Training Log Archive: PG

Green at Westmoreland, 4.9 km.

The reports were that there was bare ground at Westmoreland Sanctuary, and it was a nice day, so it seemed a good time to go do #3 of the winter series. Seemed reasonable to do the Green again (as I did at Huntington, #2), not too long, not too short, just right.

I'd looked at Charlie's route and comments, so an advantage I suppose, even though it's remarkable how little I remembered once I got going. I remembered that the route to the first one started off going down a trail, and that there was supposed to be a really steep slope just below #10, but not much else.

On the way to 10 it occurred to me that what I should do was go up the slope that Charlie did, just to see what it was like. But as I was getting close, a still steep but I'd guess much nicer slope presented itself, so I climbed up that and then there was the control in plain sight some 50 meters to my right, right on the same control. When I got there, I did look down, and it did look rather steep. I was happy not to be going up it, and especially happy not to be going down.

My orienteering was just fine. I could find a few seconds here or there that could have been saved, but not much. Every control pretty much popped up right in front of me, and there really wasn't any foolishness along the way. So an A+ for that.

As far as moving, I certainly put out a good effort. Ran what seemed to be quite a lot, though hardly at all if the ground tilted upward even a slight amount. Climbed a lot as it was not a flat course. Put a hand or two down twice but no real falls. Legs (especially quads) were very tired by the end -- the walk back up to the parking was very slow. Still, an A+ for this too.

The one place I would give myself a lower grade, actually a much lower grade, was on clothing. I was dressed just right for the weather, breezy and upper 30s, so that wasn't the problem. I believe the general term for my problem was a clothing malfunction.

I took my phone along for safety in case I got hurt, as I did at Huntington. I zipped it securely in the rear pocket of my O pants, as I did at Huntington. But today -- had my phone gotten heavier? Had my figure changed in some way. Had the elastic in the waistband of my pants taken the day off? Because my pants were really not wanting to stay up whenever I jogged, and especially whenever I jogged downhill. I managed to cope, and I suppose a good training program trains for the various things that might go wrong (a busted compass, a lost contact), but it got a bit tiresome holding them up. Give myself an F for that, not necessarily for any time lost but certainly for style points. Or, more accurately, a lack thereof.

But overall it was as good as I can do for right now. Very satisfying.

And the pants can be fixed.

Green WS#3 - Splits

Shorter than usual session because the computer was acting up. suited me just fine.

Getting even quicker. And I was not the one setting the pace. :-)

Loop out along Falls Road. 6 on, 1 off. The uphills are hard, but then that's nothing new, always have been. Though maybe not this hard.

Another critter report -- seems that often it's the males that dress up fancier than the females, as opposed (in general) to humans. First photo is the guy, second the lady, both Hooded Mergansers. Though her hair is classier.

Four Mile Brook Road. Mix of ice and sand/dirt, footing mostly fine, just had to be careful in some spots. 12 minutes faster than 3 months ago. :-)

Well, did two miles without walking, but not sure that bears repeating for a while. Too much of a struggle on the ups. Best to just keep taking walking breaks, because that's what I'd do orienteering (with a lot more walking than running). Just trying to get so I can run some.

Mostly flat this time. 6 on, 1 off.