Training Log Archive: Jay-T

Event: AIRE YHOA Superleague Event - Ilkley Moor
 

No difference, little sleep. Seems I did the same thing last November. Resolved to sort it out then...

Sneezing is a noteworthy evil.

Event: YHOA Night League
 

No chance. Just about able to crawl around to fulfil minimum functions. Attiring the feet today was nigh on impossible. Managed a short 'walk' in the evening, possibly better described as a shuffle.

Away Match vs Wakefield Warriors B playing with Mick

%^&$!

Got there a bit late and didn't really warm up properly - as noted here my back has been decidedly dodgy over the past week or so (more so than usual) and I pulled something in the first end (playing as third pair).
Their 3rd pair were not particularly mobile albeit with some good skill - normally we would have given them the run around, but I was really struggling to get around court and making too many mistakes in general. Lost in two with the outlook pretty bleak.
Next up, 1st pair. They looked strong, with a net specialist and some heavy smashing (on both wings) from his partner. They were fresh from beating our other two pairs. Remarkably Mick and I pulled our A game from somewhere, and in spite of my hampered movement we edged it in two; 19 in both ends. Most unexpected but ultimately crucial.
2nd (mixed) pair to finish; probably their weakest. Our level tailed off somewhat, but it was enough to triumph again to ~17.

Brent / Tom picked up two, Sean / Abid one; overall 5-4 victory a great result.

Less good was the fallout for me. Adrenalin masked it to a degree whilst playing, but as soon as we stopped I was really struggling. Made a half hearted attempt to stretch before driving back. Then spent easily an hour stretching as best as I could - all leg muscles aching from having to overcompensate. It didn't work and the next morning I could hardly move.

Along the canal after long drive back south. Few sprints interspersed. Foggy.

Drive up to Scotland - back still protesting. Loosened off enough to at least attempt some low key badminton.

Orch. Back has exacerbated to the stage where putting on socks is 'challenging'.

2-6, 6-2, 6-4 vs Josh to end.

Event: Regional Event
 

HALO Twigmoor
Better, but still some very basic errors. Long warmup needed for back again.
Planning on football afterwards but decided lots of stretching and a gentle stroll was more sensible.
http://halo-orienteering.org.uk/page/_eventresult?...

Event: YHOA Night League
 

Event: SPOOK Weekend
 

HALO Primrose Warren
Not much better than last week.
Long warmup to try to ease back which was very tight.

(HALO still haven't uploaded RG / splits after a week so analysis can't be completed fully).

As an overview it was very foggy again and I don't think that I adjusted my approach sufficiently - one could be very close to the flag / feature (within 5-10m) and not see it. Didn't help myself with sloppy compass work meaning that I landed on the wrong path a couple of times and so started looking in the wrong block...
Map certainly 'tired' but I should be doing better than this...

(9th, 12mins down... http://halo-orienteering.org.uk/page/_eventresult?...)

http://rg2.halo-orienteering.uk/rg2/#225&cours...

Away Match vs Ossett B playing with Nathan.
Drafted in to B team for the first time this season.
Back troubling me and played much worse than Wednesday (other than serve), but the lower standard of this Division meant it was still enough to win all three of our rubbers.
Overall 7-2 victory.

Down the canal and around Old Moor, back via Cortonwood. Probably double what I was planning but the linear nature of the 'out' route meant I didn't really have much choice! Bit of dithering about 5km in when I lost the path in a rather boggy field.
Probably would have benefitted more from catching up on sleep; fairly severe aches from badminton yesterday but feeling a bit better at least following some stretching. Back very painful at work but not particularly noticeable during the run.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/63691754...

Couple of new guys; David / Claude.

Home match vs Denby Dale A playing with Mick.
Drafted in after Sam injured his leg - played as 3rd pair.
Lost 11, 19 to their 3rd pair. Mick took his time to get going and we could / should have won this one really.
Lost 14, 15 to their 1st pair. Probably hard pushed to get a result here; they were just that bit more consistent (and probably had another gear if needed).
Lost 16, 18 to their 2nd pair. I hit some great unorthodox shots (even if I say so myself) but at the same time gave away far too many free points with my serve. Bit frustrating as we had a half chance again.
Enjoyed it nonetheless.
Sean / Abid lost all three as well, Brent / Tom picked up one vs 3rd pair.
Overall 8-1 loss not a great result but the opposition are unbeaten so far this season.

Not orchestra...

Vs Josh. Not ideal conditions ('slightly' damp).

Event: DVO Oakwood EM Urban League
 

Straightforward stuff - as expected, but no other realistic alternatives.
Lost time on a couple of occasions when I gambled on being able to get through the light green easily and I could not (#7, #9). Still persisted though, and it paid off on #14!
More competition had I run Course 2...

http://www.derwentvalleyorienteers.org.uk/results/...

Event: YHOA Night League
 

I had been looking forward to this – first night event of the season and a new area to me.

Keen to get going before the masses I arrived in plenty of time and timed my warmup to be at the start at 1755 (first start 1800). Unfortunately I was informed by the start team that they hadn’t had the ‘all clear’ from the Controller to let people start, and that this was not expected before 1815. Loathe to wait 20mins and end up cooling down again, I asked to start at my own risk (presuming that the Controller was simply checking that controls used in the day event had not been vandalised etc.)

So far so good – out on the course at the time I wanted with the forest to myself.

Didn’t start particularly well, losing over 5mins in the first part of the course, finding it difficult to interpret / trust the map – lots of missing paths. Big losses at #2 and #7.

En-route to #8 I was startled by another light coming towards me. It transpired that it was the Controller, who stopped me to ask whether I was competing. I affirmed, explaining that I had requested an early start ‘at my own risk’ and would be n/c if there were any issues... Lost concentration as a result of this brief discourse and didn’t know exactly how far along the path I was, but eventually found the flag tucked right down behind the wall, binning another minute.

As I ran away the Controller shouted ‘be careful at #126’... Strange remark, I thought, which I contemplated as I meandered towards #9.

On to #10. The aforementioned #126. Carefully attacked from what appeared to be the boulders by the path, ticked off the rocky clearing and found a boulder which seemed approximately correct. Nope. More rocks than marked so checked a couple of different ones nearby. Nope. Almost on the boundary to the east now, but the approximate mapping of the edge of the settlement was of no real assistance. Found the wall and tried to re-attack but no luck once more. Tried reading the vegetation but that was also extremely ‘broad brush’. Eventually bailed out to the path to the west and followed it south until I hit the ditch. As I was trying to work out how the tiny section extending northeast shown on the map was meant to tally with the watercourse I could see in front of me disappearing far into the distance, two lights came bobbing down the path towards me. The Controller and the Planner! “Looking for #126?” they cheerily queried. The Planner proceeded to enlighten me as to its position (much further southwest than where I’d been searching). The Controller evidently didn’t agree with its position and suggested another boulder (of the vast array one could select from) some way north (a bit more like it, but the map was so inadequate who knows!) I don’t know where the flag was ultimately placed (or how high it was hung) as I went back to punch the control at its original position – not without getting lost again – before leaving them to their discussions and carrying on. 12mins or so of wandering here.

Binned another 7mins or so over the remainder of the course – little motivation and still really struggling with the map which was frankly inadequate. More hide and seek than orienteering.

I can’t really complain as I admittedly started before they were ready. Had there been a problem due to a vandalised control or malfunctioning SI unit I would have had no qualms whatsoever. However, the fact that the location of a control was being deliberated 30mins after the advertised start time is absolutely astonishing.

http://www.aire.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#100

Out.

Meander around the locale whilst I decided what to do.
Sampled the 'outdoor gym' equipment briefly.

Intervals around the football pitch.
4 x 1 lap (320m), jog recovery one side of pitch (100m / 70m).
58 (33) 61 (23) 63 (40) 63
A start.

Downhill back via the canal.

Orch.

Singles at the end vs Josh. Just played an extended set; 11-10.
Shoes need replacing.

Event: East Midland Urban League - Loughborough
 

Nice day out. 'Significant' losses:

#5 Inexplicably crossed wall to east (which probably should have been uncrossable anyway). Confused myself and there was no way through so had to cross back [30]
#11 Went the long way around to the west when cutting through would have saved time [20]
#20 RR had overtaken so decided to take a different route (north of the building) which didn't pay off [20]

3rd, 7min down, although less than a minute behind Andy Simpson (thought he was much quicker than me).

5km straight out the door and down / up the canal.
Was hoping to dip under 4mpk pace but failed.

No time for anything else - rehearsal and concert.

Till Eulenspiegel, op, 28 - Strauss R
Horn Concerto No. 2 in Eb - Strauss R
Symphony No. 5 in D minor - Shostakovich

Expecting a match but it was cancelled at late notice, so headed down to Wath for a more leisurely knock.

I see I tied up the UKOL. My proudest achievement to date ;)

http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/index.php?mi...

C • Champ 3

Canal, Wombwell Woods. Failed attempt at a 1km 'effort' down the canal (4:02) - too soon after meal.
Quite a bit quicker on similar runs at the start of October... Getting slower it would appear!

No tennis beforehand unfortunately. Not playing well recently.

Meeting all day, then delayed journey north...

40/15 in Gatwick hotel room

Event: YHOA Superleague
 

Legs rather battered.

SYO Tankersley and Hesley

#5 Poor exit route, stayed on upper path too long [30]
#9 Miss to east; came out onto path [15]
#13 Noteworthy in that it was a good split - went the long way along the main path to the SE
#14 Another decent split, stayed high initially and attacked from the path junction N of the control
#17 Strayed off line too far south [10]
#20 Big hesitation too early after finding small re-entrant (hidden under line) [30]
#21 Thrown by previous error, headed off without paying close enough attention, rectified using holly bush [15]
#23 Too far W initially, thinking I had crossed the main path nearer to the line [10]
#24 Exited previous control to the W rather than E, exacerbated by undergrowth [10]


5th; 2min 30s behind Ben Stevens, 2min behind Barber. Not bad, but generally a little off the pace; definitely feeling the effects of my exertions yesterday.

Disappointing course overall; there are a lot of paths so some path running is inevitable, but too many legs were planned parallel to the path system.

Event: Red Bull Robin Hood
 

Red Bull Robin Hood.

Headed to 48 first, few others about, but the elite group (with the exception of Peter Bray) went to 40 first. The group around me then headed to 49 for some reason (much better to pick this up afterwards); I went to 53 which was en-route to my first challenge control (103 - Little John balance). Unfortunately this was the challenge that I had decided in advance looked the most difficult. As I was second there it would have been rude not to attempt it, but I duly failed.

From there I did a circuit of the map in a counter-clockwise direction. It was fairly obvious even at this early stage that getting them all wasn't realistic so I left out anything that was too far out of the way.

Already running on my own after 103; biggest time losses of the day here where I missed 37 [30] and was looking too early for 33 due to bramble proliferation [100]

Failed the second challenge (105 - onion catapult), despite being agonisingly close a couple of times and being complemented on my technique!

Third challenge fairly nearby (101 - rope climb) finally passed one! Seemed fairly straightforward.

A few people knocking around the control cluster south of the start, but all going in the opposite direction. Few dodgy lines here; biggest loss on 32 where I was forced east by the undergrowth [60]

Bit of a climb / dogleg to 43 - possibly one control that I should have left out - then onto my fourth challenge (102 - archery). No other competitors in sight, so no pressure as the entire row of instructors assessed my shot... nailed it first time!

Running low on time now, difficult to chose which controls to visit, but headed for (what turned out to be) my final challenge (106 - portcullis raise). Easily completed this in no time at all, although this was definitely not challenging enough - more weight needed next year (indeed everyone who attempted this 'challenge' passed).

Just over 12mins left - opted to just head back picking up a final couple of controls on the way (incorporating a somewhat risky straight route from 57 to 51, which fortunately turned out to be ok). Thus missed 'spot the difference' challenge, although this was reputably more difficult than it sounds.

320 points; 11th place, winning score 380.
Quite refreshing that a perfect run for me today could conceivably have resulted in a winning score. Evidently this could apply to (probably) any of the top 15 or so, but the point is that the score / challenge combo serves to level out raw ability a lot more - and thus probably make for a more open and interesting race!

Brilliant event; well done to all involved.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/62694471...

Warm down collecting a few controls.