been three years, on this the third Monday in April, since I last ran a serious event. The weather that day from Hopkinton to Boston was much like today, cold and wet and miserable. And I was on the starting line, woefully undertrained, not knowing what was in store for me.

I had run Boston 3 times, 3:01, 3:02, and 2:57, the latter at age 50. I somehow got the idea that I should run it one more time at age 70. So I qualified in Burlington (VT) the previous May (3:47, needed was 4:25). And then spent the next 10+ months dealing with one ailment or another. The result being, as I said, that I was woefully unprepared to run 26 miles.

But a week earlier I had done what in retrospect was just brilliant -- hatching the idea of making my "run" (expected to be a run/walk, with a lot of the latter) a fundraiser for the junior O' team. I dreamed up a good pledge for myself, a combination of how many miles I would manage and, if I did finish, what my time would be. And after a good bit of thought to convince myself to do so, I went public and asked anyone who reads this page to consider joining me, making a similar pledge for whatever amount they wished.

The response was remarkable over the next few days, and so it was that on that Monday three years ago I stood at the start with wonderful motivation, and also terrible anxiety. What an opportunity to do some good for the juniors. But also what if my body craps out in a few miles....

It was, just as today, cold and wet and miserable, or as I like to think in such circumstances where positive thinking helps, let's just call it refreshing.

The motivation and the determination lasted the whole 26.2 miles. The anxiety only lasted for about 26. I remember coming around the last corner onto Boylston Street, seeing the finish ahead, finally realizing I was actually going to make it. The watch does not lie -- the time, 4:05, sucked. But when the numbers were all in a week or so later, the total amount raised, I think about $21,000, well, that was really cool.

Dave is ailing now. My running is done, his is winding down quickly. But we sit there, not just telling stories but also talking about things guys usually avoid, the thoughts and feelings and emotions of something that was a part of both of our lives.

I miss it. But life moves on. And when I do look back, it is really nice to have lots of really good memories, with Boston 2015 among the best.

And also to have almost no regrets.

C • Thanks for the story. 13

55, N 15-20 mph, sun and clouds. Definitely aware of the wind, though I think my route got me a little more with it than against it.

The weather is supposed to be unfriendly the next couple of days, so I figured a longer ride was called for. Legs were not too spry, as expected, but eventually I was done.

I hear them often, see them often enough, but rarely does a Kingfisher pose as nicely as this lady.

C • Nice shot! Even a catch li... 2

What a nice afternoon. 70, SW, sun and clouds. Lots of bikers out. Up to Turner's Falls and back at a relaxed pace.

Low 50s, S 5-10. Flats, down the east side of the river to Northampton, back on the west side. Pretty nice out.

About 50, SW 5-10. Up into the lower Conway hills. Real nice ride, didn't kill myself on the ups and, funny enough, it's more pleasant that way.

C • benefits of easier rides 2

Mid 40s, NW 5-10, sunny. Up this side of the river, back through Old Deerfield. Today was a day to give the legs some exercise (that's pretty much unavoidable), but let the heart and lungs take it easy. Makes the time go by quickly, as there's no suffering to stretch it out.

Also put a little air in the tires, up to 55 psi. I think they were down to about 40 or a little less. Certainly rolled better, though I did feel the cracks in the pavement a lot more.

About 40, NW 10-15. Another day that feels more like the first part of March than the first part of April. Just sort of annoying. But put out a good effort on all the ups. Legs are feeling it now.

Plus, as most days, a morning walk, easy pace as usual, today about 4 hours, a good bit longer than usual. Three hours on the NW side of Quabbin (gate 22), then an hour on some conservation lands in Leverett.

C • Leverett 1

Good session, progressively harder effort. Pretty tired afterwards.

Looked at the weather forecast last night -- rain/snow coming by late morning -- and knowing I had a commitment from 9 am through early afternoon, and seeing as how I'd passed on a ride Wednesday (cold rain) and yesterday (winds 25-30 mph), I figured I'd best get out early. And actually did that.

Beautiful early morning, clear blue sky and bright sunshine, light southerly breeze. Only about 25F, but that was OK. Got out and did it.

And by noon it was snowing.

The rain was forecast to start about 2 pm, so I figured I needed to get out by about 12:30 to be safe, which I did. Started sprinkling about 5 minutes out. Hmmm. Decided on a different route, roughly an hour rather than 75 minutes.

After maybe 20 minutes it was raining lightly (and temps around 35). Then a little more steadily. Then there was some sleet mixed in. Then some snow too, and all coming down a little harder. Glad to be getting home when I did.

Also, a nice walk earlier, up in the Whately hills, a couple of hours.

Snowed all morning, maybe an inch. By ride time it was sunny, the snow was all gone, and the roads were dry. :-)

Short ride, flats south of town. Seemed the correct amount after the first couple of hillier rides of the spring (and my quads were a bit sore to start).

Mid-40s, NW 10-20. Even though it was sunny it felt cold, mainly I should have put warmer gloves on. Thought I'd avoid some of the wind by heading into the hills, this time to the east of the valley, up to Shutesbury. Still caught it some but not so bad.

The first 10 miles or so were on dirt, pretty nice, even though the downhills are interesting, trying to avoid the potholes (or what ever a small depression in the dirt is called). Successful most of the time, but not aways, that's when it pays to have a little less pressure in the tires. I think they probably about 40 now, haven't checked for a while.

As is usually the case, glad I got out. A nap was beckoning...