Training Log Archive: Thraws

Too good an area and event to sacrifice for marathon mileage. Plus, I ran up two courses (the Brown, value for money) and I was carrying some fatigue from a hard 5k yesterday. The important thing, as ever, was to get through this in good shape. Steady and clean-ish for first two and got close to 3 then tried to use veg boundaries to find flag. Instead was diverted by the voices of two people in the Christmas trees that my better self knew were bound to be lost bumblers but my worst self hoped might lead me to the flag. Guess what happened! Lost over four minutes here, but looking at the map now still can’t see how it represented the ground at all. Also lost quite a bit of motivation. I was caught by my 5-minute-man, and decided my mission was to overtake him and open a 5 minute gap. We were together till 12 (I was faster but clueless in the circle) but I got away after 13 then spiked a few and started to feel more confident. I dropped a minute at 19 and missed the obvious way round to the right to 22, and when I looked back here his SN top was visible again. The forest around 23 to 25 was glorious and I pushed on, but I got two parallel spurs confused on the way to 28, amongst other small errors, and ended up with a very ordinary result. Without the eight minutes of mistakes I’d have been respectable, but my orienteering head is definitely missing at the moment. I’m not doing enough and when I do it I don’t do it properly. Pleasantly knackered afterwards though, and for today that was the main thing.

By way of an experiment. Orienteering tomorrow so no long run this weekend. Did this instead to see how all the long slow plodding has impacted on speed. Back dodgy so took an ibuprofen and warmed up gingerly. Oaklands was a saturated nudbath and the route was altered after three cancellations because of building works. So glad they went ahead though. Loved it! Felt great from the start, fit and strong. Soon ran into comfortable second position and kept in touch with the leader, but didn't risk blowing up by going after him. Just felt good where I was. Time was slow but that was the mud throughout and the half dozen or more u-turns in the gloop. Like a proper January cross-country course.

To and from Oaklands.

Ignored forecast again. Punctured in the a.m., by the leisure centre - phew. Good to get 11 cycles in, in a grim January.

Ignored the forecast as I really wanted to do something today. In the event, Hurricane Tim, or whatever it was, was partly behind. Enjoyed it iin a mad way.