Orienteering (Foot) 59:42 [3] **** 5.5 mi (10:51 / mi) +265m 9:26 / mi
spiked:9/14c slept:6.0 weight:191.5lbs
QOC: Patapsco Granite. I started out intending to run both the Blue and Middle courses but only had time for the Blue course. I started okay, yet feeling tired.
I just about spiked #1 reading contours (actually getting about 5m past the control).
On the second leg, I got across the creek and started climbing while rounding the curved hillside. I didn't see it and figured out correctly that I was just a tiny bit low.
On leg 3, I seem to recall an extra trail (this might have been another leg), and it threw me off a little. Next seeing what appeared to be extra ridges got me confused. The ridges were fairly well defined and the contours on the map seemed too soft or generalized. As I got too far, I went ahead to a trail to be sure of where I was, before turning around and hitting it easily.
For leg 4, I thought about going around the ridge but didn't take long enough to assess it. I was trying to run too much instead of navigating. I was kicking myself as I got to the bottom of the reentrant and still had a ridge to get around. The trail I got on seemed a little off. I figured there were too many new trails so that I should just ignore differences. Rounding the last ridge, and attacking off of the trail at the bottom of a reentrant, I spiked it but I was slow.
For #5, I went straight predicting the tree the control would be on as soon as I'd gotten to the field. I was still just too weak to run this faster.
I went pretty straight toward #6. I got into some unmapped deadfall south of the control. Kim Jepsen was coming in from my left headed to the control more directly. I had to adjust left at the end.
I ran smoothly and made up some distance on Kim. I realized I was getting too far to the right by looking at the reentrant to the left. I adjusted and so did Kim. I think he got there just before I did.
I ran confidently toward #8. Kim's bearing seemed to be wrong because he appeared to me to be heading to another control. I climbed the hill after crossing a reentrant and saw the ditches ahead. I thought that all was well but I didn't see the control. I hunted around, mostly in the control circle. Other people were hunting farther away. Eventually, I walked straight over from the top of a mapped ditch and found the control deep in the pit. I must have missed it by only 10 ft. or less on my first pass. Kim passed me on this though he was on another course. I didn't see when he punched, but I did see him leaving the area.
I ran well and fairly straight toward #9. As I was getting close, I saw Kim running up the reentrant that I was angling down. I realized that the control was not in the ditch at the crease of the reentrant, but I was just low enough again, that I passed the control a slight way. I climbed and hit it without a lot of delay.
I ran straightish again but up the left side of the first hill. I'd gotten confused in the field thinking that I was suddenly further ahead. I kept m bearing and recovered from the mental lapse without any loss other than going down one reentrant that I didn't have to (still on a straightish route). Eventually, I attacked from where the ride SW of the control, hit a field. I spiked it from there.
For #11, I must have drifted too far to the right. I knew I was getting a little off to the right but did this to get around unmapped deadfall. I was surprised at how far ahead I had to go when I'd finally gotten into the correct reentrant. Greg Lennon was converging on this control too, but I got there ahead of him.
For #12, I ran straight and got into a reentrant. I'd intended to basically follow a stream to a stream junction, then attack. However I wasn't thinking so well. After crossing the first creek, I got to thinking I'd crossed much lower and didn't have to cross a second. To make matters worse, as I was attacking I found control #118, which was not on my course. Greg Lennon got to that just behind me and went on. I started going off to where I thought #13 would be--a short distance away. The contrours were close but not matching-up. I ran back to #118, then ran the other direction past it. There was a lot of rock there that I wasn't expecting. That was enough to wake me up and move on to get over the second creek. I spiked the control from there, but not without losing a lot of time on the leg. Others were converging on the control just ahead of me.
For #13, I ran straight. The others I'd seen at #12 were faster but they were not running on a good bearing. I made up time on them but they still got to the control first.
For #14, I ran straight, catching one or 2 other runners but the faster runners I'd seen the last 2 controls stayed ahead.
For #15, I was tired and not feeling that a sprint to the Finish control would help me. I walked the steep little hill.
I liked this terrain but need to get used to the mapping. The extra trails and generalized contours and higher threshold for mapping rock threw me off. I would like a do over but I think the biggest trouble I had was making mistakes due to being in poor physical condition. I could have run slower and would probably have been better.