I stayed at my sister's house in Bellingham on Saturday night, and in the AM hopped across the border to the GVOC event at Watershed Park. I have a fondness for that park because for one thing it's quite close to America, but also because a couple years back I had one of those rare times where you have a random, inexplicably
great run for no real reason other than you happen to feel really strong and orienteer really well on the day.
Anyway, I was sore in a lot of strange places (shoulders, back, quads) from the hike, so I didn't feel like I had my very best gear available, but I orienteered more or less cleanly and was able to snake the
victory by a minute-plus over Nate, who was running much faster but made a number of mistakes. The format was a mass-start four-leg one-man farsta, which was a lot of fun though there ended up being less packing than I expected. Also: Sammamish LIVES! You thought we were dead, but we've merely sought political asylum and set up a government-in-exile in Canada. The only things that will survive the apocalypse are the cockroaches, the rats, and Sammamish Orienteering and Rogaining Club.
Most importantly my vaguely injured hamstring didn't hinder me; I only felt a faint twinge or discomfort a couple times. This past week I refrained from all exercise other than rolling and stretching in an attempt to get the hammy right, which seems to have been successful to some degree.
Afterward I went out to lunch with the GVOC crew - Adam, Emily, Erica, Graeme, Ian C+Lucille, Kate, Leif, and Nate. Always a lovely time, though I was sad to find out that my boy Leif is soon leaving Van. It seems that our epic
Gone With the Wind-esque bromance which defies the laws of time and space will have to go into another long period of stasis. Bromance is patient, bromance is kind.