Training Log Archive: kissy

An abbreviated run through the neighborhood due to gastric problems. Plus, it was extremely warm today...not my favorite. And now I'm off to the dentist to have an old filling drilled out and re-filled. Again, not my favorite!

C • Dentist 1

I have never entered yard work on AP, but today will be an exception. I was in the yard for 6 hours non-stop, planting over 30 big perennials (the local nursery had them 50% off) and moving numerous azaleas. A few of them were so heavy (mostly with water-logged clay soil massed around their roots), that it took both me and Graham to dig them up. One of them was so heavy that we could barely get it in the wheelbarrow. It took me pushing and Graham pulling the wheelbarrow, and at one point it toppled over, sending Graham rolling down the hill, chased by the azalea. After we were done with our laughing fit, we continued on. It turns out the root ball was too big for the hole I had dug, and to widen the hole I had to tear down, reposition, and rebuild a mini-stone wall. So, that is why I think I am justified in calling this core conditioning. I am positive I'll be feeling it tomorrow morning.

I went for an early morning run through the neighborhood because I knew I had a busy day ahead of me and didn't want to end up not doing anything. About 3 minutes into the run, I met up with a neighbor, Carol, who is also a runner, so we ran together. It was nice to run with someone, but, boy, is she a chatterbox! She knows everything about all of our neighbors. I learned alot!

Went for a run through the neighborhood. I've been feeling a little under the weather since Monday, with a headache, stomach ache and muscle pains. I felt a little better last night, and even better this morning, so I thought I'd try a run. Well, now I don't feel so well again, so I'll take it easy the rest of the day.

Buff Betty AR

Buff Betty Adventure Race at Cunningham Falls State Park. This was one of the most awesome things I've done in awhile. An adventure race with only female competitors, a glorious day, and a combination of interesting and challenging events. Unfortunately, my watch decided to stop working about 15 minutes into the race, so I couldn't take splits, and so can't divide up the different disciplines, which included canoeing in a lake, mt. biking up a mountain and back down, trail running up another mountain and back down and then 6.6 km yellow-level rogaine. It was slated to be a 6-hour race, but we finished in 4:48, even with getting all of the controls. My team, Lucy Cubed, finished 4th overall out of about 50 teams and 1st Masters team. I have to say I felt great the entire time; I kept running the whole way, didn't feel tired, just felt great. Afterwards, however, my inner thigh muscles kept seizing, a new problem that started this summer. We will definitely be doing more of these next year.

C • Cool! 8

Just a short run through the neighborhood. I think tomorrow will be a rest day, and then the adventure race is Sunday.

C • Buff Betty 1

Yes, I finally made it back to the pool after many, many months. I purposely made this a slow, easy workout, using it as an alternative to a run in preparation for this weekend's AR. And it was good that it was supposed to be slow and easy because I was very rusty. My free stroke felt very clumsy.

5 x 100 (pull/kick/pull/breast/pull)
3 x 150 (50 free/50 back alternating)
5 x 100 (odds fast)

A very easy jog through the neighborhood.

QOC Local event at Pohick Bay. It was a beautiful day today, which only added to the joy of being outside. I ran Blue today just because I felt like it and it went pretty well. My first route choice was whether or not to go to the restrooms before I started. You see, they are a bit away, but totally on the way to #1, so I opted to stop off on my way to #1, which proved in the end to be a bad decision.

After my pit stop, I found #1 fine and headed to #2, which I found just fine except that I had looked at my control number for #3 and, of course, it didn't match when I got to #2. I had been a little shaky going into 2, so it was plausible that I had hit the wrong control. I went up the hill to the trail, relocated, and came back down, only to hit the same control again. At that point, I double-checked the code and then used some not-very-nice language. After that, everything hummed along nicely, I felt great, and the course was a lot of fun. Van Anthony did a wonderful job...some nice hill work in the beginning and towards the end, with some flat, all out running in the middle. Quite an enjoyable day.

So, my decision to stop on the way to #1 proved to be a wrong one when Tom Strat beat me by less than a minute. Argh!

My best friend, Meg, and her son spent the night and we went out this morning for a trail run. We used to run together regularly, and Meg used to always beat me. Today, however, it was a different story. We started out together, but for the last third of the run (mainly up hill), I pulled away and ended up flying across a field at the end. It felt great! The weather added to the splendid feeling, as it was crisp and refreshing...autumn has finally arrived.

The whole reason for Meg and her son being at my house was that we were supposed to go camping this weekend, but when the weather promised freezing temps overnight, we bagged that idea. Instead, we went for a dayhike to do some leaf-peepin'. No one told the leaves, however, and they were all still quite green.

I began this run as just a normal neighborhood run. However, I felt really good and it was beautifully spectacular running weather, so I guess I was going a little faster than normal. Then I hit a landmark where I usually check to see how I'm doing, and I saw that I was doing well, so I picked it up a little more and ended up running one of my fastest times on this loop in a while. And...I felt great!

NAOC Long Course at Rocky Ridge. I think I had a good run. When I finished, I thought everything had gone well. In hindsight, though, I think I took it a little too slow being careful not to get lost, especially on controls #5 and #6. I didn't have problems finding any of the controls, but between the rocky ground, thickish woods underfoot, and a lot of trail running, I was just a little too slow today. But, I have to say the boys and I had a wonderful time this weekend. Our little Canadian adventure was definitely a keeper. Thanks to GHO for a fantastic event!

NAOC Middle Course 6 at Rocky Ridge. After going out on the model event in the morning, I knew this was going to be a race where you could never lose contact with the map. After hitting #1 pretty cleanly, I got cocky and ran a bit blindly to #2. I went in off the trail and got into an area with several controls (none of which were mine) and a lot of rocky ground that I couldn't relocate of off. Went back out to the trail to try again. Ended up right back where I was before. Saw some people on my course a little further on, so wandered over that way and eventually could relocate. Thought it was all over at that point, but kept pushing through the rest of the course, with no major mistakes. A few areas where I drifted off bearing, but it actually worked out well because I could relocate off of a definite feature. Ended up in 3rd place for F35-44...22 seconds behind 1st and 2 seconds behind 2nd. :-( This was a great area! Very technical and difficult to run through, but so much fun to orienteer in.

Event: 2006 North American Championships (Golden Leaf Orienteering Fest)
 

NAOC Sprint Course 3 at McMaster University. I had a pretty clean run, over-running #9 by just a bit, probably 15 second error. I was very happy with this run. I ran about as hard as I can, and ended up 4th in F35-44, within one minute of Peggy, who won. A good way to start the weekend.

This was a pretty dismal workout. The weather turned unseasonably hot and humid, and it was really dragging me down. I think this will be the last warm day...hopefully.

C • You can probably say that with... 1

Just a short little jog squeezed in before heading off to work and the rat race.

Spent some quality time with a special friend.

Event: Susquehanna Stumble IX
 

Ninth Annual Susquehanna Stumble at Fair Hill. I opted for the Short Stumble because I had to get the boys home to finish some homework and studying. And I'm glad I did because I was quite discouraged early on. I went to #1 and #2 just fine, and then totally lost it on #3. For the first time in my 30 years of orienteering, I ran off the map! I was running on a trail, waiting for it to meet the field corner, trying to keep ahead of the other people on the trail...who, for some reason, cut off the trail too early. Well, of course, it wasn't too early...it was just right. And I kept running and running...I felt like Forrest Gump. After a bit, I hit a field, turned into the woods and was mystified as to why nothing looked right. I caught on pretty quickly, ran back down the trail to where everyone else cut in, matched it all up on my map, and continued my stupid course. And, naturally, I hit all of the other controls just fine! Oh, well, maybe I got that out of my system before next weekend.

Thanks to DVOA and Sandy for a very enjoyable day, in spite of my stupidity.

C • It's not that you made a mista... 7

Short - Splits