Training Log Archive: TomN

Flying Pig Day 2 Long Green. Another big disappointment. Boy, I'm on a roll. I ran very well on 13 out of 14 controls, taking only 66 minutes in total. But on that one control, 42 minutes.

It was No. 5, a long leg admittedly, but should have taken about 15 min. I made my way to the ridge trail in good style, and ran up the ridge to the junction where the little trail forks off to the left. I didn't even see that junction on the map, and still have trouble seeing the left-hand trail in all the green. But I took that left fork and didn't know it. And things didn't immediately strike me as wrong, so I kept pushing for the ponds, which of course, never arrived, and there it went from bad to worse. I got into a forest of brambles, and took forever to get out of them and relocate, all the way back to that junction, which I still didn't read right but decided to try because the other way obviously didn't work. And now there was blood in my socks.

So another good run ruined on a fairly easy leg. Other than the place where I shouldn't have been, the woods were reasonably nice, and the weather was a big improvement over yesterday.

C • the trail fork that everyone didn't see on long leg 2

OCIN_FP2014_Mounds_Saturday_Long_8 Green - Splits

Event: OCIN Flying Pig XVIII / US Interscholastic Champs
 

Flying Pig Day 1 Green Middle. I mispunched, darn it. Completely skipped #15, and then wondered why I had to go so far along the road to 16. But my time wasn't so great anyway because of a mistake earlier on #5. I had a good plan, but the real problem was I crossed the river downstream of where I thought I was. So I went up the last reentrant at the edge of the map, and recognized the problem pretty quickly, but contouring back along the slope was really slow due to bad footing in the mud. Probably 4 minutes lost. So, two big mistakes marring an otherwise competent run.

The course was physically demanding, made even more so because of the saturated ground and high water. I got soaked out on the model map just after noon, but no rain on the Middle course, just wind. Tomorrow should be nicer, but I'm sure it will still be muddy.

C • how deep? 2

OCIN_FP2014_Bear_Creek_Friday_Middle_8 - Green - Splits

Another E-Z run around GSFC perimeter road. Partly cloudy, temp in the 50s. A little faster this time. Did 6 strides on the flat sections of the dirt road. Felt it in the calves. No butterflies this time (more sun might have helped).

Easy run around GSFC perimeter road. The air warmed up rapidly as I was going around, and the sun came out. A beautiful afternoon. The hot water is out in our building so it was either a cold shower or a paper towel wipe down. (The wipe down, of course. It didn't get that hot.)

FOY lepidoptera (at GSFC) -- almost certainly an Eastern Comma (given the topside coloration it could hardly be anything else), but I didn't get a very good view. If it was a Comma, it was a pretty small individual, which may be normal for these overwintering adults. Unlike almost every other kind of butterfly, they emerge from the chrysalis in the fall and survive the winter, nestling in crevices in the bark of trees, emerging on occasional sunny days to mate (hopefully). This one was on the flat part of the dirt road just above the pond. It ended up on the outside of the fence where I couldn't chase it.

Event: QOC Patapsco Valley State Park, MD
 

QOC Patapsco/CCBC Catonsville Red. First time on some of this map, but we had used the western part in a meet last year. The new terrain was good, the old part was better than last year (because it was basically still winter this time).

Wow, full conditions. Pouring rain at 40 degrees F with 30 mph gusts, about as cold as you can get (paradoxically, it feels warmer when the temperature drops, and the precipitation is no longer wet). And then driving sleet during control pick-up, finally changing to wet snow.

I found that I wasn't hugely motivated for this run, but I tried to keep a steady pace and navigate well. Ted did a good job with the course, laying out some long, interesting legs. Mother Nature added some interest too. The steep hillsides were very hard to ascend and descend in the wet, even with spikes. Well, descending was fine, if you didn't mind a mud glissade with the occasional tree. The river crossings were scary and cold.

Some of the control placements were tricky. I had a few instances of standing less than 10 feet from the control, thinking it should be right here. It was, but it was hard to find. But basically I stayed in map contact, which was the goal.

And I appreciated all the rock detail, too. This is a hard skill for me, which needs work. I didn't handle the cliff control (#6 at the far west end) very well. Came down in between the rocky ridges and chose the wrong one. Something similar on #8, crossed the raging stream on a log with a death fall below, and then wasn't sure which rocky area I was in. All said, a tough course in difficult conditions.

Red - Splits