Training Log Archive: tdgood

Walk with Darcy around new neighborhood. Hot during the day but cooled off later in the day.

After flying home all day from California, Went for a walk with Darcy over to the otter pond. The pond is a storm water management pond and usually had turtles, three white ducks, mallards, and Canadian Geese. We also saw otters there once which is why we call it the otter pond.

While I was gone, they drained the pond and rehabbed it. I don't know what they did with the turtles. There are new erosion control matts along the hill side, they picked up most of the trash. There is only a few puddles in it now. The white ducks, which can't fly are still there, along with the Canadian geese. The turtles are all gone. We hope it will fill up with water again but on another pond nearby when they did this the pond never filled back up. It lost its ability to hold water.

spooner lake, long green course.

Last chance to do well. I was competing with a Swede (Marcus) who thought that if he won today he would win the overall Cal O' Fest competition in my age group.

Courses were not inspired and technically pretty easy. The controls were hung very high and on my course they were hung on the approach side. So anytime you got close, you could see the control.

Since I was having trouble breathing at altitude, today I planned to run slower so I could breath and not make mistakes. Generally it worked but with the easier courses I could have run harder and still been ok.

1: Straight'ish, past the cabin, over little hill, up hill to control.
2-4: More of less straight. Not real issues. Trying to be careful.
5: Straight, touches the trail and then climbed.
6: This was brutal climb leg. I decided i didn't want to drop low and run the trail. I opted to climb immediately and add distance at the top. It was so very steep that I decided that if I was just going to walk then I should walk it in the straight line. I went right through the fight and it was fight. I lost all my time trying to get throught this. I should have gone around. Once I got up the the mountain there was no problem getting to the control. I figured I still saved at least contours climb going my route (but lost it all in the green). I lost about 4 minutes.

7: I realized once I got to the previous control the rest of the course was very easy. I tried to pick up the pace some. Straight up and over.
8: down to the trail, along trail a little bit and cut into the woods.
9: trail. Lots of other people going to the same control.
10: I had a little trouble on this one as the entire area between the trail and the control had been cleared. It was all open scattered trees with piles of debris. I pulled up short initially but then kept going. It was just a control in the woods.
11: This said lone tree. It was just a tree in the forest. There were lots of other similar sized trees right next to it.
12:
13: This was stupid control. Pure dogleg. Should either have skipped control 12 or skipped 13. The dogleg was through vegetation and fortunately there wasn't anyone coming in as I was going out.


There was some substantial climb. One leg in particular. I
more later

C7 - Splits

Stage 8: independence Creek, Tahoe California. ran 3.03 miles.

Start-1: Ran down ride to start triangle. Could see road below so didn't feel need to go down to it. Crossed the reentrant going east. It looked like it had a ditch in it. I was struggling getting up the hill and already having troubles breathing. Control should have been the only rock but at a distance the old tree trunks looked like rocks. I was little west of line but got to control ok.

1--2. Planned to contour around. I couldn't tell light green from forest, or open scattered trees from forest. So basically vegetation was largely useless unless it was a clearing. I was checking off features as I went but apparently checking the wrong feature. I went by saddle where the spur comes off, I passed the two rides (but apparently they weren't). Overall was way to low. After going the right distance, I was in trouble as there was no control. I wandered a littler farther, thought I knew where I was and dropped down which was wrong. Finally decided to just climb until I was clearly in the open scattered tree area (and hoped I would be able to tell). After a lot of climb, I saw the clearings (which the control line obscured) and was able to get to the control. I lost 6 minutes as the person (Marcus) who started 6 minutes behind me caught me.

2-3: I went straight up and over. Marcus there just ahead of me.

3-4: In my hurry I passed Marcus and overshot the control.

4-5: Angled up heading up the reentrant. I though i was running to ta saddle but it wasn't. Ran up to a boulder just behind Marcus. It isn't our control. Turns out to be #6. Head back to #5 (still a little off).

5-6: Back the way we came but still off as we hit the other boulder first.

6-7: Marcus starts of towards #3, I go the other way around the hill. I go through the green (just down debris mostly so didn't slow me down much). I went by the large boulders and continued on. I dropped down into my reentrant saw a control not on a boulder. It was my #8. I see now that the #8 reentrant was larger and the control circle hit the shape of the upper part. Burned again by poor course printing. Up and over hill to #7. Pased Marcus going the other way.

7-8: back the way I came.

8-9: Straight . I was trying to contour but apparently dropped down. I ended up at the bend in the clearing below the control and had to climb 2 contours to get to it. Fortunately I could see the control.

9-10: I couldn't tell any of the "single" trees. I was in the clearings but couldn't tell what from what. Finally just ran tot he reentrant. I was little low again.

10-11: Up the hill, by the two cliffs in the open area (mapped as open scattered trees). While I thought I was running in the open scattered trees, I was actually in the forest and once again ended up way too low. Things didn't look right and I could tell I wasn't on the spur area. I had to climb several contours to get into the open (mapped as open scattered trees) and approached the control from the south. As I was climbing I saw Marcus running to #12.

11-12: Straight to the reentrant. Surprised I couldn't see the control. It was tucked behind a tree from my approach.

12-13: Over the spur, down the reentrant. Control circle hiding upper part of the control circle. I drifted right towards the finish streamers then saw the control.

13-14: Didn't follow streamers, went straight.

Overall, a lot of time lost. Finished pretty far back. Was running fast when I could but still can't breath at altitude so had to walk most climbs.

C8 - Splits

Stage 7, North American Champs, Relay, Tahoe/North Star California.

little information ahead of time so hard to plan relay teams. I coordinated QOC teams. Best Chance for a QOC award was the 12 point team: Peggy, Greg, Ted. QOC also had 3 other 8 point teams (that all finished right near each other).

Day of event, I had to stand in line for a long time waiting to get bib numbers because event not organized well.

Courses were ridiculously short.

S-1:
I lost a minute at control 1 due to oxygen debt. I ran so hard out of start that by the time I got to #1 I couldn't breath (literally). I had to stop and rest before I passed out. I have been having issues with the altitude every day in Tahoe when I run hard and running this hard just made it so much worse.
I had caught up to several people (including Tapio) in my mad dash but gave it all back being stupid due to lack of oxygen. I saw Tapio going an unusual way and just figured he had a different course (he didn't). I started going to 2 back the way I came to 1 (a dog leg). But then I thought I had done a 180 so ran back to #1 only to realize I hadn't. I lost a minute doing this stupid thing.

1-2: Finally ran down road to trail to tennis courts (faster than other trail, cut over to trail to bend and cut into field. I was too far south and had to scramble across the rocks to the control.

2-3: back to trail, road a little bit around olive green area, cut across the light green area but I drifted left and went through the marsh. Cut over to building and control. There was kid there who kept asking what are you doing, what are doing, what is going on..... As I left the control I said it was a race as I didn't have breath for anything else.

3-4: Up to parking lot and along parking lot. It wasn't clear running at speed that this was down a steep slope from the parking lot. No problems getting to control.

4-5: Around to the right since not allowed to take the closed stairway. Tapio was ahead of me and I was closing in on him. I tried to keep running. Just before 5 he turned around and saw me coming and stepped up his pace enough to hold me off to the finish. I finished just behind him.

Tapio's team was also 12 point but they mispunched. We finished 4th but would have been third had a not a lost the minute at control 1.

North American Champs: Tahoe California, Sagehen

ran 4.3 miles

S-1: I got messed up right out of the start because the start triangle and course line hid the ride. I thought I was on the lower ride so when I contoured around and got to the area for 1 I was way high. I lost at least a minute if not more trying to figure things out.

1-2: Uphill. I couldn't breath going up the hill but tried to keep moving. I thought I was looking for a ditch so was very surprised when I came to my control with no ditch.

2-3: I saw the trail run option but decided to take more direct approach. Unfortunately I go stupid part way through and started looking for the control way too early. Once I realized what I had done, I continued on and went right to the control. Lost another 2 minutes.

3-4: Opted again not to take the trail route but in hind sight I think it would have been faster. Contoured around, crossed dry stream bed and climbed. I though I went through the green patch but apparently it wasn't on the map. So I cut up to the wrong rocks. Since the control could have been hidden in the rocks I went all the way up to the wrong cliff. No control, then cut over to the correct cliff. Lost another 3 minutes. I am just bleeding time. Passed Paul Hession at control.

4-5: No problems. Down the hill to top of spur then cut into the control.

5-6: Straight. Just run to the stream areas. Passed Nadim Ahmed at Control. He stopped for water, I didn't.

6-7: Straight. I was little low but not time lost.

7-8: This was my bonehead control. I should have been a gimme but I went brain dead. I dropped down instead of contouring to the control. So I was lower on the trail then expected. I ran to where I though I could see the bend in the trail but was no where near it. I cut into the woods and ra right to a boulder with a control that wasn't mine. Said High to Max Ahmed who was at the control also. I then wandered a bit trying to make sense of things. After wandering for too long I ran back to the trail, realized I was way off, corrected to ran to the control. Time lost: 5 minutes.

8-9: Straight. I was to far north so lost a little bit of time and was very hesitant.

9-10: Straight over hill right to the control.

10-11. Barrel down the hill to the control. I see Nadim ahead of me again.

11-12 Up the road and passed Nadim as we left the road. Very tired and trouble breathing going up the road. Dumb control. Would have been better to have the advanced courses go directly to the finish.


So overall, way to many mistakes. Attackpoint is right that I lost about 12 mintutes. Getting rid of any of the larger ones would have moved me up a lot in the standings. Still managed to be 2nd North American.

C6 - Splits