I was wondering how I could improve map reading. I would better explain...
I find it really difficult to run and in the meanwhile read the map. Tried in normal running training to read the map on a street, but I find this quite difficult if map is full of details, imagine when you're in the forest (was only able to find big details as strets, but not little ones which are however very important during the yellow and red zone (next to the point)). .. I live in Ticino, Switzerland, and maps here are all full of details, very hard to read, with hills everywhere. What exercise or technique could I adopt, not to stop every time I want to read the map, in order to gain time?
:) tks!
One person I know used to read comic books while running, to practice reading something while moving. Helps with holding the hand steady, and with running without seeing where your feet are going to land. Other people read maps while running, but you have to figure out what you're going to read on the map, that is, just looking at the paper might not be very productive.
As far as I can tell, there's no substitute for getting out in the woods and reading the map on the run. The more often you do it, the better you get.
For staying in contact with the map and tracking the current leg or planning upcoming legs?
Here are some ideas. Some may be better than others.
1) Train your eyes to focus better. You can practice focusing up close and far away repeatedly, and get your eyes to focus faster on the map.
2) Buy magnifiers, glasses, etc... to help you see. Some very good orienteers use magnifiers.
3) Develop your memory: If you can remember more, you have to look less often.
4) You can develop map reading speed with a game like Catching Features.
5) Maybe most important. Broaden the types of terrain features you use to navigate. Most maps have way more information than you need to reach the control, but many people overdepend on a certain set of features they are most comfortable with. This becomes an issue when those features are cluttered and hard to read on the map. If you can navigate with alternative features, you won't have to slow down to decipher the clutter.
many people overdepend on a certain set of features they are most comfortable with
That's an interesting thought. I'd like to know which features are preferred by good runners, and which are map-simplfied away.
For me, map features I navigate by, in order of preference:
1. Distinctly defined contour features: spurs, reentrants
2. Veg boundaries: clearings, thickets
3. Man-made linear features: roads, trails, fences, power lines - however sometimes do 180's, or miss entirely
4. Water features: streams, marshes - often poorly defined and seasonal; streams are always at the bottom of reentrants anyway, so prefer to use brown lines for navigation instead.
5. Point features: rocks, junk, pits, knolls, rootstocks - why spend time looking for these? Look for the bag. Often confusing. Usually use these only if within circle and having difficulty, otherwise simplfy them away.
What do others prefer? What am I missing?
I like blegg's proposal very much...think will train this...magnifier could also be a good solution. have some of you experienced the one you add to the compass (thumb, as the russian ones).? don't they break with the first chock?
regarding catching features: would like to have it, but unfortunately I have windows vista and the format isn't supported... :( hope we change the old pc soon, so that I can install it there :)
Also, I think it's ok to stand still for a couple of seconds to get a good look at the map and then refer to it more while on the run later. At least, I'm starting to find that it's better for me to have a really good image in my head rather than sort-of glancing at the map a lot. Then when I do refer to the map while I'm running I'm just updating the picture in my head rather than trying to get lots of new information. Hopefully, in the long run, I will be able to do it better on the run and get more information out of even shorter glances. But for now, I think it's ok to stand or walk for a few steps to get a really good look. I'll make up the time by running more confidently.
While spectating at WOC last year I was surprised (and pleased) to see how often an elite would stop to look at the map in front of the camera. They wouldn't stop and stare at the map for a long time, but just long enough to grasp the leg, and then they'd be off. I saw this mostly during the long distance. No camera on them for the rest of the leg, but I'm guessing they mostly kept moving pretty fast, updating the map on the run as Suzanne mentioned.
For most people, I think a few seconds (and just a few) to stop and look at the map is going to help way more than hurt. That said, I'm definitely going to keep working on actually be able to read well on the run because that's still probably the most important. And I really don't think there's any better way to practice it than just doing it (kind of like pushups :-).
I've found that Catching Features also trains something you don't think about much, but many are quite sloppy at: moving your thumb on the map without looking at it. You can save a ton of time in CF by rotating and moving the map while you're running using the keyboard. After playing a lot I find myself more aware of when I'll need to adjust my map before looking at it. I'm pretty good at doing this so that my map is properly thumbed and oriented when I take a look - I just sometimes forget to do it. Small chunk of time, but if you do it 5 or 6 times per leg for 25 legs...
This discussion thread is closed.