Training Log Archive: iansmith

West Point Blue Day 2, nominally 8.4/250. I was again stymied by crappy conditioning and poor orienteering and was scalped by a tremendous performance by Alex. I think this is only the second time she's gotten me - the other was at the Billygoat a few weeks ago. Le sigh. Of course, I don't like losing to anyone, no matter who they are; still, this is yet another clarion call.

I started acceptably to 1, but overran 2 for a loss of a minute. Control 3 was trivial, but a sloppy attack into four cost another minute. I misread 5 as being in the bottom of the reentrant, so despite a good attackpoint, I dropped too low for another minute loss. I hesitated in the circle at 6 for 30s, and finally started to get things together at the easy 7. I bombed down the hill for 8 cleanly, hit my target cliff, and then slogged slowly up a few lines. The 22+ C heat was really getting to me, and I drank two cups + Gu before continuing.

I thought I had chosen a good route to 9 - right, low - but I lost over two minutes, possibly because I was reluctant to climb. Ten was fine; on 11, I went right around the marsh, which apparently was slow. Control 12 was a navigationally trivial sidehill followed by a trivial uphill; I was slow on both. I chose the apparently slower low route to 13, then suffered through an easy 14. My route to control 15 was mostly an easy trail run, but my slowness continued to be not fast. Legs 16-17 were a torturous uphill - probably 16% average grade - followed by a death-defying downhill; I made an apparently incorrect right route to 16 followed by a 30s microroute error. I was fine on 17. I finished with a labored ascent over the last spur to 18 and a pedestrian crawl into the finish. Apparently, I lacked oomph.

C • Highlander 2014 2

Warmup jog to the start. I bopped into Manhattan yesterday for about five hours to see two friends that I haven't seen in over five years - Katherine and Madeleine. I walked around a bit as they each showed me a little bit of their lives, but I didn't get back to Peekskill until 1 AM.

C • Lodgings 1

Blue day 2 - Splits

Event: West Point A-Meet
 

Blue Day 1, nominally 10.4/225. I ran (and bonked) on Round Pond at my first West Point meet 7 years ago; I had vague memories of the terrain, but my orienteering comprehension has so dramatically improved that once bewildering sections seemed trivial.

West Point courteously reminded me that my physical conditioning is inadequate. I was very frustrated by numerous mistakes I made - technical errors which I could have avoided, though deciphering the terrain was tricky and could best have been solved by more intelligent routes. I didn't have enough stamina to be competitive today, but it seemed like everyone but the Zhyk and Wyatt was equally terrible.

I started somewhat aggressively, running like a middle distance. I made a stupid mistake coming into 4 when I ran low instead of high around a cliff costing perhaps 20-30s. I was slow marching up to 5 and slow but accurate converging on 6. I proceeded to make two stupid 1 minute mistakes on 7 and 8 - first veering left on my attack, then going up a hill because I didn't read the terrain well enough. I'm content with my route to 9, though it might have been smarter to bail to the trail earlier. I was starting to lag a bit en route to 10.

I caught up to the Teutsch at 11, then we both blew 3 minutes being unnecessarily confused and stopping early at 12. Furious with myself, I nailed most of my route to 14, then turned one reentrant too early, losing 45s. I attacked 15 poorly for a loss of 90s, then discarded 75s getting confused by green en route to 16. The rest of the course was not difficult, but I was very slow.

The climb was underestimated (by at least 2x), and some control locations were dubious, but the biggest limiting factor was my glacial pace and poor map reading. I finished in an undeserved fifth.

Warmup scamper to the start, which I feared I might miss. I caught up to Misha, and he jogged with me for the rest of the way. We chatted some. I wasn't particularly stressed about the start time, since I knew if I missed it, they would give me another one in short order. This was a helpful attitude to have as I waited on the bus to leave from parking to the meet site. Fortunately, I arrived at the start about four minutes before my start time.

Blue Day 1 - Splits

Park-O at Cat Rock set by Pia. I pulled off a win by about 90s over Giovanni, but my race had much to be desired. I tried to hack my way through the swamps going right to 1 when I should have run wide on trails. I missed 3 by 5s left getting pushed around by vegetation. My attack to 6 was sloppy, and I drifted too far right. Control 7 was a long leg with a mix of trails and open fields, but I was slow on its execution. I missed 8 right when I didn't understand the rock features for a loss of 20s. I saw Alex picking up controls on my approach into 12; unfortunately, I exited 12 poorly and didn't see my attackpoint into 13, losing maybe 30s. A decent but unspectacular effort. Giovanni picked up the finish punch and walked a few meters away as I was finishing.

Picking up controls.

Sprint - Splits

I'm currently undefeated in O-races in New England - two NEOC meets, an UNO meet, and a Park-O. This is undeserved, as the fields haven't been that deep at these races, but I am motivated to keep this streak going. I need Ethan "Hey, Mats" to come down to some races to test my mettle.

C • Undefeated 7