Training Log Archive: Thraws

Slept till midnight, then dozed, but during the long night I became aware of a throbbing pain in my big right toe that I hadn't noticed while we were running. In the morning it was really swollen and I wondered about a) getting my shoe on, and b) running or even walking on it. I was able to manage a sort of hobble, and just blanked out the discomfort till we got to the finish. By the time I'd driven home though I could put no weight on it at all.
I handicapped us both for day 2 as a result. Sunday was brighter and sunny, but with the cold wind still. Lucy made some excellent choices for the score section (4 from 7) and we got though that fine. If it hadn't been for my feet we could have got a real shift on for the runnable second half of the course, but a jogging shuffle was all I could manage. The last 350 metres of steep descent were torture, but finishing successfully was a great feeling. We were early too so had our free veggie meal in comfort in the marquee as the finishers flooded in. It was just after noon.
We were some way down the results but sort of gave up on trying to race once we left any paths. If we'd entered the B class we'd have been much higher up the results with our time, as I think the score component of the C course puts off less experienced (and strong) runners. In other words, the Combined class is tougher. Hence the much lower numbers. We had no problems anywhere and just about managed to save the last bit of food in case our kit was checked at the end. I forgot the porridge pots in the Saturday morning dark and cold, and with that hot breakfast I'm sure we wouldn't have had to endure the same degree of hunger on the second day.
You don't really appreciate just how much your sacs are holding you up as you battle with the navigation, the climbs and the terrain, but I'm pretty convinced now that reducing the amount of weight carried (especially sleeping bags, cooking eqpt, and rucksack itself) is key to going quicker. And taking on the tussocks.

Event: The OMM
 

Friday night was so cold I don't think either of us slept much at all. It came up from the ground through the sleep mat and the rug. I've never been so chilled in a tent, even though it wasn't actually freezing and we had good sleeping bags. We had very early starts and trying to pack bags in the dark and the wind was horrible. Started well though. Lucy was leading and navigating and she got the first three controls spot on. Four involved a steep climb through bracken and heather and she got demoralised by the going. For her sake we would make route choices that maximised path running.
The score section (5 controls from 7) was much harder than last time. Ours weren't the most popular controls, although they were the ones visited by the team who came second on the day. Where we did go wrong I think was going for CC rather than DQ first as a result of deviating near it on the paths over Waun Fach. There was a huge amount of steep descent and then, of course, re-ascent which we could have avoided if we'd come at CC from below. This was a feature of all route selection decisions, knowing how high up a control on a stream was when the slopes were almost precipitous.
The snow started as we were leaving 7 and became a real blizzard. The worst of it was that all our stuff got soaked and the ground got wet too so that soon our feet were soaking. We rejoined the linear route after 9 and the last three looked easy as they were fairly flat, but of course this meant battling the dreaded tussocks. Just horrendous. Undershot 9 and overshot 10 mostly as we were concentrating on just getting through the terrain.
We were quite early at the mid camp so had a good spot. Got everything up ok and the stove on and had hot drinks and food, but every time you opened the door the wind sucked away all the warmth. We just lay top to toe in our bags and tried to sleep. Got up a couple of times for toilet or water and then couldn't find our tent in amongst all the other lasers so was wandering around in the biting wind. Remind me why I'm doing this.

Bit more lower back stretching bike therapy. Need to make the most of this weather as well. Added a West Stoke and West Ashling loop to the usual Goodwood, Selhurst, Singleton one.

Warblington lap w/ Chidham and Bosham extensions, plus a ride to the cardinal points of Hayling Island to have a look at the Harbour. Return via the Puffing Billy 'cycle' track, which wasn't a good idea. Bike therapy for back mostly, which has been bad since Monday morning, and it seems to have helped. Time includes long lunch stop in Mengham.