Training Log Archive: rcroIn the 7 days ending Oct 26, 2014:
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Sunday Oct 26, 2014 #
Orienteering race (West Woods) 49:58 [3] 6.74 km (7:25 / km) +85m 6:58 / km
slept:6.0 shoes: VJ Integrator High (2)
NWO local at West Woods. 6km blue.
Arrived at the time registration opened given in details - yet still had to park 30 cars away. Have heard people in NGOC complaining about competitors arriving very early and trying to push registration forward, meaning volunteers have to work for longer - thought today was a bit ridiculous! At least they hadn't run out of maps before I got there!
Everyone says how wonderful West Woods is but I've never really thought it. Not totally keen on the "optimistic" mapping of undergrowth (or, maybe it's still not been updated since people started complaining 3 years ago?) and was stuck in unmapped brambles within seconds of starting.
Course didn't really help as it was a tour of all the worst patches of unmapped brambles, with brief glimpses of nice runnable woods as we went through. Would be exaggerating to say the whole race was in thick brambles, as 10% was soggy path, another 10% was firm path, 5% nice wood. So, only 75% crap.
On the positive side, orienteering was going quite well. Only a few issues - map is a little misleading at 8 so was at bush further up the hill. Stopped a bit at 10 as wasn't sure where I was on gully (couldn't see it on map due to control number and north line hiding it). Very slow around 15/16 as brambles awful - this was the worst bit of the January Galoppen, and it felt much worse today (on map its lovely), and made a poor route through brambles 16-17 as tried to take the path but had to bail out as the brambles were just too thick to even attempt to continue.
Good that I was moving well today, appreciated lack of climb. Just glad I opted out of Leigh Woods so that I had at least one nice run this weekend!
http://www.strava.com/activities/211891517
Do suggest its now time for orienteering to rest West Woods.
Arrived at the time registration opened given in details - yet still had to park 30 cars away. Have heard people in NGOC complaining about competitors arriving very early and trying to push registration forward, meaning volunteers have to work for longer - thought today was a bit ridiculous! At least they hadn't run out of maps before I got there!
Everyone says how wonderful West Woods is but I've never really thought it. Not totally keen on the "optimistic" mapping of undergrowth (or, maybe it's still not been updated since people started complaining 3 years ago?) and was stuck in unmapped brambles within seconds of starting.
Course didn't really help as it was a tour of all the worst patches of unmapped brambles, with brief glimpses of nice runnable woods as we went through. Would be exaggerating to say the whole race was in thick brambles, as 10% was soggy path, another 10% was firm path, 5% nice wood. So, only 75% crap.
On the positive side, orienteering was going quite well. Only a few issues - map is a little misleading at 8 so was at bush further up the hill. Stopped a bit at 10 as wasn't sure where I was on gully (couldn't see it on map due to control number and north line hiding it). Very slow around 15/16 as brambles awful - this was the worst bit of the January Galoppen, and it felt much worse today (on map its lovely), and made a poor route through brambles 16-17 as tried to take the path but had to bail out as the brambles were just too thick to even attempt to continue.
Good that I was moving well today, appreciated lack of climb. Just glad I opted out of Leigh Woods so that I had at least one nice run this weekend!
http://www.strava.com/activities/211891517
Do suggest its now time for orienteering to rest West Woods.
Note
Results are out. I take it all back - it was all lovely woodland, one of the best races of the year and we should use West Woods much more often.
Saturday Oct 25, 2014 #
Running warm up/down 5:00 [3] 0.75 km (6:40 / km)
slept:4.0 shoes: inov8 Mudclaw300 Yellow1
Token warm up with Chepstow Harriers group. Despite the request, won't be joining them as second claim club!
Running - off road race (Sugar Loaf Fell Race) 55:11 [4] 9.52 km (5:48 / km) +440m 4:43 / km
shoes: inov8 Mudclaw300 Yellow1
At start said that route had changed - meant nothing to me. What wasn't said was that the course was now 1 mile longer so, expecting it to be just 8k, sped up at 7k not realising I had to maintain it for getting on for 2 miles!
Set my target from the start as a very thin Cardiff student in a yellow top as he looked both new to fell running and the sort of person who would just glide up the hills without even having to try. I was right, and stuck with him until the summit, sweeping past most of the runners, having started near the back and being up to about 10-15th by the fell - don't think I was even trying for the road hill.
Pace, naturally, soon dropped and most of the hills became a walk. Steady on the "flat" and passed by Dave Austin (he ascended much better than he usually does) - got close behind him on last big climb to peak, but wasn't really troubling him.
Bad line of the top and caught in bigger rocks and passed by a few, but, after that, on to finish, think my overall position didn't change - 1 fast guy overtook me (twice), and I got past a women who cramped up ahead. Technical bits were still dreadfully slow, but quick for me.
The last two little climbs were good for me as kept going and reclaimed the places I lost on first descent. At 7k mark, let myself go and kept it up - another 300 yards and I would probably have cleared the group of 4 that were ahead of me.
Great fun as always. Beat the student I went up hill with - had recaught him at 7k but he'd burnt out - was his first fell race and given how easily he was climbing, and flying down hill from trig point, he could do very well in future.
3rd NGOC finisher, but nicely clear of Neil and Ifor - suspect they would have struggled more from the extra mile distance than I did.
http://www.strava.com/activities/211485448/overvie...
Set my target from the start as a very thin Cardiff student in a yellow top as he looked both new to fell running and the sort of person who would just glide up the hills without even having to try. I was right, and stuck with him until the summit, sweeping past most of the runners, having started near the back and being up to about 10-15th by the fell - don't think I was even trying for the road hill.
Pace, naturally, soon dropped and most of the hills became a walk. Steady on the "flat" and passed by Dave Austin (he ascended much better than he usually does) - got close behind him on last big climb to peak, but wasn't really troubling him.
Bad line of the top and caught in bigger rocks and passed by a few, but, after that, on to finish, think my overall position didn't change - 1 fast guy overtook me (twice), and I got past a women who cramped up ahead. Technical bits were still dreadfully slow, but quick for me.
The last two little climbs were good for me as kept going and reclaimed the places I lost on first descent. At 7k mark, let myself go and kept it up - another 300 yards and I would probably have cleared the group of 4 that were ahead of me.
Great fun as always. Beat the student I went up hill with - had recaught him at 7k but he'd burnt out - was his first fell race and given how easily he was climbing, and flying down hill from trig point, he could do very well in future.
3rd NGOC finisher, but nicely clear of Neil and Ifor - suspect they would have struggled more from the extra mile distance than I did.
http://www.strava.com/activities/211485448/overvie...
Thursday Oct 23, 2014 #
Running intervals (Westbury Harriers) 52:20 [5] 8.0 km (6:33 / km) +25m 6:26 / km
slept:4.0 shoes: Saucony Powergrid Triumph 10 r
6x Woodland Grove loop (850m with a bit of climb). Feeling unwell before the start but went with the fast group and managed to do all 6, but struggling.
2:59 (fast effort), 3:10, 3:15, 3:13, 3:11, 3:07 - surprised to be getting faster over the last 3.
http://www.strava.com/activities/210825345/laps
Previous goes at this effort:
Feb 2012: 3:00, 3:22, 3:19, 3:25, 3:26, 3:17
Dec 2012: 3:00, 3:18, 3:22, 3:22, 3:21, 3:12
Oct 2013: 2:59, 3:28, 3:23, 3:18, 3:24, 3:13 - but feeling bad
Does imply that I've gained a bit, but hard to know where I would be if I was feeling better. Still, if we exclude the first effort from each go it shows good consistency, and my slowest time tonight was still right at the fast end of what I've run before.
2:59 (fast effort), 3:10, 3:15, 3:13, 3:11, 3:07 - surprised to be getting faster over the last 3.
http://www.strava.com/activities/210825345/laps
Previous goes at this effort:
Feb 2012: 3:00, 3:22, 3:19, 3:25, 3:26, 3:17
Dec 2012: 3:00, 3:18, 3:22, 3:22, 3:21, 3:12
Oct 2013: 2:59, 3:28, 3:23, 3:18, 3:24, 3:13 - but feeling bad
Does imply that I've gained a bit, but hard to know where I would be if I was feeling better. Still, if we exclude the first effort from each go it shows good consistency, and my slowest time tonight was still right at the fast end of what I've run before.
Tuesday Oct 21, 2014 #
Running (Thornbury) 57:00 [3] 10.71 km (5:19 / km) +65m 5:10 / km
slept:5.0 shoes: Saucony Powergrid Triumph 10 r
Mostly standard route around Thornbury, taking it quite easy as still not fully over Sunday.
Put 1 effort in along railway line - Ifor sped up and caught me so had to speed up and bit, and kept it going. Still don't quite believe GPS for telling me I was doing 3:13/k for quite a while, but Strava agrees and gave me segment PB by 30s, and more importantly, time 2s faster than the previous fastest person.
http://www.strava.com/activities/210123567/overvie...
Put 1 effort in along railway line - Ifor sped up and caught me so had to speed up and bit, and kept it going. Still don't quite believe GPS for telling me I was doing 3:13/k for quite a while, but Strava agrees and gave me segment PB by 30s, and more importantly, time 2s faster than the previous fastest person.
http://www.strava.com/activities/210123567/overvie...