Training Log Archive: Craig

NOL Long Hagaby at Collins Creek.
Heart crap from the start yet again but I was determined to plod around and finish anyway.
On my own by half way to number 1 so I was able to relax and jog along quite comfortably at a pace my heart could tolerate. Matt McGuire and then a few others passed me on the climb to 3 but they all seemed to disappear after 4 so I kept cruising around on my own for the rest of the first loop without any real time loss.
Had a couple of juniors come past me early on the second loop which lured me into rushing things a little. Got away with it without losing any time navigationally but I think it pushed me out of my comfort zone and I had to start walking more often to try to keep the heart rate under control. Bryan Keely came past a couple of times after 8 and then seemed to be heading off the wrong way approaching 9. Got sucked into going a bit too fast for my heart again here.
Third loop was a longer loop for me and I had Bruce come past into the first control having done the longer loop earlier. Bruce seemed to be making enough mistakes or poor route choices for me to keep catching up to him at controls which again sucked me into going a bit too fast until he tore his calf half way to 6. He assured me he was ok so I kept going and tried to settle back into a more sensible pace now that I was on my own again.
Caught Mikko at 8 and was struggling to control the competitive urges again so I tried to walk more frequently hoping he would get away and let me relax but he must have been tired because any time I walked he would walk too. I was feeling pretty good apart from my heart so I tried push a couple of the downhills to see if I could get ahead instead but to no avail.
Starting the final loop I was feeling a little frustrated at being unable to race so when Oscar appeared behind me at the first control I couldn't resist trying to go with him and use him to get clear of Mikko. I thought I would try to help make sure Oscar got the tricky 3rd control by taking a safe low route I went a bit too low and lost 30 seconds dropping behind Mikko again. I went hard down the hill to 4 hoping to see them and Oscar lost some time so I was back in touch. Stayed with Oscar across to 5 and got a small gap on Mikko then went as fast as I dared up the hill to the last control trying to make the climb as gentle as possible. I had been thinking mostly of the team result but when I popped out on top of the ridge just ahead of oscar i didn't want to waste what might be my last opportunity to beat him so I ignored my heart and ran as hard as I could to the last. Punched the last 2 seconds ahead and sprinted hoping to hold enough of a gap for long enough that he wouldn't bother straining to get past a team mate for 7th place. I'm not sure if he let me have it but I hung on by 1 second and we were 5 seconds faster than anyone else in the finish. On the last 4 splits I was 2nd, 4th, 2nd, 2nd. Probably not very smart as it took several hours for my heart to calm down but I enjoyed it.

NOL Sprint at QUT Kelvin Grove.
Went into AFib about 30 seconds before the start so I walked the first 30 seconds or so and then jogged most of the rest walking any time it got a bit tricky or steep. Pretty tricky course so it was still quite enjoyable and I was sort of glad to have an excuse to take it slowly and not screw up too much.
Beat Oscar to number 1 but almost 8 minutes down by the end.

NOL Sprint chasing start at UQ St Lucia.
Second last starter apart from the mispunchers and in AFib before the start again so my only targets were to not be last finisher overall and not be beaten by Aston Key on the second race.
Walked out of the start again but got jogging a little earlier this time. Almost kept up with Lillian Burrill for the first few controls then on my own apart from a few late starters running past me through the loops. Saw Geoff Stacey ahead of me after the loops so was resigned to coming last until I saw Aaron Simson-Woods ahead of me leaving 23. I was able to catch up on the downhill to 24 and then probably ran a little harder than I should have through the last few controls to hold him off and avoid coming last. Beat Aston by a few minutes too.
Oscar cruised to a clear 30 second win after Olle Poland made a mistake leaving 19.

Easy run around Upper Coomera with Rachel. Got through the whole run without any heart malfunction but couldn't make it through a day at movie world.

Final day of Easter at Rosenthal Creek.
Tried to take it really easy at the start today in the hope of making it a bit further before my heart packed it in. Having to wait at the maps for 10 minutes while they sorted out a problem with the control descriptions helped to remove any temptation to start quickly.
Climbed to the big rocks at the top of the hill on 1 and then took a while to convince myself to drop down enough to get to the control. 2 was ok. Went much wider left than I intended on both 3 and 4 but found the controls ok in the end. Exit from 4 to the track wasn't the best but rest of the leg was ok apart from a bit of time trying to scrape off spiders just before 5.
Heart went leaving 5 and I felt pretty bad so I walked most of the way from 5 to 10 just jogging the downhill into 8 and a few other easy bits here and there. Ev went past after 6 and Simon between 8 and 9.
Started jogging again just after 10 and kept it up most of the way through to the creek crossing before 13. Wasn't entirely sure where I crossed the creek but when I tried to relocate on the other side I realised the control was right in front of me.
Heart seemed to come good after the walk up to 13 so the last bit was nice apart from whacking my head on a low branch and spending a bit of time at 14 punching the dud si unit twice and then punching the reserve box on the map.
Heart stayed ok for the rest of the morning including walking course 24 with Liam which was a painful process because I forgot to take a water bottle which led to a lot of argument and accusation. I think I only drank one cup of water between leaving home in the morning and getting back in the afternoon. Heart started to play up again as I got out of the car when we got home.