Training Log Archive: PG

The main reason for this experiment was to see if someone moving not so fast could still finish the BG in under 3.5 hours.

OK, let's be truthful, to see if Valerie could. She missed by about 20 minutes. I'm not sure how much of that was mistakes (my guess is quite a bit), a combination of mistakes and just not executing well and quickly, standing and thinking too much instead of doing all that thinking on the move.

I'd guess I had at most 30 seconds of such wasted time, partly due to not having controls out there so approaches had to be a little more precise to be sure I had the right spot.

As far as how fast I was moving, I'd suggest comparing it to my time up the road, 18:40 for a mile uphill with excellent footing. The perceived effort was about the same as throughout the course. But I should point out that my effort was pretty constant over the whole course, moving just as quickly at the end as at the start. My guess is Valerie was fading.

On the other hand, she could go at a pace 45 minutes slower than what I did and still make it. That ought to be doable.

At least with a good guide.... :-)

Today's routes.

C • guide 6

C • Here's a rudimentary profil... 2

2010 Billygoat again. Walking this time, the whole way, no cheating. Interesting experiment. Beat about 4 splits on the original. No mistakes. One fall (though that was a solid face plant). One stick in the eye, could have been serious, a very solid hit, but off center, just in the inside corner (pretty sore afterwards but vision ok).

My navigating was right on, though it is a lot easier when just walking, lots of time to both look at the map and look around in the terrain. A few comments about some legs --

1. Stayed up on the hillside on the first part, figured it was shorter. Not sure it was faster though.
3. I'd heard folks complaining about a control in an area not field-checked. f you have any O' skills at all, you shouldn't miss this one, a good-sized knoll on a steep hillside. Should never miss it. And if you've ever orienteered on not-so-good maps (or rogained), you wouldn't be worried about it either.
4. Here as on several other climbing legs (6, 10, 13, 14, 17), my time walking was just as fast as my time a month ago racing. Of course I was just walking then too.
7. Tried a different exit from 6, back and then right. Not sure it is better walking, but would have been better racing. Stick in the eye approaching the control, hurt pretty good.
9. A better route, a little left, picked up the ride by the depression and the control was simple and fast.
11. A little farther right (and better) than before.
19. Cut straight down through the woods. Don't think it was any better, though I think it might be for someone more coordinated.
20. Higher (slightly more left) line, better I think.
23. Took the left fork since it looked shorter.

My routes from the race.

My routes from today (coming).

Oh, and it was hot and humid, soaking wet by the end. I'd left a bottle at 12, just drank half of it. Lost my usual 5 pounds or so.

Heart data from the last half hour or so is bogus. Max was about 140. FDF count was about 10, plus lots of twigs.

Up the road to fetch my car.

Billygoat - Splits

Tomorrow's plan is to walk this year's Billygoat. No running. And see how long it takes. In particular, see how long it takes in relation to 3.5 hours. Just out of curiosity.

Anyone care to predict?

C • Prediction 8

C • Walking the Billygoat 1

C • Route traffic 3

This and the previous entry is all actually one ride. I just stopped and restarted my 305 after not quite 2 hours to see if I could get elevation data, and it seemed to work.

Down through Amherst, around the Holyoke Range, and back through Hadley. Nice tail wind coming back, needed it, though I paid for it a bit on the way out. Legs were tired by the end. Need to drink more, just drank about half a bottle and my weight was down 5 pounds.

Late afternoon after driving back back from Wolfeboro, struggling to stay awake (on the drive, not the bike).

Just a nice steady pace, not pushing it. Ten seconds a mile makes a big difference in the required effort. This seemed very comfortable except for the couple of hills coming back River Road, but just a little faster would have taken a lot more effort.

Looking closing at the elevation profile, it's pretty accurate except for at miles 1.3 and 19.0, where it doesn't seem to account for the fact that there is actually a bridge across the Connecticut River.

Just if anyone is interested....

I noticed that while on most runs/rides, AP is automatically calculating the climb, on Tuesday's bike ride it didn't. So I sent a note to Ken inquiring if I was messing something up. And his answer --

"The service that I'm getting the corrected elevation data from has a daily point limit per user. Unfortunately it's pretty easy to run into the limit with a normal long session, and then the correction fails. In that case we also don't calculate the climb since it could be way off.

I either need to find a better data service for this or create my own, but in the meantime, there's nothing that you should be doing differently."

C • Intel 1

In Wolfeboro, NH -- and off the web for a day and a half, talk about deprivation -- for a visit chez Goodwin. A fine round of golf for me (and quite brilliant by the host PG, including 4 birdies on not an easy course and a course PR of 77), then a short run, a struggle all the way. Feet sore, legs tired, can't say it was a whole lot of fun. But that's the way it is some days. Nothing you can do.

Better than it will be in the future, I suppose.

Went down to Northampton (by car -- it does seem silly to drive to bike, but it happens....) to meet up with Phil and take a ride up in the hills on the west side of the valley, on a route he had picked out especially to make sure I did a little work.

A beautiful morning, some nice back roads, and quite a lot of hills. And I sure did some work. Mainly because he is just a little stronger than I am, so it was always a bit of a struggle to keep up. I could keep up, but I had to work at it. Also had to drink a lot more than usual, think I took 5 or 6 sips. Started with about a third of a bottle, now it's down to a quarter. Still probably enough to get a couple more rides in before I have to refill it. :-)

By the way, Eric Buckley would love Northampton's streets. Potholes everywhere.

So counting yesterday late afternoon and this morning, that's a little over 60 miles in not that long a time period, and the butt (and the hands and the neck) are not really complaining. Not so bad!

Back home, barely time for a short nap (30 minutes) then off to the eye doctor. When you get to this point in life, doctor's visits are more likely to result in bad news than in good news, so there is always some amount of anxiety. And I had been unhappy with my eyesight -- on my last visit, 18 months ago, I had gotten a new prescription for my glasses, for the distance vision part, and the result had been a great improvement, could read road signs better and (most important) could see a golf ball at a much greater distance, pretty much as far as I could hit it.

And since then my distance vision has gotten worse, the acid test being on the golf course where seeing a ball 100 yards away is usually beyond me.

And at the last appointment there had been mention of cataracts, not serious yet, but starting.

So some anxiety.

First thing, I complain about my vision. He puts up a chart and I'm struggling with the second line, and those letters are pretty big! So he put some gizmo up in front of my eyes and asks if that is any better.

Holy shit, yes! Well, maybe I didn't say exactly that, but suddenly I could read a couple more rows. And that was really cool, because maybe on the golf course I'll be able to do more than just see what direction the ball is starting in and then go try and find it.

So that was the good part.

But of course he had to examine the insides of the eyes, and things are a little off (a sheen on the retina, the optic nerve entry point is enlarged), maybe a sign of not so good things to come, maybe not. But the pressure is good (i.e. not high), and that's good as far as glaucoma is concerned.

Nothing serious enough to do other than say come back in a year. Could be worse.

And we're about finished, and I ask him how old he is because I'm wondering if he'll still be taking care of me for the next few years. And he says he's 55, but he figures he's going to be working forever, because he's supporting his ex and the two boys who are living with her, and he doesn't have any retirement savings. He's not bitter, just very matter of fact, he grew up in a family with 8 kids and you never got anything new. So he can manage now on not so much, certainly get what he needs even if not so often what he wants.

Interesting little conversation, a glimpse inside someone else's life, totally out of the blue....

And then off to the optician, a client of mine, order the new lenses, they are quite complicated and not cheap, various corrections for this and that, and he will put a rush on them so hopefully I will get them before we head west.

And then home, and another short nap, and then I can't put it off any longer, it's time for the first mowing of the "lawn" for 2010.

Yes there is a little gas, maybe it's stale but it should work, fills up the tank about 2/3. Push the little primer thingy to get some gas wherever it needs to be to start the engine, but the little primer thingy doesn't seem to be working, a leak or something. Yank the cord a few times just in case. Nothing. Damn.

So I think, what would Jeff do? Jeff sure wouldn't put it in the car and haul it off someplace to be fixed. Jeff would fix it himself. And I looked at the machine, not much idea what any of the parts were, but on top of the part above this little primer thingy was a screwhead. So I pulled a penny out of my pocket, and unscrewed it, and this long screw came out, and then this superstructure came off, and under that was this little container. And it looked like that was where the little primer thingy would deliver some gas to get the engine started.

So I got the gas can and wiggled it this way and that and enough gas game out to fill up this little container about half way. Put things back together, pulled the cord once and it started right up. Son of a gun, I am not totally incompetent.... :-)

Ah, but still somewhat incompetent. The "lawn" got cut, but in the process I converted a perfectly nice 50' hose into 3 somewhat less useful hoses, two of them averaging about 24.5' and the third about a foot long.

These sorts of things just seem to happen to me. I really don't think there is anything I can do about it.

C • What would Jeff do... 8

Just a very few comments from NEOC's meeting yesterday.

-- I enjoyed the opportunity to meet and chat with several members of the Board who I hadn't known. I also enjoyed seeing a few old-timers some of whom I've seen regularly over the years, some just every once in a blue moon. We have some extraordinarily fine people in the club.

-- It was mentioned at the meeting and it bears repeating, the club's new and improved website is really great. By yesterday evening the results from yesterday's O' event and the results of the elections (plus the new board's officers) were already posted.

The website is a great way of communicating with both members and non-members. So I hope it continues to push forward, both in ways that would bring more visibility to what the club is doing internally, and also by getting info up sooner about things like the club's upcoming A meet in October. Many folks didn't even know about that, and its only a few months away.

-- There was some unnecessary nastiness, but the person responsible is now gone. There is nothing to be gained by retelling it. It's time to move on, and focus on all the good things that are in the club.

Nice ride to Millers Falls and Turners Falls, legs felt OK, which is good, except it is also bad, because I'm supposed to take a ride with Phil tomorrow morning and good legs today probably means bad legs tomorrow and Phil will just dust me. Oh, well, I think I know the roads well enough to find my way back to Northampton on my own.

It was also a ride where the activity should more properly be call "bike-logging" rather than "biking," because much of the time was spent thinking about things I might write on my log. And that is also good and bad, good because I found myself reaching the top of a hill without any memory of having put in any effort, and bad because I found myself reaching the top of a hill without any memory of any of the bad things out there, like potholes, or storm drain, or traffic. Not a good habit to get into, but the miles sure do go by easily.

More coming, but first a tax appointment is calling.... :-(

Also wanted to add that I got a very nice call this afternoon from Pete Lane, NEOC's new president. Thank you.

And I added a comment to Jeff's log, something that needed saying. I've met a lot of fine people in orienteering and that family is right at the top.