Training Log Archive: oxensdIn the 16 days ending Jul 31, 2023:
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Sunday Jul 23, 2023 #
11 AM
Orienteering race 1:17:20 [4] 7.56 km (10:14 / km) +204m 9:01 / km
ahr:132 max:148
NAOC Long championships, in Sagehen, same map as Aug'21 but start and finish were right where the dropoff was then (we had to walk over 1km west in Aug'21).
I had a very late start, 11:46, by which time it was 28 to 30 degrees and sunny. Around 10am it was 25 and overcast, would have made a good difference for my running ability. As it was now I really struggled, walked pretty much every uphill and even on flat long runs had to stop every 100-200 meters. Clearly not in shape and the altitude also affects me greatly, but at least I did better running than Wednesday at Morgan Territory.
Only major navigational screw-up was #1, 6 minutes. I veered too low/right (have noticed I am consistently trending right this week, hmmm), knew I was in the right area and ran from boulder to boulder but just didn't see it. Then went further to relocate and found a large boulder with a control, close to the road, and felt sure I knew where I was. But clearly still too low. Very frustrating, I need to work on my compass handling.
Slight error on #6, slightly to the left but quickly relocated using a large boulder, 1 minute.
No real route choices on the course, a shame. Long courses must have good route choices, in my view.
Came in 14th in M60, very poor. But compared to Aug'21, on a course of equal length and a little less climb, I finished in the same amount of time and came 4th in M55! Go figure.
I had a very late start, 11:46, by which time it was 28 to 30 degrees and sunny. Around 10am it was 25 and overcast, would have made a good difference for my running ability. As it was now I really struggled, walked pretty much every uphill and even on flat long runs had to stop every 100-200 meters. Clearly not in shape and the altitude also affects me greatly, but at least I did better running than Wednesday at Morgan Territory.
Only major navigational screw-up was #1, 6 minutes. I veered too low/right (have noticed I am consistently trending right this week, hmmm), knew I was in the right area and ran from boulder to boulder but just didn't see it. Then went further to relocate and found a large boulder with a control, close to the road, and felt sure I knew where I was. But clearly still too low. Very frustrating, I need to work on my compass handling.
Slight error on #6, slightly to the left but quickly relocated using a large boulder, 1 minute.
No real route choices on the course, a shame. Long courses must have good route choices, in my view.
Came in 14th in M60, very poor. But compared to Aug'21, on a course of equal length and a little less climb, I finished in the same amount of time and came 4th in M55! Go figure.
Saturday Jul 22, 2023 #
11 AM
Orienteering race 41:52 [4] 3.91 km (10:42 / km) +90m 9:35 / km
ahr:141 max:151
NAOC Middle Distance at Little Truckee Summit. Same map but different area as Aug'21. Beautiful day but hot (28-30 celcius), plus dry air and 6000 feet altitude made for challenging running. Very nice forests, not much climb, terrain reminds me a bit of Gotland. Area was significantly overmapped, probably 50% or more of the "clearings" were in practice not possible to discern. I would never map with this much detail. Concluded on the way to the first control that any non-distinct clearing (without black dots around) is not reliably navigateable. So lots of compass work to boulders! And step counts - except I didn't (of course!) read the instructions and so assumed the map was 1:10000, but it was 1:7500....explains most of my mistakes. Argh!
No mistakes start to 4, but immediately got winded climbing up the 30 vertical meters to #1. Owing to the heat hadn't really warmed up so it took me a while to get going. No navigational issues through #4, although stood for 5-10 seconds looking for #4, was like 5 meters from it but it was well buried behind the small boulder. Theme of the day - controls were hung low.
To #5 GPS shows I passed 10-15 meters from the control, but owing to my scale confusion my step count wasn't finished, then suddenly I saw the road 100m south and had to climb back up.
Almost identical story to #7, passed within meters of the control but step count not finished so...had to climb back up.
#8 I veered to the right, can't blame the step count here as I thought I could navigate without it. Lots of boulders everywhere and nothing really to relocate to, so cost me 3 minutes.
About 9 minutes of mistakes in total, of which map scale / step count confusion accounts for about 6. Frustrating.
Very enjoyable overall, in spite of heat, altitude, and map scale confusion. But far more tired than I should be after the finished - took me an hour to stop sweating and get my pulse back below 75. Don't think I was dehydrated, probably altitude and not being in good enough shape explains it.
No mistakes start to 4, but immediately got winded climbing up the 30 vertical meters to #1. Owing to the heat hadn't really warmed up so it took me a while to get going. No navigational issues through #4, although stood for 5-10 seconds looking for #4, was like 5 meters from it but it was well buried behind the small boulder. Theme of the day - controls were hung low.
To #5 GPS shows I passed 10-15 meters from the control, but owing to my scale confusion my step count wasn't finished, then suddenly I saw the road 100m south and had to climb back up.
Almost identical story to #7, passed within meters of the control but step count not finished so...had to climb back up.
#8 I veered to the right, can't blame the step count here as I thought I could navigate without it. Lots of boulders everywhere and nothing really to relocate to, so cost me 3 minutes.
About 9 minutes of mistakes in total, of which map scale / step count confusion accounts for about 6. Frustrating.
Very enjoyable overall, in spite of heat, altitude, and map scale confusion. But far more tired than I should be after the finished - took me an hour to stop sweating and get my pulse back below 75. Don't think I was dehydrated, probably altitude and not being in good enough shape explains it.
Friday Jul 21, 2023 #
3 PM
Hiking 16:16 [3] 1.5 km (10:49 / km)
ahr:87 max:97
Hiking 17:10 [3] 1.45 km (11:50 / km) +117m 8:27 / km
ahr:125 max:140
Hiking up from Emerald Bay, at pace. Bit of a workout since I skipped the NAOC Sprint today - too hot and I am lukewarm about sprints anyway.
Wednesday Jul 19, 2023 #
9 AM
Orienteering 2:16:08 [3] 8.8 km (15:29 / km) +388m 12:41 / km
ahr:133 max:154
Western States Long Championships in Morgan Territory, Livermore, CA.
Beautiful hills, good course, with tons of climb and length, and it was simply Too. Damn. Hot. Between the heat (30 degrees?), beating down sun on a course that was often in the open, steep hills, and length, I made sloppy mistakes (esp. #3) and started to seriously slow down by #6. For the long leg to #8 I decided to go right on the path, not least to avoid the sun. But by then I just couldn't run at all, and I nearly got heatstroke. On the uphill slopes of the pass I had to rest every 10-15 meters, which really concerned me. Getting heatstroke, which felt close, didn't seem like a good idea. So I exited the race and walked to the finish.
Beautiful hills, good course, with tons of climb and length, and it was simply Too. Damn. Hot. Between the heat (30 degrees?), beating down sun on a course that was often in the open, steep hills, and length, I made sloppy mistakes (esp. #3) and started to seriously slow down by #6. For the long leg to #8 I decided to go right on the path, not least to avoid the sun. But by then I just couldn't run at all, and I nearly got heatstroke. On the uphill slopes of the pass I had to rest every 10-15 meters, which really concerned me. Getting heatstroke, which felt close, didn't seem like a good idea. So I exited the race and walked to the finish.