Training Log Archive: jfredrickson

Event: Paths to the Pagoda
 

It was a very fast course with a lot of controls. I made a few small errors which ruined my chances of winning, but a big completely stupid error knocked me down even farther. On #8, I wasn't reading the map. I was planning to contour until I hit a hill top, while keeping track of trails that I crossed, but I wasn't able to do that. Instead, I ran only half the distance to another tiny hill top, crossing trails at the wrong angle. Since I wasn't paying enough attention, I didn't notice. I relocated on a road and attacked the wrong hill top once again. Finally, I followed one of the trails to the road and realized where I was. I ended up with an 8 minute split where other people were under 4.

Overall, my level of concentration was way too low for a competitive race, which made it impossible for me to run well. I felt great physically, but I just didn't have the mental part down.

Red - Splits

I got up at 6:30 AM to run one of my 5k road courses. My legs felt pretty tired on the hills, but otherwise, I felt pretty good. Overall, it was a fairly quick pace considering the hills. I was about a minute and a half off of my fastest pace on the course.

It was great running right out of bed because I was still asleep. I gradually woke up as I ran along, and by the time I got back I was ready for school. Then I realized I had risen too early, and I still had an hour before I normally got up. So, I went back to sleep!

I am going to have to try getting up in the middle of the night sometime to go for a run and then go back to sleep. I think it would probably feel like a dream in the morning!

Temp: 66
RealFeel Temp: 60
Humidity: 31%
Wind: NW at 15mph

It was a beautiful sunny day for running. The temperature was a little warm, but the swift breeze kept things cool. I ran the course Alexei Azarov had set for me last Saturday, and I only managed to complete part of on Sunday. I started out very fast because I had already been to the first two controls, and then I slowed down as I hit a big hill on the way to the fourth control. I had a little bit of trouble with the third and fourth controls.

On number three I attacked off of a large boulder in an area full of boulders. I ended up running next to the boulder I was looking for, and I didn't realize until I was two contours above it, and about 50 meters away. In total I lost fourty to fifty seconds, so it wasn't too bad.

On number four, I was attacking along the side of a hill just under some cliffs. I was looking for a slightly larger cliff just above another one. Because I had just climbed a tough hill, I was breathing hard and having trouble concentrating. Because of this I was moving into the control slowly because I was readng the terrain perfectly. Just as I had gone by it, everything fell into place and I realized where I was exactly, and went right into the control. I may have lost a minute and a half because of my tentativeness attacking the control.

Other than those two controls I hit them all pretty much dead on. The overall time of fifty-seven minutes was not too bad considering the climb and terrain, but I could have probably broken fifty-two or fifty-three minutes if I had run harder. Overall, it was a nice training run and should put me in good shape technically, for the weekend.

I played Ultimate Frisbee with some friends for an hour and a half. I ran got a good anaerobic workout, but I tried to keep from running too hard as I needed a rest day.

Temp: 48
RealFealTemp: 36
Humidity: 96%
Winds: E at 12mph

I started out on one of my 5k road courses around my house and my legs felt great. It was raining heavily, and I felt very fresh despite yesterday's training sessions. As soon as I hit the first hill, I realized how tired my legs really were, so I cut off a .5 kilometer loop, and only ran 4.5k. The rain was very refreshing, and the run was a nice toner after yesterday's intense training.

I ran with Alexei Azarov at Surebridge Mtn. We ran from Tiorati Circle out onto the northern part of the map. We did a Leader/Follower exercise. First Alexei ran a random course that he navigated, and I followed. He would stop and say first control, and then again later he would say second control. At the second spot I would have to point out both spots. It was a good exercise because it required me to read every detail of the map while I followed Alexei. After 30 minutes, we switched.

It was drizzling rain and it was very cold. The combination of cold and wet made it a little unpleasent, and the rocks were a little slippery, but we survived.

After a morning session of Leader/Follower, I ran a Line-O on the same part of Surebridge Mtn. (the northern part). We had just rested for 30 minutes during a heavy rain shower, so the woods were quite wet, and after running through the brush I was soaked through. The Line-O was very intricate and required detailed map reading. Because my map was in a plastic bag, and there were water droplets on it, I wasn't able to read the map on the run. I stopped frequently to read the map and see exactly where the line went. I was able to stay on the line nearly the whole time, and only strayed a little bit a few times. I had to cut off the last .5 kilometer so that I could be back in an hour. I got a good 1.5 kilometer trail run as a result to finish off.

After the two morning sessions, and another 30 minutes of rest, I went out onto Baileytown to run a course that Alexei Azarov had set. I went out planning to run a 6 kilometer course, but I soon realized that my tired and numb muscles wouldn't be able to handle a real run. I cut off half of the course, and ran the remainder at a slow jog. Due to the cold and wet weather, and my tiredness, it was probably a good idea not to run the whole thing. I will try to get out during the week to run the whole thing, since Alexei is leaving the controls out for 2 weeks.