Orienteering (Trail Challenge) 1:07:24 [4] 5.5 mi (12:15 / mi)
shoes: Montrail Mt Masochist Mar 2011
Webster Trail Challenge. Not a good day in lots of respects. I forgot to bring my e-punch stick, and I forgot to bring my compass. So I borrowed a club e-punch stick, and I could have borrowed a compass but I commented to Anne that I really shouldn't need one for a Trail Challenge type race in Webster Park. However, I also commented that nearly any time in the past when I decided I didn't need a compass, there would come a time when I really wish I had a compass ....
Then I took a very poor route choice going into Whiting Rd., but I wasn't alone, lots of people were expecting to be able to take this indistinct trail into the park which would cut off quite a bit of distance. Being late summer, however, the trail was basically totally overgrown and at a minimum medium green. I probably lost 5 minutes or so there.
Later, in Webster Park, I wound up turning down a wrong trail and not recognizing it for a while. If I had had a compass (what a brilliant idea of something to have along when orienteering!), I would have realized it within seconds, but I wound up losing probably 5-10 minutes. Fortunately the sun was out at that time so I had some way of knowing a rough direction, which is what confirmed that I was on the wrong trail, eventually.
Then, my GPS (Garmin 205 -- the replacement for the new one which acted up and then died a few weeks ago, when it was less than a week old) started acting up and then eventually died. Right now, it won't turn on at all, even when hooked up to the computer. Needless to say, I'm NOT happy with Garmin these days.
To top it off, there were issues with getting results off of the e-punch sticks at the finish. So I have no idea how far I covered today, and also no idea of how long it took. The 75 minutes and 5 miles are both pretty wild guesses. (NOTE: Actual time was 67:24, and I increased the estimated distance to 5.5 miles due to a couple of errors.)
The good thing is that I didn't get hurt, and my knees didn't bother me at all. And I was able to run a lot of the time, but by no means all.