Training Log Archive: fpb

Capital Hills golf course with a friend and his dog. All of the snow is gone :(
Time is just an estimate.

C • Easy come, easy go 2

Event: EMPO Ski-O - Garnet Hill - ESG qualifier
 

Went to Pineridge with a friend. The first hour was good, then things started getting progressively slushy as the temperature climbed to 49. But still a wonderful day.

I think this was the 5th time I've come here. For the first time, it was 100% open, so we went up into the black diamond territory on top of the mountain. I think the rating is more for the difficulty of the ascent than the descent - or else I'm just getting better.

Pushups (100)

Year in review (using a posting date of Dec 31, but composed throughout December)

This marks the 5th full year since I got back into shape, and 3rd full year since I discovered orienteering. Overall, I'd have to say it was the best year yet.

The total number of events was the same as other years (20-25), but this year I mixed in ski-o and a bunch of rogaines, including all three parts of the CNYO Trifecta, fewer conventional orienteering events, and far fewer road races.

Last year at this time I was frustrated by last or near-last place finishes in some shorter orienteering formats. I didn't really see a way to change that too much - it's hard to get into the woods more than 2-3 times a month. So instead I just focused on what I could do, and what my wife graciously supports - take a whole weekend every 2 months for a long-format event. I found I greatly prefer working with a teammate - the camaraderie, shared planning and navigation. So much of regular orienteering is all about avoiding other people.

My best achievement was completing the entire CNYO Trifecta, which I look forward to repeating in 2011. In the Regaine Doug Swank and I won the team title. Granted, it was hardly contested, but it was the first and only time I've won anything in this sport, so I'll take it. In the Rogaine Russell Nordquist and I managed a top 10 finish with zero running - he was "training" for Untamed New England a few weeks later. Throw in the occasional jogged mile and I'm suddenly pretty competitive.

As of last December, I was a poor cross-country skier. Still, I was convinced into trying ski-o and my first two attempts were dismal. I went on a few outings with an x-c club, took a few lessons, and elevated myself to mediocre. My result in the Snowgaine was respectable and could have been better if Doug and I hadn't taken the trouble to switch back and forth between skis and snowshoes so many times. I hope that muscle memory allows me to pick up where I left off.

Another highlight was working with the EMPO course-setting team to put on the US Classic Championship at Moreau. It doesn't show up in any results tables, but I managed a lot of difficult navigation while trekking over 40 miles that weekend.

As for plain running, I only did two full-out 5ks and not much beyond that. In the first, I took 6 seconds off of my (adult) PR. I also discovered I could run a teenage-caliber time, albeit on a treadmill. I had no urge to do anything at all in the 15k to marathon range.

Two events that I directed were both busts. A conventional orienteering meet in Colonie Town Park was free to all area running club members, and I spent a lot of time designing a widely-distributed ad. Zero people took advantage. (Because it was tied to a grant, EMPO ended up with a significant profit, but still: zero?). A weekday street-o in Saratoga Springs had almost no turnout.

I greatly enjoyed my involvement with EMPO, while letting my involvement in the running clubs (HMRRC, ARE) diminish down to almost nothing. I also allowed my membership in the local ski club to lapse because signing up for trips requires a long drive into the suburbs on a weeknight. I'm hoping to find a more sensibly e-mail based club.

Thanks mostly to the rogaines, I equalled my 2009 mileage by Dec 1, 2010.

And no injuries, no sick days, no medical visits of any kind. I can also do 100 pushups pretty routinely now (in 4 sets of 25).

A few loops around the golf course. By the end it was getting pretty sticky. There are a handful of old ski-trail signs around (from the 80s?). They're not useful, but at the very end I noticed one hanging from a tree at an odd angle with blue, green AND black symbols. I thought I knew the whole course, but this one is a mystery.

(As I was typing this, it occurred to me to just look at the satellite image. The trail in question is just parallel to the one I was using, maybe 25 meters away. No mystery!)

Easy treadmill run with some hills.

Tested out the brand-new Christmas headlamp with some night-skiing at the golf course with my friend Mark. With the white snow, white clouds, and local light pollution I almost didn't need a headlamp.

This was the first time I've EVER skied at night (even at a place like Jiminy Peak) so I was pretty timid going down hills on top of a very easy pace.

Incredibly, all of the snow had blown off the tops of the hills and settled in the valleys, so the depth range was 0-20". I've never seen anything like it in 11 years.

A lot of shoveling today, some with an entry-level snowblower and some by hand.

C • shoveling log? 4