Training Log Archive: PG

Not much enthusiasm, so compromised on a short run. And then, for a little cross training and since I had a little time before dinner, 3 holes of golf. Neither one, the run or the golf, was awful.... :-)

Took a look at yesterday's map from the Pig. Not my kind of terrain, quite happy not to be there.

A little more than two weeks of tax season left. Mostly going fine, seem to be getting more work done without really crazy hours (only one Sunday so far and usually home before 9), which is how things are supposed to be, as long as the brain keeps working. And I still continue to be amazed by the variety of humanity.

C • Interesting GPS route today... 1

Stressful day at work and not enough time, but decided best thing for me was to get out for a run. Which I did. Definitely the right choice. Relaxed pace most of the way, a little quicker the last mile.

C • nothing like a run to chang... 1

Apparently no one (so far) is willing to offer a solution to the GPS issue. Perhaps because it's not so easy unless the solution is simply "anything goes."

There are lots of possible other solutions ranging from occasional to always, from targeted to total. A possible rule would be to ban them at national championships for all championship classes, and at all other A meets for all people under the age of 40 in competitive classes.

The problem is, no matter what the scheme is unless it is "anything goes," how do you enforce the rule? And if you do nothing to enforce it, then it seems like a lose-lose situation -- the honest people comply and aren't happy, the cheaters still can cheat.

And to enforce it requires searches. Are we ready to go there?

C • Enforcement 1

C • enforcement 2

Usual loop on the ridge, once again a mellow pace. Legs felt OK but saw no reason to push the pace.

Didn't feel like a run today, so I didn't. :-)

But I did manage two other accomplishments that I would normally have thought beyond me. The first was changing a headlight in my Subaru this morning. Yes, I have done it before, but it is still quite a miracle that I actually did it again, since memory of prior changes in pretty much non-existent.

And the second was another technical/mechanical feat that I do more frequently this time of year, perhaps every two to three weeks, and that is replace the toner cartridge in my printer. So I should get good at this, and I think I am, but it is not due to any help from the instructions, which in the last couple of years have been diminished from reasonably easy to understand large-scale illustrations on paper to little pictograms molded into the side of the toner cartridge. But it saves a few cents on each cartridge, and that's the way the world works.

Regardless, on an otherwise rather stressful day with less progress than I would like, these were a couple of moments worth celebrating.... :-)

=================

More on the GPS issue....

I think it is a useful exercise to imagine that you were actually the person to decide what OUSA's policy should be regarding GPS devices. What would you decide?

First, I would suggest that the following things should be considered --

1. A ban could cover no events or all events or something in between.

2. A ban could cover some classes or all classes, and this could vary depending on the event.

3. How the ban would be enforced.

4. What the penalty would be for violation.

5. A relatively minor consideration that I mention just because it exists, and seems reasonably well accepted, there is the current IOF ban for IOF events (and I think only for those classes under IOF rules at those events). Another thing I will mention -- we are not talking about rogaines here, where a ban seems well accepted.

So, you are king, or queen, or dictator, or whatever you choose to call yourself. What do you do?

Some more considerations --

6. If you are inclined towards the no-ban side, that may be your own preference, but is that best for the federation under all circumstances? Are there events where the ban should exist for some or all classes?

7. If you are inclined towards the ban-them-always side, again, that may be you own preference, but is that best for the federation under all circumstances? Are there events where the ban should not exist for some or all courses?

8. If there is a ban of any sort, how do you enforce it? Do you search people at the start? If not, if you just expect everyone to follow the rule, then that seems to leave things just as open to cheating as no ban at all. And if you search everyone, well, that's quite the image for our sport....

9. Likewise, if there is no ban, do you do anything to deal with cheating that may happen, or may already be happening? Is it just open season for anyone to get away with whatever they want to try?

I ask this question -- what would you actually do if it was just up to you -- because there seem to be a lot of people happy arguing at the edges, and not much consideration of what solutions there might be, and especially how to make them work.

On the one side there is the stick-your-head-in-the-sand attitude that thinks a ban in silly, even though they may acknowledge that there is a time and a place for a ban and that human nature has its bad sides as well as its good sides. On the other side is the rules-rules-just-give-me-more-rules attitude that can't be bothered with matters such as how they will be enforced or how they might negatively affect the sport, even though they may acknowledge that there are times and places where a ban makes no sense.

So is there a middle ground? And is there a sensible way for enforcement?

You can argue all you want, but at some point the responsible parties have to do something, and it would be nice to help them get to a good solution.

A short outing on the local trails. Didn't have much zip, didn't have much time either, so I suppose that was a good combination. Maybe should have just taken the day off.

Meanwhile, the GPS thread just goes on and on. Is it possible that some APers have a deal to get paid by the post?

C • Gps thread 7

So I downloaded my 305 track from Saturday. Haven't processed it through QR, that would require pulling out the old laptop, or getting QR working on the new one, and that's not going to happen tonight.

And it is quite amazing.

I didn't take any splits. If I understand correctly how things work, if the splits hap been uploaded to AP, then they are picked up when I download my track. But look where some of them are. Among the worst offenders are 4, 5, 8, 12, 15, 16, 19, 23, 26. All should be where the track changes direction.

I assume the WCOC controls are in serious need of synching?

C • synching 2

Not much time, so a quick outing on the treadmill. An easy flat mile (9:50) then two miles at 5 mph with the elevation at 5%, 6%, 7%, and 8% for the four half miles. Felt OK, but need to be at 12% to simulate the Mt. Washington average.

Ailments from yesterday -- especially sore ribs and a bruised knee from a crash just after losing my contact -- were all not so bad. Got lucky.

Interesting morning....

Having an early breakfast and the woman who had the night shift -- my mom needs 24-care -- came out of mom's bedroom and asked if she could talk to me. I didn't know what to expect but figured there was some sort of problem I was going to have to deal with. My guess was that it was going to be about how many hours of work she was getting each week (she currently works about 45-50, would like more).

But it had nothing to do with that, in fact had nothing to do with anything I might have imagined.

Could I give her a loan, or more precisely, an advance on her pay? And the amount she needed was $3,500. What I would call a big number in the circumstances.

The story is that she came to this country from Haiti, I don't know how long ago, and she has a sister still in Haiti. The sister is a teacher, or was a teacher, until the earthquake flattened the school. About a month ago there was a call from the sister, there was a chance she could get to the USA but needed 5K to make it happen. And then a call shortly thereafter that the plan had fallen apart.

But the sister had called again last night, same deal. And my employee wanted to help.

So what do I do? You want to help, you want to be a good boss, but that is a lot of money, roughly 5 weeks pay. Is it a scam? Will she just disappear and I'm left looking for a new employee with no notice?

I make it clear how unhappy I was with the request. I excused myself, thought about it for ten minutes, decided to offer at most 1K.

The conversation resumed. That was not enough, the 5K was needed by Wednesday. My employee has 1.5K saved but that is all. She also has a second job, says she will live off that while I take pretty much all her pay until I am paid back.

What if you say no, that you don't have it now.

I don't know, but I am afraid she will think that in her moment of need I would not help her. And that she will never forgive. And she is my only sibling.

Doesn't she have any money?

She lost her job in the earthquake. There is no work. And all her possessions, when they know you are leaving, nobody will pay much to buy them because they know you have to sell.

And I took another break to think. And to call up the agency I hired her through to inquire about her references when they took her on a year ago. And the references were good (except for a couple of employers who had a problem with hiring a person of color).

And to think some more, what is the right thing to do? And talk to Gail, just verbalizing thoughts often helps.

What to do?

And there was no way to put off the decision. I was already late leaving to drive back home and then to work. The money was supposedly need by Wednesday. Deferral was the same as denial.

You give to charity, often rather large organizations, where the results of a donation are usually impossible to see. And here was a case where there would be a direct impact on a life, or maybe two lives. If it was true. How do you know?

At some point you just have to decide that you trust someone or you don't. She has been a good worker for the two months I have known her.

I sat down and wrote out the check, plus a one-paragraph repayment schedule. Gave her the first, got her to sign the second. She was in tears, gave me a big hug. And I had to go.

On the drive home I was thinking I did the right thing, even though there is no way of knowing, at least for a while.

And also thinking, well, it makes all the sound and fury about GPS watches pretty trivial....

C • Loan 13

Event: WCOC Ansonia Nature Center
 

WCOC local meet at Ansonia, organized by Marie and Mike. Red course, 7.9 km, a good bit of climb.

Well, that was a lot better.

Cool day, upper 40s, rain overnight so the woods were wet, but not still raining. Certainly better for running than the hot weather a few days ago.

Plan for the day was to try to run like yesterday -- keep the heart rate under control, concentrate on running as smoothly as possible, no thrashing. Know when it's uphill enough to make walking a no-brainer. Mainly, just stay as relaxed as possible.

A short warm-up, didn't feel great and the legs were a little sore, so not optimistic the plan was possible.

But it fact it was. Really did well keeping my effort as unstressful as possible. And so ran a good bit more than I was in North Carolina in similar conditions (temperature and terrain).

So a very successful outing.

Splits (miles): 13:19, 12:03, 15:23, 13:10, 14:32, 3:49 (.33 mi). Third and fifth miles were hillier.

Oh, and the orienteering. No sweat, just followed my Garmin. Only mistakes were at 13, it took me to the wrong big boulder, and 19, too far right, but just punched the button and it corrected me very quickly. Sure is a handy tool. The only problem was that at the post-race gathering were a bunch of us Medicare and near-Medicare folks where chatting, I had to play really dumb when we were trying to figure out just how to use the Garmin to help get around the course faster.

And now of course I'm not posting my track because I left the downloading gizmo at home. Right. Obviously don't want to give away my secrets.

If the Rules Committee won't ban this stuff, then let's see what I can get away with. Isn't that why we do this? :-)

------------

It really was amusing watching a bunch of us OFs trying to figure out how to cheat with the thing....

And my orienteering was actually very good, just a couple of small mistakes, and that was despite losing my contact lens for distance vision on the way to #8 and everything being rather blurry thereafter. But this was mainly a day to just concentrate on the running. And a good result.

C • Contacts 7

Red - Splits

Cooler today (low 60s), definitely felt better, could manage to run at a relaxed pace. And the heart rate was recovering a bit too, plus 10 beats lower on average than yesterday. I really don't like hot weather.

And enough caught up on work to go play 4 holes of golf, first time out this season, not a disaster.... :-)

C • 4 1

Usual loop on the ridge. Good news is I finished, bad news is how hard it seemed.

Actually, the main thing I noticed was that my heart rate seems to do a good job of going up when I go uphill, but not such a good job of going back down when I go downhill. Just not recovering very quickly. Not sure if that's something new or not, though it certainly reflects how my running has felt recently. Rather crappy, that is. I suppose I should look back at data from a year or two ago and see if it was any different.

C • HR 4

Hot again, feels like June, so brought my bike along and had a nice ride. Not very relevant training but better than nothing. And doesn't take quite so long to cool back down afterwards.

Same as yesterday, just all slow. Hot again. This time I took a cold shower afterwards, so wasn't quite so unpleasantly overheated for the next hour or so.

And then just really wanted to take a nap....

C • Same as yesterday 3

Better than yesterday, I suppose, mainly because I headed out with more of a plan, and so even though it was hot and reasonably miserable, it was much easier mentally to do the workout.

Plan was just to run harder every other half mile after a warm-up, which given how far I was going meant just three of them. The first turned out to be gently uphill, the second down-flat-up, and the third up-flat-down. The last couple got the heart going pretty quickly. A bit distressing how slowly it then fell, but I guess that's a combination of conditioning and the hot weather (low 80s, full sun).

No falls, no dogs, no ailments.

So I see Payton Manning is going to Denver, and it got me thinking about why I like some people and dislike others, and how that affects whether you root for them or not. And four names popped up, two in sports (neither of them Manning) and two in politics.

So the pair in sports are Tebow and Woods. Tebow I don't actually have strong opinions about as a person (what little I know is actually on the positive side), but I found it crazy how much was made of his football skills last fall, and of course how he was benefiting from devine intervention. As a reult of which, I found myself rooting strongly against him, and totally delighted when the Patriots beat the Broncos twice by rather large margins.

At least the powers that be in Denver now seem to have come to their senses and are getting a legitimate NFL quarterback.

As for Woods, much as I used to root for him when he was younger just because he was such an amazing talent, now I root just as much against because it's become obvious that he is also quite the jerk. I don't watch golf much on TY, but I find myself tuning in to watch when I have already seen on the web that he has had a bad round, just because he is now so much more fun to watch when he is screwing up and behaving badly.

On the political side, there is Romney, our former governor, who would certainly be the most acceptable of the Republicans were a Republican to win. But I find myself rooting against him. I'm not sure if it's because I'm hoping for someone like Santorem to prevail, figuring he would certainly lose in the general election (God help us if he were to win), or if it's just that Romney seems so often not to have a clue about how ordinary people live. And perhaps a part of it is the mammoth amount of money spent by the now legal super PACs to trash his opponents. I assume he'll win the nomination, but in the meantime I enjopy seeing him squirm.

And then there is Obama. Despite the fact that my politics tend to the center or a little left of center, here I am perhaps just as irrational as with the others, for Obama can pretty much do nothing wrong.

Three I don't root for, one I do. There are many who are just the opposite, some of whom I'm sure are very smart. People are different.

C • Obama irrationality 8

Not a bad run if the stardard was aches and pains, maybe an 8 out of 10, toe a little sore from yesterday's biking which seemed to irritate it a little, especially when standing up. Because certainly not a good run if the standard was energy levels, at best a 2 out of 10. Don't know if it was the warm day or what, but just didn't have it.

Exploring a bit of new terrain where a client holds a cross race every year and said there were a bunch of trails. Tried accessing them via the power line, OK except for the last 100 meters steeply downhill through briars. And then didn't have enough energy to do much of an exploration. Oh, well....

Another late afternoon workout made possible by the fine weather. First time out on the bike. Didn't feel so bad, but then not going very far, and pretty flat. Still, better than expected.

C • pretty flat 1

C • Small world 2

A short run in Litchfield from my mom's house to the house I lived in until age 12, and back. Seemed like hard work.

Raining and cool out so I opted for the treadmill, and a short stint at that. A mile flat (9:45), then two miles at 5% and 12:00 minute pace.

Not such a stupid workout -- the feeling during the last two miles seemed not so different from the feeling running in the woods last weekend at 0% and 12 mph. I guess if I want to be able to run up modest inclines in the woods, I need to do the treadmill work at 10%.

And then there is Mt. Washington 3 months from. Seems impossible, but at least I will be a lot lighter.

C • 12mph.... 2

Some side streets, some trails on the ridge. Toe continues to behave itself. It doesn't look so good (the last joint is still reddish and swollen), but it's not hurting. And no vitamin I the last couple of days.

Surprised myself by actually getting the petition put together last night. Would be nice if it got a bunch of signatures. My initial thought is that 100 would be terrific, but not sure if it is possible. In any case, I'll send it to the Board at some point before its meeting in a month, and then see what happens.

Toe continues to be not so bad, so no reason not to run two days in a row. Quite surprising, I had thought after last weekend I wouldn't be running for at least a couple of weeks.

Usual trails on the ridge. Sunny and warm, sweating away, just being careful to look where I was stepping.

Was thinking about two things that need doing. The first is just a reaction to my miserable conditioning as displayed over the weekend, that some serious work needs to be done. There is time, goal is to be fit first week of July (WMOC in Germany), but a lot of work needs to be done. As evidence of the need, on Sunday Jeff beat me on 12 of 15 splits, most by quite a bit.

The second is that I think I should follow up with regards to the 305 ban, and not be satisfied with just bitching. Meaning, I think, start up a petition drive to bring the matter before the proper authorities with some evidence of broader support. First step is to figure out just how to word it. Got to work on that to try to get it right.

C • GPS ban 30

Time for some changes....

1. Banged the bad toe pretty good a couple of times on Saturday but it wasn't any worse on Sunday (with the help of some vitamin I). Banged it again a couple of times Sunday, and it actually felt better yesterday, though still swollen. Likewise today.

So time to get off my butt and start running again, as long as it doesn't make things worse.

2. Time to start doing something about the G. I was getting beaten pretty badly over the weekend on speed, and carrying an extra 5 to 10 pounds is part of the problem. I've put off addressing this but can't put it off any longer.

Though it doesn't help that it's party time again tonight, celebrating 3 gold medals last wekend, with the added honor of a visit from Ed (the rollerski mogul). I guess the diet will start tomorrow....

==========

So, out for a run today. Toe was tolerable. I could tell I was out of practice because both the 305 and the ipod had been left at home.

White trail to Mountain Road and back. 15:57 out, 14:12 back. Saw the stump I kicked three weeks ago. It looked like it sustained a little damage too. :-)

C • Watch out the EPA will be a... 1

Day 2 at the Classic Champs. 5.8 km I think, about 200 m climb.

Good run in the sense that my navigation was right on, spiked all 14 controls, though I think my routes on a couple of legs were not good, way too far off the straight line. But still excellent navigation.

Running was another matter, a struggle as expected, but a decent effort. Whacked toe a couple more times. Imagine that training this coming week will be less than -- well, how low can you set the bar? -- how about saying less than Neil Dobbs.... :-)

Another beautiful day.

No meltdowns at the start today, at least while I was there.

I'll try and post maps in a bit. Have some extra time in the Charlotte airport, as our flight to Hartford is delayed for weather reasons despite perfect weather here and there and everywhere in between. Sure am glad I don't have to fly for a living.

Best orienteering of the day? Nope, spiking all 14 controls (and they were really good spikes, right on) only gets second place. Best was on the way to Charlotte, pass up numerous places to stop for lunch because Phil was distracting me with tax questions, finally pulled into a burger joint, Five Guys, supposed to be good, and there are Charlie and Rhonda. What are the odds?

C • Five Guys 3

Green Day 2 - Splits

Event: Birkhead Wilderness Classic (US Classic Champs)
 

Classic Champs, day 1. Green course (M60), 5.7 km straight-line.

Quite feeble but could have been much worse. On the feeble side, walked a whole lot, plus fell down 12-15 times, plus banged my bad toe a few times. On the could have been worse side, probably only a minute or two of mistakes.

Nice terrain, totally gorgeous day, course was fine.

Cheating report: Left my 305 at home to avoid being reminded of the lunatic rules here. Watched enough people finish to figure out about where the last control was, but I believe that is legal. Asked Francis Hogle how the woods were (Great, he said), I assume that is cheating. Found out that Jeff had taken 52 and Tim 51. I always like knowing what others have done, don't know if that is cheating or not.

Out on the course, used the sun a lot for direction (it was pretty much due south), I assume that is cheating (a navigation aid). Was heading the same way as Joe leaving #5, but he was out of sight so quickly that even if I was following, it didn't last for long.

I think that's about it.

As far as the organization, I have to laugh. Apparently taping over the 305s was a higher priority than a smoothly running start operation. I think there were three volunteers there when i was there, a guy calling people up and checking them off, a woman where you got your clues and taped your 305, and a guy at the maps. The latter two seemed fine.

But....

There was no clock at the start. The starts were a minute or two ahead of real time, never a good thing. I got there with three or four minutes to spare, and then got to watch what can only be described as a meltdown of the primary start official. Balter arrived, was told he was too late (by 30 seconds, and he was still either 2:30 or 3:30 before his actual start time. Didn't matter, he would have to wait, get a new start time. Greg,, naturally, argues with him, but the law has been laid down.

And then Evalin Braugtigam arrives, also declared "Too late" by a matter of seconds, also turned away. And while he is trying to figure how what new start times to give them, the start process is ignored. And he is losing it. And then Joe arrives. "Too late" again. Blood pressures are going up.

Hell with the 305, what I really wanted was something to shoot some video with.... :-)

And in the midst of this, my time came, and I pretty much started myself. I don't think anyone else started over a three or four minute period.

Of course none of this really mattered because start boxes were being used. But if you are going to be a stickler for the rules, it's a good idea to have your own shit together....

A beautiful day, as I said. A good bit of time hanging out with old friends, totally pleasurable. Chatted up a youngish Czech woman in the van, very nice. Easy trip down with Gail and Phil, left home at 4 am, at the meet site at 10:15. The toe survived (though it is feeling pretty bad right now). And not at work. As the old saying goes in our sister sport, a bad day orienteering still beats a good day at work.

And this was far from a bad day.

C • Classic! 29

Green Day 1 - Splits

A short joggeroo -- I'm assuming a regular joggeroo is rather short by deinition, and this outing was even shorter. Just to test the toe. Not too bad though it's still a little swollen. But I'm assuming one day of orienteering will trash it again, let alone two.

Felt slow, as expected.

C • I thought you were passing ... 10

C • Toe 8

Got my big toe x-rayed. Nothing broken, good to know. But still sore, doesn't feel like running in the woods is anything I want to do, or even running at all.

Just in case anyone in interested, update on the Western Mass 5 Day to the NEOC Board....

Executive summary -- I think things are on schedule.

Details:

1. Permissions. Permit applications have been submitted for events 1, 2
(both at Earl's Trails), and 5 (Mt. Tom). Personal contact has been made
with the park supervisors to review plans. Going smoothly so far.
Permission has been received for events 3 (UMass) and 4 (Cemetery Hill).

2. Maps. All are done. I'm sure there will be some fine-tuning during the
course setting process.

3. Courses. For events 1 and 2 (course setter is PG, vetters Phil, Ali,
Alex, course consultant Boris Granovskiy), course setting will be done in
the period April 20 to May 15. Don't have time before that, plus need to
see how things are when the vegetation comes out. JJ will assist with the
map printing. For event 3 (course setter Alex, vetter Ali), courses will
be set in April. For event 4 (course setter Ali, vetter Phil), courses
will be set in April. For event 5 (course setter Phil, vetter PG) courses
are already set.

4. Web site. Jim has it up and running. Need to add info about lodging and
camping, directions. Info about courses will be posted later. On-line
registration is live.

5. Publicity. Full-page ad will be in the next ONA. For the A meet part,
we are tying in with the OUSA promotion for first-time participants at A
meets with a $20 coupon. Will need to publicize this on the web page. Plus
will need to get stuff to other clubs in region, and also to
non-orienteering media. Need help on the latter.

6. Staffing. I solicited help from the ski-O community (in particular to
take charge of all control retrieval) and have had several positive
responses. I expect to get this planned out after April 15. Because of
pre-registration only, plus no shirts or dinner, plus no packets to stuff
(will give out only bib numbers and clues), the demand for help should be
reduced. Will need specific planning as time goes on.

7. Bad weather. We will do the check-in inside at the Visitor's Center at
the Notch. Starts and finish for events 1 and 2 are about 400 meters from
the parking (200 meters from the nearest car access). I'm not sure what we
will need there for tables, chairs, canopies). In really bad weather the
download could be back at the Visitors Center.

For event 3, event center will be at the Student Union. Bathrooms
available. An overhang in case of light rain, inside in case of heavy
rain.

For event 4, will need a canopy or two. There are a couple of picnic
tables. Parking is adjacent.

For event 5, we have reserved the pavillion up at the crossroads. A roof,
but open sides. For events 1, 2, 4, and possibly 5, there is no power at
the finish.

8. Equipment. Will need quite a few controls and e-boxes. Don't know how
many yet. Don't know how many NEOC has. I've talked to WCOC about
borrowing theirs, that's OK. I've also talked to Valerie Meyer about using
the OUSA ones, need to confirm by late April if they are needed. Other
things needed -- tables, chairs, canopies, Jim's computer stuff, water,
refreshments, map cases, map case sealer, first aid stuff, generator, gas,
... I'm sure this list will expand. I've ordered two portable toilets for
events 1 and 2.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

Big toe is still not good, so all I've been doing all week is work.

C • How often do you... 3