Attackpoint - performance and training tools for orienteering athletes

Training Log Archive: Magic

In the 31 days ending Oct 31, 2015:

activity	#	time	miles		km		+m
Bike - Road	24	12:14:33	192.19	(3:49)	309.3	(2:22)	1159
Run - Orienteering	9	6:54:40	41.22	(10:04)	66.34	(6:15)	2037
Run - Trail	14	6:28:07	34.27	(11:20)	55.15	(7:02)	1752
Run - Fell race	2	1:59:18	13.34	(8:56)	21.47	(5:33)	1008
Run - Road	3	29:08	2.76	(10:34)	4.44	(6:34)	139
Run - Terrain	1	16:30	1.16	(14:10)	1.87	(8:48)	167
Total	46	28:22:16	284.94	(5:58)	458.57	(3:43)	6262
[1-5]	46	28:11:13

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Saturday Oct 31, 2015 #

7 AM

Run - Trail warm up/down 20:42 2.9 km (7:08 / km) +30m 6:47 / km
ahr:139 max:181 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Run - Orienteering race 46:57 7.11 km (6:36 / km) +302m 5:27 / km
ahr:159 max:168 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Istanbul 5 Days, Day 5, M21E, 6.0km, 265m, 19 controls.

That couldn't have been much closer, tying on points with the Austrian over fours days of orienteering, never with more than about 40 seconds between us in any race and the result being decided on total time instead.

Not so much my kind of area today, open oak wood with excellent visibility for most parts, a few areas of undergrowth and many steep hills thrown in. Still, it was fun and the orienteering enjoyable. Tried to run as hard as my body found acceptable (which isn't very fast), lost a few seconds on four legs (10, 14, 15 & 18) through a combination of hesitations and not fully understanding the map, also had one large mistake of 40 seconds by not climbing enough for #8.

The Austrian guy had a similar sort of race and beat me by 15 seconds today, that was enough for him to get the 5 points over me that he was behind but only enough to close the time gap to 11 seconds. Roar easily managed to stay safe in third with another decent run, however my bragging rights were returned as we finished the week 3 - 2 in my favour.

Run - Trail warm up/down 18:20 1.08 km (16:55 / km) +4m 16:36 / km
ahr:109 max:124 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Friday Oct 30, 2015 #

10 AM

Run - Road warm up/down 10:32 1.14 km (9:12 / km) +88m 6:39 / km
ahr:101 max:148 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Dobs on tarmac frighten cats.

11 AM

Run - Orienteering race 52:34 6.74 km (7:48 / km) +371m 6:07 / km
ahr:150 max:167 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Istanbul 5 days, Day 3, M21E, 5.1km, 300m, 23 controls.

Race was on an island an hour from Istanbul on the Asian side of the Bosphorous, nice trip out but a cold wind about - glad of a thermal. The O was super fun but probably not completely fair; lots of thickets and undergrowth made progress slow and spiking controls or finding small paths a lucky affair.

I was happy enough with my run when I finished, only really had two avoidable mistakes (#2 & 17, thought I'd lost about a minute or so but turned out to be over 2) but also lost a lot of time by failing to find the small path to #13 (3 minutes) and by running a few other bad lines. Also pretty slow in the urban bit at the end, especially on the steep downhills in dobs.

Roar faired much better than me today, finishing 3 minutes ahead of me and just 3 seconds off the fastest time, he's now in a solid 3 overall. I'm not so secure in my position with 5 points to the Austrian behind (or about 20 seconds).

9 PM

Run - Road warm up/down 12:54 2.5 km (5:10 / km) +50m 4:41 / km
ahr:138 max:146 shoes: Asics Gel GT 1120 07

Up to the Grand Bazaar with Roar and then a bit of messing around the side streets avoiding the resident cats and dogs.

10 PM

Run - Orienteering race 18:51 3.0 km (6:17 / km) +60m 5:43 / km
ahr:151 max:167 shoes: Asics Gel GT 1120 07

Istanbul 5 days, Day '4', Grand Bazaar, 2.6km, 26 controls (climb not measured.

Fortunately for me this doesn't count towards the overall week, not because I'm way too slow at sprints but because I visited #14 and #15 out of order. Never noticed during the course.

Super fun and made more enjoyable by not having seen the map before the start. The main Bazaar bit itself was easy and straightforward (if the controls weren't hidden) but the 'hidden' non-public bits were confusing and full of steps, levels and dead-ends.

It was very difficult to understand what was on what level, where steps went and where blockages were, so spent quite a bit of time going up and down the wrong steps and standing in courtyards trying to work out to get to the next one (studying the map before hand would have made this easy).

Well beaten by Roar again (even had I not been DISQ) but still really enjoyed the experience of running around such a unique place in the dark.

Run - Road warm up/down 5:42 0.79 km (7:11 / km) +1m 7:08 / km
ahr:113 max:124 shoes: Asics Gel GT 1120 07

Back down the hill to the hotel.

Thursday Oct 29, 2015 #

10 AM

Run - Trail warm up/down 17:21 2.84 km (6:06 / km) +38m 5:43 / km
ahr:140 max:171 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Found a lovely flat pipeline path through the beech woods to run along.

11 AM

Run - Orienteering race 1:28:15 12.72 km (6:56 / km) +411m 5:58 / km
ahr:156 max:167 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Istanbul 5 days, Day 2, M21E, 10.5km, 560m, 24 controls.

Another fun day in the woods. Again, loads of bramble vines - just when I thought I was getting the hang of them they would either trip or entwine me with no intention of letting go. Made the forest more interesting though as it'd probably be too fast and easy for my liking it it was just open beech wood.

Lost a few seconds on a bunch of legs, but it's impossible not to in this type of terrain/vegetation so the only time I could realistically have saved was when I stopped to show a girl where she was. I don't do this very often but she had a look of being completely lost and when I eventually worked out where she was on her map she indeed was (she was over a fold and above a different lake than she thought). Would guess that I stationary for about 40 seconds.

Happy with the rest and with my routes on just about all the legs, very physical area with noticeable climbs on most legs and although there was a lot of path running, many were so indistinct that constant vigilance was required to ensure that you were where you hoped you were!

12 PM

Run - Trail warm up/down 3:00 [1] 0.4 km (7:30 / km)
shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Very short and slow trot around the assembly area.

Wednesday Oct 28, 2015 #

11 AM

Run - Trail warm up/down 11:41 1.19 km (9:48 / km)
ahr:144 max:181 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Easy warm up with Roar.

Run - Orienteering race 40:26 6.2 km (6:31 / km) +202m 5:36 / km
ahr:160 max:172 shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Istanbul 5 Days, Day 1, M21E, 5.4km, 310m, 19 controls.

Interesting forest, steep hills with some lovely open beach and oak forest and some areas of undergrowth, mostly brambles, which oddly had taken to acting like vines and hung about the place hanging off trees. Have a cracking scar around my neck from nearly being decapitated by one such evil plant.

Didn't run hard but ran comfortably and mostly in control, so was pretty clean for most of it although it wasn't as smooth as I'd have liked. Once one real error though of about 30 seconds at #11 (just after I caught Roar). A very enjoyable start to the week.

12 PM

Run - Trail warm up/down 7:05 [2] 1.02 km (6:58 / km) +13m 6:33 / km
shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Easy warm down with Roar.

Tuesday Oct 27, 2015 #

Event: Istanbul 5 days

Note
(rest day)

Lots of walking around Istanbul with Roar. Not a bad place at all. Included a trip across the Bosphorous to Asia for a spot of lunch. Saw a tower and a cistern. Good place for cats.

Monday Oct 26, 2015 #

Note
(rest day)

Travelling out to Istanbul, all went nice and smoothly. Short walk around the old city in the evening to have a look around and loosen out the legs a bit.

Sunday Oct 25, 2015 #

3 PM

Run - Trail 56:33 8.19 km (6:54 / km) +304m 5:50 / km
ahr:133 max:181 shoes: Adidas Kanadia TR4

Not a sore after yesterday as expecting, but am stiff and tired, but just about manged to sustain a sensible pace over a hillier than expected route. Went exploring the woods around Abercynon, much nicer than I was expecting and some stunning bits along the river in autumn colours. Will have to add a version of this to the MDC run calendar.

C • abercynon forest used to be mapped 1

Saturday Oct 24, 2015 #

1 PM

Run - Trail warm up/down 12:30 1.94 km (6:27 / km) +149m 4:39 / km
ahr:134 max:155 shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

Up the first hill to remind myself just how steep the start is (and to find some cover to hide in).

2 PM

Run - Fell race race 48:33 9.55 km (5:05 / km) +463m 4:05 / km
ahr:167 max:178 shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

Sugar Loaf fell race. Wasn't planning on doing this but I was around with no other plans - maybe I should have made some! Felt slow on the first hill but was in a good position, but it then flattened off for a few km and I was well dropped.

Nice steep climb to the summit, which I just about managed to keep running (of sorts) before a very long and very fast descent. Caught two guys on the last short hill and went straight past, getting enough of a gap to stay ahead for the last few km.

Finished about 2 minutes behind Ben who was several minutes behind some very fast guys at the front. Body not at all used to this sort of abuse, much more punishing than my usual training. Will hurt a bit tomorrow but I think it's good overall.

Friday Oct 23, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 29:55 13.07 km (2:17 / km) +38m 2:15 / km

IW. Quicker than I felt like I was moving.

8 PM

Bike - Road 28:02 13.02 km (2:09 / km) +55m 2:07 / km

HFW. Beasting it once I got going, had the TT to myself in the dark which makes the twisty bit a lot more fun.

Thursday Oct 22, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 32:38 [2] 13.08 km (2:30 / km) +38m 2:28 / km

IW. A bit of mist about but not actually wet. Legs still tired. A good morning for flies.

8 PM

Bike - Road 29:28 [3] 12.95 km (2:16 / km) +57m 2:14 / km

HFW. Lovely evening and virtually had the trail to myself, even feeling half decent, though Tuesday DOMS still around. Too dark for fauna.

Wednesday Oct 21, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 32:38 [2] 13.0 km (2:31 / km) +38m 2:28 / km

IW. Wet but not really wet this morning, about time, it's been scary how dry it's been. The world (or cycle at least) not quite so beautiful for it. Good season for magpies. Legs tired.

6 PM

Bike - Road 36:10 [2] 12.94 km (2:48 / km) +61m 2:44 / km

HFW. Super slow in the quickly disappearing light, remembered everything aside from the battery for my big light so had to get home before it got too dark. Used yesterday as a barometer - apparently it gets dark much sooner when its murky out. Good evening for bats. Too late to make it to the Street O, unfortunately not late enough to miss the AGM! DOMS from last night.

Tuesday Oct 20, 2015 #

Bike - Road 31:00 [3] 13.0 km (2:23 / km) +40m 2:21 / km

IW. Watch failed to start so the world must be about to end. How many more cracking mornings can we have? Stunning along the river in the sunrise with the autumn colours - even the Fallopia japonica was looking like it belonged.

5 PM

Bike - Road 31:01 12.86 km (2:25 / km) +65m 2:21 / km

HFW. Lots of squirrels playing chicken. Moving slowly (me, not the squirrels)

6 PM

Run - Trail 1:08:06 9.85 km (6:55 / km) +217m 6:14 / km
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

Last MDC summer run of the season around the traditional route in Merthyr Mawr. Huge group, about 20, with a real mix of abilities so lots and lots of re-grouping stops. Beautiful evening and really enjoyed it, though feeling the weekend a bit in my legs.

Monday Oct 19, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 32:46 [2] 13.07 km (2:30 / km) +37m 2:28 / km

IW. Easy, yet another nice morning.

7 PM

Bike - Road 28:49 [2] 11.63 km (2:29 / km) +65m 2:25 / km

HFP2C. Nice in the dark, makes everything feel faster even when going slower.

Sunday Oct 18, 2015 #

Event: Compass Sport Cup Final

12 PM

Run - Trail warm up/down 5:00 [3] 0.95 km (5:15 / km) +1m 5:14 / km
shoes: VJ Falcons 14

Run - Orienteering race 46:34 [5] 9.31 km (5:00 / km) +296m 4:19 / km
shoes: VJ Falcons 14

CSC Final, Helsington Barrows, Short Brown, 8.5km, 340m, 22 controls.

Played it causla at the start, arriving to go straight in to the 2 minute box.. Happy enough with 20 of the 22 controls, even though James Logue caught a minute on me just before 8 (he should have stayed behind me as he missed it and didn't catch me again until I missed #16).

Didn't feel like I had any real speed but wasn't suffering from yesterday at all, was steady fr most of it apart from #10 (too high) and #16 (too low - and I knew I was).

Pleased to finished second in the Cup behind an M20 (would have been second in the Trophy behind James) as this really wasn't my type of terrain.

Amazing result from FVO to win the Cup, it wasn't even close. Best club in the UK.

Saturday Oct 17, 2015 #

12 PM

Run - Trail warm up/down 9:32 [1] 0.96 km (9:53 / km) +48m 7:55 / km
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

Run - Fell race race 1:10:45 [4] 11.92 km (5:56 / km) +545m 4:50 / km
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

Leg 3 of the FRA relays with Ben. Typical fell-running organising with dodgy maps and controls (rather, random people standing with an SI box - would it really be that hard to use a flag on a trestle?).

Lucky not to lose time at #1 (or #'A', as checkpoints were numbered A-G, why????) where the guy was standing a good 150m and 25m climb from where he should have been and had no problems with the nav.

Ben finding the climbs and rougher bits hard work (which was nice as it gave me a rest) but was running hard on the faster bits. Passed a good bunch of teams (maybe 25?) and lead a load in to #E as all the teams ahead of us were merrily going the wrong way.

16th on the leg (I think) which was pretty good considering we weren't moving all that quick for some bits. GG's time very impressive though. Team finished 24th which was better than expected after losing so many of the better runners recently.

1 PM

Run - Trail warm up/down 12:48 [1] 1.5 km (8:33 / km) +39m 7:34 / km
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

Thursday Oct 15, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 29:27 [3] 13.04 km (2:15 / km) +40m 2:13 / km

IW. A dog walker seemed to be in a bit of a rush and overtook me on a narrow lane (in his car), which was okay for me as he gave me enough space, however the gut cycling the opposite direction had to take to the bushes. Don't think the driver ever noticed him (it was under trees, he had no lights and was in dark clothing),

6 PM

Bike - Road 30:00 [4] 12.96 km (2:19 / km) +73m 2:15 / km

HFW. Flying, haven't felt so good in ages. Within half a second of breaking 30 despite heavy traffic and long waits at the lights. Had to be handy enough as it was getting dark and I only had a small front light.

Wednesday Oct 14, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 33:06 [3] 13.09 km (2:32 / km) +40m 2:29 / km

IW. Another cracking and cold morning. Fingered gloves today.

5 PM

Bike - Road 32:13 [3] 12.94 km (2:29 / km) +58m 2:26 / km

HFW. Saw a wee hairy thing with a bushy tail that wasn't a squirrel.

Tuesday Oct 13, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 28:30 [3] 13.11 km (2:10 / km) +40m 2:08 / km

IW. Burning it and smashed the lights, sub 30, result.

5 PM

Bike - Road 28:50 [3] 12.84 km (2:15 / km) +46m 2:12 / km

HFW. Lots of minor disruptions but no major ones, first time with two sub 30's for a while and first since the Radyr detour.

6 PM

Run - Trail 1:00:08 9.17 km (6:34 / km) +529m 5:05 / km
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

MDC run up Pen y Fan. Lovely evening with a nice nip to the wind. Went hunting the northern lights but it wasn't late enough. Felt reasonable running up the hill which was nice as I haven't done in a while.

Monday Oct 12, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 30:21 [3] 13.23 km (2:18 / km) +40m 2:16 / km

IW. Cold, surprisingly so, but what a morning, gloriously so. Cool still air made for some rather rapid progress, traffic and traffic lights not so much so.

5 PM

Bike - Road 31:13 [3] 12.96 km (2:24 / km) +47m 2:22 / km

HFW. Still nice and still cold, but not so much as this morning. Traffic and traffic lights also not changed much.

Sunday Oct 11, 2015 #

Note
(rest day)

Long day traveling home. Followed the match on the BBC website on the bus. Great result but shame about all the battered players.

Saturday Oct 10, 2015 #

Event: 25manna/25mannakorten

9 AM

Run - Trail warm up/down 16:38 [2] 2.06 km (8:04 / km) +24m 7:37 / km

Run - Orienteering race 36:30 6.95 km (5:15 / km) +51m 5:04 / km

25manna, leg 5 with KooVee, moved up a lag to run run with the 21's rather than the 40's sue to an ill M20. Didn't embarrass myself, finishing within a minute of two others and ahead of the 4th, so job done.

Clean race, didn't know what to expectas haven't orienteered in Sweden since O-Ringen '08 (need to get back more). Actually quite a straightforward course and the problem was my legs not wanting to move rather than my brain (was so scarred of messing up for the team that I concentrated really well!). Was 6 and a half mins down on GG but as we beat them overall I think it counts as a win.

Team finished 12th, which was better than average but also a little frustrating as the first few legs didn't go well and we were missing our top 3 runners. The girl on the last leg ran really well in the forest but had no kick for the finish and finished at the back of the pack from 8th-12th.

Friday Oct 9, 2015 #

Note
(rest day)

Long day travelling; left the house at 7 and in Stockholm at 8pm, so no time for any fun. Sunday will be similar - hope it's all worth it for a 40 minute race!

C • 25manna 2

Thursday Oct 8, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 28:06 [3] 13.03 km (2:09 / km) +39m 2:07 / km

IW. Sweet ride in, traffic and lights about as favorable as they could be. Glad I opted for gloves.

5 PM

Bike - Road 30:10 [3] 13.01 km (2:19 / km) +57m 2:16 / km

HFW. Caught a roadie who turned out to be an ex-colleague, had a good chat most of the way back with him. Would have been a handy enough time had I not been held for a full 100 seconds atone set of lights.

Have remembered to roll my quads (using a spiky ball) for the past four days and I think it's making a difference already. Must keep it up.

Wednesday Oct 7, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 30:48 [3] 13.0 km (2:22 / km) +38m 2:20 / km

IW. Body not really working properly yet, but it was dry and mild so a nice cycle.

5 PM

Bike - Road 30:47 [3] 12.91 km (2:23 / km) +44m 2:21 / km

HFW. Tried to push on a bit to get the body working, but it still wasn't having any of it.

Tuesday Oct 6, 2015 #

6 PM

Run - Trail 1:08:43 11.08 km (6:12 / km) +356m 5:21 / km
shoes: La Sportiva Crosslite (4)

MDC run in Cwmcarn, a change to the norm by heading north (due to felling) and out on to the hill. Mild dry evening (after a very wet day) and nice running conditions. Dark from about half way - major fail in that I remembered nearly all the bits of my headlight... Legs feeling tired.

Monday Oct 5, 2015 #

7 AM

Bike - Road 31:28 [3] 12.99 km (2:25 / km) +40m 2:23 / km

IW. Moving nicely enough in the surprisingly dark morning gloom.

7 PM

Bike - Road 27:07 [3] 11.56 km (2:21 / km) +63m 2:17 / km

HFP2C. Properly dark, had the cycle route to myself. Well mild.

Sunday Oct 4, 2015 #

10 AM

Run - Orienteering race 24:25 4.22 km (5:47 / km) +120m 5:04 / km
shoes: VJ Supra 14

SHI Relays, Llynnoedd Teifi, 3.8km, 3rd leg.
Quads very tight starting and didn't improve much, so never moving very quickly, didn't prevent a stupid mistake of over a minute at #7 though. Despite being very short it was a nice area for a relay with a reasonable amount of route choice between the hills. Another lovely day and enjoyable event.

C • Writing in Welsh! 1

Saturday Oct 3, 2015 #

Event: Veteran Home Internationals Individual & Welsh Championships Classic / Rela

Event: QO Long-O Day 1/2

10 AM

Run - Terrain warm up/down 16:30 1.87 km (8:48 / km) +167m 6:05 / km
shoes: VJ Supra 14

Ran quite fast to the start to see if my legs would feel any better than they have recently. They didn't.

Run - Orienteering race 1:00:08 10.11 km (5:57 / km) +224m 5:21 / km
shoes: VJ Supra 14

SHI Individual, Llynnoedd Teifi, M40, Brown, 9.0km.
Not a bad day out but not a particularly enjoyable one either. Feeling quite flat (still haven't completely got rid of my cold from last week) and my quads were being right plonkers.

Ran okay but with no strength and navigation was pretty similar with two silly mistakes costing about 80 seconds. Finished second, but well behind Nick (55 mins) who's time I wasn't capable of matching today.

However, a very enjoyable area to run in, nice and soft underfoot and a lovely day. Just need to sort my legs out.

C • LOL! 3

Friday Oct 2, 2015 #

Note
(rest day)

Should have been a bit more efficient with my time and created enough to get out. But wasn't.

Thursday Oct 1, 2015 #

Note
(rest day)

Onsite so no cycling today, planning a rest anyway.

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