Training Log Archive: cmorse

Event: WCOC Sessions Woods
 

Fall season opener at Sessions. Got off to a rocky start as I think I was still mentally running at Boris's bizarro map scale and left the trail early, hit the large crappy open and went around and basically spent more time with a roundabout route getting to the first control than needed - then overran it by misreading the description as east edge, not west edge. On to #2 - since the green had been pretty runnable at #1, I took a chance and cut in to the green and took a straighter route up and over - lots of nasty green of the bloodletting varieties. Ack.... once over the hill saw more clusters of green none of them particularly distinct - looking around when feet came cruising by and ran right to the flag on what seemed to me to be a pretty vaguish thicket. Next couple ok, then boomed #6 by drifting L, not noting that the soggy stuff underfoot might be one of the marshes then checked the hill between the marshes - seemed rockier than it should have been, then it clicked, I looked toward my hill and saw a flag in the distance, sprinted to it, punched it then realized it wasn't mine, but quickly over to the next hill and punched. Then pretty clean again (passed by Boris in this next section) until #11 - I went out to road planning to cut in off open area but the margins were vague and crappy - then into the woods with quite a few pines, none noticeably distinct with all the deciduous trees in full leaf. Finally relocated off the knoll/cliff combo and right in - should have just gone straight on this one. Long leg to #12 was really sweet - only hesitations were occasionally pausing on the trail run to assess unmapped mtn bike trails before continuing - really moving well on the trails, then cut into the woods just past the rough open with the crosscut trail in it, down the broad white spur up the other side and spiked it at full speed - very nice feeling.

although there were some rough spots - mostly due to poor route choice - early on, the last couple controls were well executed at good speed. Very fine day indeed, though 20 minutes back of the fast guys - Wil, Boris and I'm sure Ross, John F and others...

C • John F? 3

Red Course - Splits

Stopped by Crandalls on my way in to work. Ran about half trails, half terrain - all the way up to the hill in the far west section, then back down and ran the second half of sprint #2 from March. Felt pretty fast in the woods, though the time doesn't really seem all that speedy.

contacts in first try on both eyes. wore the yellow non-prescription lenses in the Rudy Project frames. With strap snugged up my vision was quite fine. I think the other night when I got discouraged with the glasses for protection I had them loose and they were bouncing a bit - but I used to keep them loose so I could read the map over the top of the prescription lense. No need with the contacts in though I wasn't running with a map this morning. And after the stick in the eye at Osbornedale I'm going to make a point of wearing the glasses for protection unless its wet and I am forced to go without protection.

running errands today, had shown the bike to an interested buyer, then picked up Ellen at work and dropped her off for a hair appointment. Since I had the bike in the car, opted to ride home and let her drive home rather than wait for her. Nice day for a ride, but wasn't into riding hard at all..

picked up new glasses today (bifocals) and also had a followup on the contacts - I got a slightly different lens for the right eye to allow me to read the map a bit closer (rather than arms length). Will try the combo tonight at Osbornedale and see how it goes - hopefully my depth perception is not totally screwed and I don't fall all over myself - but then I may do that regardless...

jogging to/from start at Osbornedale

Hung streamers on loop B - took it slow and careful to make sure I put them in the correct spot. Boris used a bizarre scale of something like 1:6875 so I made sure the features were solid. No complaints so I must have put them in the right spots.

Ran Loop A - tried to run slow enough to stay in control, but fast enough to move well in the woods. Ran the course cleanly except ran by the streamer on the last control - was looking for a more distinct dot knoll, even though the streamer was within 5' of the trail - noted the much more pronounced hill and turned around to see streamer about 20m behind me. Nice run but had to walk the uphills.

Boomed the first one - started out 180 degrees out of start and wondered why I was still on a trail after 40m - oops - back up and over and down the hill tentatively in lots of eyepoker type slash. I think I came right into the circle but didn't see the feature (narrow reentrant) but saw distinct reentrants to the N so went that way - these turned out to be off the map segment - but by comparing the A segment which included this terrain I figured out where I was and came back - finally looked over a rock/cliff and saw the tape/reentrant below. Good 3+ minutes blown here. Then took a stick in the eye (contacts, no glasses) enroute to #2 spent about a minute making sure contact was in and no bleeding, then continued cautiously. Through 7 cleanly, but walking uphills and cautious in the hemlock deadfall. Got high on #8 but couldn't see a boulder further down reentrant, but felt high and then saw streamer down in shadow (it was getting pretty dim).. Rest ok.

Thanks to Boris & Kat for setting courses and organizing. 7 total in attendance, not bad for informal training session.

Went over to check out a new parcel of town conservation land off Sugar Hill Rd. - gorgeous land, wide open white woods, lots and lots of erratics - many in the 2m+ range, rolling topography with a strong trail network - would make great O terrain except that its only a half a kilometer of it.

First time running w/ contacts - wore the non-prescription eyeglass lenses for protection, but found that there was enough visual distortion that I opted to run without the glasses after a few minutes. My prescription lenses don't have this distortion - so I'll have to decide when to orienteer with those and when to use the contacts. I want the branch protection the glasses afford, but I also want to be able to see if its rainy out. Now I need to try them out in some rainy weather - but this nice weather stretch looks like it may hold out a while longer.

Took a couple of tries to get the lenses in tonight, but not really a problem.

brought my running gear to work today - maybe if I put a placeholder for a session in here first thing, I'll feel more committed to breaking away and running for a bit later this AM. Kind of chilly this AM - around 45 when I left the house, but forecast to be very nice later on. Sunrise over the Bio/Pharm building was beautiful this AM.

{edit} indeed I did get out just after noon. A nice mix of roads/paved bike path, and then some random campus fartlek. Felt like running longer, but I suppose I've got a job to do here...

Hunting Lodge > Separatist > Eastwood - staying on grass on side of road/path when possible.

contact success!! Tried putting some eyedrops in before putting the contacts in. I'm guessing maybe I have dry eyes and the contact wouldn't stick? Seemed to go pretty smoothly. Will wear them for 3-4 hours tonight and see how removal goes.

- first out on first try, R eye took 3 tries

Snuck out of work early and got home about 30 minutes before bus. Quick change and off down the road to see how fast I could run my 5K measured route down the dirt road, up hare a bit and then back. No real climb, but a few gentle rollers including a gradual incline on the final 500m or so. 10:02 out, 11:09 back.

I'd really like to get this under 20 minutes, have to lose some ballast first.

walk w/ Jackson and Hayden after homework and before dinner (homemade pizza 'sumption). Getting cooler - going to be a nice sleeping night..