Training Log Archive: IanW

JK Day 3, New Beechenhurst, M21S.

Take 1: Picked up map, first control on ditch junction near road, get there, punch, start off to #2. Look at control circle again, seems to be on stony ground, strange control site. Look at descriptions - #2 is on a reentrant. Look at circle for #4 and nothing there. Yes, my map has no contours. Ask a few people going past if they had that problem and they didn't. Go back to the start...

Take 2: New start time, check map has contours! Thought I'd screwed up #1 on second attempt but it appeared straight in front of me (myriad of ditches was more than confusing), phew! #2,3,4 were on one of the spoil tips and got through them quite cleanly, now with contours on map route choice to #2 was completely different. Messed up #8 when really shouldn't have, just poor map reading cost a couple of minutes. Found nice route choice to #11, screwed up #14 thinking I was leaving #15 then overcompensating. Tiredness set in near the end, very hesitant/off line to #17 and 18, went straight when really should have taken the safer (and probably faster) path option both times.

Physically I really dropped off about half way round on the way up the hill to #11, was going fairly well before that although I knew I wasn't pushing as hard as I could have been - some track runs was just cruising along knowing wouldn't/didn't have the strength. Really need to work on reading the map more and reading ahead when am feeling tired to reduce the chances of cocking up later on in the course.

After what happened at the relays I'm very glad I only ran short this weekend. Had set myself a target of getting in the top 10 on the short class and was 8th overall, so target achieved :)

JK Day 2, Sallowvallets, M21S.

Started off really scrappily and drifted right on the compass on pretty much every one of the first 6 controls. Rubbish route choice to #7 losing at least a minute getting the direction wrong out of #6 then fighting through some green. However took the simple track route to #9, making good use of the time to read all the way ahead and plan all the rest of the course. Things got better technically after this, spiking #9 - 17 even with a slightly unintentional good route to #13. Hesitant to 18 and 19, then 90 degree error out of 19 meant a long track run round to #20 and at least 1 minute lost. Good run generally though, quite pleased.

Physically was generally good apart from walking up hill towards #17, Jon M shouted at me to run but was pretty knackered by then and couldn't really.

Worrying moment of the day came to #17, when EMIT card said I was on my way to 16th control. Was pretty damn sure had been to all the controls so a bit perplexed, but carried on in knowledge had the back-up punch. Then realised split to #13 was quite long so reckoned #12 hadn't registered. Got to download, told them and they claimed the back-up wasn't there either. Strange, I thought, so checked back-up cards of several others and they didn't have this particular check punch either. Fortunately was on control collection afterwards, so wanted to see this control (#42) and it's backup. Turns out that it was masquerading as #42 but was really #67 (new programmable emit controls), so backup wasn't in the place it should have been and in fact I did have the punch in the card. So finally got reinstated late that evening.

It seems that there were several problems with the EMIT system over the weekend, with quite a few people not getting an electronic punch but receiving the card backup punch. Whether this is a problem with overloading on the control units or with particular cards I don't know, and wouldn't like to speculate - I don't think EMIT has been used for an event bigger in scale than the Nov Classic in the UK before. There also seemed to be problems with the timed start aspect of things - I think my first split today should have been about 40 seconds faster given the time of the -1 minute "check" and the first split on my card... although some had 10 mins+ added to their times :-O

I think from this weekend it has been shown that SI isn't the only system to have major faults and there is a need to improve the electronic punching systems currently used. Or alternatively, someone else needs to come along and design something that meets Jagge's specifications - most importantly the punching mechanism should be independent of whether the card registers or not, and that there should be no indication as to whether the card has registered electronically or not. Sounds like an interesting engineering design project, or the old version of EMIT that had units with no LED and cards with no screen :)

EDIT (26/04): and yes they'd got the computer synch wrong, and with timed starts any double downloads also caused problems - final results show 37secs off my original time, all to the first control...

Collecting controls in from Sallowvallets on a gorgeous runnable wooded slope. Shame didn't get to go there, seemed really quite nice. Note - big EMIT stakes are quite heavy to carry when you have more than 5 of them.

Got to check out the errant control #42 afterwards and get myself reinstated.

Event: JK 2007
 

JK Sprint, UWE campus, Men's Open. Only the second sprint race I'd done, felt far better here than did at Battersea two years back.

Made the error of going off too fast, hit the first two cleanly then didn't read control descriptions properly to #3 which meant additional stairs etc. Slightly hesitant to #6 but hit cleanly, then messed up the long leg to #13 by missing the underpass route, and then messing up the intended route as well - cost at least 30 seconds if not more. Took what I thought was the easier route to #14 which looks slightly longer, and didn't like the look of the "white" woodland to the final control so went round instead.

Generally good fun, shows I need to read ahead more and generally take more looks at the map to do this sort of thing well. Don't think I used the compass once...

Men's Open - Splits

Contour only, Abrahams Valley, Cannock Chase. Absolute muppetry... wrong scale threw me off too much at the beginning and then jacked half way round, completely lacking confidence and concentration. Not really much more to say than that. Slept the rest of the day...

Training on Bigland, collecting controls in. Going quite slowly and easily, meant to be an easy day for me. Bobbled a few and stood around a couple of times trying to confirm where I was, failing and then realising I was exactly where I thought I was... Most stupid mistake of the week so far - parallel error on a spur without crossing a wall first...

Another absolutely fantastic area of Lakeland forest - fast, open, runnable, really enjoyable to run or even just wander through. Nice way to finish off the Lakes part of the tour

Graythwaite, hanging short control pick. First few were fine, checked 3 or 4 of the controls quite thoroughly hence the long time. And still got one slightly off owing to a misinterpretation as to what was mapped as a crag and what wasn't. Absolutely gorgeous forest to run through, why can't we have this sort of terrain in the South of England???

Graythwaite, part of long control pick. Not orienteering particularly well in places, bit tired and hence sloppy, especially around the windblown bits in the west where eventually I just slowed down and walked. Nice technical challenge, was simplifying the terrain well in places whilst being utterly useless elsewhere...

Peg Relay in Graythwaite. Went off too fast, struggled up hill to #3 and then bobbled it. Then didn't do much navigating for the next few controls as there was a stream of people entering/leaving them. Then lost the fast pack past 8, bit hesitant into #9 but picked up navigation after that 'til the people who'd done the long loop from #12 came through. Didn't get any bits of tape - am too slow, but good to run fast in technical terrain...

Loughrigg Line Course. Good to get into the map, couple of steep bits were almost a scramble and had to get rid of a tick crawling across my hand quite early on in the course. Some of the smaller hills quite difficult to pick out at times

Loughrigg control pick. Generally good, one misread of crags/contours led to a bit of a diversion but otherwise seemed like was picking up good routes, reading the contours and simplifying well. Helped that ran course the "wrong" way round as the majority of the controls were then on the side of the crag that I approached.

Loughrigg, Long Legs, no compass. Getting tired on this one, generally orienteering well but slowly, bit of hesitation but no big mistakes and had a chance to try out some route choices that I wouldn't have usually taken. No compass meant I was taking more looks at the map than usual and keeping better contact, something I should be doing anyway. Need ideas for training this...