Training Log Archive: Jon X

Northern Champs and UKOL, Blakeholme and Gummer's How.
M45L, 7th place.
Winner Dave Peel 61:41. (2nd Andy Thorpe 67:59)
Lots of others ahead on the course too, 37 of them in fact.

Oops.
Staying closer to the event than the event parking. Somehow only found time for a very minimal warmup.
Got to the start in time. Somehow got distracted and only just got into the boxes in time.
Got involved with some faffing in the start boxes and almost ended up with the blank map (!).

#1 - low and right (-30s)
#4 - didn't climb after marsh and ended up too low (-30s)
#5 - went through the marsh not the yellow (why?) and climbed to yellow spur above my open hill (-1:15)
#7 - race over. Thought I had crossed the flat area of light green, crossed the vague col, now just needed to turn left at top of hill and pick of the knolls until I got to my rocky one. Nope. Think I got to the hills in the south part of the circle and then went west. And stayed checking out the south and west edges of the circle for far too long. Then the yellow to the north-west. Then back to the west and south edges of the circle. Eventually I went further south and eventually I relocated. Found it okay from there. Which was very close to my original line of attack. Needed to stop thinking/hoping I could sort it out, and instead go out and relocate properly. (-7mins)
#9 - got lost on the way to the crossing point, had to stop and realise I should be running towards the woodland....

Better in the woodland through 9-10-11-12 and on the way to 13. Lost maybe 30s at #13 when I went up between the two crags in the east of the circle and had to descend back to the control. Clive and Graeme (caught me 8mins and 3mins) were just coming in - although actually this was me catching them back up.....

Pushed up the hill to 14 but couldn't drop them, Clive ran away leaving 15 although apparently in the wrong direction as he finished just behind. Didn't take a great route to 16, got dragged down the stream going SW midway along and had to work back uphill, then a final steep drag to the control (-1min).
Too low for #18, could see it above but it seemed a long way above where I expected.
Pushed hard to #19, tried to contour but ended up climbing a bit as it seemed no slower, probably worked out pretty well in the end.
Wasted 15s straying off to the right to #21 just to round things off.

Ho hum. Haven't made a mistake like that for a while. And hopefully not for another while either....

Event: Northern Champs Weekend Middle Race (UKOL)
 

Mostly warmup. Might have been better to warm down a little more...

UKOL middle distance, Summer House Knott.
4th on Men Brown, 2nd M45.
Charlie 38:35, Dave P 39:36, Jon Emberton 42:32.

A better result than performance, iffy start and generally all a bit scrappy.

#1 - well aware it was 1:7500 and still ran too far (20s)
#2 - thinking about map scale and now went through first crossing on unmapped track thinking it was the second on the mapped track. Very confused but kept running instead of sorting it, ended up running right round the hill on path-wall-path, then to make it worse dropped into wrong re-entrant in circle. Route probably not as bad as it felt at the time. (-45s)
#3 - went straight, rushing, almost didn't cross wall and saw the danger just before I strayed right into the dark green (-30s clambering round).

cautious in the circle through 3-4-5, opened out a bit to #6, promptly overshot to wrong control (-30s).

#8 seemed a bit close to the wall, #9 I didn't climb enough early enough and so had to scramble up at the end.
Bit better after that from 10 through 16, then didn't keep control to #17 and just when I was thinking of climbing saw a control on crag ahead. Ran to it and it was on the lower crag on the edge of the circle. About 30m (a bit close!!) from the correct one. But extra distance and hesitation too (-45s).
Okay from there although it took me quite a few seconds to spot the flag at #19. Splits suggest I lost 20s!

So maybe 3mins or so lost - not sure I could have run Charlie's time. And he was on one leg!

In Reading staying at the Madejski. Fitted in a loop either side of the motorway, a couple of wrong turns made this a longer run finishing rather closer to dinner start time than anticipated....

First evening event of the season, at Plean.
Will fastest almost three mins ahead.

Control collecting with Will and Rog.

Late but too nice not to get out. Up past the sawmill and quarry to the flagpole, along the edge then down through the fields.

not feeling too great today, took it nice and easy - and skipped run afterwards. Straight to pizza instead :)