Training Log Archive: maprunner

I am pleased with my three runs at West Point. Slow but clean is exactly what I needed right now. In 2019, my "consistency" rating on on Winsplits for the 3 West Point races were 13.3, 15.9 and 22.4. This year, they were 12.8, 14.5, and 9.0. Good progress.

West Point Long, Brown X

A few weeks ago my Fitbit gave me a readiness score of 100, so I felt ready to run a hard 5k. This morning, my Fitbit said my readiness was 1. Not a good day for a Long race :)

I didn't hear the announcement about the start delay, so I got to the start on time and then had to wait 20 minutes. They were putting people in at all times, and Sandy started one minute ahead of me. That meant I felt compelled to run hard on the road to the first control. I was nervous about finding one boulder in the green, but Sandy and I took different angles in the control and that helped me. Plus it was an obvious boulder.

I took it slow and careful to 2, and struggled with the vegetation on the way to 3. This would be the story all day: slow struggle through the vegetation.

I ran part of the way to 4 but still had to walk the uphills. AP says I lost time here, but that was speed, not navigation.

I was going fine towards 5, trying to stay in the white woods, when suddenly nothing made sense. The last thing I knew for sure was the big cliff. So I wisely stopped, looked around and figured out where I was. That's progress for me. Previously, I would have wandered a bit. Bobbles on 6 and 7, but once again I stopped and figured it out. Whew!

8 was tough. I was afraid of finding the right "boulder on hillside" so I stayed high until I knew exactly where I was and could see the boulder. It was so hard to get down the steep hill covered with leaves, but it was the same for everyone. I was really tired at the end, but once again, pleased with the clean (slow) walk.

Long - Brown-X - Splits

Event: West Point Annual National Ranking Event
 

West Point Middle, Brown X

My goal for the whole weekend was to be consistently good. No big blowups. I felt OK at the start and took it very slow to the first control. I went straight but I should have stayed high as I saw Sharon doing.

I got mixed up in the laurel on the way to 2 and came out slightly off, but figured it out quickly. The next few controls went well. I felt comfortable with my pace and map reading and was checking off features. It helped that this was a control picking course, and you could stay in map contact easily. I jogged occasionally, but mostly had to walk through the rocks.

I was a bit hesitant on the way to 7, and had to stop once to take a rock out of my shoe. AP counts this a mistake :)

Leaving 8, I was excited to look up and see exactly where 9 was going to be. So I took off running, and promptly tripped and fell flat on my face. Someone asked me how I was (a woman) and then Mike was there too, asking how I was. I knew I was mostly OK but my calf hurt. Not bad, just off. I got up and moved on slowly.

9-10-11 was a slog up the hill and through the blueberries. I was getting tired. And then came to slog down the hill to 13. That was also tough. And my foot got stuck between two rocks and I had to take off my shoe again to get it free. Another AP "mistake" :) I was so happy to hit the trail and get into the finish.

I was pleased with my clean but slow race. And so nice to be back in the West Point woods again.

West Point Sprint, Brown

We had to wait about 4 hours between races. The first thing I did was wrap up my calf and take some ibuprofen. Then I ate and visited and took a nap. That felt good.

After the nap, my calf was feeling OK so I decided to try the sprint. I felt a twinge once or twice but it was fine for the most part.

In the recent past, I have had a terrible time at sprints. I go out to fast and get brain dead. Today I was determined to be careful to the first few controls. We could all see the first control, so that was easy. I was still running a bit faster than I was reading the map (I didn't see route choice to 2 and was surprised that the control was downhill) but I settled into the next few easy controls.

I hesitated a bit to chose a route from 6 to 7, but I didn't stop long enough. I looked at the left route but didn't see that it went through. So I started right but got a bit mixed up and had to backtrack to the stairs.

I couldn't tell which side of the wall 9 was on (still not able to read map/descriptions well on the run) so I started straight then backtracked when I saw it was on the other side. I never saw the option to keep going straight and take the stairs.

On 11, I wasn't sure which side it was on, again, so I took the longer route around in case I had to backtrack.

I was getting tired now and missed 12 and had to go back up to it. That was annoying. I pushed into the finish but not as fast as I should have. Nancy got me by 1 second! I suppose my mistakes could have been a factor, too :)

Minor mistakes are still a good sprint race for me lately, so I'll take that. And it's easy to fix: more sprint route choice exercises for me!

Always lovely to run on this map. I had fun dodging the tourists!

C • Route to #7 2

Middle - Brown-X - Splits

Sprint - Brown - Splits

Various walks with dogs, niece or nephew throughout the day

C • And with me! 2

Quick little outing at Holcom

Set 1
20X walking lunges, body weight
10X seated row
12X TRX row

Set 2
10X elevated heel squat, body weight
10X overhead press
20X band press

Walking through neighborhood with Sandy. We were out for 75 minutes and some of it was quite aerobic. She had a lot on her mind today!