Training Log Archive: ebone

Event: Anza Borrego Desert O-Fest
 

Warm-up run before orienteering. My logged sleep time is a guess. I slept a bunch in the car, since Gavin Wyatt-Mair drove the whole way from the Bay Area, then I got a few hours of sleep after 4 a.m., once we set up camp.

Anza-Borrego Desert A meet: blue day 1. I ran moderately hard and decently cleanly for the first half, but I let my mind wander later in the course and had some big mistakes for a poor finish. My total lost time was probably in the 6-10 minute range. Other runners had problems, too, so it ended up not looking like as poor a run as it was.

I think I allowed my somewhat relaxed approach to the race (that I wasn't going to push very hard) affect my technical performance. It's hard to run less aggressively but still concentrate 100% on the navigation.

I had trouble getting my heart rate up much, maybe because I was still tired from Wednesday's intervals and leg strength work or maybe because I wasn't fully warmed up.

Warm-down jog after orienteering.

Warm-up run before the sprint at Anza-Borrego. I worked at the start and started last.

US Team fundraiser sprint at Anza-Borrego. I pushed hard. I made several small mistakes throughout the race, plus a big one (~1:20) near the end, when I attempted to go to #13 before visiting #12 (thought I was at 12 when I was at 11). I barely ever make this type of mistake, so it's disturbing and frustrating when it happens. At least I figured it out rather than skipping #12 altogether. Total lost time was 2:20-2:30 -- ugh! At least that means my fitness is okay right now, since a time in the low 14's would've been just fine, versus Morten Bostrom at 13:35.

Warm-down jog after the sprint.

Sprint - Splits

I went for a brisk run out the Sawyer Camp Trail N. extension, past Larkspur to where the service road goes under the trail, and back. My right intercostal muscles still hurt slightly. The pain in the left side of my chest came and went, but it hurt quite a bit when I was running fast down Conejo at the end. Maybe one of the ligaments that holds my organs in place is strained.

Ran part way out the N. Sawyer Camp Trail extension and back, taking it very easy and reading the day 2 Red course from Boggs Mtn. as I ran. My left hamstring was pretty sore and clinchy to start out with, but it felt better after about 15 minutes of jogging.

After about 4 minutes of the run, I noticed a bit of pain just below my right pectoral muscle. It's the pain that started during my first lap at the Bridle Trails 50k relay and has come back in each run I've done since. It subsided shortly after it began. I also have some soreness on the right side of my ribcage, probably from yesterday's strength training.

Warm-up and down for hill intervals at Mills Canyon.

4 sets of 3 x 34 fast strides (18.7-21.7 sec.) during about 1.5 laps at Mills Canyon. 9 of the 12 intervals were uphill and the other three were flat or downhill. I took 40-50 seconds rest between reps and another 40-60 seconds between sets. The workout felt pretty good, and my legs felt pretty zippy down the hills, where I reached a stride frequency of 105-110 (versus 95-100 on the uphills).

Hour-long skating lesson with Terry at Redwood City Roller Rink. A bunch of the time was spent either standing still and listening to instructions or moving in a non-strenuous way, but many of the drills were great leg, hip and core strength training.

Running around the neighborhood to warm-up for strength training.

Strength workout, mostly in the back yard. Some arms and core, but lots of leg stuff: Cotner dips, one-leg squats, bench/step jumping, hip exercises, etc.

Toting my luggage around--to the bus, in the terminal, to and from BART, etc--on the way to California. It was a good strength workout.

Off to scout potential O map area at LT Murray today.

I forgot that LT Murray is closed to the public right now, so the elk can winter undisturbed in the foothills. It's just as well, because a blizzard swept in today. It wasn't too bad for most of the way out, but steady snow and blasts of wind were coming forth as I approached and passed by Cle Elum.

After finding the locked gates and winter closure signs, as I was about to get back on I-90, I saw a man with a minivan who had spun out and had ended up a bit down the slope off the shoulder. I pulled off to the side of the entrance ramp and walked over to ask whether he needed help. He looked to be in his mid-20s and said he had plenty of gas and a cell phone. However, he didn't appear to have warm clothing or much of an idea how to deal with his situation. Maybe he was shaken up by having slid off the freeway backwards at high speed. I asked if he had AAA, and he did, so I suggested (to his apparent surprise) that he call them, because--you know--that's what it's for.

I was satisfied that he would get help, so I started walking back to my car, before deciding to go back and mention that he should tell them what position his car was in, so that they could send an appropriately equipped rescue truck (maybe that's obvious, but he did seem a bit dazed). When I returned, he said that his phone was out of juice. I offered mine. I figured it might be a while before they made it out to help him, so I decided it would be worth trying to extract the car ourselves. While he talked to AAA, I started digging with a bucket he had in the car. While I dug, a state patrol officer came and wrote the poor guy a ticket. After about 15 minutes, I had cleared a lane in front of the car.

I pushed the front of the car while he cranked the steering wheel all the way over and feathered the gas. The wheels spun, but we were able to rock the car into the cleared track and back onto the shoulder, still facing the wrong way. I had him back up about 150m until he could turn and back up onto the on-ramp to turn around, and he was back on his way. I thought I had had my excitement for the day until I hit a near white out on the way down from Snoqualmie Pass, after I'd already taken off the chains at the chain-off area. The snow on the freeway extended all the way to I-405. I fish-tailed a few times but kept it on the road and managed not to hit or be hit by anyone.

Anyway, the snow clearing was a good arm and core strength workout.

C • AAA 6

Used a big bucket.

I'll log some very easy running and biking I did in the afternoon and night. It was a beautiful, spring-like day in Seattle.

Easy recovery jog in the Arboretum.

Very easy ride around the neighborhood. North, East then South, down to BGT, up 100th and SP Way.