Training Log Archive: Carolyn

Core with foam roller. Multitasking.

Event: RMOC Chatfield State Park
 

Reasonably successful red course 8.9km straight line distance in 1:45:00. Runners course, navigation wasn't bad (otherwise I would be doing the green). One ridiculously stupid mistake, a bobble at the finish, and the rest was decent. Nothing else major (for me, which is a pretty big caveat).

I did a good job of spending very little time stopped/walking. I am really bad at moving through fight and my run speed is slower relative to others on rough ground vs roads/trails. Lesson learned, I will stop right away when I know I am off track... Maybe I should carry some water since I was feeling pretty dehydrated by the end and I believe that that contributed to me getting sloppier as the race went on.

Start - 1: Good

1-2: Good. Went through thicker weeds coming out of 1 than I did going in.

2-3: Good

3-4: Got tangled up in some fight in sight of the control and was having trouble moving at all. I probably looked really silly. I did get a strange look from a guy who smartly went around the fight in which I was flailing about...

4-5: Decent, I should have cut the corner a bit more starting off. (but it was prickly!)

5-6: Through the creek to the powerline to the trail. Got a little stuck in the fight. I don't think that was avoidable, but I did see a guy out there barreling through it much faster than I could.

6-7: Majorly stupid Stupid STUPID mistake. I was doing so well until then too. Missed a trail intersection under some powerlines. Didn't stop 200m later when I saw a building that shouldn't have been there. Didn't stop 500m after that when I saw a trail intersection that was the wrong shape. Didn't stop when I noticed that the ground was too flat and I wasn't going uphill. Didn't stop when I saw fight to my right instead of a fence. Eventually turned and noticed that I was completely on the wrong side of the lake about 1km after the trail intersection that I should have turned at. I could see the knoll that the control was behind on the other side and thought about swimming. Total ~1.2km mistake- time lost was about 10 minutes (plus lots of fast running energy). Much of the recovery was through marshy fight when the correct route would have been mostly on trail. Why didn't I stop when I saw the building that shouldn't have been there?

7-8: Coming out of 7, the trail fizzled out into fight and I wasted time figuring out where to go to get through it. Turns out the first way I checked was the best and I went back to it after wasting a minute peering around for thinner brush for a minute or two. Then I should have cut corners rather than following trail. Saw 8 across a reentrant filled with rusty trash and I went around it rather than through it.

8-9: Nothing terrible, just should have cut some corners. I should stop being so dependent on the trails.

9-10: Good. Long run on rough ground. I could see where it was going to be from over 500m out just slow going.

10-11 Just plain slow. No excuses, was getting tired of running through rough open land especially after the long slog to 10. Once I got close, just like from 8-9 I zig zagged on trails until I got to the creek before crossing it when I could have been a bit more direct.

11-finish. Ooops! Was just getting tired and a little disoriented and turned the wrong way on a trail that I didn't really need after 11. I got to a point where I could actually see the lot where the finish was, but then I turned away from it because of some silly notion that I couldn't get across the little bit of water. Then I got really confused and walked. Hit the road to the finish 500m north of the finish instead of a lot closer... Lost 4min or so.

Red - Splits

After work jog around Ute Valley. Its amazing how many times I do this same or a similar loop (in both directions) and find new trails accidentally. It was really hard to get out the door and I never really felt very good out there... I've felt a little feverish/extra-fatigued/headachey on and off for a whole week now and it needs to stop.

Incline, 34:23 from the first step off the cog train lot, new PR!!