Training Log Archive: PG

I've been meaning to go run the sprints from Day 3 of the 5-day, finally got around to it, at least the short (I have a bunch of those maps, but not a one of the long course). According to the radar, I had enough time to be done before the approaching thunderstorms arrived.

A little warm-up over from the parking to the start. The sky was getting darker. Legs felt crappy, as usual when starting up.

UMass short sprint. Pretty good effort. One bad route, didn't see that 4 to 5 was a good bit shorter weaving between the buildings. And not really reading the detail around 6 and 7 as well as I would want, but I had my glasses on so my up-close vision was not as good.

Started to rain on the way to 5. Started to pour on the way to 8. Plus a few booms of thunder, but nothing closer. Soaking wet by the time I finished. But it was all quite good fun, out in the elements, it's the difference competing makes, you really just ignore what's going on around you.

Time was decent. Legs actually felt like they had a little life once I got going.

So, added splits. And despite the fact that e-boxes were synched by a certified expert (i.e. not me) on Thursday evening, there is something wrong, both at the last control or finish, where everyone's splits are too fast, and also at #3, where splits from 2 to 3 seem slow, and splits from 3 to 4 and definitely fast. Not that it really matters. Except when you have more than one start box and/or more than one finish box, and if they aren't exactly the same, it does matter. So why were things so wrong?

C • Splits 6

Back to the car, splash-splash, ka-boom, no worries....

Event 3 - UMass Short - Splits

On Pocumtuck Ridge, from the south end past the towers and down the access road, and then back. A little more energetic than expected. Not as hot as it's been recently, but still warm, and still sweating a ton. And also, with the blue cap out for the first time this season, dispensed with 20 FDFs.

C • I heard rumours of FDF's, s... 6

Got a call from JJ early afternoon, he was thinking of flying at the Holyoke Range. So we consulted a bit about the weather forecast, scattered thunderstorms, which seemed to make the prospect of hang gliding even stupider than it is under the best of conditions. But he was heading our way anyway.

Pretty soon it was pouring, but off I went, and by the time we met up the sky was clearing. He had a friend, Andy, some experience but not as much as JJ.

The launch site is west of the summit house, probably not quite a half a mile from the parking. Helped JJ carry his glider out, then went back to help Andy the last half, then hung out for a long, long time.

It was a glorious late afternoon. The sky had cleared, just a few thin clouds for off to the northwest. Greylock could be seen, also the southern Green Mountains. Just perfect. Except almost no wind. And the launch site seemed to be a bit dicey -- you didn't have that much room to clear the trees and there wasn't much room for a running start. So a good breeze coming right up the slope was desired.

I'd guess we got out to the site around 5:30. It took them a while to assemble their gliders. And then we waited. And kept looking for wind. And measuring what little wind there was. And wanting a good bit more.

At some point a couple of park rangers showed up, they'd seen Andy's vehicle with the roof rack. Totally friendly, talked with them a bunch about both hang gliding and orienteering, totally supportive of both activities.

By now it was getting close to 7. The wind was picking up a little. The plan was Andy would go first, as the less experienced one, with JJ able to advise on the best moment to launch. So Andy got in his harness and was in position to launch. And waited for sufficient wind.

The wind was getting stronger, but it was variable, and really pretty marginal. And after about 15 minutes, Andy climbed out of his harness. Not this time.

So JJ got set. And the wind got a little better. And he thought about it a couple of times but didn't pull the trigger, and then there was a little more wind, and then in the course of about 5 seconds he went from suddenly looking serious to launch. A couple of quick steps and a jump and he was off, dropping quite fast and then swooping out, not clearing the trees by much, but definitely clearing them.

And then, because such a mellow late afternoon also meant no thermals, he took an immediate left and headed for the landing area where he touched down about 2 minutes later. One of his shortest flights ever. I think. But I was very impressed.

And then Andy packed up his gear and we hauled it back to the car and drove down to pick up JJ.

Would I ever go hang gliding? The short answer is, "No way." The long answer is, "No fucking way." But I am envious of the people who do.

C • It took me longer... 6

Nothing much of an outing. Had planned to do a little more, but thunderstorms approaching made cutting it short seem a wise choice. Still pretty hot, 92, but didn't seem as bad because it had already clouded over.

Another erratic day, what else is new... :-) 90-36-7-30. Good heat training though, keep sweating, keep drinking.

C • Just keep the stroke count ... 1

Catching up -- 95/83/83/87/91/82-35-6-29, some really bad stuff.

Up to the power line and back, before it got really hot, but even at 8 it was 85F. But got out and did it.

305's track and data especially worthless today.

Late afternoon, really hot, just about 100F. Glad I wasn't trying to go any longer or any faster. As it was, the heart rate was still going up too quickly. But got out in the only time available, after a day on the links, and before heading off to a retirement party for Seth Roberts, which turned out to be much for fun that I expected.

A rather strange day on the links today. Played in the Mass Senior Games, a rather low-key event, only about 35 participants in the golf, but at a very nice course, so I figured why not. Got to the course, find out the playing partner I'm sharing a (required) cart with has just arrived, but no hurry, he's had a fall.

Yup, a fall, and this isn't even out on the course, just in the parking lot. Must have tripped on a curb, tore his pants, a scrape on his forehead. But's he's good to go, except he also seems a little spacy. And we chat going over to the range and at some point he lets on he had a heart attack of some sort a week ago, and I think a stent put in. And the doctor said golf was OK.

So we hit some balls to warm up, and then we're heading back the 30 yards to the cart and he stops because he says he's feeling light-headed. And I ask him for the first of many times, Are you sure you should be playing?

No problem, he says, just have to be a little careful. And about then he discovers he left his putter at home. And then he asks me if I have one of those little eyeglass repair kits, because he banged his glasses when he fell and they aren't staying on right. Can't help him there, though he does borrow a putter from the pro shop.

Off we go along with two other OFs. My partner manages pretty well, but things are still strange. On maybe the fourth hole he says he got a 6, and then adds that he's never had a 6 before -- this being so implausible I assume it's not a lie but a reflection on his current mental health. And when I correct him and say he actually got a 7, he says, well, he's definitely never had a 7 before.

And he is slowly but steadily doing worse. Walking very slowly. Complaining of terrible thirst (and when we get to a cooler, he polishes off a bottle very quickly). Not seeing very well or judging distance well, he can't tell on the green who is away. And I suggest more than once that it might be a good idea to go in. Because I'm afraid he's going to croak right in front of me.

On the 7th he buries a ball deep in the woods. Never lost a ball before, he says. Huh?

On the 8th and 9th I suggest several times that it's probably a good idea to just play 9, and gradually he seems to be coming around to the idea, especially as his golf is getting worse and worse, and he has stopped more than once what he was doing to complain about being light-headed.

The 9th can't come soon enough. A couple of passable shots and then he has a carry of 100 yards over a marsh, and in two tries he doesn't come close, and then he just says that's enough. And I drive him back to the pro shop and get someone to help him, and hopefully check him out before he goes to drive home.

Strange. And actually quite a nice fellow too. Under most circumstances I would have felt very put upon to have to deal with him, but I guess I was concerned enough about his well-being (and really not wanting him to die right then and there), that it kept me rather mellow. And after 9 holes my own score was in fact even par.

But that reflects strange item #2. Because they were putting a bunch of OFs on a rather hard course, and because this was a qualifier for making the National Senior Games next year in Cleveland and there was a fixed score for each age group for making it, well, the way they figured out to make this course the appropriate difficulty was to have us play from the forward tees, what used to be called the ladies tees. And the course was really short. I think just under 5,000 yards, with the front 9 the short half. So even par was good, but not unreasonable.

I dropped my partner off and then went back to start the back 9, and I had an ominous feeling that my partner had in fact been my good luck charm, but now I was on my own. But my good fortune/play continued but for a three-putt double bogey at the 11th and a while later I was standing in the middle of the 14th fairway, one over for the day, 75 yards to the green, and then it all fell apart. Laced a low hard one over the green into the tall weeds, and by the time we were done an hour later I had gone 36-47, the cut-off for Cleveland being 81. I hadn't wanted to go to Cleveland, but....

I guess some people orienteer like that, good, good, good, good, disasters. I guess I should be thankful it generally only happens to me in golf, and not in O' too. And I guess it must be hard-wired. I will never be any good at golf, not that I will stop trying because the moments of fun are so much fun, just as some people will never be any good at O', not that they will stop trying either. And at least in golf, so far, and in contrast to my running ability in O' which has gone to hell, the ball still goes just as far as ever, though that will come to a stop before long. Best enjoy it while I can.

C • good, good, goood, disaster 6

Late afternoon jog up to the power line and back. A little quicker than before, but still being careful. Legs felt OK.

Saw that bulletin 3 for WMOC is out, lots of info plus start lists. Got me in the mood to study some German sprint courses, plus some time looking at Google maps of Goslar.

And looked up a little history, been 6 years since I've gone to WMOC, last time was in 2006 in Austria when I was average age for the class (62). This year I've above average (68). If you don't think every year matters, some day you will.

And this will be the first year I've been to a WMOC with a sprint. Will be interesting. And stressful. There was an article in the WSJ today about anxiety, finished up with the following --

Anxiety is especially self-defeating when people focus on the fear itself, rather than the task at hand. The best way to stay in the "sweet spot," Dr. Moser says, is to channel the anxiety into productive activity—like studying and acing the test. "I tell a lot of my patients that Nike really has a great slogan—Just Do It," he says.

Turning anxiety into action is also a major component of cognitive behavioral therapy, which is widely seen as the most effective treatment for anxiety disorders. Identifying and challenging self-defeating thoughts, and gradually facing the source of fears, can provide more lasting relief than antianxiety medications, psychologists say.

"If you have to take Xanax to get on the elevator, you never learn that the elevator isn't something to be afraid of," says Dr. Josephson. "You have to embrace the anxiety to overcome it."

That is often how psychologists help performers overcome stage fright or athletes snap out of a slump. Relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing can bring a toxic level of anxiety down, but harnessing it can ultimately be more effective. Rehearsing a scenario repeatedly can help manage and defuse the fear.

"We'll say to athletes, 'You're going to be anxious. Great. Channel it and use it," Dr. Josephson says. "Being willing to feel some anxiety and not running away from it is huge."

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And I'm going to have to do the whole thing without my GPS....

C • No GPS 1

C • Channelling 1