Training Log Archive: PG

Day 2, Green course, M60, 5.3 km.

Another day where the energy levels were not good. Seems to have been the case all week, don't know why. So although I did some decent orienteering, when push came to shove, I didn't have it.

Chase start, had Glen and Tim starting 10 seconds or so after me. I started dragging on the sidehill and slightly uphill slog to #3 and fell a little behind, maybe 30-40 meters. Made that up at #4 when they both went too high and didn't see me cutting down to it. But the margin was not enough of a gap to put me out of sight, and so things slowly closed back up and by about #7 or 8 we were all together again.

Slightly different routes to 9, but no difference, ditto to 11. I arrived there to find we had caught up to Ernst, several minutes. That was the classic good news and bad news. Good news that we had caught up. Bad news in that one more person made the odds of error even lower, and at the end, there was no doubt in my mind that I would clearly be last.

So I took a different route to 12, to the right, they all went left. It might have been OK, but my energy just wasn't there, moving way too slow. Got to the point and no sign of them, splits showed they had been a minute faster on an 8 minute leg. So that was that.

Polished things off with a miss at 13, and really dragging through the junk to 14, and by the time I came in they had already showered and changed. At least it seemed like that.

But still an acceptable run as far as the navigation goes. Helps that the eyesight is better, probably helps a lot. But somehow that just reinforces the feeling I've always had about orienteering -- I know where I am, I know where I'm going, I just can't get there.

But not really complaining. At this point after a run I often find myself thinking -- survived to run at least one more day. Someday that will not be true. But not yet.

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

And afterwards, a bunch of good conversations -- plans for the 2016 North Americans, junior development issues, team matters. There are good things going on, and good people doing them.

And the same could be said for the weekend -- very well organized by a bunch of good people. Ian seemed under control, Ed was getting a full night's sleep. What is the world coming too? :-)

Green - Splits

Event: NEOC: 2014 Troll Cup
 

Very nice day after the orienteering was done with…

-- Talked some with PG(oodwin) and Carl about things up in Hanover re the North Americans. We're planning a visit on Wednesday, meet up with Brian Kunz, Dartmouth person we're dealing with, who in fact has been orienteering a long time, was a member of NEOC many years ago.

I still haven't figured out what role, if any, I'm game for, but for now thinking maybe I can help a little getting things going. So why not.

-- And also talked some with Mac Bishop, a video and multimedia journalist for the NY Times. I don't know how the connection was made, but he spent some time out in Harriman with Thierry Gueorgiou in the week after the Sam/Ross wedding, and decided he was something special. So something is in the works. Mac was here doing more research, talking to a bunch of people.

-- And later, a very fine dinner at Bangkok Hill in Lunenburg, excellent place, not far from where Mr. JJ lives. Would go there more if it was closer to home.

C • restaurant 3

Running a little late, so jogged much of the way to the start.

Troll Cup at Townsend, day 1, Green, M60, 5.5 km.

Somehow rather unsatisfying, and perhaps for not the best of reasons. Meaning, judging your run by how others did and not by how you felt you did. And then feeling, damn, should have been a little better.

The orienteering was not easy, and the woods were certainly scruffy. Offsetting those two factors, the map (and the printing) seemed excellent, though perhaps for budget reasons using a little less green ink than the area warranted, and the controls were very visible.

I think my major difficulty was the scruffy woods. Had seemingly low energy for the first 10 minutes, but then that improved, but there was always the sense that movement through the woods was slow. Never once had the sense I was moving fast (as opposed to, say, 2 weeks ago at Mountain Lakes, where at least on the downhills I was really hustling).

Not sure what the reason was -- too cautious in the navigation, no fighting spirit, or just not strong enough for this kind of forest? I think some mixture of the three.

Which means for tomorrow that at least there is chance for improvement in two of them. :-)

C • Green ink 2

Green - Splits

Got a jury summons in the mail. I've been called a few times over the years, ended up serving on two juries, both civil cases, both interesting from the point of view of learning something about humanity, both also rather unsatisfying. The other times either the service has been cancelled the day before, or I got to show up at the courthouse and hang around for a few hours before being sent home.

Nothing at all like Gail's experience, she got on jury duty for a whole month…

But in reading the rules I discover that there are various reasons that you can be disqualified -- things you might expect, such as you don't speak English, you're not a citizen, you don't live here anymore, you were convicted of a felony sometime in the last seven years -- and then one I was surprised to see….

You are age 70 or older and choose not to serve.

So, how seriously do I take my civic responsibilities?

(And a separate question -- apparently felons get a lifetime pass from voting but only a seven-year pass on jury duty?)

C • felony convictions and voting 5

C • jury duty 8

Executive summary -- three strikes and you're out.

Went off the the Sawmill hills just west of Northampton to check out some rumored single-track mountain bike trails. Couldn't find any access point on the east side (close to Florence). There was a possibility off Avis Circle but it looked questionable. So I headed over to the west side, Sylvester Road, used to run along there at times on the old N'ton half-marathon course, also a familiar spot where we used to come out of the woods after doing the Jeepeater. But I was less happy parking there, all private, so went a little farther north.

Saw a small parking area and the start of a double-track trail. Headed off. Cold and light rain. Trail degenerated rapidly, first a bit of marsh, then down to one lane and then less, pretty sure no bikes had ever been there, then up a hill, then dead end in a laurel patch.

So much for that, back to the car to look for someplace else.

C • Sawmill Hills 6

Drove up the road just a bit and there was a good bit larger parking area. This must be it. Headed off. Trail looked like something that macho guys would use to bust their ATVs. Steep up, down a little through some mud, then steep up again, big slabs of rock all over the place.

Made it to the top of the hill, though only with the help of a couple of stops. Again, no sign of bike trails. And this thing I was on wasn't real appealing.

Back to the car and onward…

Time to explore the other side of the road. Definitely a trailhead there, for the Mineral Hills Conservation Area, and even a trail map posted.

Headed off, and once again up. Still cold, still raining. The trail, once again, no way you would have wanted a bike on it, lots of rocks, some mud. I climbed a bunch, saw a sign that offered the possibility of a quick return via Turkey Hill Road, and took it.

Enough is enough.

Dried off, changed clothes, headed off in the rain and fog for my weekly trip to Litchfield. And that was OK. Went right by the airport but no flat tires this week, and very glad I wasn't on a plane. Mom was cranky, but Lina was doing fine. We chatted for a while about mom, also about wacko sister and brother-in-law, laughed a bunch. I paid the bills. A good visit.

And then on the way home, still rain and fog and now also dark, with my new eyes the driving is certainly easier. That's not to say it's fun, but you take what you can get.

Twice around the upper loop at Earl's Trails, pretty mellow, not much in the way of hills. Though it still feels like harder work than it should. Maybe by this weekend I'll get my legs back.

Had just finished and a couple of mountain bikers popped out of the woods, recognized one, Dylan, friend of Phil's son Adam. We chatted a bunch, mainly about where they go mountain biking. Seems like I should check out the hills west of Northampton/Florence, as there is now some single-track there in addition to the little bit of old woods roads that I've run on a few times, mostly 20-30 years ago. Always on the lookout for new places…. :-)

Back to the Amherst College track. Even if the legs are struggling a bit, need to run faster a little or I will forget how to do so.

First, a short tour of the Amherst campus to warm up.

And then some 400s with 200s in between. Didn't quite get it right. Plan was 8 of each with the 400s about 1:45 and the 200s sufficiently slow to allow me to keep going. I think the 200s were just a little quicker than needed, so after 5 cycles I was definitely working too hard. So finished up with a 200, which rounded the distance off nicely at 2 miles.

1:45.3, 1:10.7
1:43.9, 1:10.9
1:44.4, 1:11.4
1:44.1, 1:08.8
1:43.6, 1:07.5
47.5

And then off to another eye appointment to adjust the medicine. So far so good.

So at what point, if ever, does one (or should one) sign up to help organize the 2016 North Americans? And in what role? A particularly pertinent question for me because (1) there is certainly not the excuse of being an elite runner and having participating (and representing the USA) be more important; (2) while Hanover is an hour and 45 minutes up I-91 from here, in the big picture of available people, I am relatively local; (3) I have time.

The question is the desire, and the willingness to spend two years on the project.

I remember back in 1988 when the Board voted to move forward with the bid for WOC-93. I think I voted for it, though I'm not really sure. But I sure didn't raise my hand to start organizing it. Mainly, I didn't want to spend 5 years on a project where you don't know until the final day is over whether you have done OK or not. And the standard for OK is batting pretty close to 100%.

So I sat on my hands for 4 years. And then a year before the event, jumped in (both Gail and I) all the way. And I never regretted either decision, either the sitting on the sidelines for the first 4 years, or the huge amount of work in the final year. Of course it matters that, from my perspective, we did OK.

So back to the North Americans. There is no local club. UNO and GMOC are the closest, but they are not close. And neither is a big club. So there will have to be a good bit of help from other clubs, or other individuals, to make it work.

This has happened before. I remember the US Champs in 1979 near Richmond, VA. Course setter was Hans Bengtsson of NEOC. Yours truly was in charge of registration and results. Back then those were the two main roles. And things worked just fine.

And other events, like the WMOC in Minnesota, and many events in Wyoming, have had a lot of help from outside the local area. So I assume it can work again.

The problem, as with any such organizational task, is to not just get enough volunteers, but to get the right volunteers. Meaning, ones that are good at whatever role they end up playing. Because the worst thing is for some one to stick up their hand and then, when everyone thinks things are taken care of, just drop the ball.

So it will be interesting to see how this plays out. It would be nice to see lots of people express their intention of going by adding their names to this list. And it would also be nice to start seeing offers to help on the organizational side.

Which means, in my case, offering to do what?

C • Sign up to help organize the 2016 North Americans? 8

Trails near Eaglebrook, beautiful day, but I had no energy at all, don't know if blood sugar was off, or just one of those days. But still better to be out doing something.