Training Log Archive: Kseniya

Event: WCOC Huntington State Park
 

Becky's training #1: Fun short course, control pick style. Good focus and understanding of the map. Everything below the knees hurt, calves still tight.

Becky's training #2: Greener short course. Stretched my calves out a little bit after the first one and pain subsided. But, I was getting hungry and my focus started to wane. Good exercises. Thanks, Becky!

Red course. Very nice design by Niels; I greatly enjoyed it. Didn't push hard, even though Andis told me that if he wins this one, I don't belong on the WOC team. Oh well, demote me. My goal was to keep good concentration and map contact at all times, at which I mostly succeeded. Legs still felt somewhat sore, esp. on the uphills.

C • marked 2

Really stretching out the calves and hamstrings.

Red - Splits

Verona park with strides thrown in

Hip alignment

Easy run to Verona Park. Legs feeling alright. There was new snow on the ground; not a joke.

So regarding the Sprint discipline:

Probably like everybody else I was surprised to hear the announcement that I will be running the Sprint at WOC. It was certainly not listed as one of my priority races for this year. To have the slowest woman (based on track times and 3 km tests) run the Sprint discipline seems silly and strange, even a little embarrassing for the whole team. Sure, my result will not matter a hell of a lot, but nevertheless, it will matter to the spirit of the US team, it will matter to the home base, and it will matter to me. Life never goes according to plan. I did not expect to be running the Sprint at WOC but I will not shy away from this challenge.

Sprint has not been my favorite discipline in the past primarily because of my lack of speed but also because I love forests so much. I grew up in the woods and they are my sanctuary. The canopy provides a sense of protection. Sprint venues, on the other hand, are exposed. Not only do you have to apply more sunscreen but you also are more open to the public eye. Every mistake is witnessed by spectators or other athletes and is also very costly in terms of time, every nanosecond counts, every wrong foot step is an addition to inefficiency. When you take a pause in the Sprint, it feels like eternity. Optimization matters a great deal.

It is definitely an interesting race and there are a few things I truly enjoy about it. For example, the necessity to think quickly and decisively, the constant turn of direction, the acceleration. Sprint venues are also cool and fun to run through, places where you normally would walk or be a tourist, places occupied by moving objects.

There are many things I will need to work on, such as reading ahead and having smooth entrance and exit from each control. This will help me in the Middle discipline for sure. I also need to get over my fears of running on pavement. My 70 year-old modern dance teacher said that one should imagine the floor as being made up of marshmallows, and so I shall attempt to picture pavement in the same way. Running up and down stairs is another area for improvement. Proper knowledge of control descriptions will be crucial. Basically, I will need to run as many practice Sprints as possible this spring and summer.

Interestingly, training for the Sprint will coincide with my relocation to NYC in the next couple of months. I am embracing city life more and concrete is part of that. To go off on a tangent a little bit, one of the most fascinating topics to me is the relationship between man and nature. I’ve studied it a little bit from both the anthropological and ecological sides. The coupling and decoupling of human-environmental systems is culturally dependent and varies with place and time. There is no actual separation but the perception is a such, and it is especially evident in city life. Training for both the urban and forest races is an opportunity to explore this topic further for myself. The good thing is that I don’t have to decide between the two. I’m racing both types and I will train for both.

In conclusion, I accept this challenge to train for my weakest discipline and I’m thankful for this opportunity to grow.. even a few millimeters. :P

C • Some seriously good thinkin... 14

I'm very happy to have made the 2015 WOC Team and excited about the upcoming challenge of training for Sprint and Middle distance.
Super thankful to everyone who believed in me!

C • Keep working at it and you'... 12

Forcing my legs to move. Definitely did not have ~100 m of climb on this as GPS says.

Carter Caves Middle - 4.2 km, 230 m climb

Did not sleep well last night and was incredibly out of it this morning. Terrible hotel coffee did not help me in combatting sleepiness. Took a Gu prior to the start and that helped a bit. My legs were feeling very heavy and lacked any spring. This course gave in tougher physically but I still tried to push hard the whole way. Navigationally, it was just OK and I did make mistakes that could have totally been avoided. #7 was a stupid mistake where I saw Alex, who started 3 min ahead of me, leave in the direction of the next control and lost concentration and whatever rough bearing I did have, veering left and running right by the control. Told myself to not make such mistake again. The green threw me off a bit on #8; next few controls were good. Coming into #12 I see Alex again, and again I falter. First, by running hard into a stick in the green with my side body and second, by messing up the next control. I was going into fine but then started doubting position on the slope, stopping short and losing time. Told myself again to keep focus and stop being an idiot. The last loop was purely physical, however, and I did not have much energy left in my legs. Road/trail to #14, lower trail to #15, trail to #16, countering and trail to #17, wait for it, trail to #18. Strong uphill finish.
Counted 300 m of climb from the map..

So my focus was actually quite decent on legs where I was not trying to catch up to Alex. TF, this was a valuable experience to learn from. Entering and exiting the controls was good. Route choice selection could have been better.

Cool-down with Alex. I caught her at last.

Middle - 7 Green J 10 F-21 - Splits