running warm up/down 15:00 [1]
Running to the start and then back partways while waiting for my start time.
orienteering race 1:53:41 [4] *** 9.2 km (12:21 / km) +310m 10:35 / km
16c
Really really didn't want to mess up on the first control (again) so I took it so slowly and made sure I knew where I was the whole time. And sure enough, I spiked it no problemo. But then I decided to throw all of that caution into the wind and just start running to 2 with no plan whatsoever. Well, bombed that one completely spending 25min running up and down the ridge through the green trying to relocate. Amazingly, I did relocate, but only because I was in a series of re-entrants that were all green, and the control was supposed to be in a wide white open part of the ridge. Blasted back across the ridge for maybe the 3rd time paying no heed to all of the prickly vines and bushes until things finally started to fit in with the map and I found the blasted control. The rest of the race was just a mess and I felt like a total wreck out there just barely being in contact with the map. Found 3, 4, 5, and 6 alright and 7 was almost great except that as I was heading up the re-entrant looking for the ditch that was supposed to branch off, I couldn't find it and thought I was in the wrong one. Continued to run all over the place until I came back to a spot where I knew I had just come from and then ran right over the hill and into the control. Somehow, the area around the control seemed rather familiar so I think that I was within 20m of it the first time and just couldn't see it. 8 to 9 was the really long leg that pretty much went straight through the green, and by then I was pretty experienced at getting through the stuff, I just slogged my way through it all trying my best to stay on a bearing. Totally messed up 12 and even now I'm not sure what happened. Came out at the road which wasn't supposed to happen but it was quickly corrected and I got a nice break from crawling through the green to do some road running! Took the long way around to 14 instead of cutting through all of the camps and trails only because I knew that I would've had to slow down considerably just to read all the fine detail so as not to head off in the wrong direction so close to the end. Felt like a terrible race for me, but I guess that I should be positive and say...I finished the race and in under 2hrs too...woohoo!!! ;-)