Training Log Archive: Jon X

Event: Southern Championships & UK Cup Race
 

Southern Championships M40L, Epping Forest.

I impersonated a headless chicken here quite frequently back when I was a junior and it didn't take long for me to roll back the years....

Would have been nice to get there in time to use the warm-up map but it was the opposite direction from the start so instead I settled for a run to the start, perfectly judged to arrive with 10s to spare. Felt well warmed up (40min walk from the tube station helped too), ideally so for dashing off the start with no real plan for how to find a shallow depression in amongst vegetation in perfectly flat forest......

Three mins gone there was nothing compared to the similar issues in much greener forest at #3 - a comedy 10mins down by the time I found the third control!

Not quite racing so hard after that but I did pretty much remember thereafter how to orienteer in Epping - occasionally I lapsed back into believing the vegetation mapping or the vague paths but mostly okay.

10th (!) place 22mins down on Jules Birkinshaw. And 6 mins down on Gary (M50L was the same course). It will all be different next weekend.....

Event: The 5th City of London Race
 

London City Race M40+
Down in 14th or something
- a minute running up the dead end at #5
- another minute plus making a mess of the first control in the Barbican at #11 (overconfident and looking at next leg, suddenly it was all different from expected)
- nearly two minutes coming back out of the Barbican to #13 (classic - thought it was up high and climbed to a walkway, only ro run along it looking forlornly down at where I should have been)
- then 30s or so on the leg to #14 from a bad route.
A bit demoralised through the next couple but picked it up a bit again after that.
Not too chuffed with the result but actually not as far off the pace as I feared, could have been top five. No way could I have run under 46mins like Rich Barrett though!

hangover from hell this morning....maybe rehydrating on wine after last night's run was not genius....

On the first flight down and at a work thing Thur/Fri with overnight stay. Hotel was on the south edge of Star Posts so it was a shame that we finished for the day about 35-40mins before the dinner was starting.
Skipped the pre-dinner drinks for a very very short run in the woodland and heathland, some of the wood looking very nice and runnable, shame I didn't have longer.

Interlopers urban event, Buckstone.

I thought this might be a good warmup for London on Saturday.
Not so sure now as I am hoping London will not have a prevalence of controls that are mini-kites in poorly mapped woodland! Number 6 the worst culprit, I was not alone in never finding it.
I also didn't help matters by starting after 7pm so it was pretty dark in the woods by the end - struggled to find 13 and 15.
Quirky 1:6000 map scale, could be a first for me.
All good fun though, glad I went for the run round and worth getting out with a map before the weekend.

no wd

Run with Rosco from the uni, across to Glen Road to check out the (impressive) damage and then up Kippenrait (still pretty much a stream) to survey the flood carnage there too. Across at the bridge and back down the other side. Path closed on the way back where it has been washed away at the stream crossing but we paddled across.
Really enjoyed it tonight, change of scenery, a nice steady pace, and feeling pretty comfortable considering. Good.