Orienteering race 1:42:23 [4] *** 17.3 km (5:55 / km) +490m 5:11 / km
spiked:20/25c shoes: Adidas Swoop II
Australian Long Champs, Hidden Glen. Started ok but lost time on most of the early complex controls between 4 and 9. Ran right past 4 but didn't see it until 50 seconds later after coming back off the creek junction. Made a bit of a mess of 5, went out to the SW to come off the bigger knoll but hesitated thinking I may have overshot then did overshoot to the SE mound after finding the big knoll, lost about 20 seconds. Misread some creeks approaching 8 causing some hesitation then messed it a bit to the left, maybe 30 seconds. Drifted a bit right approaching 11 but recognised I was hitting the steeper slope and corrected ok, can't have lost much time because I had the fastest split. Wasn't feeling great early, I remember checking my watch at 21 minutes to see if I had been running long enough that I should have warmed up because I still felt I was struggling for breath a bit. Caught Darren Ashmore at 11 and was encouraged to find my cruising pace across the flat stuff was pretty similar to his. Both of us drifted a little right across to 12, I corrected, Darren didn't and that was the last I saw of him. Had a look at the rest of the course after the drinks control and didn't think it looked like much so tried to increase the effort a bit. Clean through the next few controls and noticed one took a few seconds to register so thought I must have got past Eric which made me think I might be doing ok. Realised there was very little left and I still felt fresh at 22 so tried to lift the pace again. Got 23 ok but felt a bit rushed through the thicker stuff across to 24 and got something wrong, as it seems many did. Felt completely lost when I hit the main creek and had a moment of panic but correctly deduced where I must be and recovered ok although a little hesitantly, lost about 1 minute. Perhaps a little over cautious on the last after my mistake but finished feeling strong.
When I first finished I felt a little disappointed with my run due to the late error and more so when Rob Walter got me by 24 seconds but as more and more people came in behind me I realised it was really a pretty solid effort and a very satisfying result. 3rd place seems to be my spot this week but I'm not complaining.
Running warm up/down 6:00 [2] 1.0 km (6:00 / km)
shoes: Adidas Swoop II
Only a token 4 or 5 min of warming up and 1 or 2 cooling down.
Went to the beach in the afternoon and did a bit of wading and swimming and a short run back along the beach to where I started. Rolled my ankle a little when I stepped on something that felt a bit like stepping on a spa jet while wading in knee deep water. Felt quite good running back along the beach.