Training Log Archive: IndyBass

Miami Whitewater - M-Brown

Today I conceded to the injury and fatigue, and changed class down to M-Brown (which I did at last year's Pig, too, although for slightly different reasons).

I had a nice time on the course, although I struggled with a few more mental errors than the previous days. But, all things considered, I was satisfied with the weekend as I walked back to the car, and felt like a new guy when I changed clothes.

With the warmer weather, some different shoes, and visits to my Southwestway Park trail/hill loop between now and May, I hope to be better prepped for Michigan. I'm just going to keep trying to stay in M40, and see if I can get back to being able to tough out an 8km course in a reasonable time (no OT).

Cool thing of the weekend: The adhesive paper that they printed the Sportident splits on! I loved being able to peel that apart and stick it on the back of the map. Very nice.

Suck thing of the weekend: The continental breakfast at the HQ hotel. I've never really noticed the varying qualities of continental breakfasts before, but this one had NONE of the items that I usually go for. They had no fruit, no juices besides orange, no oatmeal, no peanut butter. Just lots of simple, starchy crap. They did have the belgian waffle maker, which I do like, but I like to top mine with fruit and nuts, so I was out of luck.

Plus, the space allocated for the breakfast tables and chairs was woefully inadequate. Well, the space wasn't an issue on the second morning, as most of the orienteers had gotten wise to the sorry state and had taken breakfast elsewhere. Smart move.

C • Nice splits anyway... 2

Brown - Splits

French Park Sprint 3

Burnet Woods Sprint 3

I did the best I could on these sprints, but all of my footing in the woods was very tentative (even with the stable Montrails), as I found myself favoring the left foot/leg (and making it sore as a result).

Also, I noticed that the fabric at the back of the heel on both Montrails has begun to tear, which gave me small blisters by the end of the Sunday course.

Usually, I'm able to turn up the heat a bit for an A-meet sprint (even the wooded ones), and I've consistently finished them in about 30 mins. These 45-min times are a telling indicator about what impact the injury was having.

Despite the hobbling, it was a brilliant day to be out on a map. I felt a little stronger on the second sprint, although that doesn't come across in the pace figures.

Looking at the split analysis, I can see why the second sprint "felt" better. On the first, I didn't start hitting my goal pace until leg 9, when the course exited the woods into the open areas of the park. On the second sprint, I bettered my goal pace on 8 of the first 10 legs, before some mental errors slowed me down on 11 and 12. The HR data also shows that I was exerting more (less tentative) in the second race.

Sprint 3 (Blue/Red) - Splits

Sprint 3 (Blue/Red) - Splits

Event: Flying Pig XI
 

Miami Whitewater North - M40+ Middle Distance

Generally, this was a pretty enjoyable day to kick off the weekend. I haven't been on a map in the woods for 2.5 months, and it feels good to be back at it.

Aside from #1 (took me too long to get my head into the technical section), this was a pretty clean run for me. I was happy to see that my overall pace was only a bit slower than my goal pace (15m/k), and on par with what I was running in late December.

I did feel the impact of my lack of outdoor running lately, though. The weather has kept me away from my SWWay Park hill loop for quite a while, and I felt it in my legs today.

I was really happy with my nav in the 11-14 technical section. I think I did a good job of simplifying the terrain and visualing a path through to the next bag. I spiked all these controls.

The big disappointment was the ankle sprain on the hard dirt road on the way to #15. My legs were fatigued, and I forgot to take some of the precautions that I usually take when faced with a hard surface in spikes. I don't remember even checking to see if there was grass at the side of the road, and I made no special effort to tense up my lower leg muscles as a precautionary measure. Then I hit a small rock or stick with the inside of my right shoe and turned my ankle.

Now, a couple of days later, I realize that my time with these shoes must come to an end. With my current weight and build, I can't continue to risk injury with shoes that emphasize traction over lateral stability. I do love the traction, but my recovery time from a sprain is too long to keep risking it. I need to seek out a stable trail shoe that doesn't sacrifice that stability too much for traction. Suggestions would be appreciated.

C • Trail shoes 5

Red - Splits

HRav/10mins = 141/151/157
HRav/overall = 140
HRmx/overall = 167
Tempo = 165bpm

HRs look really low this morning, compared to the first three miles of each of the weekend jogs. This will be the last exercise before the Pig. I've been fairly diligent since October, trying to build endurance. I hope it is enough. That 8+km Sunday course will be the first course of that length that I've tried since the Blue Ridge Challenge last year. Let's hope for better results!