Training Log Archive: Lil

Morning run from holiday cottages onto Murlough nature reserve with FVO posse. Knackered after half an hour (as had been every day orienteering come to think of it). Had a short walk (less than a minute) then rather slow jog for the rest. Louise very kindly looked after me. I was very grateful. The run was beautiful.

JK relay, Tyrella. Not too bad but a few mistakes and slow again - lost a few places running third leg on W120+ with Les and Liz F.

JK day 3, Slieve Croob, W40L. 22nd of 32. Really enjoyed this actually - lovely terrain and didn't feel quite as drained as yesterday, though still really toolly. All went well apart from two humungous mistakes on adjacent controls - 10 mins lost I think. Would still have been very well down without that though - 15th? Just no speed or stamina or really any zip at all! Managed to beat Kate H on all three days though, which I hope will serve as some kind of comfort to me when she runs me into the ground during the Saunders!!

JK day 2, Tyrella, W40L. 16th out of 35. Sand dunes looked horrendously tricky and I figured that a slow clean run would actually do quite well, so took it super safe to start with and enjoyed seeing everything just pop up where I expected it to. Fell foul though of an 'easy' leg half way through onto the firing ranges, and got totally unnecessarily stuck in some gorse, losing 2 mins or so. After that felt progressively more and more exhausted and just unable to keep running. Made a further mistake later on when the course had a crossover and I headed for number 3 instead of 13 and then just got a bit confused. Another 3 mins or so lost. Was in 10th place after half an hour, before first mistake and before starting to flag so badly.

Event: JK 2011
 

JK sprint. This nearly went very well... Course was really quite tricky in terms of planning the best way through, and for some reason that I have never quite worked out, tricky sprints particularly seem to suit me. Was going really well and enjoying it, until I thundered up the hill to the spectator control at halfway, saw the code was 101, had 100 in my head as the next code and was momentarily stumped... Realized I had just completely missed out the previous control, had to leg it back down the hill again (this was the longest and only hilly leg on the course!) and then back up (past an amused Nigel...). Struggled a bit to keep myself going on the next couple of legs due to broken spirit, but picked it up a bit towards the end again. Still came 11th out of 35 - figure I could have been 6th though which would have been kinda cool...

So bizarrely I attended two orienteering events this weekend but didn't run at either! Not especially deliberately - just that I was on my own with children at both. Saturday picking up OD kit at Woodcote with Daniel as Ant put his back out in the morning. Did a nice little bit of yellow course with Dan in the sunshine. Sunday collecting Freddie from Mum and Dad at a Sarum event. Went round the (very short) string course a couple of times.

Yes I know I was going to do nothing this week but ended up testing Ant's Burton Dassett green course for next week. Went round slowly, bit wheezy and my right leg isn't feeling great, but just walked/jogged and enjoyed it. Rest now, honest, would be so nice to feel back up to somewhere near normal for the JK...

Reflecting on yesterday...

Have been trying to think what has gone so wrong and why this race really didn't happen at all.

I suppose what shows me quite how not-right I was is comparison with Coventry a year ago. Then I had done just 10 weeks training completely from scratch, with the last 4 weeks of that very patchy. It was really quite a hilly course, and incredibly hot - maybe 6 or 7 degrees hotter than yesterday. The longest run I had done beforehand was 10 miles. So I think it should pretty much have been a base performance and was certainly not expecting to go slower than that, whatever happened!

In contrast, this time round I have been training pretty consistently for over a year. Flat course, not so hot. Have done runs longer than two hours many times now. Three weeks ago I was really confident that I would be able to better my Birmingham time of 2h09, felt I was in better shape than then and much faster course, thought 2h05 was a very realistic aim.

Looking back though I wonder whether my training this time was a bit uneven. Several breaks for colds and stuff. I had trouble fitting in consistent long runs and maybe didn't build that up sensibly enough. Also I think I definitely overdid it in the week or two following the Goring 10k. When I'm thinking about what sessions to put in a week I don't think I take orienteering events seriously as a training session, and so perhaps underestimated the effect of the chasing sprint and the southern champs - which was a pretty major weekend really, and probably shouldn't have piled as much in the week afterwards. I also think that maybe the two long runs I did towards the end of the training were both undertaken once I had already overdone it a bit, so were tiring me out rather than benefitting me.

Also it is possible that the sleep thing has taken me badly this time, and/or that I am just a bit under the weather generally!

I think I am going to do nothing this week, just try to get as much sleep/rest as possible, and then maybe a gentle run or two next week if I feel like it - then just try to enjoy the JK!

Oh dearie, dearie me.

Due to the fact that my legs/body had not been working for the past fortnight, I was in two minds about whether to run today. But I am an optimist, so I did. However it seems this was probably the wrong decision...

Out at lunchtime. Nature reserve loop, but thought I'd do a few faster bits to see if my legs would actually move - so 4x4 mins at about 8.40 pace I reckoned, with 2 mins walk in between. Felt ok jogging out to the reserve, and set off on the efforts. Managed the first 3 at 8.24, 8.32, 8.45 (this was along the bumpy back path and into the wind, which I always find quite tough), and I fear I gave up about a minute into the 4th one. I am such a jacker. Legs were moving at least, though it was v effortful and my heart rate was soaring away despite the relatively slow pace. I am really not sure at the moment what to do about Sunday, but right now not feeling like it is going to be very feasible sadly.

Stourhead BOK event, green course. Tough with brashings and brambles and hills, but fun! Hard to run but don't know how much was down to terrain and how much to my general decrepitude.