Training Log Archive: Jay-T

Run in the rain to and around Wombwell Woods. Glasses were a severe hindrance and cut this shorter than planned to avoid possible injury. Steamed up glasses + dark uneven wooded terrain = twisted ankle. This also enforced a slightly relaxed pace at times.

Event: Harvester 2012
 

Leg 3, Long night, for NGOC team.
I had decided to stay up until my leg this year, thinking I wouldn’t benefit much from an anticipated hour and a half of sleep, and this way I would be able to follow the exciting coverage of the relay after missing the GPS etc. last year. In hindsight I would have got closer to 3 hours sleep, and only missed the occasional announcement of a possible runner sighting...
We were team 13, and it was certainly unlucky for some... Our first runner encountered problems with his headtorch and the complexity of some of the terrain, taking 2hr 45m for the 8km leg and not managing to complete the course...
Having been standing around for over 3 hours with increasingly cold and wet feet I decided to head back to the tent for an hour of sleep. Despite the best efforts of my GPS alarm to sabotage this plan by not working, my body clock woke me up (although 15m over my planned getting up time). It was thus that I hurried over to the start without putting my contact lenses in as I didn’t want to miss the incoming second leg.
I needn’t have worried, as he also had some issues, taking 2hr 30m.
It was thus fully light by the time I set off on my 'night' leg. Few misses here and there during the actual race, with major time losses at 4 (no plan, 1m 30s), 11 (no plan, poor relocation, 3m 30s), 17 (fell through rootstock on way out of previous control and took a minute or so to get moving again, then took poor route, then mispunched, 2m 30s) and 23 (followed track through long grass rather than reading contours, 1m 30s).
Had the quickest time on my gaffle (both day and night legs) but obviously mispunched. 6m down on Coombs who was the quickest on the 10km leg (though he ran it all at night). Pleasing to beat all the suspects who have been quicker in urban ‘orienteering’ recently.
Blame the mp on awkward position of descriptions on map, injuring myself and knowing it didn’t really matter. Also pretty sure the two controls in question transgressed the proximity guidelines (small gully, 50m from my shallow re-entrant), but we were already dsq so wasn’t too bothered.
Very disappointed that I didn’t get a night run; that, to me, IS the appeal of the Harvester... To compound matters my GPS ran out of battery too.

Travelling to Harvester

Back / left glute playing up.