Training Log Archive: Kseniya

Event: 2015 Seattle Adventure Running Tournament
 

And the crazy Seattle Adventure Running Tournament begins!

Time Trial at Green Lake Park. Fast Oing, my legs, though, not so fast. I came in 23rd, which was not that bad actually. Nice way to wake-up the day; felt refreshed. However, many more races were ahead of us, and energy conservation was going to become very important.

Round 1: Woodland Park

There are white woods in Seattle! I've seen them, ran through them; it was not a mirage. ;) This was a nice long sprint, not many route choice legs though. Eric Bone was in my heat and I tried to stick with him for this race. He wasn't pushing hard at all so I was able to do that but probably I could have slacked off more. I did manage to jump from a short wall and fall forward coming in to the sports park but no damage was done.

Round 2: North Seattle College

Ahh! Now the real fun begins. Multi-level map and sprint, what a blast. In this round I was battling Siri for third place since sticking to Eric B or Graeme was not an option. Siri is quite fast and I couldn't lose her until control #7. I had no problems deciphering the map and ignoring the uncrossable wall symbol. It made sense to me and actually made the upper level pop out more, helping to visualize the campus in 3D. After coming into the parking lot / field / foresty part I could relax a bit and cruise to the finish. I was also battling Tori for time but she made some mistakes, and so I advanced to top 20! Woo-hoo.

Round 3: North Seattle College

Well, with four super fast dudes in my heat I knew I had absolutely no chance of moving up. TF, I jogged this course to save my legs. Since my body was not in race mode, my head was not in it either, and I couldn't focus well, making silly mistakes and not reading the map. Got myself together after a while, as it is still good mental practice.
Now it was beginning to be fun to watch the top men and women battle it out.

Made it to Seattle! Glad I had a smooth transition from wilderness to city (back in 2013 when I tried a similar stunt (isolation to city) it did not work well for me and I had a panic attack). On this lazy morning Will, Erin, and I went on a shake out run in Discovery Park, and only discovered that we were lost a few times. My legs felt pretty dead from the hike and I was sore all over but def. felt better afterwards.

I made it back alive and well! Already had the best mediocre burger, pepsi never tasted so good, and a bath and a beer were magnificent.
This backpacking trip was a great experience: a coalescence with wilderness, forever moving forward, climbing up, climbing down, sometimes in pain from carrying a heavy pack, sometimes forgetting where I was or what I was doing, but every evening and night, standing still and enjoying simplicity of life. Proud that I was able to do this on my own.
I will write more about each day at a later time.

C • You're safe! 6

I'm off to hike the Desolation Wilderness for the next three days. If I don't emerge Wed night, don't look for me.

C • And if we do look for you? 4

US Classic Champs Day 2: Red, 8.7 km, 225 m climb

Solid but not sufficient. Body just too tired today, no aggressiveness at all. Strategy was just to be clean and so I may have over-read the vegetation a little bit today. 2nd place overall for the US Champs behind Ali, who got me by 12 minutes today.

I'm still fairly content with my performances this weekend. I didn't have any major mistakes, had good contact with terrain and map, slowed down when I needed to, sped up when I needed to, and most importantly, I trusted myself and my abilities. Also, I'm not sure whether it's because of the sickness or not but elevation these past two days have not affected me as much as it has in the past. :)

Analysis:

Pre-Race:
"I have to perform today. No mistakes allowed. I must not get in my own way."

Race:
Earlier start time today and it is a bit cooler, which I appreciate. I jog and stretch as warm-up to the start. Legs are not feeling springy today though. The climb to #1 I already feel heavy. Drop down to trail to #2 and attack from veg boundary but get a little confused in the control circle. Contour around, check off open areas, up and straight to the control, again, relying on veg. for support. Then I wonder off on my way to #4. Have no idea why. I take a bearing and follow my compass past the trail but then I realize I’m way right. Because I’m not sure how far up I am I go in slowly, pick up the trail leading to the control but then I hesitate close to the control circle. Nothing is making sense. I see the flag eventually but this mistake leads to diminished trust and confidence. I sort of aim for lower trail to #5 and then just go straight to the control attacking more precisely from the open area next to trail. The hill prior to #6 is killer and has logged areas that slow me down. Once at the top I hit it no problem though. Easy to #7 but I leave it in a rush and unintentionally get stuck in the green stuff, losing time. Agh.. I eventually drop down to my intended open reentrant and attack #8 straight from there. Trails to #9, feeling slow and lacking yesterday’s fighting energy. Attack from trail cautiously and precisely. Straight to #10, #11, not moving fast. Straight even to #12, not the best idea but it worked. Last section is painful and I execute it with desperation to finish.

I feel a sense of joy once I complete this race because I finally am not fighting myself out there. I finally feel I’m orienteering well. Still slow today but not bad. I’m proud of my performance on these past two days.

Positive:
No blow-ups under pressure

Negative:
Hesitation and lack of fighting energy

Red Classic Day 2 - Splits