Training Log Archive: TH

pre wedding escape. started very slow, knee hurting, legs slow, then picked up loads on the second half and was flying by the end.

note - no sleep the next night due to extra partying by the people i was sharing with and then very early morning to get car to oban. glands making themselves known. got to be careful...

same as yesterday but x4. underestimate of heart rate. both graphs are not flowing, looks like reciever having problems. probably evens out overall.

tougher to start with as feeling yesterday in the legs but could have done a 5th by the end. didnt as time permitting and also sense. mostly been hard days this week and races mon tues next week.feeling slightly on edge of ill since back in england. just run down and tired i think. glands present.

treadmill intervals. 9.5, 11.7 x5. looks like errors with heart rate - over estimate time in high zone. was tough session, conscious of knee to start with, felt like that i could be going one or two points higher on speed though, not maxed out.

warm up and a few strides. Focused. I am going to perform today. Not just to prove to myself that I can do it when I want to but to show the coaches too. Had a slight comment at breakfast that implied they weren't totally understanding what I've been trying to do this week.

Great race. Totally right frame of mind. Total concentration. The good things

- started steady getting first couple of controls right (this tactic works very well for me)
- short legs, used compass nicely - room for slight improvement trusting it more/distance judgement
- flow was much better - still room for improvement, but knew descriptions before in the circle and knew route out most of the time, if I didn't, I took my time and didn't get flustered
- I did lose concentration slightly on a longer leg after a control pick. I tried to use imagery strategies I'd been taught as a junior of a red balloon bursting and making a popping sound to bring myself back. Sounds silly, but it was working. Could do with a bit more trial though.
- Made a mistake in the control circle. Still not sure I could have done much about it as got to attack point fine, just felt like a few more form lines in the circle and a lot more boulders. went back out to attackpoint and came in again with better compass. didn't regret anything, no alarm bells. I think these mistakes are a bit inevitable in this terrain but minimising them the key. Maybe could have bailed out quicker?
- finished nicely through a variety of terrains and styles. adapted well to short legs and green. particularly pleased with my compass work through this section.
- it helped to hear the second last was a bit tricky, slowed down into it, but I wonder whether I would have spotted that myself, if felt like control needed a bit of respect - on a funny feature in a wierd slopey area.
- nice to see 13 mins of very high intensity running - making the most of physical fitness.

the best thing is that I turned it on when I needed to. I thought back to my NORT races, where I did well consistently. I can do it when it matters. I like that thought. Major confidence booster before WOC even if its in the forest.

need to take out about 5 mins here as was sitting for a lot of it. Back from finish with Marcus and then warm down with matt and treb.

knee quite bad. need to rest it a bit. Doesn't feel like doing more damage and swelling not obvious that much but just hurts.

Aim was to start putting things together today. But head wasn't in it. Rushed too much over the first few and lost time. Lost concentration to 5 and had to stand still and relocate although I was right on line. Silly. So I gave myself a talking to, I don't want to waste the day. I picked off 6,7,8,9 ok just slow and checking every feature. Then I thought I got a good route to 10 and I planned ahead to about 16. I nailed the next section and it was amazing feeling. My splits are deceptive as there were a few times I missed a path junction (I find them hard to see in this terrain) and I faffed around until I actually got it, and then continued at high speed.

In hindsight, my two "genius" routes were not the best. Going to 10, I had the same split as the other girls but I climbed much more height. I would say my strengths would be in the longer climbing legs and so would conclude this means my route was slightly slower ?? not sure if this is fair. On 16 I thought my route to the left was a nice line in although longer. I missed the path junction and lost ca. 30 secs, but even so I think it was too much extra distance.

I lost it at the end section, trying to get the speed of the middle section back up but not enough precision.

In conclusion, a bit annoyed that I went out to do a good race and I didn't pull myself together, but looking back I didn't prepare mentally at all, just went out for some fun. Glad I got something out of it in the end though. Could have been a total waste.

extra warm down with james to go see the mountain view.

Kim checked my knee with the double bash. Concluded nothing wrong, ok to run. Good. but it bloody hurts!