Training Log Archive: Becks

Event: Ontario Orienteering Championships
 

Alright! I am going to try and reconstruct my race from last year's Route Gadget, as I am waiting for a Western blot to run. Exciting first experiment in new lab time!

Edit: Map! Yey! http://sprintseries.org/doma/show_map.php?user=bec...

Overall, not impressed with my Middle Race. The aim was to start slowly, visualise well, and pick up speed and confidence in the terrain. Number one was easy, but then number 2 and 3 I was just running slowly, but not actually complementing the slow speed with sufficient brain work! Then Katta caught me, I fell behind her for a couple of controls, and that enabled me to get into the map. We were then taking different routes and going back and forwards till number 10, where I pulled away. On the track to 11 the bandages slipped off my heels and running became really painful, which was so frustrating as my orienteering was just about up to speed. So I finished pretty accurately, but hobbling.

I can do far better than that.

Control by control:
Start - 1: I went left of the line along the small trail, then a bearing up from the boulder. Bobbled to the right, saw the control pretty quickly.
1-2: Had no plan. At all. Wandered on a bearing, trying to make it fit. Nothing did. Did a tour of the local dot knolls to the right of the line, then finally jumped in from the trail and got it. Total mess. Two mins down already.
2-3: Again, no plan. Drifty drifty, oh, there's a path, oh looks, there's the huge crag way further to the left then I expected. Into the easy control sight. More significant time loss. Katta appears.
3-4: This control goes off last year's map, but I drifted to the open, didn't know where I'd popped out, then saw Katta get the control.
4-5: Sat behind Katta, finally got into the map. Too far right of the line, hit the stream, then a good AP in.
5-6: Time to rumble. Took the wiggly path route to 6, it was worth it. Count off the hill tops, drop onto the hill to the right of the crag, let the spur lead me in. The first spike of the day, at last.
6-7: Wow, the map is very different to last year. Across the flat bit, hug the hill bottoms, line of rocky stuff/crags to lead you in. No problem.
7-8: South on the path to the big open bit with the water channel. Round the trails and then in off the path bend on a good bearing. Spike. Pull ahead of Katta a bit.
8-9: Skirt the marsh to the big open hill. Take the wrong route off and get stuck in a sucky marsh. Up the form line re-entrant across the path and it's totally obvious where the control will be. Spike.
9-10: Across the hill tops, hesitatey, hesitatey. See Katta, think she's missed 9, not sure. Am too high on the hill and eventually realise I need to drop further down the slope. Too slow.
10-11: Out to the big trail, then fuddle the attack point. Feet have started to hurt and not focussing enough. Too many unclear trails. Not huge time loss, but still too slow.
11-12: Straight, almost too far right.
12-13: Followed the trails, no problem.
13-14: Tried to path it round to the slope edge, but lost the path and found the control pretty much by luck. Seemed closer to the path than I anticipated.
14-15: Along the re-entrant, out by the crag in the open, then bearing off the trail. Nice control site. Spike.
15-16: Pick along the hill tops, no problem.
16-17: Nice route, back near 7, then along the hills, across the rough open at a high point, and then across the flattish hill to the control. Happy with my route, but feet really hurting now.

So yup. Pretty rubbish from me. When you planned ahead this stuff made a lot of sense and was actually pretty easy. But sitting it back and letting it come to you did not work, and I did too much of that today.

Hopefully map to come! No warm down, shoes came off before I downloaded.

Joggy warm up but heels sore, so not really feeling massively excited about it.

Course 7 Middle - Splits