Orienteering (Foot) 1:08:55 [4] 7.2 km (9:34 / km) +270m 8:04 / km
QOC: Patuxent River Park, MD. I ran the Red course for the QOC Mid Atlantic Championships. It was a decent run but I had made some not so efficient route choices. Francis Hogel had set the course and he usually includes some good choices. I opted both times on two important route choice legs to go around and use the trails. It was partly a decision to play to my strengths and partly wanting to avoid the risk of unmapped deadfall slowing me. However, having not done much training lately, the first part of that would be somewhat inaccurate. To make matters worse, on leg #2, I had been concious about not being too far to the right of the control but somehow, coming up from the marsh it happened anyway--I even looked to my left but the control must have been behind a tree. I made a u-turn after going the wrong way but the damage was done. I lost 3-4 minutes. I caught Dan Quinn going to #3 and got ahead of him as I fell behind but navigated accurately to the control. I was temped to use the road to get to #5 but went straight--it was just not very efficient despite spiking the control. I went left on the long leg to #6; Ted Good had gone right; a very different route across the grain of the hills, and got there 3 seconds slower than I did. I saw Kathleen Lennon there and hit #7 well. I ran up the hill toward the field going to #8 but the field looked like a mess with high grasses and thorns--seen Ryan Hanna covered with briars and stick-ems made me reasses. I skirted the side of the field, running in the forest and made good time. Dropping down to #8 was pretty easy; coincidentally, I had been in the area for the Boy Scout event a week or 2 earlier. I read the terrain well goint to #9, and did the same 3/4 of the way to #8. I chickened-out aiming off to the left shortly after crossing the creek and bounced off the trail--not much time lost but a little. I kept getting pushed to the right heading to #10 but corrected before the road. I emerege where there was a reentrant on the other side so I had a good attack point right on the straight line. I heard someone coming up from behind and saw the reentrant ahead blocked by fallen vegetation. I moved around it to the left and managed to stay ahead to the control (#10). It turned-out it was Vadim M. I headed a bit to the left coming out of #10 to avoid vegetation. Vadim must have taken a straighter route and hit the road quicker by punching through it. He was only a few seconds up on me but I couldn't catch him. We punched at the Go control and pushed it in. I ran it pretty well but being tired I didn't have it in me to make up any more distance; it seemed like I made up a little in the middle but I don't know if the split times would support that. This was a fun run but the lack of physical training showed.