Training Log Archive: JanetT

Pulled into the parking lot and got a place right in the center of the action. :-)

It was a tad cooler (upper 70s?) and there was more breeze than yesterday, and there were trees (well, not on the way to start, but visible along the walk). Jogged a little but mostly walked. Jogged a little more shortly before start to stretch out the legs. Knew Natalia D. was starting a few minutes behind me and watched her race prep...

Fishtrap Lake map. Temp upper 70s at start.

Nice run today, in a more open area than yesterday (95% of the map is yellow-rough open, with a few bits of marsh or pond/lake and small bits of white woods here and there). Lots of chunky basalt rock underfoot in a lot of places made for slow going even in the rough open as you had to keep watching where you put your feet. Had to cross barb wire fence twice before and after control 2 but then didn't have to worry about it.

After starting off a bit in an easterly direction (following a herd path from the triangle, but it wasn't the right one) I quickly corrected and headed more directly towards my first control. It was on the far side of a mini-butte (one contour or so up, with small cliffs on some sides and rocky underfoot). There were a LOT of these on the map, some up to 3 contours above surrounding areas. One part of the map was out of bounds because of an active eagle nest but I didn't see any eagles. Interesting course.

With only 11 controls over 5.3 km, I was expecting some dull dead running but there wasn't much except near the beginning because of all the ups and downs. Even the longest leg, ~1.7 km, had a lot of things to pay attention to so it was fun.

3rd US, 5th overall on the course, ~12 minutes behind the fastest on the course (Natalia D) and 3 min behind Patty Lyons.

FR=6.28 km

Since they had only given awards for W-Y-O yesterday at Moses Lake due to some difficulties, I learned today that I was the US Middle Champion (final results were posted at today's venue). Yay!

Brown Long - Splits

Event: US Sprint/Middle/Long Championships
 

"Middle" brown course on the Moses Lake Sand Dunes map (1:10000, 2.5 m contours).

The dunes were mostly vegetated, but herd paths developed in places and it was just like walking on a dry beach -- slow going, especially up hills. From where we could park by an earth (sand) bank we could see the thin layer of Mt. St. Helen's sand a couple of inches below the top "soil."

After a few minutes of warming up on the road (it was hot, in the 80s I think, and I just wanted to let my body know what it was in for), and waving off the mosquitoes in the hollow at start, I headed out. Start triangle was up a sandy hill (dune, really), visible from the start, but then you couldn't really see where other runners went -- I located the triangle on my map on my jog up the hill, so I knew which direction to go after. I went as fast as my energy let me in this sandy terrain, slowed down more only by the bobbles I made. At 2 I stopped just a bit short, checking a control which looked like a reentrant from my approach, but turned out to be the side of a knoll, but I corrected (lost ~30 seconds from my detour). George (walk), who started 8 minutes behind me, caught up at 3 and zoomed in to a 40 minute finish.

Kept in touch and in the right direction through 9, then exited the control the wrong way (didn't check compass). My mind had shifted me to the next leg (10-11) which was 90 degrees different from 9-10. I didn't realize I was headed the wrong way until I got to the east end of the marsh (# 10 was in a depression at the WEST end and the marsh was a good 250 m across - d'oh! This was my biggest error, about 2 min. Once I left 10 on the way to 11 I still wasn't quite in control, questioning which reentrant I was in for 11, and then meandering a bit more than necessary on the way to 12. Then I left 13 headed in the wrong direction, but did check my compass when things weren't looking quite right. Mentally reminded myself at a turning control (14) to be sure to go to 15 and not follow the 15-16 line.

Took a windy route 15-16 past 13 and to the W of the ponds, thinking I might see 18 on the way (but it was on the other side of the dune), but knew where I was the whole way. Angled wrong after climbing the hill from 16 and visited the wrong spur before realizing where 17 was... and then when I got there misread the number and started to move away! I hate that. So a minute lost there (~2:30-3:30 total, including my estimate for more optimal routes). I'm not sure where I finished because they didn't have later results (we had fairly late starts) when we left.

I missed punching a split at 16 but did visit the control. :-)

FR = 5.354 km

C • 8 Minutes!? 2

Brown Middle - Splits

Model map at Moses Lake Sand Dunes SP. It was hot and sunny so I took it easy, at a slow walk, mostly to see how things were mapped. We'll see how it looks at a run tomorrow. Got a feel for what was mapped as green vs green-marsh vs light green, and don't think I would want to cross the green marshes unless it's way out of the way to avoid it. The rest of the area was pretty open with lots of small ups and downs to block your view. Herd paths were forming in the vegetation, in many places, and they may do so tomorrow too by the time we go out late in the start window. I won't go too crazy picking out all the seeds as I'll just get more tomorrow, I'm sure. :-)

Drove out from Spokane by way of Grand Coulee Dam (on the Columbia River) just to check it out. The dam is long (almost a mile from end to end; ~1650' of spillway) and 550' high, and there was a lot of water coming over it. Learned a bit about how the Coulee valley was formed. We stopped at Steamboat Rock, a large mesa in the middle of the valley (connected to land on one side, but otherwise surrounded by lake), where we ate lunch. There's a trail to access the top of the mesa, but we didn't have time to climb up (800' of climb in about a mile).

Flew to Spokane for the US champs events. Didn't sleep too well the night before but didn't sleep on the plane either. Kissy was on our 2nd leg flight, from Minneapolis. Lots of folks with triathlon equipment, too.

Walked around Riverside SP ('Bowl and Pitcher' area), where we ran into Mike Minium who had the sample map printed out and was checking it out for possible junior training. We'd forgottren to bring a copy, but got to look at Mike's. Walked up along the river (which was high in volume for the time of year) to 'devil's toenail rapids' which looked pretty intimidating. Then back.

Later, after a very nice dinner at a neat brewpubs called Steam Plant Grille downtown, walked along the waterfront and looked at the falls there.

Time and distance estimated.

Hot and sticky exercising today, even with the fans.

Using balls. Right hip really tight afterward. Wonder how the hip pain is related to certain exercises...

Warm up actually on the treadmill, cool down on the track, around intervals on the indoor track at the Y.

5 x 345m hard / 230m easy --

1:57 / 1:40 (jogging)
1:58 / 1:51
1:56 / 2:04 (walking)
1:58 / 2:22
1:58 / 2:19

In Chatham--it was hot, but could be hotter.