Training Log Archive: mikeminium

Event: State to State Half Marathon
 

Control Pickup at Hueston Woods

Event: OCIN - Twi-night 2- and 4-hour Score-O
 

Event: Whitetail Trail Run Half Marathon
 

Harvest Moon Twi-night Score O at Hueston Woods set by Dave Waller. A fun time. Great course, totally unbeatable. I nearly ran out of time on the far side of the lake and had to skip several high value controls in order to finish on time. The nearly full moon rose well before the sun completely set, so it turned into a beautiful night for O'. On the long road runs later in the course, it was beautiful to run by moonlight alone.

ZOMBIE ENCOUNTER

Just before full darkness, approaching control 61, I came charging down the gully where the control should have been. No control. But there were these two WEIRD guys standing there. They looked to be twenty-something, looked like they were drunk or high, didn't say a word, but were staring at me and walking closer... closer... I swear they walked like freakin' zombies. Creepy. As they closed to within about 5 meters or so, I still didn't see the control, so I broke the silence "Have you guys seen an orange and white flag in this gully"?

Sounding more hominid than he looked, one of the guys said "It's behind that big tree over there", pointing behind me and up the hill.

I'm thinking, "yeah, right", since the tree definitely was not in the gully, but wanting to put some distance between me and these foul creatures, I said "Thanks" and headed that way anyhow, figuring I could circle around and check on down the gully as they moved on (or run like the devil if they followed me).

Amazingly enough, there right behind an enormous botanical specimen with a meter-wide trunk, there was the flag. I punched, keeping an eye on the zombies, who were gradually moving down the side of the gully. After watching for the better part of a minute, they'd moved far enough that I figured I could replace the control where it belonged, so snatched it from the ground, ran to the gully, stuck it back in the gully, and headed for my next one.

Guys, sorry if I disturbed your personal mary-ju-wanna plantation or mini meth lab or whatever the freak you were doing out there, but I am outta here!

THE STALKER

Something over an hour later, I'm barrelling down the park road, not using a light since the moon is bright, and my studded O' shoes are clicking the pavement like a galloping deer. Ahead of me, I can see two people walking on a perpendicular road, crossing ahead of me. Suddenly they let loose with the screams of teen-age girls, and kick into a full run. Now at this point I had no clue. Were they really afraid of me, or just being goofy? For that matter, I thought they might even be a couple of the JROTC orienteers, in which case they were doing pretty darn good to be almost halfway around the lake! Their hysterical screams seemed so contrived that I could hardly keep from laughing, as I crossed behind them, punched the control beside a closed concession stand, and then turned to race down the waterfront, directly in the direction they had just taken.

A short distance ahead, the girls had slowed to a walk. But not for long. As I again headed their direction, screams sounded again, and they once more commenced to running. A couple hundred yards down the lakefront, they suddenly stopped and got quiet. I'm thinking "Good, the game's over or else they're hiding".

So I go tearing on down the path, angling off toward the road when I see them again. Standing next to a:
very
large
man
with a fishing pole
who does not look happy.

Considering self preservation, I shot on past hollering "I hope I didn't really scare you".
To which one replied "you sure did"
I hollered that there would be more runners coming, and she said something like "what for?", so I yelled back a quick explanation as I thundered off into the darkness.

Ah, what a thrill is night orienteering!

C • Zombies at 61... 20

Setting out controls for school orienteering program (some before dawn) and picking up afterwards.

C • Did you... 8

With Jeremy at Whitewater State Park.

Setting controls for school orienteering program, about half before dawn. Also picking up controls.

Checking trails, setting out controls. Also a few minutes of chainsaw work with Sam helping out.

Miami Natural Areas. Somehow it felt less adventurous not having to keep an extra eye out for bears and wolves. Saw several hikers. Scared the bejeebers out of one of them. As I approached from behind, maybe 25 yards away I called out "hello". No reaction. Closer. "Hello" again, louder this time. Still no reaction. 5 yards away "PASSING LEFT". Braced for the possibility that he might step left instead of right. Still absolutely no change in course or speed, no backwards glance, as I crashed through the honeysuckle on his left, lightly brushing his left side in passing. That elicited an exclamation of "Sweet Jesus" or something similar, but by then I was five yards farther down the trail.
So, on the minuscully tiny chance that he looks at Attackpoint, you have my sincerest apologies if you are hard of hearing, or were so entranced with nature that you did not hear me. If on the other hand you were listening to IPod or similar, (I didn't notice one), well then that's what you get for not paying attention. At least there was not a shattering collision!

C • just desserts 4

Event: BGR - Wildcat Mound
 

Event: American Birkebeiner trail marathon
 

BGR meet at Wildcat Mound near Black River Falls WI. Fun meet in interesting terrain, although some recent new logging really fouled up one leg, with a lot of newly clear cut area covered with slash.

A little sloppy on a couple legs. Started off with a ninety degree error out of the start (duh) from which I quickly recovered but probably lost 30-60 seconds. Over ran 5 and lost a minute, went a spur too far right on 7 and lost another. Hesitancy on 3 (partly blame that on a new clear cut) and on 4. Straightish line on short seven to eight leg should probably have been executed a little faster too.

After the run, gave Peter Laraia a ride back to Madison, with a shortstop at a WalMart in Tomah to fix a leaky valve stem on a new tire.

First time in years that I have used EMIT punching. I found the lack of feedback (no flash or beep) disconcerting and probably held it in a second or two longer than I needed to at each control.

C • How did... 2

Boyd's Rd to Hwy 70 and back. 4 miles in 32:10 then last quarter at a slower pace. Miles 7:55, 8:02, 8:18, 7:55. Third mile time might be a bit long since the Garmin watch always seems to lose just a little distance whenever I do a 180 turn. It recorded 2.18 miles outbound but only 2.08 returning, so there could be a small loss at the turnaround early in mile 3. Paved road with a few gentle rolls.
In the past I had always counted this road as two miles each way based on car odometer. Nice to know that the GPS finds it just a hair longer.

C • Garmin 9

Fairly brisk evening walk around the old airstrip. Thunder showers prevented running earlier in the day.

Deer count 103. Cooler weather brought more deer out to the old airstrip today, so this was the first time this year that I broke 100.

No bears.

Saw a couple ruffed grouse and a couple wild turkey. Only about 45 deer.

Black bear sow and three cubs crossed the path In front of me. WOOT! After slowing briefly I was able to continue my run, passing about a hundred yards behind them.

C • How far... 3

Drizzle / light rain.

Easy after-dinner stretch walked down to Homestead Lake and back. Beautiful evening.

Included successful hurdles of Gates D and F. :-)

C • E? 2

Failed to attain adequate altitude while attempting to hurdle gate D. Result was a spectacular crash and roll, but fortunately nothing injured.

Portage , WI. Felt sluggish after 500 mile driving day. 1/4 mile warmup, 1 mile on WI Natl Guard's measured mile on I 39 frontage road, 1/2 mile turnaround then a mile back and 1/4 mile cool down. Miles 8:55 and 7:48.

Western States Champs Day Two. A sloppy race with several minor mistakes and one big one. I should have been at least 12 minutes faster.

Driving: 609 miles Laramie WY to St Joseph MO.

C • Drive home 2

Day 2 (Sunday) - Green - Splits

Western States Championships Day One - Plains of Despair map, Medicine Bow NF, Wyoming.

Day 1 (Saturday) - Green - Splits