Training Log Archive: ebone

Jogged with Bill to warm up for orienteering at Bullfrog Flats. I was really sore from yesterday, especially in my quads. My left achilles only hurt a couple of times while I warmed up, but I had to be careful not to bend my ankle forward too much--or pronate too much.

Ran course 4 at Bullfrog Flats. I had trouble with #3 (2.5 minutes) and #11 (0:30-0:45). There were some irregularities with both controls. Since my achilles felt volatile, I fashioned a heel wedge out of folded up cardboard and inserted it under the footbed of my left running shoe. My achilles twinged a few times, but the heel lift seemed to work really well for the most part--and most amazingly of all, it didn't even give me blisters. My injury seemed to get slightly worse (more prone to hurt when I didn't step properly) about one third of the way through the course then better for the last half. Most of the time it felt fine, and it only hurt when I planted my left foot in certain positions.

Hiked to Twin Falls and back with Bill. The round-trip was only 3.2 hilly miles, but we did a little extra exploring along the way and when we got there. Part of our afternoon outing was a picnic at Weeks Falls (and small (up to 5 megawatt) hydroelectric project), followed by walking around the trails at Olallie State Park. We saw some humongous old growth Cedar and Spruce trees, along with a bunch of sword, bracken, and deer fern, abundant moss and other epiphytic growth, and a bunch of the usual suspects. It's a beautiful piece of forest, but the South side of the Snoqualmie has just a tiny bit of terrain, so it would really only be useful for trail-O. After hiking to Twin Falls, we checked out the undeveloped part of the park on the North side of the river. It was remarkably open (for windward side forest), but it had very few features one could hang a control on. We turned around after tromping into the big hill, about half a mile in from the NW end. It was a good walk, anyway, and my achilles doesn't seem any the worse for wear after this morning, since it didn't bother me during all the walking.

4 - Splits

Ran the long-O at St. Edward and Big Finn Hill. It was my first real run in many, many days. I wore running shoes, and my achilles didn't bother me, despite me running pretty hard, especially from control 1 to control 5, when I was trying to catch Martin and Bill and hadn't assimilated all the water I had drunk yet. I eased off a bit after about control 7, since I was comfortably in the lead after Martin and Bill's bad route choice (cul-de-sac, probably 5-10 minutes lost). Some of my race was intensity 3 and some was intensity 4, but I'm logging it as intensity 4, because it was tough after doing so little for the last couple of weeks.

Set out controls for training courses at Hamlin Park. I was tired from the orienteering, and my left achilles started hurting again after I jammed it a few times when I wasn't being careful. D'oh! At least it didn't hurt in the evening afterward.

3 (long) - Splits

Set out controls at Meadowbrook for the Seattle Waldorf School game day.

Picked up the course at Meadowbrook, running moderately hard. I felt sort of sluggish and out of shape.

Ran around a little while designing courses for training tomorrow and for class on Tuesday. I was really hungry, sleepy, and generally low on energy.

Rode the Bonelli to Bikesmith and back to see about getting a new cassette hub. It would cost about $50, and it would still be a POS, so I decided to wait for a second hand wheel from Stephen's Killer V. Riding with a slipping freewheel is quite a trick.

Set up controls for O' class, ran around to check on the students and pick up a few markers, then took down the rest of the markers at the end. My left achilles feels pretty good today.

Rode from Stephen's to 40th Ave Park and Ride (6:13 for 1.14 mi.), then most of the way home from Montlake (14:19 for 2.21 mi.); I caught the 44 for a few blocks. I bent my leg too much and twinged my left achilles badly once. It was really hot today.