Training Log Archive: rcro

Blue course. Didn't really notice much of the course today but that was mostly due to being in a pack for the last half of the run and sticking to paths to avoid stream crossings for the other half.

Coped surprisingly well with the Trafalgar Colliery spoil tip (controls 4 and 5) but knee had started hurting on the way up so used it as an excuse to miss 6 and 7. Managed to execute 4 poorly in the process... Wondered about straight lining it 10-11 for the novelty, then saw the bridge so took that instead. Made a bit of a mess of getting to 12 - saw the big staircase statue and realised I wasn't going the right way. Uphill finish took a bit of effort.

Don't know why people were concerned about the weather. Didn't feel cold during the run but may have got my feet a bit wet towards the end...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/172921018

Should be studying...

BOK Urban at Bath University. Good fun but the hardest navigation was finding the assembly. Had an interesting test of memory-o by directly Mark Burley over the telephone.

Knee very unhappy for the first several controls on the grass, then must have slowed down or got used to it for the built up section. Found it nice to run around but not a huge amount of scope for route choice other than 17-18.

Would have been more interesting if more used had been made of the dual level bit around 22.

Not so convinced by the finish set up. Having clear punch between final and finish controls, 20 yards ahead of the finish and on the same side of the ride should surely not be advisable?

8th/36 finishers. Not bad but could have been around 5th if I was able to run comfortably in the field at the start.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169470964

BOK Training Run from Lansdown.

Knee not been too great today, so after the initial downhill did twinge a bit and wanted to take it easy. Was then pushed into going up a very big hill far too fast by Ifor...

Really do think that my fitness has deteriorated somewhat as everything seems to be really hard work, and I had the feeling that I wanted to vomit come back again for the later half of the run.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/169158956

Glad to be orienteering again, but running down on the Green course.

Started out well. Did the climb 1-2 fairly quickly (2 was control 1 on blue and I beat John Embrey to it by 6s!) but then felt physically exhausted and spent the next 4 or 5 controls thinking I wanted to be sick. Did the climb into 3 somewhat slower through tiredness and fell to a walk for a lot of 4-5.

Lost a bit of time on 5 (30s or so) by the features being further from the path than was mapped. Struggling for energy to 6. Tried to straight line 7 and 8 through the lovely runnable woods but bearings a little off. Slightly off at 10 as didn't realise I would be too high. Took the top route 11-12 as minimised height loss.

Had some practice at getting down the hills and feel a lot more comfortable with downhills than I did - seem happy to jump down into things but sliding down into the finish still needs a bit of work.

New SI card is quick; was 1st competitive runner when I left. Knee about as expected for the last half of the course ok when finished but not so now have stiffened up again.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/167882921

BOK Training Run from Portbury.

Have been working on my knee and have seen notable improvement over the weekend - I can now walk without it hurting and could even run just about a mile without really noticing anything! Still has a long way to go and finding that anything involving going uphill aggravates it whilst going down is remarkably easy.

So, the half that was uphill was done at barely a fast walk pace and the downhill was a decent sprint pace - made a pleasant change to be leaving Ifor for dust on the way back to Portbury! Encouraging that I'm getting better at going downhill - when my knee is recovered and I can go up hills again I'll hopefully be a faster orienteer in steep terrain...

Did a bit of up and down the road at the end to make the distance up to a round 10km. Last 200m very tiring.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/166824531

BOK training run from Oldbury on Severn. Along the river past the power station and then back along the lanes, bridleways and fields (some of the latter we shouldn't have gone in...). With Ifor and Charles.

Definitely too far and too fast for me at the moment. Really struggling for the first 2k, really hurting for the 3rd k and towards the end along the bridleway.

Still good to have got outside and tried to rebuild some of the fitness I'm quickly losing. Have been a very large number of cakes and doughnuts in the office this last week...

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/164515284