Training Log Archive: rcroIn the 7 days ending Mar 14, 2010:
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Sunday Mar 14, 2010 #
Orienteering race (BUCS Relays) 1:03:37 [3] 7.62 km (8:21 / km) +65m 8:00 / km
shoes: Addidas Swoops
Day 2 of BUCS started off with a rather rushed set up of the assembly. The assembly field was pretty large - with the toilets at the far end from assembly! Would have been a good opportunity to play with the radios again, but there was no reason for any helpers to stay at the top once everyone had parked. So, their main use was again as a pre-warning for the commentary.
Interesting fact of the day is that Stock Hill was used for the relays when Bristol last hosted the University Championships 25 years ago. It seems to be pretty complicated, but I think most competitors were glad of the flat following the rather vicious climbs that are unavoidable at Sallowvallets.
My run wasn't ever going to be competitive as our leg 3 runner had unfortunately had to drop out the night before, and as leg 2 runner, I had to wait for leg 1 (Chris Beasant) to return, which he did in about an hour.
I had variation BA(1) of the men's, which was advertised as 5.8km. Followed path features to get to No. 1, but the paths were quite indistinguishable and so I over shot pretty badly. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were exactly where I thought they should be, and any slow times come from tiredness and lack of overall fitness. Got confused and ahead of myself after 7, and thought I was leaving 8, so ended up missing it completely, not realising until download.
Was ready to overshoot 10, but stopped and thought it should be near; looked left and saw it. 11 (control 135) was fine, but it did seem very close to control 116 - indeed the all controls map has the circles overlapping. However, Alan Honey (Planner) and Charles Daniel (Controller) did a truly wonderful job with the courses and assisting with the organising, so I trust that they know the rules better than I do and that everything was done by the book.
13 seemed to be a bit of a fight, and I came back with quite a few new scratches down my arms, but the approach to 14 (first spectator control) was fine. 15 (second spectator control) to 16, however, was more of a fight, and I didn't find the path. 16 was found kind of by luck, having assumed that the gully I was following was too far south. 17 came up more quickly than I was expecting, and from there onwards it was all fine, just I was getting more and more tired.
Really disappointed that I missed control 8, but it seems that I only ever make punching mistakes at BUCS competitions. Did find No. 8 when collecting in the controls from that area - I even ran pretty close to it; but, did have difficulty finding control 136 - the paths at the top of the map aren't very distinct and it was surprisingly easy to end up on the wrong one when heading eastwards!
Lots of BOK people to thank for their help over the weekend, particularly towards Christophe and Dave Urch for helping on both days; Keith, Matt Franklin, Mark Bown and the last person who I don't know (Gareth?) for the light-hearted commentary on both days, and for all the setting up they did on Saturday. Ashley, Nick and Pete Foster ran the SI system and the Simmons family, the SWJS, John Lewis and Mike Forrest helped out on one day each. Last mention for the planners (Matt F and Alan Honey) and controllers (Mark Saunders and Charles Daniel). We've really appreciated the help that these have all given us to ensure that the events ran as smoothly as possible.
Interesting fact of the day is that Stock Hill was used for the relays when Bristol last hosted the University Championships 25 years ago. It seems to be pretty complicated, but I think most competitors were glad of the flat following the rather vicious climbs that are unavoidable at Sallowvallets.
My run wasn't ever going to be competitive as our leg 3 runner had unfortunately had to drop out the night before, and as leg 2 runner, I had to wait for leg 1 (Chris Beasant) to return, which he did in about an hour.
I had variation BA(1) of the men's, which was advertised as 5.8km. Followed path features to get to No. 1, but the paths were quite indistinguishable and so I over shot pretty badly. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 were exactly where I thought they should be, and any slow times come from tiredness and lack of overall fitness. Got confused and ahead of myself after 7, and thought I was leaving 8, so ended up missing it completely, not realising until download.
Was ready to overshoot 10, but stopped and thought it should be near; looked left and saw it. 11 (control 135) was fine, but it did seem very close to control 116 - indeed the all controls map has the circles overlapping. However, Alan Honey (Planner) and Charles Daniel (Controller) did a truly wonderful job with the courses and assisting with the organising, so I trust that they know the rules better than I do and that everything was done by the book.
13 seemed to be a bit of a fight, and I came back with quite a few new scratches down my arms, but the approach to 14 (first spectator control) was fine. 15 (second spectator control) to 16, however, was more of a fight, and I didn't find the path. 16 was found kind of by luck, having assumed that the gully I was following was too far south. 17 came up more quickly than I was expecting, and from there onwards it was all fine, just I was getting more and more tired.
Really disappointed that I missed control 8, but it seems that I only ever make punching mistakes at BUCS competitions. Did find No. 8 when collecting in the controls from that area - I even ran pretty close to it; but, did have difficulty finding control 136 - the paths at the top of the map aren't very distinct and it was surprisingly easy to end up on the wrong one when heading eastwards!
Lots of BOK people to thank for their help over the weekend, particularly towards Christophe and Dave Urch for helping on both days; Keith, Matt Franklin, Mark Bown and the last person who I don't know (Gareth?) for the light-hearted commentary on both days, and for all the setting up they did on Saturday. Ashley, Nick and Pete Foster ran the SI system and the Simmons family, the SWJS, John Lewis and Mike Forrest helped out on one day each. Last mention for the planners (Matt F and Alan Honey) and controllers (Mark Saunders and Charles Daniel). We've really appreciated the help that these have all given us to ensure that the events ran as smoothly as possible.
Saturday Mar 13, 2010 #
Orienteering race (BUCS Individual) 2:08:12 [5] 14.16 km (9:03 / km) +720m 7:13 / km
shoes: inov8 Roclite315
BUCS came at last, so today was a 6 a.m. start so that the assembly could be set up in time. Managed to get 5 hours of playing with the two-way radios and marshalling/setting up the download before I had to make the rather long winded jog to the start.
I'd chosen Sallowvallets for the individual, partly because it fitted in around the NGOC events, but mostly because BUCS 2009 was in a much too fast (and too easy navigation-wise) an area for me. So, I went for the one map that has the most steep slopes and wasn't either of Highmeadow Woods or Redding's Inclosure (because I don't like running there!). Knockalls would have been nice, so I'm glad that NGOC are putting on a Regional there in October.
My run wasn't bad for me, but equally wasn't outstanding. The distance quoted comes from my GPS and the climb from the O-map. Matt Franklin did a very good job with the planning, with closely spaced controls along with some pretty long legs which offered good route choice. I was very surprised to find that I'd already gone 800m by the time I reached control 1!
2-3 was pretty slow as I find contouring on the steep pretty difficult, but 4, 5 and 6 were fine. I went along a very sensible and almost direct route to 7, but lost 4 or 5 minutes trying to find the control - ended up working back from 8. 8-9 was the longest leg, taking me 17:59. Again, I suspect that my route was probably the best, and I expect that most took it, but ran it faster than I did. 10-11, I didn't feel that the contours did the valley justice. I'd be suprised if anyone went straight - I kept to the path and approach 11 from above, whilst getting past by people going to the finish who had started after me!
On the second half, didn't like the drop down from 15-16, and made a bit of a mess of no. 20. 20-21 was crippling, and lack of features meant that I had to again approach 21 from above, which was straight forward. 22 was done from above, but I know of several who came up from below. 23-24 was done via the top path rather than dropping down to climb the path by the crags again.
Found the course very hard, but there was (officially) and extra 1.9km length and 90m climb today compared to the Southern Champs course, which took me 2 hrs 2 mins. I should be encouraged by the amount that my fitness seems to have improved since Lydney Park 4 weeks ago.
Well done to those that did the course twice as fast as I did - 55 mins for that Mens A course is pretty outstanding.
Off to bed now...
I'd chosen Sallowvallets for the individual, partly because it fitted in around the NGOC events, but mostly because BUCS 2009 was in a much too fast (and too easy navigation-wise) an area for me. So, I went for the one map that has the most steep slopes and wasn't either of Highmeadow Woods or Redding's Inclosure (because I don't like running there!). Knockalls would have been nice, so I'm glad that NGOC are putting on a Regional there in October.
My run wasn't bad for me, but equally wasn't outstanding. The distance quoted comes from my GPS and the climb from the O-map. Matt Franklin did a very good job with the planning, with closely spaced controls along with some pretty long legs which offered good route choice. I was very surprised to find that I'd already gone 800m by the time I reached control 1!
2-3 was pretty slow as I find contouring on the steep pretty difficult, but 4, 5 and 6 were fine. I went along a very sensible and almost direct route to 7, but lost 4 or 5 minutes trying to find the control - ended up working back from 8. 8-9 was the longest leg, taking me 17:59. Again, I suspect that my route was probably the best, and I expect that most took it, but ran it faster than I did. 10-11, I didn't feel that the contours did the valley justice. I'd be suprised if anyone went straight - I kept to the path and approach 11 from above, whilst getting past by people going to the finish who had started after me!
On the second half, didn't like the drop down from 15-16, and made a bit of a mess of no. 20. 20-21 was crippling, and lack of features meant that I had to again approach 21 from above, which was straight forward. 22 was done from above, but I know of several who came up from below. 23-24 was done via the top path rather than dropping down to climb the path by the crags again.
Found the course very hard, but there was (officially) and extra 1.9km length and 90m climb today compared to the Southern Champs course, which took me 2 hrs 2 mins. I should be encouraged by the amount that my fitness seems to have improved since Lydney Park 4 weeks ago.
Well done to those that did the course twice as fast as I did - 55 mins for that Mens A course is pretty outstanding.
Off to bed now...
Wednesday Mar 10, 2010 #
Running (Ashton Court) 54:00 [4] 10.0 km (5:24 / km) +120m 5:06 / km
shoes: Saucony Grid Trigon 4 Ride
Another run around Ashton Court along pretty much the same route as last Wednesday.
Legs really been hurting these last few days so didn't really want to push myself too much, and was hoping that at least one other UBOC member would come along to give some company.
This week's figures is somewhat more honest than last week - I omitted any stops I made, or places where I walked. This week, I managed to run the whole way around, which suggests that my stamina has improved. Very impressed that I could sustain it from the SE corner of the western deer park enclosure right up to the top of the hill by the quarry.
I did the 900m along the bottom in a steady 5 and a half minutes, and the kilometre up the zig-zagging path and by the meadow in 6:58, but was really starting to tire as I got to the top of the zig-zag and also as the next path steepened at the top of the hill.
Heading back along the top, and in to Clifton took me 22:05 (4.16km) - probably would have been slightly quicker (maybe a minute?) if the wind wasn't against me all the way.
Very pleased that I seem to have got better at hills since last week; only 440m climb on Saturday...
Legs really been hurting these last few days so didn't really want to push myself too much, and was hoping that at least one other UBOC member would come along to give some company.
This week's figures is somewhat more honest than last week - I omitted any stops I made, or places where I walked. This week, I managed to run the whole way around, which suggests that my stamina has improved. Very impressed that I could sustain it from the SE corner of the western deer park enclosure right up to the top of the hill by the quarry.
I did the 900m along the bottom in a steady 5 and a half minutes, and the kilometre up the zig-zagging path and by the meadow in 6:58, but was really starting to tire as I got to the top of the zig-zag and also as the next path steepened at the top of the hill.
Heading back along the top, and in to Clifton took me 22:05 (4.16km) - probably would have been slightly quicker (maybe a minute?) if the wind wasn't against me all the way.
Very pleased that I seem to have got better at hills since last week; only 440m climb on Saturday...
C • Hey 2