Training Log Archive: Dooby

Mahon Falls, Munster League.

Weather today was sunny but there was a bite with the wind. Most layers i've worn orienteering in a while.

To the first control which was uphill I veered slightly right. 2 was fine and so was 3. Was careful between no's 3-7 as they were in a technical area. Stopped a bit short for 6 but no time lost. Down then up on the longish leg to 8 before another long leg to 9 which I ended up to the right at the beginning of the leg, worked out fine and probably a better route. 10 was again uphill and was where I expected it to be. 11 was a tough leg, uphill and then across a flat area covered in high heather, before downhill through heather to the control. I knew choosing my route there was going to be heather from previous visits. I also told myself that I had to be careful around this area due to vague mapping. Stopped short before 12 but thought i'd overshot so went back a small bit before turning around again. Maybe lost up to 2mins at this control which I wasn't happy with. 13 was a contouring leg but I ended up slightly low, not a problem though. 14 was tough, uphill to start, then ran along the fence before cutting through the heather to the control. 15 was downhill and due to a marsh running was good down this but I ended up to the right of the control, my fault for not being confident in where I was. 16 was easy, kept along a sheep path contouring then across the fence and down to the control which I was slightly right of, no time lost really.

Then no. 17. Not good, lost probably 6.5-7 mins on this one. Because of this I was not happy with my run. It was a relatively short leg, and not much of a contour distance. Didn't really have an attack point, assumed i'd see the control on a boulder. Problem being there are millions of boulders in this area! Saw a control below me and it turned out to be 18, so i'd climbed too much. Headed off to 17 then but must have missed it and ended up below it before climbing up to find it. Very vague area but mistake could have been avoided if I'd just taken in slowly and paid more attention.

Knew what to look for at 18 but it was uphill, then more uphill to 19. 20 was a nice control, downhill at the bottom of a marsh which was good running, relative to the area. 21 was uphill near the finish but I was looking at a boulder too low so lost a few seconds. Then it was just a couple of hundred metres to the last control and the finish.

Was happy with how my legs felt during the course, don't like heather, but when I could run I did. Obviously no.17 was a massive mistake, but on reflection I'd be happy to make mistakes during this kind of event, to have clean runs in the important races.

Garmin distance was 9.11km with 438m climb.

Tomies Wood. Ran a lap of the wood. Bit windy and some rain going, but I think I escaped the worst of the weather. Lying in bed earlier it sounded stormy and wet outside but turned out to be ok. Started with a hat on but took it off heading up the hill since it was a bit on the warm side. Hat went back on before the descent from the far end as it was colder, more exposed and the rain was on its way. Took a split for the Rothery Hill (8.55), which isn't the best time in the world, but I was happy with my steady pace heading up the hill. Overall during the run I felt had a steady pace. Looking at the pace grapgh I really kept a 5min/km pace for most of the run, apart from going slightly slower at times uphill.

Very upset with myself today. Wasn't planned to be a rest day but I chickened out of running due to the weather. When I went looking out the window at around 4 it was very wet and windy. Looked at the rainfall radar on the Met Eireann website and there was rain all the way out the Dingle Peninsula. When I left work it wasn't too bad for running, but had made my decision not to run at this stage. First time in a while that I havn't done what i'd planned on doing that day. To make up for it i'll run tomorrow.

Tonevane, out Dingle Way and around the path loop to finish. Finished site inspections early so that meant I could head up here in daylight, wouldn't have gone in the dark/dusk, too rocky. Legs felt good today and my time for the usual run was faster than normal. Again it stayed dry for my run, but there had been heavy showers during the day. A farmer was out on the mountain, possibly gathering sheep, I may have scattered the ones he had gathered down on the track as I ran past but what could I do? Bit of a headwind out but then it was at my back coming home.

Had physio today. Nothing wrong with me, just wanted to make sure all the various bits and pieces holding me together are still fit for their purpose. Physio didn't find anything out of place but it definitely hurt more when she did my left leg than my right. She also went poking at my back for some reason. Will go again probably in December, will make it a regular thing. Legs weren't feeling as bad afterwards compared to the last time I went at the end of September which took a few days to recover from. Still decided that I didn't want to push things so rested for the evening.

Blennerville-Canal Basin-Blennerville-Canal towards sea and along coast. Windy tonight and cold so was well dressed. Had torch in the car but didn't use it, just about escaped with the light. Headed in along the canal towards Tralee to start. Grass was wet, lot of rain in last few days, including heavy showers today. Turned at the aparments overlooking the canal basin and back along the canal. The run back was tough, into the wind, and it was cold. Passed the car again and I kept on running along the canal into the wind. Felt a twinge in my calf just before the lock at the end of the canal so I stopped to stretch it, stretching working and it didn't bother me again. Kept on going along the coast, on a path at this stage, not grass. Onto the end of Cockleshell road and from there into fields. After aroun 5 minutes running along the field edge I turned at a ditch, then back the way I came. Was getting much darker at this stage and the final stretch along the canal back to the car was definitely dark but not a problem running. Wind was also at my back at this stage which helped.

Happy with tonights run, 1st since sunday. Was slightly concerned that maybe I should give running a break to fully recover from whatever was wrong last week, but with physio tomorrow that'll be another day off. Too much pain after last time to consider training afterwards, so it'll be Thursday before next session, will probably do same as tonight.