Training Log Archive: IanW

Event: Harvester Trophy Weakend
 

Harvester on Merthyr Common - Leg 4 for the OUOC A-course team. Well I really truly buggered that up, just didn't use the right techniques and didn't have enough respect for the vague and hole-ridden terrain at night. Should have taken a bit of time to be careful with route selections and I would have been significantly faster - I'd forgotten how much difference being 20m off the ideal line can make at night...

Started off well by trying to navigate to #1 from the changeover rather than the start kite... not a good idea with the quarries around - John Embrey easily made up the 30" he was behind. The problem of using compass but no map was already showing, inadvertently took a good route to #1 via the pond. But #2 was a complete disaster, lost 8'+ and Keith went past for Bristol on the other gaffle, which I relocated off and should have been my route in the first place. Relocation technique was crap and the time lost fully deserved...

Pretty good from there to #5, then lost 2' at #6 again by going too straight rather than the safer hilltops route, wasn't careful enough near the end of the leg. Spiked the short legs to #7 and #8, then the most frustrating screw-up as 7'+ went to #9. Actually got into the circle on the first attempt, but not quite high enough on the slope - had ended up at a big hole which was mapped as a pit, rather than the sinkhole, and got confused. Could and should have stopped and worked it out, but wasn't thinking clearly and went into headless chicken mode. Might have helped to ignore the other two here. And a third example of how a slightly more conservative route-choice would have been a huge time-saver.

Same to #10, at the end of a 1.5km+ leg apparently I grazed the edge of the depression but was looking the wrong way. Slightly higher route with firm attackpoint off the boulders to the NE would have been best. Another 4-5' gone, and had now lost sight of both Keith and John.

Light enough to turn the torch off to #11, an hour in and the legs were a bit heavy going up the hill. Slight wobbles to 12 and 13, no more than 30" each though. Clean around the rest, finished 3' down on Keith and 30" on John.

Lost at least 20' in the dark, most of which was easily avoidable - disappointing, and rightly pissed off with my run...

GPS claims 10.7km from #1 which sums it up quite well.

Lessons:

- With so few people around (i.e. not Tio/Jukola) there's no trains of people or elephant tracks and mistakes can be costly
- Have to remember to get into the right 'night-mode' mindset, especially on vague areas like this - slightly safer route choices and clear, obvious attackpoints can save heaps of time.
- Easiest to see and make use of large positive contour features - even if a sinkhole is 50m wide you may not see it until you're almost on top of it, and it's easier to miss vague broad re-entrants in the dark
- Need far more practice at night...

Middle-distance course at Clydach Terrace - primarily tricky old mine workings/spoil heaps. Fairly accurate through the first 16, a few 10" wobbles and legs feeling pretty heavy. Then found Adam with a crocked ankle, took him back to assembly and tried to continue the run. As a bit of an indicator of what was to follow overnight, wasn't really focussing on the task-in-hand for the next few controls, #21 was the worst of the lot, just doing a headless chicken impression. Eventually went back towards #20, and proceeded to spike the remainder of the controls.

Note to self - must use compass in conjunction with terrain... if only I'd heeded this advice for the next race.

GPS distance - 6.95km - most of extra distance from screwing up 18, 19 and 21.

An enjoyable evening cricket match against Worcester. Not much exercise involved... Quads feeling a bit tight.

Summer Series at Bloom Wood - not really with it this evening with a host of silly errors.

First managed to trip almost off the start and rip the map pretty much in two, for some reason didn't go back 10 yards to change map, or swap it when reaching the centre control after the short first loop.

Then managed to go around the second loop the wrong way round, thinking was looking for #4 and went to #14 rather than the correct #5. Only realised when reached 14, saw #5 but no linking line... Decided to carry on the wrong way rather than correct myself.

And the missing control faff... not helped by the tear in the map, poor navigation and thinking I'd hit the wrong fence. Would have been fine had I read the contours, but ended up doing a token complete lap of the fence to check I was in the right place, and only on double-checking the site convinced myself I was right. And proceeded to be really sloppy on the next control...

GPS distance - 6.65km, when should have been nearer 6km. Heart rate data wrong too, averaging far too low.

Jog to start and a bit up/down the path. Then longer warm down jog with Tim, Roger T and Jon.

Bit of a longer cycle home than usual, wasn't really feeling too with it though so another day off - after pretty much 2 weeks rest and nothing done over the weekends, things should pick up again tomorrow.

Usual, inside, just avoided the major downpour by the sounds of things...