Training Log Archive: rachael

Got back from the New Forest at 2am. Woke up at 8:30 due to next doors rat barking grrr but managed to get back to sleep twice. Still really tired and very stiff this morning...
Finally got out for a very slow, quite long run at 1 oclock. Parked at the fox house as we planned to run round burbage in case either of us got too tired, but it was such a nice day that we ended up going along white edge and back along froggatt/through longshaw. Very slow at the beginning getting my body moving and had a dip in the middle when I started really running out of energy, but picked up again and finished ok. Very hungry by the end! Must have turned my ankle at some point yesterday as it was agony when I put pressure through it in certain positions.
Lovely day and good session to complete. Really need to do some recovery now and think i'll be running ok in a couple of weeks.

Event: British Night Champs
 

Event: National XC Championships
 

warm up for the xc

National XC on Hampstead Heath. Last time I ran here 3 years ago I ran 36:56, so 2.5 mins faster this time, but then it was won in a time 2 mins faster as well... Wasn't feeling that great this morning (tired and slight sore throat) so didn't set off as hard as I might normally. That was probably an error as I got quite boxed in at the top of the hill, but I did feel strong for the whole race which was unusual. Got a stictch 800m from the end and lost a few places which was annoying. Generally pleased though, given the stresses and training of the last 2 months I think I ran ok.
Hallamshire girls got gold which was awesome!

Changed out of my spikes straight after the race then ran Hampstead Heath to Belsize Park tube with a heavy bag as a warm down...

...where I jumped on a tube then train to Winchester where Alex met me then on to the New Forest for the BNC.
Warm up to get my legs moving again after the sitting on a cramped train. Should have warmed up for longer but didn't have time.

British Night Orienteering Champs, Silver.
Physically felt better than I expected but orienteered pretty terrribly! Very scrappy for a lot of it, particularly the first loop.
Made the mistake of not redoing my hair after the xc and my headtorch totally fell off on the way to number 2. Note to self - ponytail + headtorch is not a good combo. Tried to fix the problem whilst running but just ended up going totally the wrong direction and took a while to find the control (-50s). Couldn't make the contours make sense near 7 and lost a lot (-1:30), slightly too far right on 8 (-10s), hestiant near the control on 9 (-10s), was slightly too far left on 10 but then went further left to the wrong bush and had to go back (-15s), hestitant on the way to 15 (-15), 16 should have gone to the path (-45s), 17 took a bad route leaving 16 and got quite stuck, just didn't attack it enough (-55). Total time lost = 5 mins.
hmmm. basically I tried to run like I would in the light and didn't give the dark enough respect. Ordinarily on an area like this I would rely a lot on bearings as there isn't much on the ground, but you can't take bearings in the same way in the dark as you can't see far ahead. Should have slowed it down a bit but my legs just wanted to finish as fast as possible.
Thought it was a great course for the area but the map could do with a bit of work. Some of the bushes are mapped well but there are others that are missing completely. The contours around 7 were very dodgy and 15 was next to a huge marsh that's not on the map. Difficult to orienteer at night when the map isn't great. Wiped out 3 times landing with a thud on the floor. That's what I get for trying to read the map whilst running through tussocks in the dark..

Awesome to see alex get bronze and mark gold!

and finally a rant: start lists. This was the british champs. The M18L, M45L, M50L and W21L were all on the same course. In places there was only a 1 min interval between starters. In places there was a 4 min interval. There were only 11 people on W21L and yet two of them started 1 min apart. In other places there were 30 min gaps. There was a lot of running together between the top people on the various courses. This is totally ridiculous. Apparently there is no seeding or start list rules for the british nights. Why not? It is a british champs race and a uk cup. No wonder people don't take it seriously. If we are going to stick to individual starts then there should be a minimum 2 minute start interval and preferably people on the same course should be in blocks together. If necessary this course block could be split into two courses.
ok, rant over :)

C • BNOC Rules 2

warm down on my own to get my top from the start (which the start people had just packed into their car so followed them back), then with Helen and Sarah round the fields, then with Alex round a different bit of field.

loop through bole hill then back to pick up my bag and on to Jessop West. Hot water was working again :)

Had to get up at 6am to get to Birmingham for a workshop all day. Tired anyway but this wasn't the most restful rest day.

home to hallam

Just 2 sets of the programme this morning as didn't want to hurt too much for the xc.
2 x 5 x 45 mid thigh pull
10 BB squats warm up
2 x 5 x 72 HHS
2 x 2 x 5 x 35kg step ups
2 x 2 x 5 x 10kg single leg dead lift with knee lift
2 x {10 press up on bar, 10 hanging row}
2 x {8 x 5kg crunch, 8 x 8kg russian twist, 8 x 10kg hypers}

Hallam to Jessop West for an exceedinly cold shower as there apparently wasn't any hot water. grrrrr.

run over to goodwin as warm up with alex

early morning sprintervals with alex. Ran pretty much all of last thurdays session, just changed the end slightly so alex would get to work on time. hard work at this time of the morning and some big hills but great to get the session done. Orienteered pretty well :)

Goodwin to Jessop West.

warm up for night o with alex and ralph

Night o on Hugsett. Ran the long 4.8km course. Some of it went really well but I totally ballsed a couple of controls. Stopped short on 5 where I met Ralph (20s), really messed up 7 (1 min - i've been lost in that bit several times before - alex just about caught me up here), 13 I couldn't quite make the contours match the ground (10s), 14 I stopped a hill too low (20s), 17 I got the wrong angle out the previous control and was hesitant on the way in (15s), 18 I veered off line and couldn't quite make it make sense as the slope seemed to start earlier (45s). Great fun. Really love this area. Hope they don't fell too much of it too soon!

back to the car after

work to western park, drills then home. legs felt a lot more sprightly than i expected but could do with some stretching. yawning a lot after not getting home until 1am. Drank so much coke to keep me awake on the drive back from heathrow that i couldn't sleep when I got home.