Winter Wildcat

 Pictures day two.

Pictures day one

The Chase: Patuxent River Park

 Today was the last orienteering meet of the QOC season, in beautiful Patuxent River Park, where I took my youngest back in December. This time there would be a chase start.

The way it works: Depending upon your course (I chose Beige, since it's been months I last ran an O), you have to do a certain number of loops. Each loop is different. While we all start at the same time, you don't necessarily want to chase the person in front of you. They might be on a different loop. Some courses share loops: brown today ran T along with beige. 

But before you can run your course, you have to drink. You have a choice of water or beer. Once the horn went off at noon, you had to drink your cup then run. When you finished your loop you had to again drink before starting the next loop. 

QOC also had a meeting. Officers were elected. A rough schedule for next season was decided upon. Food and drink were provided. Merriment prevailed. 

My first loop was T.

Control 1 was quite marshy, as was 2. To control 3 I stayed down by the water, but about 2/3 of the way I moved up till I found the control. Then the long march to 4. I took a bearing and just went for it. Past the trail and on to the road. Imagine my surprise when I hit that little square on the map on the north side of the road. It was a deer enclosure.

Then I took a bearing from the enclosure and ended up at control 4 perfectly. I got cocky at that point and congratulated myself on the perfect navigating. On the way to control 5 I went too east and saw the building and went straight south to the trail. Control 6 was back at the start and control 7 was the drink station. Then on to map O.

For control 1 (8) I stuck to the trails. Didn't see the control till I was on the eastern side then it was down in that reentrant, which I scooted down on my butt. On the way to 2 I went north from 1 to the trail and south till I was parallel to control 1. There I took a bearing and walked to control 2. I stopped at the dirt road and went north to the trail and followed it to the road. The trail was called Green. It continued north from where it first hit the road, so I took it. I stayed on that trail for about 200m till it turned south and followed it for a while. The depression was easy to find. Back to the road and up to the open area where it was a short run to the tree, then back to the drink station, downed my cup of water, and beeped the finish control. 

1:22.15. Seventh place out of 16, so happy with that. 

Lifting last week

 Monday, 3 June heavy

• SQ: 4x5 @255
• OHP: 4x2 @112.5
• CR: 4x12

Squat was programmed for 4x5 at 255 pounds, but no. It was 4, 4, 3, 3. Same with OHP: 2, 2, 1, 1. Ugh. Tried something new with calf raises: Used the barbell and slid it up and down the squat rack. Tried it with 55 pounds. No prob. Added the 20# vest. Fine and easy. Next time will do heavier without the vest. 

Thursday, 6 June light

• SQ: 2x5 @215
• OHP: 2x5 @97.5
• DL: 275x3

Squat easy. Same with OHP. Deadlift, not so much. Only one rep. I suck. Going to have to read in Barbell Prescription what I'm to do next. 

Saturday, 8 June medium

• SQ: 3x5 @230
• OHP: 3x3 @102.5
• CR: 4x10
• Superset: chin-ups and hammer curls

Squat was only 2 sets, not 3. OHP was as programmed. For the calf raises used the barbell again and loaded 95 pounds. Could only do 10 reps. Will go till 4x15 then up the weight. Chin-ups were 6, 10, 10, 10 with varying bands. Hammer curls with 20# db: 10, 8, 8, 8. 

Lots of swimming last week too: 7.5 miles over 5 hours. Lots of chop in National Harbor this past week. Had to fight the water. 

Washington's Crossing: Avoided the bridge this year! (Edited w/results)

 I have not had to work so hard for a swim in a very, very long time. 

This year's Washington's Crossing was a blast. I earned it this year. The chop was significant in the middle of the Potomac. The wind was north, but the tide and current was south, and a bunch of us got pushed way south of the buoys and needed the kayakers to reorient us. But let me go back: What is Washington's Crossing?

So basically what you've got is a swim from National Harbor, MD across the Potomac to Jones Point in Alexandria, VA. At that point you're technically in Maryland, Virginia and DC, which is kinda neat. The Coast Guard shuts down the river for this event, which is also neat. There are also a ton of volunteer kayakers out on the water for safety. It is an all-around great swim.

Usually, I get pushed north and end up almost under the Woodrow Wilson bridge up there. I was intent this time on that not happening. Instead, I got pushed south (with a bunch of people) and had to be redirected toward the buoys. Here's 2022:

And if I had had my GPS in 2020, you would have seen a similar track. I ended up doing 2.8-ish miles from a 2.5 mile course in those years. This year though? Mucho better.

Right!?! Much better. GPS said 2.6 miles. We'll have to see what the official time is, but my phone said under 2 hours. 

So let's talk about how I get these track. I use a safety buoy which is basically a blow up orange buoy that floats behind me, attached to a strap around my waist. It settles somewhere between my butt and the back of my knees. I put my phone in it, after starting the track in the Runkeeper app. Thing is I have to start the track, then put the phone in my buoy, then flip down the top, clip it shut, then blow it up, then jump in the water, then wait for the start horn. Reverse that on the end. So that adds some minutes. Currently, my times says I swam that in 1:59.16, so official time should be under that. 

But there's more! When I jumped in, I started to move out of the way of the faster swimmers and saw my buddy Tom. I joked with him that the deal was I'd be on his back while he swam, then I looked behind me. My buoy was nowhere to be seen. What!?! I saw it floating away so swam to it quickly and caught it. I found the part around my waist where the clip should connect and tried t reconnect it; no joy. Then the race started. I kept trying. I finally looked at the clip and realized the part that should push in to allow it to clip to the hole had gotten pushed to the outside, so I was pushing two pieces of hard plastic against each other. I fixed that, connected it, then put my head down and started swimming. Pretty much everyone was already way ahead of me. 

Me starting late and concern that my buoy would disconnect again was in my mind for the first 500-odd strokes. Then I thought of nothing but the chop. Like I said, it was brutal. And I saw no other swimmers for a long time. In fact, I saw no one until the halfway mark (big yellow buoy and small green buoy, the turn-around for those doing the half crossing) when a very nice kayaker asked me to push north more toward the buoys. I had gotten pushed so far south! 

As I approached Jones Point I started to see a couple swimmers. Up to then my mind was playing with me: You're gonna get pulled. How embarrassing! I don't mind being the last swimmer. I just don't want to show up at the finish on a boat. So seeing other swimmers made me feel much better. Then after the turn-around I ran into (almost literally) Tom and another swimmer with a bright red buoy. Michelle the kayaker came up to us and gave us advice on getting back considering the current. We put our heads down and swam. I'm not as fast as them, but with some clever navigation I stayed with them almost to the end. Then they gunned it; I think they were back about 3-5 minutes 70 seconds prior to me. My result, first in my age group! All one of us, with a time of 1:55.58. 

It was nice to be done. Everyone was talking about the current and chop. Brutal! But we did it. Now, an hour after finishing and post-shower, I feel like I did some horrible lifting workout (overhead press with 45lb bar for 30 minutes: Go!); I can't lift my arms. Going to the couch to read/nap.

Tom and I at the finish

Lifting week of 27 May

 Monday, 27 May, heavy

• SQ: 4x5 @250
• OHP: 4x3 @110
• DL: 270x5

Well, only the squat went as planned. For OHP it was 3,3,2,2. So next time I'll attempt 112.5 4x2. DL I could only do 3 reps. Next will be 275x3. I'll keep going till I can only do 2, then 1. 

Wednesday, 29 May, light

• SQ: 2x5 @215
• OHP: 2x5 @97.5
• CR: 4x12
• SS: chin-ups and hammer curls, 4x8 each

Squat and OHP went well. Calf raises with the 20# vest and 24kg kettle. Looking to maybe get a 30# or 45# plate for the vest, but they're so damn expensive. For the chin-ups I started with my second least helpful band (30#). Second set was the 40# band. Third was 48# (blue and red bands) and last was two blues giving me 60# of help. Next time will try the chin-ups with the red band (18#) and keep going till I can do all 4x8 w/o bands! Hammer curls with the 20# db.

Friday, 31 May, medium

• SQ: 3x5 @225
• OHP: 3x5 @102.5
• CR: 4x12
• SS: bb row 4x10 and monkey row 4x8. 

Squats were fine, but the OHP turned out to be 3x3. Probably that for the foreseeable future. CR as usual. Barbell row was 105# and monkey rows with 25# db. Those kill me. 

Songs this week: "Liar, Liar," by The Castaways; "I Wanna Destroy You - B Side," by Uncle Tupelo; "Seventeen Seconds," by Cowboy Junkies.

Books this week: Finished P.G. Wodehouse's The Small Batchelor and Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. Started Cheri by Colette.

Lifting week of 20 May

 Monday, 20 May, heavy

• SQ: 4x5 @245
• OHP: 4x3 @107.5
• CR: 4x12
• SS: barbell row 4x10 @115 and monkey row 4x10 w/25# db

Everything felt pretty good although the OHP is getting heavy. Calf raises as usual: 24kg kettle and 20# vest. Have no heavier. Either buy a 35# or 45# plate or do 4x15.

Wednesday, 22 May, light

• SQ: 2x5 @210
• OHP: 2x5 @97.5
• CR: 4x12 as usual
• SS: chin-ups (4x8 w/bands) and hammer curls (4x8 w/20# db)

All easy. Did first set of chin-ups with only one band assistance and felt great. Will try first two sets w/only one band. Burns the arms.

Saturday, 25 May, medium

• SQ: 3x5 @225
• OHP: 3x5 @102.5
• CR: 4x12 again
• SS: row and monkey rows, same as Monday

Decided I'd cycle through those two SS. Also going to pause between deadlifts equal to one week plus a workout. In other words, if I had done DL this week on Monday, 20 May, I wouldn't do it again till light day next week (29 May). I just can't do it every single week. Too heavy. (Spoiler alert: Just did DL. Supposed to be 270x5, but could only do 3.)

Also managed to swim this week, including a 2-mile race. Blog post here.

Great songs this week: "Wow," by Beck; "Violent Times," by St. Vincent; "Hurdy Gurdy Man," by Donovan; and "Dreams," by Sjowgren.

Books this week: Rosemary's Baby, by Ira Levin; and The Housekeeper and the Professor, by Yoko Ogawa.

First open water race of the season! (Edited to add Lessons Learned)

 Swam in the Jim McDonnell Lake Swims today. First open water race of the season. I did the 2-mile race. No idea why I didn't sign up for both the 1-mile and 2-mile. Oh well. 

I've done this swim a couple times before, first time being in 2010. I wore that shirt today and one of the volunteers at the check-in remarked on it. The shirt we got today is very nice, but if/when I do this swim again (it's terribly expensive), I'll still wear the 2010 shirt. Maybe the Swim should have a contest for the oldest shirt to show up!

Lake Audubon is the location for this swim. It is very well run, with lots of safety volunteers (I think maybe 15 kayaks & SUPs on the water). 14 buoys, one mile loop. Water was deliciously cool. I was way out of shape! (I only swam 8.5 miles this month prior to today; for that matter, counting today's 2 miles, I've only done 25.5 miles this year! But I'm back in the pool now so more miles are coming.) I grabbed my index card (this is how they track swimmers going in the water) and got in line. 

Back to the JMLS: We all had sensors, and were lined up based on our mile time. There were kids here with 18:00 seed times. I sent in 37:00 and sure enough, my first mile was 37 minutes. Second mile was not. Final time: 1:21. But not last in my age group!

The fun part was my friends who came. I got a pic with one of them (Jen); next swim we'll get a pic, Annie!

Late addendum: Lessons learned. 

Bring a hat. I walked the event shirt back to my car because I thought I had a hat in there. No joy. Lots of sun and look at my head. Shade was my friend. 

And park on the opposite side of Twin Branches. That's where the shade be! (Red arrow is my car.)

Lifting week of 13 May

 Great week again!

Monday, 13 May

• SQ: 4x5 @235
• OHP: 4x3 @105
• CR: 4x12

All felt good. Too tired after calf raises, couldn't do superset. CR was with 20# vest and using the 24kg kettlebell.

Wednesday, 15 May

• SQ: 2x5 @205
• OHP: 2x5 @95

All smooth. Went on a walk with the wife instead of lifting any more.

Friday, 17 May

• SQ: 3x5 @215
• OHP: 3x5 @100
• DL: 265x5

Totally f^cked up and loaded 235 instead of 215. Whoops! Will do 245 on H day next week. 265 deadlift was heavy!

Best songs this week: "Dancer," by IDLES; "Mickey Mouse," by Sparks; "Dancing Barefoot," by Patti Smith; and "Nice 'N" Sleazy," by The Stranglers.

Book read last week: Ill Met by Moonlight, by W. Stanley Moss, and The Boys from Brazil, by Ira Levin.

Lifting week of 6 May

 Another good week. And I swam! (Once...ugh.)

6 May, H

• SQ: 4x5 @230
• OHP: 3x5 @105, 1x5 @95
• DL: 260x5

Ended up doing 5,3,3 for the 105 in OHP. Next time I'll do 4x3. DL was hard, so going back to every 9-10 days.

8 May, L

• SQ: 2x5 @205
• OHP: 2x5 @90
• CR: 4x10
• SS (chin-ups and hammer curls)

Calf raises were with my 20# vest and the 24kg kettlebell. Superset was 4 sets of 8 chin-ups (with straps) and 8 reps of hammer curls, w/20lb db. 

10 May, M

• SQ: 3x5 @215
• OHP: 3x5 @95
• CR: 4x10
• SS (barbell row and monkey row)

CR as 8 May. Superset was 4 sets of 10 barbell rows (upright, 115#) and 10 monkey rows with 25# db. 

Great songs this week: "Mickey Mouse," by Sparks; and "Doused," by Diiv.

Great event this week: Our daughter's college graduation! In only three years. Congrats, girl!

Show watched while writing this: "Chopped"

Lifting last week

 Good week!

Monday, 29 Apr, Heavy:

• SQ: 4x5 @225
• OHP: 3x5 @105, 1x5 @95
• DL: 1x5 @255

OHP didn't go as planned. I did 5, 5, 3. Planned to redo 3x5 @105 today. Spoiler alert! 5,3,3. Going to do 3x3 with the drop set going forward. Probably go up by 2.5# instead of 5#. Other lifts went well.

Thursday, 2 May, Light:

• SQ: 2x5 @200
• OHP: 2x5 @90
• CR: 4x12 w/24kg kettle
• SS: Curls 50# and db tricep extension 40#: 4x10

Had to push Wednesday's L workout to Thursday as we had visitors that evening. Workout felt good. 

Saturday, 4 May, Medium:

• SQ: 3x5 @210
• OHP: 3x5 @95
• CR: ditto
• SS: push-ups (10) and bent-over row 135# (5): 4 sets

Book read last week: A Desolation Called Peace, by Arkady Martine. 

Songs I liked last week: "Bean Fields," by Shannon & The Clams; "Interlude," by Morrissey; and "Caution," by The Killers. 

Great recent news: My wife's book, Children of Cain: Love & Murder in the Age of Monsters, the #1 self-published e-book in 2023 according to Writer's Digest, is featured in the May/June issue of the magazine as well as online.

Spring Bloom

 Today, Sonja and I participated in Broad Run Off Road's Spring Bloom adventure race. We did the no-bike option as we have plenty of hobbies already. We don't need another one. We have thought how funny it would be to sign up but show up with our fixie bikes. But then we saw some of the bike trails today.

I'll tell you the end up front: we got 15 points (1 point per control) and placed 13th out of 29 two-person teams and 25th out of 49 total for the no-bike option. We're getting better!

The race was 5 hours long. All of us no-bikers had to start with the paddle. If you, dear reader(s), remember my report from BROR's Fall Foliage, Sonja and I suck at paddling. But not today. We actually did pretty well!

My iPhone stopped tracking us as soon as we got in the water, so I had to use Google Maps at home to see how far we paddled. We got controls P1-3 on the map (below). Ended up canoeing 5km! 

Once we got back to the paddle S/F, we dumped the canoe and ran to the picnic area where we changed into rain jackets (because yes, rain again) and began the trekking leg. We entered trekking 1:25 into the race. 

Everything to the east of the railroad tracks (going up the fold in the pic above) we got, in order, T1-5. We did all that in only 46 minutes, which is great for us. We got our first "bike" checkpoint (B1) at 2:23 race time. (Us no-bikers were allowed to get B controls; those doing the full adventure race could only get controls when they were on the proper leg.) T6 took a minute; the hint was firewood, but there was a Boy Scout troop in that area. I assumed they wouldn't want us to walk through their camp, but sure enough, the control was in it. We almost missed it but one young man said "Did you get that one?" and pointed to their camp. Thanks, Scout!

Then we were on the other side of the tracks at around 2:30. So half done. T7 was easy, but T12 was harder. We were on the road going for T11 when I told my wife about the marshy T12. That one, unfortunately, took us 22+ minutes. Not because we couldn't find it. We saw it clearly, but the whip vines and the fact that we were on the wrong side resulted in us taking more time than we hoped. We then hopped back on the road and headed to T10. After T10 we went back to the trail. Initial plan was to turn left, hit B5, then T9, B2, maybe T8, B3, T7 then back to Finish. 

But we decided to turn right. Sonja wanted to go for a "far one." And we did. But T10 to B6 took us 21 minutes, and we had to cross about 200m of muddy and slippery wooden 2x4's. I really thought it would have taken us longer. But from T10 to B6 to B5 was a total of 41 minutes. I wonder if we could have gotten T9 and B3 in that time (2 points rather than 1)? Oh well. It was still fun. 

We still got B5 and then headed to S/F. We clocked in at 4:42.35, so didn't lose any points for being late!

Lifting after not lifting

 Last Saturday I got back from two weeks in Florida (for work). No lifting then. Barely any swimming, even, as I had a nasty cold for three days. And was busy. 

Upon returning decided to go back to HLM. The 4-day thing was fun and all, but I need more swimming in my life. And I felt I was losing my 1RMs. So back to HLM it is.

Monday, 8 April:

• SQ: 1x5 @215#
• OHP: 2x5 @95#
• DL: 1x5 @225#

The squat was hard. Been too long. Next Monday 3x5 @215#. The DL also heavy. I'll get back soon, maybe add 10# next week. 

Wednesday, 10 April:

• SQ: 2x5 @195#
• OHP: 2x5 @85#
• Super-set:
• Curls: 3x10 @45#
• db triceps extension: 3x10 @30#

The super-set was so much fun. Arms hurt a lot after.

Saturday, 13 April:

• SQ: 2x5 @205#
• OHP: 3x3 @95#
• Super-set:
• Curls: 3x10 @45#
• Pull-ups w/bands: 3x8

Songs listened to this week: "Danzig with Myself," by The Dandy Warhols; "Promised Land," by Cold Cave; "Honey, You Know Where to Find Me," by Morrissey; and "Tears Run Rings," by Marc Almond.

Books this week: A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine and The Anglo-Saxons, A History of the Beginnings of England: 400-1066, by Marc Morris.

TV watched while writing this: From Russia with Love (Bond #2)

Swim the Suck, 2024

 I'm in! Registration for Swim the Suck 2024 was on Monday, 8 April at noon. Historically this swim sells out quick. I put a sign up on my office door saying "Busy 1200-1230, DND." I had everything ready, USMS number, wife's cell for emergencies, my "I love me" list with no commas (I read the advice this time, Karah!). Within 10 minutes I was done, and paid. I even have a kayaker already, so I don't have to pay extra! (Thanks Derrick, kayaker extraordinaire, StS 2023.) 

Can't wait to go back to Chattanooga for Marathon Swimming Homecoming. w00t!

Back from Florida

 Back from my two weeks in Florida. What a waste! I got a serious cold (no, not COVID) which knocked me out for three full days. Dammit!

A measly 1200-ish meters. This day was only 1-2 ft swells, as compared to that first day I went (post here) where it was 5-6. But it's been so long since a) I've swum any distance and 2) I've swum in salt water. On this particular day at one point I got a huge gulp of salt water in my mouth and it went straight down my throat (I now understand "gag reflex") and I almost puked. Still, I stayed in and swam. It was fun. 

But it was only the second time, Tuesday of week two (a day after I felt better from the cold) and for the rest of that week I was way too busy. Which sucks because the water was so nice and flat.

Next time! I'll be back down in three-ish months. I'll try again and maybe at that time I'll wear SharkBanz. It sure is pretty down there.

All I am is a body adrift in water, salt, and sky

 Back in the ocean! Been years. Tastes the same.

Today was 3-4ft swells, according to a couple surf sites and my own experience. And where I took the picture there was quite the undertow. Nothing like a rip (although the lifeguard did mention one), I never felt like I couldn't walk or swim out of it, but it was pushing me right (in the pic) and a bit out. 

Just swam around for about 30, enjoying it. You can see it was overcast, but the sun did peek out. No need for sun protection or rash guard as it was well after 4pm. Two cruise ships passed while I was out there. Damn those ships are huge. 

Tomorrow is supposed to be real bad (but great for surfers), so I'll try again on Wed and see what it looks like. I'll take my safety buoy that day so I can get a track of my swim. 

The salt. Always takes a while to get used to it. 

Lifting week of 4 March

 My new regime!

4 March:

• OHP: 116# x 1 (thought today was heavy singles. It was not. Stopped after 1)
• seated db press: w/30# dumbbells: 3x10
• pull-ups: (with blue and green straps that maybe helps me about 60# worth): 4x10
• super set of triceps extension & curls: 4x15 with 30# dumbbell (triceps) & 4x10 45# curl with my new curl bar.

5 March:

• SQ: 8x2 @ 210#
• DL: 8x1 @215#
• super set of goblet squats and kb swings: 25# dumbbell gob squat & 20# kb swings: 4x10 each
• Abs: 4 x 10 4-count flutter kicks

7 March:

• OHP: 5x1 @116#
• seated db press: 3x10 2/30# dumbbells
• pull-ups, with blue/green: 5x1
• super set of triceps extension & curls: 4x15 with 35# dumbbell (triceps) & 4x10 45# curl.

8 March:

• SQ: pause squat, 3x5 @185
• Rack pull DL, 1RM: 315#!!!
• Lunge w/25# dumbbells: 3x10
• super set of step-ups & calf raises, w/20# vest: 4x10 step-ups & 4x12 calf raises w/24kg kettlebell.

Feeling good!

Winter Wildcat 2024

 Over the Presidents' Day holiday, Sonja and I competed in the 2024 Winter Wildcat, hosted by Tanz Navigation. We did their event, The Search for Big Mack, back in September and loved it. We learned a lot during that event (like: be on time!) and intended on applying those lessons learned to this event. 

And we did! We did not arrive late! In September we lost 5 points per minute; in Winter Wildcat we would have lost 50 points per minute. We didn't lose any. w00t!

We were handed 3 maps Sunday morning, overcome by choices! Here's the East map:

That blank spot center top was interesting. At 7:55am, the race director put the missing rectangle up on the screen. You had as much time as you needed (note: 8am start) to draw the controls, contours, features. We didn't even consider going east. 

Here's the south map. It'll come up near the end of our story. 

Like I said, this map will feature at around 4pm or so that Sunday. And here is the map we spent most of our day on:

Note the folded over edges. That was so the map could fit in my map bag*. If you go to the Routegadget site for Winter Wildcat, you can follow our track. (Our team name is MTheads. Scroll down to Sunday only teams. Click both boxes when you get to our team. And you should probably press the + after you press play. In fact, press + a few times, otherwise you'll be sitting looking at our track.)

*A map bag hangs around the neck and has a see-through window on both sides. Here's an example as well as a pic of mine:

We first head downhill to 43, where we met a nice couple of military dudes who has also done Saturday. Following 43, we went down the road to 93, pretty easy to find considering it was worth 90 points. That gets us to about 45 minutes into the race.

We didn't do either of the Orienteering courses in The Search for Big Mack. This time we wanted to do the one and only O course, get a bunch of points (10 controls, 55 points each!). That's where we went next. And that course took us a bit over 2 hours, but I'm happy to report that we found each control right away. My nav is getting better and better. Some we crazily placed, on the side of a cliff. Thank God for my wife with her cat-like agility. 

This Scout base was so beautiful, I'm terribly jealous. Each camping area has a huge tower, probably 50' high. Very easy to see, and on the maps thankfully. We loaded up on water and headed over a beautiful bridge to control 53, already at 685 points!

53 was way deep, again thanks Sonja. Then up to 62 and 72, both easy to find. 72 was especially fun; it was an old wall tent and the control was inside. I didn't see it and was about to ask Sonja which side she wanted to walk around. But she was short enough to see the control inside! And that brings us to a bit under 5 hours. 

After 82 and 32 we had some decisions to make. We were at 5:40 and could have walked over the dam and start the walk back (to avoid late charges). But it was still early so we decided to go get some of the controls around the lake, worth 100+50+40, so well worth the 40 minutes it took us to walk that far. 

After that we marched on to an area that made me seriously jealous: a couple of huge and high zip-lines! Not to mention the great rock climbing areas. They were wonderful to use as nav points. We almost went to 40 but the cliffs and the way to get to 40 didn't seem worth it, instead went to 50, which Sonja climbed up to while I looked at maps. 

And that's where our issue started. Because of the time (we had some), we wanted to grab 30 and 83 south of 50. I pulled out the south map and put it on the back side of my map bag. After 83 (we never found it and I'm still pissed about it) we were at 7:40, so plenty of time. We decided to walk north up and around past 43, because I saw, as I flipped my map bag back-and-forth, the road will have a smaller road come up on the right which turns 180 and heads right up to the S/F building. So we started walking. 

When we passed 43 (at 8 hours), Sonja reminded me that we had gotten to 43 quickly and easily. I wasn't ready for so much uphill; bring on the easy road. 

There was no easy road. We walked another 11 minutes before I realized my error. The cliffs were telling. There was no road branching off and we were bound for another 2km of walking south if I hadn't noticed.

So we turned back and fast-walked to where the cliffs ended. We had seen a team going straight up the side of the hill (turns out it was about 50m straight up) and poo-poo'd them (I did at least). Well now we were walking up in their footsteps. This whole error cost us 30 minutes. 

Then we clicked the finish. Unfortunately too early because there where you finish was also the Memory-O, where you get to look at a map, then put it down and go find your controls. We still had a smidge over an hour at that point and maybe could have gotten a couple more controls. But alas, no. 

Still okay with it. Didn't lose any points due to being late, which is an improvement. Other lessons learned from Winter Wildcat: Sonja should bring her sunglasses; she was practically blind during the O which was in the open and snow covered and quite sunny. I need to put my glasses in the front pocket of my vest; I had to ask Sonja for help when I changed out from clear to sunglasses; and finally, and most important: have Sonja check my route. I'm certain she would have seen the mistake I made with roads. We ended up #102 out of 120 total teams, #16 out of 20 mixed sex teams. We'll take that!

Us before we started. No pics from the after. We were too busy stuffing our faces! Thanks Mark & Lora for another great Tanz event!

Changing up the lifting

 So I'm at the start of week 2 of a new lifting regimen, called a Conjugate program. Read about it on Andy Baker's blog and thought it would be worth giving it a shot. It's a 4-day program and I've got time in my week to do this now, before swim season really starts in May. 

Monday:

Dynamic effort/volume overhead press day. First exercise is OHP, 10x3 with progressing percentage (60-80%) of 1RM. All on a 30-60 sec rest. Second comes a supplemental exercise for an OHP weak spot; for me that's from my forehead up. I do 3-5 sets of 3-5 reps. 

Those two are followed by a bunch of "body-building-like" sets: A vertical pulling movement (been doing pull-ups) 3-5 x 8-15; rear delts (face-pulls lately) 4x20; tricep extension movement  4x15; curls 2-3 x 8-15.

Tuesday:

Dynamic effort squat/deadlift. First exercise is squat, then deadlift, kind of like the OHP above, lower volume for the DL. Again, 30-60 sec between sets. Next is Goblet squats. All the way down. Those are killer. Next is a low stress hip extension exercise; I've been doing kettlebell swings. Both this and the Goblet squats are high reps. Finish with an abs workout. 

Thursday:

Max effort OHP. First exercise 5 sets of singles or doubles. Then a supplemental exercise, either press from pins or seated db press. Next up lat work, pull-ups for me. Triceps work then, probably kick-backs or triceps extensions. For rear delts it's face-pulls for me. Finally, hammer or regular curls. 

Friday:

Max effort lower body. First exercise alternates from week to week. One week squat, next deadlift. Then the second exercise would be the exercise that'll be primary next week, but in the 1-3 x 5-8 range. For instance, if this week I do competition squat first, then do sumo deadlift for the second exercise, then next week sumo deadlift I do heavy. After those two, I do lunges, then step-ups, then calf raises. 

So far so good. I managed a new 1RM of 300# for squat and 305# for deadlift. w00t!

Lifting week of 22 Jan

 Great week!

22 Jan (H)

• SQ: 3x4 @265
• OHP: 3x5 @102.5

265 is still hard, but doable. Spoiler alert: I manage 3x5 the following week.

24 Jan (L, H)

• SQ: 2x5 @215
• db BP: 3x12 w/30# db
• DL: 275x5

Continuing the dumbbell bench press with 30lb dumbbells. The DL was incredibly hard. 

26 Jan (M)

• SQ: 2x5 @230
• OHP: 2x5 @95

Not easy but not H day. 

Songs this week: "Same Jeans," by The View; "Mythological Man," by Coco. 

Books last week: Spook Country by William Gibson. 

Last week's swimming, orienteering, lifting...

 Almost did three days in the pool this week, or at least that was the intent, but weather cancelled Tuesday night's session. And Saturday's session. Of course, I wasn't going to go due to QOC running an O meet on Saturday. I was going to try my first advanced course (beige). Alas, QOC cancelled Saturday early (on Wed) so okay, I'll go swim. 

But no. Due to Friday's snow and cold temps, the rec center where we swim decided to open late Saturday, thus cancelling my morning plans. Oh well, only 2600 yards last week in the pool.

Sigh...

This weekend another O meet is sked. Unsure if I'll try the advanced or not.

But, got a lot of cold walking in (come on, brown fat). 22+ miles specifically with the wife and dog. In the cold. 

Lifting went well.

Monday, 15 Jan (H)

• SQ: 3x3 @265#
• OHP: 3x4 @102.5#
• CR: 4x15 with 24kg kettle & 20# vest

Wednesday, 17 Jan (L)

• SQ: 2x5 @215#
• db BP: 3x12 w/30# db
• CR: 4x12 (same as Monday)

Decided to mix it up on L day with respect to overhead press. Tried dumbbell bench press. Goal 3x12-15, started with 30# dumbbells. Next week I'll try 3x15 and if I do it, then I'll go up to 35# dbs.

Friday, 19 Jan (M)

• SQ: 2x5 @230#
• OHP: 2x5 @95#

Edit after I published the above: So, my wife. She's joined the Y recently. Up to this, she'd been deadlifting with a hex bar in our garage. The Y doesn't have a hex bar. So today she loaded 185#, which she can lift for multiple reps (she weighs all of 108 pounds soaking wet). She's really strong. Today she lifts and the one rep is hard. But she completes it. Then she deloads the bar, only to discover she had just lifted 205#. (Her PR from years and years ago is 210#.) My wife is incredible.

Great songs listened to last week: "The Indigo Streak," by Greta Van Fleet; "It's Saturday," by Marcy Playground; "Le Disko," by Shiny Toy Guns; "Who Put You Up to This?" by Sunflower Bean.

Books read: Finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons; Anglo-Saxon Attitudes by Angus Wilson; and an author's second book due to my editing it.