Training Log Archive: runninghils

Phil and I set out to go hard on this race, as usual. Started out on 3 foot points. We ran this section with Mike and Tony sort of as a 4-person. We changed our route and went with the conservative easy route choice, but not the shortest, which allowed Cooper and Michelle to get a 5-min lead on us, despite a clean execution.
Short bike over to the lake where we did a short stand up paddle board. Fortunately, there was no wait, which I was worried about. We did a lap around Silver Lake, and I apparently needed a minute to get things figured out with my new paddle. Not sure if the balance was off in the boat, but the slight cross-wind on the far side made it really hard for me, and I had to paddle on the left side for that whole section.
Back on the bikes for a short trip to the second foot O section. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't the most efficient or clean orienteering we've ever done, and those little things add up - especially in a short race. Changed into bike shoes for a bike orienteering and trip up to the single track section. The bike orienteering had a LOT of off-bike travel. We lost any possibility of the win on checkpoint 23, where we spent maybe 30 minutes looking for it after we went right past it. DARN!!! Were headed back to reattack when I noticed that things looked right and we looked a little closer... and there it was. We'd been looking on the ridge (clue: ridge) when it was more in a saddle at the base of the ridge. Marked right on the map, though.
At this point, I had pretty much worn a hole in my left heel from running in my new bike shoes. So, on the way to the next point, while we bobbled on that one as well, I changed back to running shoes. Much better. The next few went well, but we couldn't really make up for what happened except maybe with strategy. We went north to the bike points thinking that there were fewer bail points, so if people did the dune trek first, they may not be able to go out and get those points.
After clearing the bike points, we got to the dunes with 55 minutes remaining on the race clock. We planned on 5 points, and I set the turn-around time at 4:15 pm. 4:15 arrived, and we were so close to the next point, that we rationalized that we did a lot of zig-zagging on the way there. We got that one and the other was basically on the way back, so we ran as much as possible there. Shit! we only had 10 minutes to get back to the finish!!! We ran as much as possible on the dunes and then hammered the bike back, and arrived just short of 3 minutes past the cut off. At least it was a penalty and not a DQ, but we still lost second place because of it. We stand behind the decision. Our philosophy was to take risks and push it. We knew it was our only chance - win or go down in flames. Looking forward to results to see how close we were.

C • Go Big or Go Home 4

Easy ride. Perfect temps. No wind. Resting up for Saturday's race.

Midland City Forest Trail run with the Run Midland crew. National Running Day! At the end of the first loop (3 miles) my watch read 2.5 miles. This twisty trail really loses a lot of distance for you. Fun time running with a group!

Paddled out onto Sanford Lake. It's warm, so I determined that I don't really need a farmer John or anything. Did 5 sets of 30-second pick ups/intervals. Felt a little less stable on some of these depending on the wind/boat waves around me. On the way back, some boaters started yelling at me. I looked over and they were waving their arms, so I waved back. Then, I thought I heard them yell "Help!" so I went over there and they needed someone to call for a tow because their starter was out on their boat. Paddler to the rescue +1 for human-powered boats! Made a quick finish and transition to the car so I could inform the gate attendant. I must say that if you have a surf ski or a narrow kayak, the Goodboy V-Bars are SO awesome and easy to load. Highly recommended!

Chilson O-meet

After all the rain yesterday, I was happy to see sunny skies even if there was a ton of wind. Well, surprise! An hour and a half to the south, it was rain again! More mental toughness training!

Well, my women's orienteer's intuition was not in top form today, but it took me the first 4 points to determine this. Once I started actually taking bearings, I did a lot better.

Overshot 1, 2, 3, and 4!! (though 4 wasn't too bad as it was near the backstop trail) Finally nailed 5. 6 and 7 went well, got a bit off track on 8 because I started trying to follow terrain again, but quickly corrected. 9 and 10 went smoothly, and I was proud that my direct route to 11 paid off as I left 10 at the same time as someone who took trails, and I was on my way to 12 as he was approaching 11.

Soaking wet, but temp was ok. Felt actually quite good today, physically.

Rode out after the O-meet, and was happy that the rain had slowed to a slight mist. There was about a mile on paved road before I hit the gravel section, which was softer than with the rain. I felt like I was going hard, so I thought that my avg HR (and speed) would be higher, but I guess that HR isn't unreasonable for a bike ride as I tend lower than on running for a similar perceived effort.

Wireless sensor on the bike died about 1.5 miles into the ride. Glad it happened today instead of next weekend!