Training Log Archive: broccolisaIn the 12 days ending Aug 8, 2017:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| « | » |
| » now | |||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
| |||||||||||||
| Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | |||||||
Sunday Aug 6, 2017 #
Event: Canadian Championships Long
Orienteering race (Long; course 8, F35+) 2:28:29 [0] 10.08 km (14:44 / km)
[Warning: Longggg post about today's Long race]
My goal for today's 6.3 km Long course was to complete it within the 3-hour time limit. No MPs!
Had a bit of a restless night last night, due in part to stressing that I was really overfacing myself with a 6 km course, 5 months after first holding an orienteering map. It crossed my mind to ask for a very last-minute change to a shorter course in Open, but I didn't want to cause a fuss. And, naturally I wanted a shot at redemption after my horrendous run yesterday.
I can't beat around the bush any longer (did enough of that already today) -- Success! Woo!!!
Although you'd never know it from how long it took me today (almost 2.5 hours for 10 kms covered), today's run went wayyyyy better than yesterday's. None of the endless major mistakes shooting off in a majorly wrong direction and having to backtrack time after time, and was happily surpised by several legs where I landed on the control straight away. (Still don't know how I managed to go so terrifically off course, so frequently, yesterday.)
Today's terrain seemed a lot more runnable than yesterday, nowhere near as much rocky land, so that was fun. And, few to none of today's controls were assisted by seeing other orienteers nearby; found them fair and square on my own. That was a good confidence boost after yesterday's fiasco. The 1:15,000 scale was fine; 100 walking paces per cm, nice easy math.
Control #1: Oh good, a nice short leg to get started. Landed in the southern yellow bit, eventually moved over to the correct one.
#2: Yay, a handrail! Followed the road to the path, then into the woods.
#3: Ooh, a longer leg. In retrospect there's no reason why I couldn't have aimed for the big marsh with the island and gone from there, but this early into the course I was still paranoid about my mystery offcourses yesterday, so chose instead a substantially longer handrail route, taking the trail south then following the old fence. Repeatedly reminded myself along the way that I was going for 3, not 4; really didn't want to MP!
#4, #5: Can't remember much about these.
#6: Ooooooh, the long leg and the source of much of my angst while trying to sleep last night! I thanked my lucky stars that the leg had plenty of unmistakeable features along the way, not much chance to go majorly off course. Bounced myself along from one pond/swamp to the next, attacking from the southern tip of the last uncrossable marsh. Unfortunately my attack was off base so I spent quite some time searching the area fruitlessly. Eventually came to the water pit (sigh of relief) and was able to attack cleanly from there.
#7: Fairly straightforward.
#8: Augh!!!! Had SUCH a hard time with this one, despite it being the shortest leg. I actually had to re-attack from #7 two or three times before eventually finding it. I was surprised at having so much difficulty with this leg, because each time from #7 I took what I thought was a very careful bearing and counted my steps. Was beginning to think this control would be my demise resulting in an MP or pushing me beyond the 3-hour limit; may have uttered a few choice words at this point, but hallelujah, eventually found it.
#9: Went north to the path, attacked from the fork. A cool moment spotting a rat snake on approach to the refreshment control! Quite big, happy to not be afraid of snakes. The bulletin had said that there were rat snakes at Foley, so I was really happy to have seen one. Well, assuming it was a rat snake -- was mostly darkish, with diamondish markings.
Tick, tock, tick, tock... Reached the 2-hour mark now. 1 hour left. Figured it should be feasible, *if* I'd manage to avoid major mistakes for the rest of the course, but definitely not a given with yesterday's endless huge errors still fresh in my mind.
#10: Took a fairly straight path from 9 to 10, so lots of hill climbing along the way.
#11-16: Speaking of hills, hoooo-eeeee, en route to #11 I was really feeling my tank was near empty. Gained a real appreciation of why they say the long is such a test of endurance. Fortunately these last controls were fairly straightforward, don't recall too much. If I'm reading the splits right, among F35+ I was 3rd on the 11-12 leg and 4th on the 10-11 leg; not sure why those legs ranked that high when most of the others I was around 9th, which is the final position I landed in.
Finish!
Held my breath as the print-out printed -- and lo and behold, no MP! Woo!
A great race with which to end my O-Fest / COC experience.
Huge thanks to the organizers and all the volunteers!
My goal for today's 6.3 km Long course was to complete it within the 3-hour time limit. No MPs!
Had a bit of a restless night last night, due in part to stressing that I was really overfacing myself with a 6 km course, 5 months after first holding an orienteering map. It crossed my mind to ask for a very last-minute change to a shorter course in Open, but I didn't want to cause a fuss. And, naturally I wanted a shot at redemption after my horrendous run yesterday.
I can't beat around the bush any longer (did enough of that already today) -- Success! Woo!!!
Although you'd never know it from how long it took me today (almost 2.5 hours for 10 kms covered), today's run went wayyyyy better than yesterday's. None of the endless major mistakes shooting off in a majorly wrong direction and having to backtrack time after time, and was happily surpised by several legs where I landed on the control straight away. (Still don't know how I managed to go so terrifically off course, so frequently, yesterday.)
Today's terrain seemed a lot more runnable than yesterday, nowhere near as much rocky land, so that was fun. And, few to none of today's controls were assisted by seeing other orienteers nearby; found them fair and square on my own. That was a good confidence boost after yesterday's fiasco. The 1:15,000 scale was fine; 100 walking paces per cm, nice easy math.
Control #1: Oh good, a nice short leg to get started. Landed in the southern yellow bit, eventually moved over to the correct one.
#2: Yay, a handrail! Followed the road to the path, then into the woods.
#3: Ooh, a longer leg. In retrospect there's no reason why I couldn't have aimed for the big marsh with the island and gone from there, but this early into the course I was still paranoid about my mystery offcourses yesterday, so chose instead a substantially longer handrail route, taking the trail south then following the old fence. Repeatedly reminded myself along the way that I was going for 3, not 4; really didn't want to MP!
#4, #5: Can't remember much about these.
#6: Ooooooh, the long leg and the source of much of my angst while trying to sleep last night! I thanked my lucky stars that the leg had plenty of unmistakeable features along the way, not much chance to go majorly off course. Bounced myself along from one pond/swamp to the next, attacking from the southern tip of the last uncrossable marsh. Unfortunately my attack was off base so I spent quite some time searching the area fruitlessly. Eventually came to the water pit (sigh of relief) and was able to attack cleanly from there.
#7: Fairly straightforward.
#8: Augh!!!! Had SUCH a hard time with this one, despite it being the shortest leg. I actually had to re-attack from #7 two or three times before eventually finding it. I was surprised at having so much difficulty with this leg, because each time from #7 I took what I thought was a very careful bearing and counted my steps. Was beginning to think this control would be my demise resulting in an MP or pushing me beyond the 3-hour limit; may have uttered a few choice words at this point, but hallelujah, eventually found it.
#9: Went north to the path, attacked from the fork. A cool moment spotting a rat snake on approach to the refreshment control! Quite big, happy to not be afraid of snakes. The bulletin had said that there were rat snakes at Foley, so I was really happy to have seen one. Well, assuming it was a rat snake -- was mostly darkish, with diamondish markings.
Tick, tock, tick, tock... Reached the 2-hour mark now. 1 hour left. Figured it should be feasible, *if* I'd manage to avoid major mistakes for the rest of the course, but definitely not a given with yesterday's endless huge errors still fresh in my mind.
#10: Took a fairly straight path from 9 to 10, so lots of hill climbing along the way.
#11-16: Speaking of hills, hoooo-eeeee, en route to #11 I was really feeling my tank was near empty. Gained a real appreciation of why they say the long is such a test of endurance. Fortunately these last controls were fairly straightforward, don't recall too much. If I'm reading the splits right, among F35+ I was 3rd on the 11-12 leg and 4th on the 10-11 leg; not sure why those legs ranked that high when most of the others I was around 9th, which is the final position I landed in.
Finish!
Held my breath as the print-out printed -- and lo and behold, no MP! Woo!
A great race with which to end my O-Fest / COC experience.
Huge thanks to the organizers and all the volunteers!
Saturday Aug 5, 2017 #
Orienteering race (Middle; course 8, F35+) 1:28:10 [0] 5.3 km (16:38 / km)
Mostly walked today's Middle distance course at Foley Mountain.
May as well start with the bad:
- Somehow I unconsciously decided #5 was optional, but alas, it wasn't, so I MP'd without realizing it. D'oh!
- I was all over the place. On a 2.8 km course, I covered 5.3 kms. Not many controls came smoothly, including especially the first one where at some point I ended up going the opposite way I had intended. Seems I was never ending up where I thought I would, and had to search around quite a bit to locate several of the controls. I often substantially overshot my intended distances, so there was a lot of backtracking.
But, there was also some good:
- I found all of the controls that I actually looked for. Woo!
- My time came in under the 2-hour course limit. Woo!
- No mobility-impairing injuries. Woo!
- Despite how poorly I did today, I'm still looking forward to tomorrow. Woo!
There's a decent chance I may DNF tomorrow as it's the longest as-the-crow-flies distance I'll have attempted. But, I'll aim to give it a good effort, taking it slow and careful and seeing if I can avoid some of the types of mistakes I had today. Must remember the scale will be 1:15,000!
May as well start with the bad:
- Somehow I unconsciously decided #5 was optional, but alas, it wasn't, so I MP'd without realizing it. D'oh!
- I was all over the place. On a 2.8 km course, I covered 5.3 kms. Not many controls came smoothly, including especially the first one where at some point I ended up going the opposite way I had intended. Seems I was never ending up where I thought I would, and had to search around quite a bit to locate several of the controls. I often substantially overshot my intended distances, so there was a lot of backtracking.
But, there was also some good:
- I found all of the controls that I actually looked for. Woo!
- My time came in under the 2-hour course limit. Woo!
- No mobility-impairing injuries. Woo!
- Despite how poorly I did today, I'm still looking forward to tomorrow. Woo!
There's a decent chance I may DNF tomorrow as it's the longest as-the-crow-flies distance I'll have attempted. But, I'll aim to give it a good effort, taking it slow and careful and seeing if I can avoid some of the types of mistakes I had today. Must remember the scale will be 1:15,000!
Wednesday Aug 2, 2017 #
Orienteering race (Modern Int. at Retr-o) 1:24:32 [0]
Was originally registered in the Retr-o, but decided to bail to a modern course given my lack of experience. Advanced course maps were all taken, so Intermediate it was. The course lent itself well to lots of bushwhacking, so it was a great practice opportunity despite the shorter course length. I wasn't in a running mood so walked all of it, plus in this terrain would probably have made endless annoying mistakes with a faster pace.
For some reason the start triangle confused me, so I took a while to get going. Took a healthy 21 minutes to find the first control! Well actually, while looking for it I met up with another person and her friend, and the friend found it. Part of my problem was I made the same ridiculous mistake I keep making, thinking the re-entrant symbol is a hill. For some reason this mistake cracks me up. Tell me the re-entrant symbol doesn't look exactly like a hill! Granted, a very sudden, steep hill (an anthill perhaps?) -- but a hill none the less. Still, I should really know better by now.
No major difficulties with the rest, but it also wasn't a breeze either, a good challenge.
For some reason the start triangle confused me, so I took a while to get going. Took a healthy 21 minutes to find the first control! Well actually, while looking for it I met up with another person and her friend, and the friend found it. Part of my problem was I made the same ridiculous mistake I keep making, thinking the re-entrant symbol is a hill. For some reason this mistake cracks me up. Tell me the re-entrant symbol doesn't look exactly like a hill! Granted, a very sudden, steep hill (an anthill perhaps?) -- but a hill none the less. Still, I should really know better by now.
No major difficulties with the rest, but it also wasn't a breeze either, a good challenge.
Tuesday Aug 1, 2017 #
Orienteering (Barrens practice) 2:06:48 [0] 5.9 km (21:29 / km)
Barrens training
B
R
U
T
A
L
Had major difficulties staying in contact with the map. Definitely in over my head on this one, in more ways than one!
Saw almost as many wild mammals as I did controls. A deer and a coyote (separate instances), both of whom darted away as soon as they noticed me. I was incredibly jealous of the ease with which the deer bounded away through the 6-foot tall grass that I was pathetically trying to fight my way through.
B
R
U
T
A
L
Had major difficulties staying in contact with the map. Definitely in over my head on this one, in more ways than one!
Saw almost as many wild mammals as I did controls. A deer and a coyote (separate instances), both of whom darted away as soon as they noticed me. I was incredibly jealous of the ease with which the deer bounded away through the 6-foot tall grass that I was pathetically trying to fight my way through.
Monday Jul 31, 2017 #
Orienteering race (Night-O, 5.2 km, 3A2) 47:21 [0] 6.54 km (7:14 / km)
Night-o! Golf course! Mass start! Much fun!
At one point, I realized there was **no** one else around, no bobbing lights whatsoever, and conveniently this was when I was minorly lost between 16 and 17. Not sure why I got discombobulated there, but anyway, let’s just say it was a great opportunity to practice remaining calm in a potentially anxiety-producing situation. Heh!
Running felt good overall, though not fast and still walked parts.
At one point, I realized there was **no** one else around, no bobbing lights whatsoever, and conveniently this was when I was minorly lost between 16 and 17. Not sure why I got discombobulated there, but anyway, let’s just say it was a great opportunity to practice remaining calm in a potentially anxiety-producing situation. Heh!
Running felt good overall, though not fast and still walked parts.
Sunday Jul 30, 2017 #
Orienteering race (Middle, course 8) 53:48 [0] 4.99 km (10:47 / km)
Morning came early after a late night watching a dragon and giant spider duke it out at the Supreme Court. Just another day in Canada’s capital…
Today was my first try at an “A” level meet, the F35+ middle distance (course 8) at the Eastern Canadian Orienteering Championships in Montréal, hosted by the Ramblers Orienteering Club as part of O-Fest. Neat to see participants from all over the country, in fact from all over the world! The weather was surprisingly nice – sunny, and not too hot. And I didn’t see a single mosquito all day. (Maybe the spider passed through Pierrefonds en route to Ottawa.)
A pretty tame map for today’s 3.5 km course, felt a little like some of the summer score-o’s, only of course we had to follow the numbers. The terrain was mostly dry and flat, and trails were all over. My route choices almost always involved trails, so this run felt a little intermediate-y. But, I definitely made my share of mistakes! Was off base for 7, but thanks to a nearby wrecked car was able to get back on track. 11 was another tricky one; ended up at #62 instead of #63, lucky I looked carefully at the number before punching!
Speaking of spiders, I had a really lovely spider+web in the face, probably when going through the swampy area from 5 to 6. If you had told arachnophobic me six months ago that I’d discover a brand new-to-me sport I’d enjoy so much that even spiders+webs in the face couldn’t deter me – well, I would never have believed you! Ha!
My goals for today were to (a) complete the course, and (b) come in under double the time of the expected winning time (which for today’s course was 30 minutes, so, come in under 60 minutes). Success on both counts, woo!
In the end, my time of 54 minutes was 20th out of 26 on course 8. Among the not-exactly-huge F35+ category, it was 3rd out of 4, but 2nd out of the medal-eligibles – so I got to take home a spiffy medal! Next weekend’s events have many more people in my category, and I expect to struggle with the course quite a bit more, so today will most likely be my one and only time ever on the podium. But, hey I’ll take it :D
p.s. ankle felt great, and no new rolls, phew!
Today was my first try at an “A” level meet, the F35+ middle distance (course 8) at the Eastern Canadian Orienteering Championships in Montréal, hosted by the Ramblers Orienteering Club as part of O-Fest. Neat to see participants from all over the country, in fact from all over the world! The weather was surprisingly nice – sunny, and not too hot. And I didn’t see a single mosquito all day. (Maybe the spider passed through Pierrefonds en route to Ottawa.)
A pretty tame map for today’s 3.5 km course, felt a little like some of the summer score-o’s, only of course we had to follow the numbers. The terrain was mostly dry and flat, and trails were all over. My route choices almost always involved trails, so this run felt a little intermediate-y. But, I definitely made my share of mistakes! Was off base for 7, but thanks to a nearby wrecked car was able to get back on track. 11 was another tricky one; ended up at #62 instead of #63, lucky I looked carefully at the number before punching!
Speaking of spiders, I had a really lovely spider+web in the face, probably when going through the swampy area from 5 to 6. If you had told arachnophobic me six months ago that I’d discover a brand new-to-me sport I’d enjoy so much that even spiders+webs in the face couldn’t deter me – well, I would never have believed you! Ha!
My goals for today were to (a) complete the course, and (b) come in under double the time of the expected winning time (which for today’s course was 30 minutes, so, come in under 60 minutes). Success on both counts, woo!
In the end, my time of 54 minutes was 20th out of 26 on course 8. Among the not-exactly-huge F35+ category, it was 3rd out of 4, but 2nd out of the medal-eligibles – so I got to take home a spiffy medal! Next weekend’s events have many more people in my category, and I expect to struggle with the course quite a bit more, so today will most likely be my one and only time ever on the podium. But, hey I’ll take it :D
p.s. ankle felt great, and no new rolls, phew!