Training Log Archive: O Steve!

I will post more later but wanted to thank Mike C. Julia, Ian and all the volunteers for the AR Tune Up. the work and effort put in to the event is really appreciated. Watching Ian hustle before the event to get things in place just reinforced all this...and I know that many people pitched in....but things like having to get the U Haul, do all the race stuff and then getting the U Haul back just reinforces the fact that so many tasks have to be completed to make it all happen....Kari and I had a Great time Sunday...

recovery ride...sore all over today....especially my paddling muscles...

Event: MNOC - Afton State Park
 

AR tune up....Kari and I had decided that we would put fun before all else knowing we would always try to do our best, but we had talked about just having a good time with everyone during the event and not stress about anything... we decided to race with Dan and Rebecca because they bring this out in us and by all accounts we had a great time. We just moved along the entire event...joking with each other and ribbing ourselves and our competitors the whole time....

Finish time: 4:23:50

Average Hr.. 140...fairly low for a race, reflects that we used navigation more than pure effort to finish well up in the field...

I might have to revise these later but I will take a stab at the different elements as we go...

Orienteering section...we hiked/ran after hanging around the back third of the field at the first CP....jog/hike the remaining controls with no errors and apparently ended up in the top third of the field getting in the kayaks with a quick Transition...joking the entire way and chatting with others as we went....helped one guy with CP 5 "did we miss CP 5?'....yeah, its back there in the reentrant, you can buy me a beer afterwards" Navigation was straight forward but it was an excellent start for the mixed field of novices and veterans..

to kayaks...we each had a job and did them quickly.....

straight out paddle which I thouht was good...I think it tested peoples aerobic paddling abilities without a navigation element and I think AR should test all types of skills...we were tired at the end and ready to be done but likely distanced ourselves from alot of chasers on the river...passed one team...no one passed us...

Mandatory 10 minute transition...good idea to insure no cheating by doing a half way job of deflating/cleaning and rolling kayak and leaving quicker...again we each had a job....

2nd Orienteering section...no mistakes navigaion or routes...CP 12 and 14 were awesome...really cool areas....Dan and I both navigation and backing each other up...mostly hiking with a few jogging session.....

T3 to bikes...switched out to biking shoes...time is an estimate....

had one navigation mistake on the easiest control on the race....missed going in to CP 16....Dan went by the side road, I thought we should turn and I did not say anything...I should have...we went up a hill and started down the other side when things did not match up and we turned around...Pete filmed the whole thing and we doubled back....probably lost 4-5 minutes but no biggie...we had passed a Team before we realized our mistake but ended up catching them anyway in the last half mile of the bike course....

Last O section after we dropped the bikes close...no errors but perhaps a :20 hesitation on CP 20...trying to shake the team that we passed by on the bike but either we led them to the controls or they knew what they were doing....mainly hiking with a little jogging...the other team got on their bikes first....

downhill then big uphill....we passed the team on the hill going up and Kari and I with Dan and Rebecca finished in 4:23:50....

hiking with a bit of jogging to set at Tamarack...

kinda cool to get a ranking number that helps assess and determine the quality of the result from an O course....obviously, with the multiple variables that impact a O result its tougher to determine "I ran my best/worst race today" unlike Run races or Triathlon its more difficult to "know" how well you did on an O course but apparently the "engineer/nerd" types from this sport have taken a shot at it with this ranking number calculations : )

does anyone (PFC/Ian?) know the possible upsides/downsides of this ranking score?....are there certain conditions that would naturally yield a higher point score from a result? (quality of field? navigation complexity of the course?)

discuss....

additional note...

hoping to prompt a fun provocative discussion.

As I look at results and try to decide "who is the best navigator in the MNOC group?" I think about who has the fastest pure leg speed and then look at how people finish at O meets...so who seems to be the best navigator? for me its Ian.....the guy gets results at O meets that brings him close or in front of people that I figure would beat him in a trail run...if you lined up pfc, jerritt and Ian at the start of a pure trail run I dont think Ian could remain close to the other two...but at an O meet?...sure pfc will beat Ian 90% of the time but Ian is never that far behind...dont get me wrong, pfc is awesome, I just give Ian the edge...the Bairds?...the guys are awesome athletes but I think Ian has the edge in navigation...

anyone else want to offer an opinion?.....have I missed some others, some lesser known MNOCers that can read terrain on the go with the best of them?...


and here is an issue I have been thinking about....it seems to me that the more you run in a park, and set, and vet on the local maps, the more you know them and that helps you at O meets in that area....soooo I figure some of my improvement is due to just knowing the park and map well...Ian, pfc, jj...thoughts on this?...toddP? what do you think?

C • I'll bite 25

another note...

Kari does not have a diagnoses as of today and thats a good thing. The CAT/PET scan did not show much, looked pretty normal and NH Lyphoma would have likely shown alot more. The Dr is going to go back and review the biopsy and consult with some other Doctors.....we should hear from them in 2 to 3 weeks. Apparently, if this DOES turn out to be NH Lymphoma it would likely be in a very early stage. And that is very good news. And there is still a chance it may not be that. Not sure how likely either of these scenarios are but just a week ago we were braced for much worse news.........

on the recumbent ex bike....

treadmill...3x8:13 miles with 1:47@15:00/mile walk and 5 minutes at 10:00/mile run in between the 3 mile intervals for recovery...very tough meeting interval...alot of clock watching...had three days of full day teaching on my feet so legs were sluggish but it still felt harder than I would have liked....

recovery part of treadmill run....