Training Log Archive: AliCIn the 31 days ending Oct 31, 2010:
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Sunday Oct 31, 2010 #
Running warm up/down 15:30 [1]
Over to Woodland Park and back to Dan's. Nice day again! Is it always every-other day nice/rainy here? Seems like that's the pattern for the past week...
Drills 4:30 [1]
Maybe the reason my knee hurts is some strange muscle weakness in my left leg. So running drills to try to strengthen whatever it is, just in case.
Orienteering 25:24 ***
24c
The "No pain rogaine" course @ Woodland Park from COC's NOD event
Not sure I found the optimal order, but did work on flow and think there was only one control spot I got to and realized I didn't know where I was heading next. But I wasn't going full out at all, so keeping planning was easier than might normally be.
Mostly easy orienteering, but a few bits in reentrant zones with lots of paths that were more difficult!
550/2000
Not sure I found the optimal order, but did work on flow and think there was only one control spot I got to and realized I didn't know where I was heading next. But I wasn't going full out at all, so keeping planning was easier than might normally be.
Mostly easy orienteering, but a few bits in reentrant zones with lots of paths that were more difficult!
550/2000
Saturday Oct 30, 2010 #
Orienteering race 46:00
24c
Cascade Orienteering Vampire-O!!
At North Seatac Park. This was way more fun than I thought it might be. I'm not a big night orienteer, still kinda suspicious of score-O in general, and had no idea how the whole vampire thing was going to work out... But was a blast. Was vampire twice, pretty much in succession (although utterly failed to catch Patrick one of those times, oh and another time tried to vampire a group that had a holy pumpkin, whoopsie!), but didn't end up with a terrible card after the second time and went merrily along my way racking up controls, until I got to near the end and knew that there were still two way in the north-east I avoided earlier as they were majorly vampire-infested. So I snuck back for them, then snuck cross-country, avoiding spots I thought might be vampire hang-outs...
Decent orienteering, not so much flow, but thought about it a bit, I think map glances and planning are harder in the dark and score-o. Easier to night orienteer with a bright light (Nikolay's) - although sometimes was off to be sneaky.
And due to some luck, I won. Which apparently means I'm supposed to organize next year's Vampire-O here in Seattle...
Knee still tender afterwards although I avoided really running for the week- what is up? Think it's approaching doctor time even if it's really mild pain, because I just need to know if I should be even more careful or not.
536/2000
At North Seatac Park. This was way more fun than I thought it might be. I'm not a big night orienteer, still kinda suspicious of score-O in general, and had no idea how the whole vampire thing was going to work out... But was a blast. Was vampire twice, pretty much in succession (although utterly failed to catch Patrick one of those times, oh and another time tried to vampire a group that had a holy pumpkin, whoopsie!), but didn't end up with a terrible card after the second time and went merrily along my way racking up controls, until I got to near the end and knew that there were still two way in the north-east I avoided earlier as they were majorly vampire-infested. So I snuck back for them, then snuck cross-country, avoiding spots I thought might be vampire hang-outs...
Decent orienteering, not so much flow, but thought about it a bit, I think map glances and planning are harder in the dark and score-o. Easier to night orienteer with a bright light (Nikolay's) - although sometimes was off to be sneaky.
And due to some luck, I won. Which apparently means I'm supposed to organize next year's Vampire-O here in Seattle...
Knee still tender afterwards although I avoided really running for the week- what is up? Think it's approaching doctor time even if it's really mild pain, because I just need to know if I should be even more careful or not.
536/2000
Running warm up/down 10:00 [1]
Warm up for Vampire-O. I came in costume, tore apart a dress from goodwill to be one of the monsters from Thriller. Fun times, and orienterable. But to really make it as a costume, would need the hair and makeup. Ah well.
Friday Oct 29, 2010 #
XC skiing 1:15:23 12.0 mi (6:17 / mi)
Again, a nice sunny day for a rollerski! Headed out to Redmond and joined Nikolay for a good hilly ski- we left one car at the bottom and then skied back to the other at the top, then fetched the other. Was a really good workout, roads not too busy, and good enough pavement for most of the way, just remember being rumbled a bit at the bottom of the hill.
Hit major traffic heading back to Seattle, so painful to go that slowly! According to TomTom data, Seattle has the worst traffic in the US, measured by percentage of roads with traffic at less than 70% of the posted speed limit. LA was second, Chicago third.
Hit major traffic heading back to Seattle, so painful to go that slowly! According to TomTom data, Seattle has the worst traffic in the US, measured by percentage of roads with traffic at less than 70% of the posted speed limit. LA was second, Chicago third.
Thursday Oct 28, 2010 #
5 PM
Running 10:30 [1]
A little plod around Dan's neighborhood to test out the legs. IT band was kinda burn-y all day, but didn't feel terrible running. Nothing actually felt terrible, but did have to focus on running properly because everything is just a bit tweaky.
It didn't rain on my the 10 min I was out though, woo!
It didn't rain on my the 10 min I was out though, woo!
Strength 14:00 [0]
10 min abs, 2 min back, 2 min sideplank
Slightly pathetic that strength is longer than my run today... hopefully I'm being sensible enough to reverse this shortly though!!!
Slightly pathetic that strength is longer than my run today... hopefully I'm being sensible enough to reverse this shortly though!!!
Wednesday Oct 27, 2010 #
10 AM
XC skiing 1:29:45 14.03 mi (6:24 / mi) +4m 6:24 / mi
ahr:145 max:170
Woo, such a better day than yesterday weather-wise! It's sunny, which let's you see that there are big snow-covered mountains around, fantastic!
Went out and did a rollerski with Nikolay on the Sammamish Lake trail, which was pretty flat, but we alternated 15 min double pole with 15 min skating and was good. His Nifilheims are slower than my V2s, so we switched for the middle half hour, which definitely made me have to work harder!!!
Knee slightly tender after the ski, but definitely not like after running.
Went out and did a rollerski with Nikolay on the Sammamish Lake trail, which was pretty flat, but we alternated 15 min double pole with 15 min skating and was good. His Nifilheims are slower than my V2s, so we switched for the middle half hour, which definitely made me have to work harder!!!
Knee slightly tender after the ski, but definitely not like after running.
Tuesday Oct 26, 2010 #
Note
Day 2 of attempting to make my knee, or rather upper-tibia-probably-connected-to-knee pain disappear. So I sat tight and let Seattle rain on me...
Strength 2:00 [1]
Actually, snuck in two minutes of abs while cooking dinner. Woo!
Monday Oct 25, 2010 #
Note
Travel to Seattle, via San Francisco and *then* LA, which is just backwards. Most notable thing was being asked if I was from CSU by a CSU runner on my first flight. Apparently the meet shirt (which yes, I was still wearing!) and the map of Pine Hill I was looking at gave it away... =)
Sunday Oct 24, 2010 #
9 AM
Orienteering race 1:05:24 6.3 km (10:23 / km) +220m 8:50 / km
ahr:149 max:167 15c
NEOC A-meet at Baldwin Hill
2nd to Sam by 4.5 minutes, and just narrowly in front of Hannah by 10 seconds. A mixed day orienteering-wise, some mistakes, but none totally terrible. I may not have always been making sure I kept up with mapreading while going through thick vegetation.
Going over my course with Alexei afterwards was helpful, he was able to point out that in a few places, my bearing-taking was really failing me and that in general I don't really plan routes so much as go straight unless something really obvious pops out. And he correctly guessed that when I see a control or the control feature in the distance, I sort of sprint all out the control, punch, and then have to pause to map read and take a bearing once I get there. So now, am going to use that time instead to proceed to the control at a more moderate pace, but plan next route, and most specifically, how to leave the control while doing so. The goal is flow.
1- Bad bearing from depression at end of reentrant left me puzzled staring at the northern rockwall. Was too high.
3- Went straight, across marsh, up green nose (slow!) and then up hill. Aimed off north, hoping to see boulder patch on the nose, but ended up hitting boulder in reentrant.
4- Stayed low, hit marsh, then around hill, passing the cliff. Checked out the hill with two boulders first, should have read in the circle more!!
5- Blah. Totally pushed by green way way off my bearing and hit the hills to the West. Seriously, must use compass, especially when dodging fallen tree trunks!!
6- Stone wall = handrails pretty much the whole way.
7- I stayed high, knew exactly where I was crossing the stone wall and just traipsed across the row of hill tops.
8- On a bearing, saw water, was careful into control (scarily low visibility!).
9- Not at all good. Went into the green (trying to avoid a little climb- but I'm strong, a little climb is worth avoiding ugly green!) Ended up crossing marsh, going over on my ankle while doing so. Argh!!! Even had the brace on, maybe needed to be even tighter... Definitely hurt, had to walk for a bit. And then was pretty lost, but just went north to stone wall, and relocated.
10- Woo! Easy, fast!
11- Good most of the way in, but failed to make out just before circle features well. A West Point guy kinda led me in.
12- Had decided on the left route actually, but then some downed trees pushed me right, so I opted for that.
13- Went on a bearing, slightly off at end to other control really nearby.
14- Bah. Sailed into the control, almost. But the small boulder on the map looked huge, so I thought it was the huge boulder below the control on the map and that I'd missed the control. So searched above it for awhile, too long, before actually going down to check out. Very annoyed, but I just should have had more confidence. I really didn't pass enough stuff to be at the big boulder!!!
512/2000 - Over a quarter now!
2nd to Sam by 4.5 minutes, and just narrowly in front of Hannah by 10 seconds. A mixed day orienteering-wise, some mistakes, but none totally terrible. I may not have always been making sure I kept up with mapreading while going through thick vegetation.
Going over my course with Alexei afterwards was helpful, he was able to point out that in a few places, my bearing-taking was really failing me and that in general I don't really plan routes so much as go straight unless something really obvious pops out. And he correctly guessed that when I see a control or the control feature in the distance, I sort of sprint all out the control, punch, and then have to pause to map read and take a bearing once I get there. So now, am going to use that time instead to proceed to the control at a more moderate pace, but plan next route, and most specifically, how to leave the control while doing so. The goal is flow.
1- Bad bearing from depression at end of reentrant left me puzzled staring at the northern rockwall. Was too high.
3- Went straight, across marsh, up green nose (slow!) and then up hill. Aimed off north, hoping to see boulder patch on the nose, but ended up hitting boulder in reentrant.
4- Stayed low, hit marsh, then around hill, passing the cliff. Checked out the hill with two boulders first, should have read in the circle more!!
5- Blah. Totally pushed by green way way off my bearing and hit the hills to the West. Seriously, must use compass, especially when dodging fallen tree trunks!!
6- Stone wall = handrails pretty much the whole way.
7- I stayed high, knew exactly where I was crossing the stone wall and just traipsed across the row of hill tops.
8- On a bearing, saw water, was careful into control (scarily low visibility!).
9- Not at all good. Went into the green (trying to avoid a little climb- but I'm strong, a little climb is worth avoiding ugly green!) Ended up crossing marsh, going over on my ankle while doing so. Argh!!! Even had the brace on, maybe needed to be even tighter... Definitely hurt, had to walk for a bit. And then was pretty lost, but just went north to stone wall, and relocated.
10- Woo! Easy, fast!
11- Good most of the way in, but failed to make out just before circle features well. A West Point guy kinda led me in.
12- Had decided on the left route actually, but then some downed trees pushed me right, so I opted for that.
13- Went on a bearing, slightly off at end to other control really nearby.
14- Bah. Sailed into the control, almost. But the small boulder on the map looked huge, so I thought it was the huge boulder below the control on the map and that I'd missed the control. So searched above it for awhile, too long, before actually going down to check out. Very annoyed, but I just should have had more confidence. I really didn't pass enough stuff to be at the big boulder!!!
512/2000 - Over a quarter now!
Running warm up/down 8:00 [2]
Warm up, including a field trip to see the finish with Jordan.
2 PM
Orienteering 21:20 [2]
Control collecting. Stopped raining just before, woo!
521/2000
521/2000
Saturday Oct 23, 2010 #
Event: Fall Foliage Festival
9 AM
Orienteering race 22:58 *** 2.9 km (7:55 / km) +85m 6:54 / km
ahr:165 max:181 8c
Felt very sloppy, again and again, but others found it tough too and was good enough for second.
1- Could not make sense of the rockiness on the way, ended up too low and nearly hit the trail before going higher.
2- Went sort of over the hill, but didn't like the trails, so went through green briar instead. It went ok from there, some hesitation close in.
4- Ran past the boulder at first, it was wee!
5- Terrrible, went downhill to big trail on totally wrong bearing. I hit non intended trail and had to figure out what had happened. Really did not look at my compass that whole time?
7- Mistake with streams after crossing the perpendicular trail, plan was to head left along the first stream to the stream junction and then up to control, but I was already wrong side of the stream junction. Marie, who started 2 min back, caught me here.
479/2000
1- Could not make sense of the rockiness on the way, ended up too low and nearly hit the trail before going higher.
2- Went sort of over the hill, but didn't like the trails, so went through green briar instead. It went ok from there, some hesitation close in.
4- Ran past the boulder at first, it was wee!
5- Terrrible, went downhill to big trail on totally wrong bearing. I hit non intended trail and had to figure out what had happened. Really did not look at my compass that whole time?
7- Mistake with streams after crossing the perpendicular trail, plan was to head left along the first stream to the stream junction and then up to control, but I was already wrong side of the stream junction. Marie, who started 2 min back, caught me here.
479/2000
Running warm up/down 6:46 0.55 mi (12:19 / mi) +2m 12:11 / mi
ahr:152 max:169
Running warm up/down 7:10 0.78 mi (9:14 / mi) +33m 8:09 / mi
ahr:145 max:165
1 PM
Running warm up/down 7:07 0.0 mi
ahr:150 max:165
Orienteering race 33:14 3.6 km (9:14 / km) +125m 7:52 / km
ahr:169 max:187 12c
CSU Pine Hill A Meet Part 2- Reverse Chase
Mostly this race went really well. But one terrible control- #8, which I had multiple mistakes to. First I messed up the trails, then being unconfident, was totally thrown off by a big pool of standing water off to my right on the approach to the control. Had I not made a mistake earlier in the leg, I probably would have just kept going to check out cliffs on the other side of the hill behind the marsh, but instead, I panic-ed and started looking for where the marsh should be on the map, but none of those locations made any sense. Relocated off a stone wall, but was still unconfident although heading to the right spot. In the end, led into the control by Sam. Turns out the 'marsh' was an area of yellow in a reentrant, except, while racing, I didn't process it as a reentrant because of non-cutting of the control circle.
1- Through first start, turned of trail after little hill on right. Green briar!
2- Took trails on the left side, was a bit low, saw stone wall before heading up at the end.
3- Contouring over, stopped at another control on the way. Was not sure what the giant black blob in the control circle was supposed to be- a cliff??
4- When I was running, thought this was a black 'x' and wondered what sort of statue was in the middle of the woods, but found control on its boulder field.
5- Almost a mistake, didn't have clear connection over the flat area, was trying to stay on a bearing and pick off when it started going steeply downhill. Stopped to evaluate when I hit hill, because hadn't picked out the reentrant I wanted, and saw the control right nearby.
7- I went straight. Which I'm not sure anyone else did... thus less of a spectator control for me. Wasn't slower though, and I had confidence in this area from the morning's race.
8- The terrible control. The in-the-circle error described above, but the trail error occured earlier. I cut back out from the control to the trail, but then took the second left instead of the third. I realized that something was wrong, because I wasn't going uphill, so then started just cutting east. Finally really located myself at the major junction northwest of 9. Bah. But kept moving through it, with this alone, probably only a 1.5, max 2 min time loss?
9- Racing Sam. She seemed to have a better clue, but went to/close to the top first.
10- To the north of the lake via trails, still racing Sam, but I avoided the temptation to try to be faster on the trails, instead really focused on reading ahead to 10 and 11. Sam took a wrong turn slightly to the wrong side of the lake, so then alone. Took 10 from the little trail.
11- Little trail, cutting across to little trail in right direction, then a bit of contouring.
12- Fly!
491/2000
Mostly this race went really well. But one terrible control- #8, which I had multiple mistakes to. First I messed up the trails, then being unconfident, was totally thrown off by a big pool of standing water off to my right on the approach to the control. Had I not made a mistake earlier in the leg, I probably would have just kept going to check out cliffs on the other side of the hill behind the marsh, but instead, I panic-ed and started looking for where the marsh should be on the map, but none of those locations made any sense. Relocated off a stone wall, but was still unconfident although heading to the right spot. In the end, led into the control by Sam. Turns out the 'marsh' was an area of yellow in a reentrant, except, while racing, I didn't process it as a reentrant because of non-cutting of the control circle.
1- Through first start, turned of trail after little hill on right. Green briar!
2- Took trails on the left side, was a bit low, saw stone wall before heading up at the end.
3- Contouring over, stopped at another control on the way. Was not sure what the giant black blob in the control circle was supposed to be- a cliff??
4- When I was running, thought this was a black 'x' and wondered what sort of statue was in the middle of the woods, but found control on its boulder field.
5- Almost a mistake, didn't have clear connection over the flat area, was trying to stay on a bearing and pick off when it started going steeply downhill. Stopped to evaluate when I hit hill, because hadn't picked out the reentrant I wanted, and saw the control right nearby.
7- I went straight. Which I'm not sure anyone else did... thus less of a spectator control for me. Wasn't slower though, and I had confidence in this area from the morning's race.
8- The terrible control. The in-the-circle error described above, but the trail error occured earlier. I cut back out from the control to the trail, but then took the second left instead of the third. I realized that something was wrong, because I wasn't going uphill, so then started just cutting east. Finally really located myself at the major junction northwest of 9. Bah. But kept moving through it, with this alone, probably only a 1.5, max 2 min time loss?
9- Racing Sam. She seemed to have a better clue, but went to/close to the top first.
10- To the north of the lake via trails, still racing Sam, but I avoided the temptation to try to be faster on the trails, instead really focused on reading ahead to 10 and 11. Sam took a wrong turn slightly to the wrong side of the lake, so then alone. Took 10 from the little trail.
11- Little trail, cutting across to little trail in right direction, then a bit of contouring.
12- Fly!
491/2000
Running warm up/down 5:48 0.57 mi (10:13 / mi) +13m 9:32 / mi
ahr:147 max:163
4 PM
Orienteering 15:35 0.93 mi (16:45 / mi) +22m 15:36 / mi
ahr:132 max:159
Collecting controls, counting the ones I really orienteered to (6/8).
Knee quite a bit sore after the double races...
497/2000
Knee quite a bit sore after the double races...
497/2000
Friday Oct 22, 2010 #
7 AM
XC skiing 49:46 7.02 mi (7:05 / mi) +64m 6:54 / mi
ahr:122 max:151
Morning, just on the bike path and quite a chill ski. Mostly double pole, and some gorgeous leaves in the morning light!
Wednesday Oct 20, 2010 #
Event: U.S. Corn Maze Championships
4 PM
Running warm up/down 9:43 1.23 mi (7:54 / mi) +1m 7:53 / mi
ahr:145 max:164
5 PM
Orienteering race 17:26 1.58 mi (11:02 / mi) +2m 10:59 / mi
ahr:142 max:181 22c
Woo! US Corm Maze Champs!!
Couldn't quite live up to my first-place seeding, totally destroyed by yak-hat wearing Greg....
Such such a blast though, and good training, had to stay totally with it all the time, very hard to keep up with your speed on such a small-scale map. My biggest mistake was when I said oh, I'll head that way until I hit stuff and then can head left into the spiral. Wrong, ended up in a long straight thing, going through the 'CONDENSED' and then back at the spiral from totally the other side. That was about a minute, whoops!
Compass was zero help. And it smells bad, its strap needs washing.
Umm, also, my max HR was higher at the sprint in from this than in either US Classic Champs races...
469/2000
Couldn't quite live up to my first-place seeding, totally destroyed by yak-hat wearing Greg....
Such such a blast though, and good training, had to stay totally with it all the time, very hard to keep up with your speed on such a small-scale map. My biggest mistake was when I said oh, I'll head that way until I hit stuff and then can head left into the spiral. Wrong, ended up in a long straight thing, going through the 'CONDENSED' and then back at the spiral from totally the other side. That was about a minute, whoops!
Compass was zero help. And it smells bad, its strap needs washing.
Umm, also, my max HR was higher at the sprint in from this than in either US Classic Champs races...
469/2000
Orienteering race 4:43
4c
US Corm Maze Sprint Champs
Too devious for me! Fine to 1, too close to the top of the maze to 2, which ended me up at 4, whoops! And then saw the quicker route out of the maze, but missed the channel I wanted to go down and just went out the top, which was slower...
473/2000
Too devious for me! Fine to 1, too close to the top of the maze to 2, which ended me up at 4, whoops! And then saw the quicker route out of the maze, but missed the channel I wanted to go down and just went out the top, which was slower...
473/2000
Running warm up/down 6:31 0.47 mi (13:52 / mi) +1m 13:47 / mi
ahr:128 max:154
Control collecting, went into the spiral again too, since that's what I messed up in the course...
Tuesday Oct 19, 2010 #
7 AM
XC skiing intervals 1:11:18 12.21 mi (5:50 / mi)
ahr:152 max:178
Morning rollerski, River Rd., sans the injured Alex, so a lonely training. And chilly- 36 degrees when I started! Went out and did 4 x double hill intervals- there's a two bump hill, so I did an interval up the first hill, down, then up the second- forwards and back, times 2. A good session for sure.
Felt last evenings ab workout already... So I focused on trying to get more power out of the legs, also did 10 min no poles and 10 min double pole on the way there and back.
A dog-walking lady commented that the downhills looked more fun than the ups. Well, kinda, but also more dangerous!
Felt last evenings ab workout already... So I focused on trying to get more power out of the legs, also did 10 min no poles and 10 min double pole on the way there and back.
A dog-walking lady commented that the downhills looked more fun than the ups. Well, kinda, but also more dangerous!
C • aww 1
Monday Oct 18, 2010 #
6 PM
Strength 22:00 [1]
I wasn't quite on top of dinner cooking when folks came by. But after saving the mint sauce, was time to do circuits with Caroline and Cristina- with timekeeper and videoman PG, spectator Gail and kale-cooking Alex.
One session of 12 min circuits, then 10 min abs. 3 people circuiting is about all my apartment can fit, and suggesting Caroline do ski jumps on the slippery bit of floor = not good idea, apologies!
One session of 12 min circuits, then 10 min abs. 3 people circuiting is about all my apartment can fit, and suggesting Caroline do ski jumps on the slippery bit of floor = not good idea, apologies!
Sunday Oct 17, 2010 #
Note
And second challenge of the day- driving back to Amherst in Alex's car, which is standard. Woo learning to change gears, tough stuff when it's not at all natural.... But we made it (yay for EZpass and not needing to stop at toll booths!), after a stop to rescue Ed in Lee, MA. Have to admit that Alex did take over for Route 9 from Noho to Amherst, which has lots and lots of lights. I would have for sure stalled, and there's actually traffic there.
Burrito count: 2 (when we stopped in Lee to shuttle Ed to the auto parts store, also stopped for burritos!)
Burrito count: 2 (when we stopped in Lee to shuttle Ed to the auto parts store, also stopped for burritos!)
9 AM
Hiking warm up/down 18:07 0.79 mi (22:56 / mi) +235m 11:55 / mi
ahr:138 max:156
Warm up hike from bottom to stop. Jogged a few flattish bits, but almost all hiking, tired-ish legs. Hammie felt tight, so wore two pairs of lycra, to make sure it started and stayed warm!
10 AM
Orienteering race 1:08:59 6.9 km (10:00 / km) +250m 8:28 / km
ahr:160 max:177
US Classic Champs Day 2- Red Y
So after finishing, I thought my worst controls were the long legs, to 2 and 5, because my plans for those sort of went awry and had to be remade as I went because I has missed executing a bit well. But the splits show that while I lost the most time to Sam on those, it wasn't proportionally more, fairly constant slope of the time-back-to winner line, so just not as quick orienteering through this stuff in general!!
Maybe the roughest control for me was down off the Scandi-plateau, I was really nervous/hesitant to 9, could not place myself on the hillside at all, kept stopping to try to figure things out, but kept not being able, and decided the best thing to do was to keep following my compass. Should have had more faith in the flattening of the slope...
Then to 12, I lost a contact from a twig to the eye (glad it wasn't earlier!), whoops!
Also, I went through a ton of swamps today. I decided not to be scared of them, and they weren't that bad. Deepest I got was just over knee, and always really solid on the bottom, not goopy. So not fast like Scandi marshes, but not terribly slow.
447/2000
So after finishing, I thought my worst controls were the long legs, to 2 and 5, because my plans for those sort of went awry and had to be remade as I went because I has missed executing a bit well. But the splits show that while I lost the most time to Sam on those, it wasn't proportionally more, fairly constant slope of the time-back-to winner line, so just not as quick orienteering through this stuff in general!!
Maybe the roughest control for me was down off the Scandi-plateau, I was really nervous/hesitant to 9, could not place myself on the hillside at all, kept stopping to try to figure things out, but kept not being able, and decided the best thing to do was to keep following my compass. Should have had more faith in the flattening of the slope...
Then to 12, I lost a contact from a twig to the eye (glad it wasn't earlier!), whoops!
Also, I went through a ton of swamps today. I decided not to be scared of them, and they weren't that bad. Deepest I got was just over knee, and always really solid on the bottom, not goopy. So not fast like Scandi marshes, but not terribly slow.
447/2000
C • !!! 3
Saturday Oct 16, 2010 #
12 PM
Running warm up/down 5:13 0.42 mi (12:25 / mi) +20m 10:49 / mi
ahr:142 max:159
Running warm up right around the start.
Hiking 17:46 0.92 mi (19:16 / mi) +177m 12:04 / mi
ahr:121 max:144
From bus to start, chatting away with Alex!
1 PM
Orienteering race 1:04:52 6.8 km (9:32 / km) +240m 8:06 / km
ahr:160 max:174
Wow, that was something! Basically Scandinavian terrain, except marshes weren't runnable. Cool stuff. In general, I felt slow, but couldn't go much quicker in the terrain, more and more effective simplifying probably required for that... My major handrail today was the big marshes, only when I knew I had one of those to catch me did I feel really safe running quick.
I think my biggest mistake was to #1, where I went far too high, in a vague reentrant instead of the right one. Figured it out when I realized there were really no cliffs around in my reentrant. Other than that, least happy with 7 and 11. To 7, things started off rough when I wasn't sure if I had punched 6 or not, so went back and punched again and then got off my bearing and was a wee bit confused by a marsh, but was able to place myself. Then to 11, was quite close, but was lower than I thought, placing the stream on the map in what's just a reentrant on the map, then had to come back up for it...
Finished 2nd, 2.5 min down to Sam, 1 min in front of Pavi.
434/2000
I think my biggest mistake was to #1, where I went far too high, in a vague reentrant instead of the right one. Figured it out when I realized there were really no cliffs around in my reentrant. Other than that, least happy with 7 and 11. To 7, things started off rough when I wasn't sure if I had punched 6 or not, so went back and punched again and then got off my bearing and was a wee bit confused by a marsh, but was able to place myself. Then to 11, was quite close, but was lower than I thought, placing the stream on the map in what's just a reentrant on the map, then had to come back up for it...
Finished 2nd, 2.5 min down to Sam, 1 min in front of Pavi.
434/2000
Friday Oct 15, 2010 #
Running 6:00 [1]
Warm up, it was cold and rainy, so warm up necessary, pranced around in the rain a bit, two laps around parking lot, at least.
Orienteering race 15:41 [4] *** 2.6 km (6:02 / km)
12c
Sprint Series Finals Sprint 1
So this went well, pretty fast, not many probs. Some hesitation to 5, worrying about reading the veg ok, and also to 6, because bright yellow didn't seem to match the chest-high marsh reeds that were there. 7 I think I missed the route choice slightly by taking the upper path, lower along the river seems like it was quicker. Also to 8, probably should have just done path instead of woods, woods were a bit icky. But all in all good!
418/2000
So this went well, pretty fast, not many probs. Some hesitation to 5, worrying about reading the veg ok, and also to 6, because bright yellow didn't seem to match the chest-high marsh reeds that were there. 7 I think I missed the route choice slightly by taking the upper path, lower along the river seems like it was quicker. Also to 8, probably should have just done path instead of woods, woods were a bit icky. But all in all good!
418/2000
Orienteering race 14:53 [4] ***
11c
Sprint Series Final Sprint 2
So the catch here, is, I *should* have gotten 12 controls. Because there were 12 on the course. But I was reading ahead to 7 after crossing the bridge and totally spaced on punching 6, which I must of went straight by. I was slightly confused by the line people were taking to 7, but not enough to actually evaluate and figure out I missed 6. Grrrr...
Still was fun to run against the guys, just have to not space out next time...
Think Jordan's way of right to #1 was faster, and also the straight up for 1 to 2, instead of the flat first, Clem and I took that way, but lost a smidgen, not much. 8, I went around the building, because I didn't know if you were allowed through buildings marked as such on the map.
429/2000
So the catch here, is, I *should* have gotten 12 controls. Because there were 12 on the course. But I was reading ahead to 7 after crossing the bridge and totally spaced on punching 6, which I must of went straight by. I was slightly confused by the line people were taking to 7, but not enough to actually evaluate and figure out I missed 6. Grrrr...
Still was fun to run against the guys, just have to not space out next time...
Think Jordan's way of right to #1 was faster, and also the straight up for 1 to 2, instead of the flat first, Clem and I took that way, but lost a smidgen, not much. 8, I went around the building, because I didn't know if you were allowed through buildings marked as such on the map.
429/2000
Orienteering 10:00 [3]
Control pickup, got 6, but they were very easy as sprint controls and having just been to all, so they aren't being counted. Still good as a warm down thought at least
Thursday Oct 14, 2010 #
Running 35:30 [2]
Very mellow noon run with Sanjay and Barry. Sanjay is peaking for a marathon Sunday (Lowell) hence the mellowness. Sill a bit of a niggle-y hamstring, maybe haven't been quite as good about the stretching since it's been feeling lots better in general. Had a good stretcharoo afterwards though, hopefully keep things a-ok!!
Wednesday Oct 13, 2010 #
XC skiing 1:11:23
River Road rollerski with Alex. Getting cooler out there. After reading something about recovering is good, I decided to make sure today was easier, so only did 2 x 6 min at whatever speed Alex was doing her tempo intervals at. Some no poles at beginning and end (25 min) and a good 10 min double pole in the middle, definitely feels pretty natural on skis now and legs don't feel too totaled from the weekend now!
Tuesday Oct 12, 2010 #
Note
No internet, so started the map organizing! Maps are going in a binder, some punched themselves, some in protector sleeves, all being entered into a spreadsheet, Attackpoint is going to have to help me with some of the dates....
Have opted for a system by big geographic region: Local (ie. Mt. Tom + Norwottuck), NE+NY, other US+Canada, England, other world and ski-o. So that will be 6 binders. Then by club, then by time. England might actually already need 2 binders.
Have opted for a system by big geographic region: Local (ie. Mt. Tom + Norwottuck), NE+NY, other US+Canada, England, other world and ski-o. So that will be 6 binders. Then by club, then by time. England might actually already need 2 binders.
6 PM
Strength 25:00 [1]
Evening strength with Alex- I was a late one, she beat me to my house, whoops! 10 min of circuits, then some PT exercises, then 10 more min of circuits, few more min PT. The whole time I thought we were also going to do 10 min of abs at the end, but when Alex got ready to leave, didn't protest, the circuits had done enough, I think!
Also have a snazzy new ski-O jacket, woo!
Also have a snazzy new ski-O jacket, woo!
Monday Oct 11, 2010 #
8 AM
Running warm up/down 6:15 0.44 mi (14:06 / mi) +9m 13:16 / mi
ahr:133 max:152
Orienteering race 52:17 6.2 km (8:26 / km) +290m 6:50 / km
ahr:164 max:181 19c
GLOF O-Cross!
Super fun- a one-person relay type thing (called "Farsta" elsewhere?), so three loops. The first two were two different forkings of a similarish loop of about 2.7k and the course 3 and 4 shared those loops, so lots of folks around! Then course 3 had a wee short bit on a sprint map to finish it off, and one final time up that ravine to the finish... woo legs were ready to be done going up ravines!!
Slightly messier orienteering than other races, probably due to being competitive with the guys running around me and not planning and checking map quite enough, at least the places I made mistakes.
3 places that definitely lost time:
1) First time to #4: needed to go straight south, so basically down than up, for some reason I diagnoled on the down too much
2) #6 on the A forking: I hit the first stream, meant to go down it, round the corner and up the other, but was distracted by others going up and over, so headed that way a bit, before deciding mine was better since I really didn't feel like more up... shouldn't have been distracted by others!!!
3) Second time to #4 (yes, exact same control...) kind of racing with Graham, we both ended up going up the wrong side of the big reentrant to #4's west, I realized a bit earlier, but still high enough up that it was annoying to fix.
406/2000 - over 400!
Burrito count: 1 (from Friday) =)
Super fun- a one-person relay type thing (called "Farsta" elsewhere?), so three loops. The first two were two different forkings of a similarish loop of about 2.7k and the course 3 and 4 shared those loops, so lots of folks around! Then course 3 had a wee short bit on a sprint map to finish it off, and one final time up that ravine to the finish... woo legs were ready to be done going up ravines!!
Slightly messier orienteering than other races, probably due to being competitive with the guys running around me and not planning and checking map quite enough, at least the places I made mistakes.
3 places that definitely lost time:
1) First time to #4: needed to go straight south, so basically down than up, for some reason I diagnoled on the down too much
2) #6 on the A forking: I hit the first stream, meant to go down it, round the corner and up the other, but was distracted by others going up and over, so headed that way a bit, before deciding mine was better since I really didn't feel like more up... shouldn't have been distracted by others!!!
3) Second time to #4 (yes, exact same control...) kind of racing with Graham, we both ended up going up the wrong side of the big reentrant to #4's west, I realized a bit earlier, but still high enough up that it was annoying to fix.
406/2000 - over 400!
Burrito count: 1 (from Friday) =)
C • Controls 12
Sunday Oct 10, 2010 #
Orienteering race 1:08:29 *** 8.5 km (8:03 / km) +475m 6:18 / km
17c
GLOF Long
A good run! Really quite smooth and stayed pretty quick. Happy with the plan and execution of the long legs and only small falters, biggest one was mistaking a spur going to 14. Was fun to run fast in the woods- more open and less of a battle than Harriman/Mt. Tom!
1- left of line, using lots of trails when possible
2- read ahead through open yellow for long leg to 3
3- right of line, used swamp like in norway, which was actually a good choice I think. then from big trail to the right of the control
4- went through the hashed area, wasn't actually that bad, slightly hesitant in rocks
6- along bottom, up when stream dove north, through gap on trail between green
7- followed fence
8- to tower and down
10- same route as to 1 basically
11- cristina ahead to try to pass! but she was pretty fast on the flats, I went slightly past control
12- used trails, saved climb
14- mistake!! plan was go over hill, look for distinct spur, control in gully to left. but there was another spur, before the one I wanted. so looked and gully and surprised not to find control. added things up and went to right one
15- could have come off trail earlier, saved going over a little spur
16- on trails, time to push!!!
387/2000
A good run! Really quite smooth and stayed pretty quick. Happy with the plan and execution of the long legs and only small falters, biggest one was mistaking a spur going to 14. Was fun to run fast in the woods- more open and less of a battle than Harriman/Mt. Tom!
1- left of line, using lots of trails when possible
2- read ahead through open yellow for long leg to 3
3- right of line, used swamp like in norway, which was actually a good choice I think. then from big trail to the right of the control
4- went through the hashed area, wasn't actually that bad, slightly hesitant in rocks
6- along bottom, up when stream dove north, through gap on trail between green
7- followed fence
8- to tower and down
10- same route as to 1 basically
11- cristina ahead to try to pass! but she was pretty fast on the flats, I went slightly past control
12- used trails, saved climb
14- mistake!! plan was go over hill, look for distinct spur, control in gully to left. but there was another spur, before the one I wanted. so looked and gully and surprised not to find control. added things up and went to right one
15- could have come off trail earlier, saved going over a little spur
16- on trails, time to push!!!
387/2000
Saturday Oct 9, 2010 #
10 AM
Running warm up/down 11:00 [1]
8 min warm up
3 ish min cool down with Cristina
3 ish min cool down with Cristina
11 AM
Orienteering race 17:20 [4] 2.2 km (7:53 / km) +125m 6:08 / km
16c
GLOF Sprint
Not sure the last time I’ve done a woods sprint, the WOC quali really doesn’t count, it was almost all on trails/meadows/open. But this was neat, really in the woods and quite technical with serious route choices. The valleys were deep and steep (a 1:5,000 map with 5m contours!), so worth avoiding if possible, but ways around were often longer, so tough to decide. I think I mostly had good routes, but Alex’s to 11 was definitely quicker- around on road+trails plus a nice attackpoint. I also messed up the last control, and had to do a little circle in the arena back to it- can never lose concentration!!!
2- steep down, went too far south (pushed by downhill), ended up going up stairs on other side of the stream
4- went straight, down through field, on path, down and up steapness onto flat and then back to reentrant
5- stayed high
7- drifted east, maybe pushed by hilltop
8- again, pretty straight, bit left of line, down to flat with x- maybe actually should have gone straighter, or done the through the streams option
11- straight, through big ravine, this is one could have been faster on paths
12- bunch of guys around me, going to same control
13- guys had different control, I went straight to mine
15- up to road, along path on south side of stream. disappointed to see control really at the bottom of stream, but was still a fast route
16- actually started sliding backwards down the hill coming out of the ravine, despite the fact that I was already using my hands! gosh it’s steep/slippery!
Note: after the presentation on the courses this eve, less sure I took the best routes. Apparently to 4, should have been quicker around, and to 8 through the streams and 11 on the road... hmm. Well at least I executed the choices I did make well?
372/2000
Not sure the last time I’ve done a woods sprint, the WOC quali really doesn’t count, it was almost all on trails/meadows/open. But this was neat, really in the woods and quite technical with serious route choices. The valleys were deep and steep (a 1:5,000 map with 5m contours!), so worth avoiding if possible, but ways around were often longer, so tough to decide. I think I mostly had good routes, but Alex’s to 11 was definitely quicker- around on road+trails plus a nice attackpoint. I also messed up the last control, and had to do a little circle in the arena back to it- can never lose concentration!!!
2- steep down, went too far south (pushed by downhill), ended up going up stairs on other side of the stream
4- went straight, down through field, on path, down and up steapness onto flat and then back to reentrant
5- stayed high
7- drifted east, maybe pushed by hilltop
8- again, pretty straight, bit left of line, down to flat with x- maybe actually should have gone straighter, or done the through the streams option
11- straight, through big ravine, this is one could have been faster on paths
12- bunch of guys around me, going to same control
13- guys had different control, I went straight to mine
15- up to road, along path on south side of stream. disappointed to see control really at the bottom of stream, but was still a fast route
16- actually started sliding backwards down the hill coming out of the ravine, despite the fact that I was already using my hands! gosh it’s steep/slippery!
Note: after the presentation on the courses this eve, less sure I took the best routes. Apparently to 4, should have been quicker around, and to 8 through the streams and 11 on the road... hmm. Well at least I executed the choices I did make well?
372/2000
3 PM
Running warm up/down 12:00 [1]
8 min warm up, a bit with Andrea
4 min cool down
4 min cool down
4 PM
Orienteering race 33:00 *** 3.8 km (8:41 / km) +180m 7:01 / km
13c
GLOF Middle
So not wonderfully smooth, but fast enough. The woods was very fast actually, except maybe directly under the cliffs, where I decided for no good reason to run to 2.
2- I knew I wanted to go through the cliff gap on the big trail, but for some reason, I decided to diagnol up like that was cutting a corner. So I was running through trashy rocks and downed trees to get out to the trail and then had to drop lots anyways because it was much lower. Annoyed with this choice for sure. Good on the details on the way in though.
3- attacked from reentrant on the close side of the trail
4- bad! thought I was on a right bearing, and wasn’t paying attn to contours because I could attack from green bit. but didn’t see green bit. ended up way to high at trail and had to come back down
5-6 still in detailed contour area and ok
7 long leg: I flew down hill, slightly different bearing then intended, ended up in marsh, but reformulated a plan to get out the the trail right above the cliff quickly, so no prob. do think original of out to big trail ASAP would have been faster
9- uphill!
10- fine, read contours well
11- bah! had issues finding the cliff gap- hard to find from above!
12 - should have run through woods- running through brashing yellow was ugly
So just a bit messier than I would have liked although no big errors, prob 1.5 minutes lost?
385/2000
So not wonderfully smooth, but fast enough. The woods was very fast actually, except maybe directly under the cliffs, where I decided for no good reason to run to 2.
2- I knew I wanted to go through the cliff gap on the big trail, but for some reason, I decided to diagnol up like that was cutting a corner. So I was running through trashy rocks and downed trees to get out to the trail and then had to drop lots anyways because it was much lower. Annoyed with this choice for sure. Good on the details on the way in though.
3- attacked from reentrant on the close side of the trail
4- bad! thought I was on a right bearing, and wasn’t paying attn to contours because I could attack from green bit. but didn’t see green bit. ended up way to high at trail and had to come back down
5-6 still in detailed contour area and ok
7 long leg: I flew down hill, slightly different bearing then intended, ended up in marsh, but reformulated a plan to get out the the trail right above the cliff quickly, so no prob. do think original of out to big trail ASAP would have been faster
9- uphill!
10- fine, read contours well
11- bah! had issues finding the cliff gap- hard to find from above!
12 - should have run through woods- running through brashing yellow was ugly
So just a bit messier than I would have liked although no big errors, prob 1.5 minutes lost?
385/2000
Thursday Oct 7, 2010 #
12 PM
Running 46:28 5.87 mi (7:55 / mi) +86m 7:34 / mi
ahr:149 max:181
Lunch time run with Sanjay, Sergio, Alejandro, and Barry. The road version of Puffers with 3 x 3 min intervals mixed in, ran those with Sanjay, paces were 6:00, 5:34, 6:00 according to Garmin. 5:34 one may have been more downhill... Felt ok on the intervals, slightly twingy hamstring on the first, but not the others. But then we were doing a 6.45 mile to finish, and left hamstring started feeling weird so I backed off. Wish it were totally fine, but guess I just need to be careful til it is.
6 PM
Strength 20:00 [0]
Strength with Alex at the Bricker's- about 8 min leg and arms and back and 10 min abs. Some new good legs ones I don't usually do- non-pointed toe side leg lifts and some pick your bum of the ground while grabbing knee one...
And super-lovely dinner afterwards with scrumptious food!! Orienteering talk, running talk, general great times!
And super-lovely dinner afterwards with scrumptious food!! Orienteering talk, running talk, general great times!
Wednesday Oct 6, 2010 #
Running warm up/down 14:30 [2]
Rainy! So hard to leave the nice dry car... Warmed up running on some trails for 11.30 and warmed down from finish to car 3 min.
Orienteering 56:55 4.9 km (11:37 / km) +275m 9:04 / km
13c
Oops, forgot Garmin. But at least took splits and can compare to folks who ran as it a race 2 years ago- I would have had the fastest time, but not by much and only had 1 fastest split (13). Mostly pretty good orienteering, but one mistake at 9 and some hesitation/bad processing to 2, 4, 10.
1- picking things off, a bit timid. thought trail might be faster, but wanted to do the more difficult orienteering option, is training after all!
2- hit the stream too far north, had to follow it up stream quite a bit
3- fun, running along the little ridge! then picked things off ok
4- again scared in this area, was too far low. it's the top contour besides a form line, what was I doing so low?
7- up, then around. hit the trail slightly lower than I expected but was easy to head to the control from there.
8- to trail, then across, noting spurs which were pretty distinct
9- flew off big spur, but must have kept that direction and I think I cam out at the double cliffs straight east of 8 instead of the ones under the line. so I ended up at the cliff above the next stream instead of 9, but realized it pretty quickly
10- I swear when I was running there were two streams on the map in between 9 and 10, but there's only one. so I was confused a bit.
11- out of the first stream up the rocks, for no good reason, across to next stream and then around cliff to the south, then up the cliffs leading to the knoll
12- stayed flat, hit the stream in the rocky zone, so up to trail then through the saddle between the tops and down
13- fly down! followed spur hit big trail, hit little trail, hit next trail and in.
finish
Did not feel that springy out there. But maybe yesterday's ski was hard as Alex pointed out =)
356/2000
1- picking things off, a bit timid. thought trail might be faster, but wanted to do the more difficult orienteering option, is training after all!
2- hit the stream too far north, had to follow it up stream quite a bit
3- fun, running along the little ridge! then picked things off ok
4- again scared in this area, was too far low. it's the top contour besides a form line, what was I doing so low?
7- up, then around. hit the trail slightly lower than I expected but was easy to head to the control from there.
8- to trail, then across, noting spurs which were pretty distinct
9- flew off big spur, but must have kept that direction and I think I cam out at the double cliffs straight east of 8 instead of the ones under the line. so I ended up at the cliff above the next stream instead of 9, but realized it pretty quickly
10- I swear when I was running there were two streams on the map in between 9 and 10, but there's only one. so I was confused a bit.
11- out of the first stream up the rocks, for no good reason, across to next stream and then around cliff to the south, then up the cliffs leading to the knoll
12- stayed flat, hit the stream in the rocky zone, so up to trail then through the saddle between the tops and down
13- fly down! followed spur hit big trail, hit little trail, hit next trail and in.
finish
Did not feel that springy out there. But maybe yesterday's ski was hard as Alex pointed out =)
356/2000
Tuesday Oct 5, 2010 #
12 PM
XC skiing (skating) 56:36 9.27 mi (6:06 / mi) +141m 5:50 / mi
ahr:148 max:170
Morning rollerski with Alex on River Rd. Not too cold, low 50's and only really rained on us for a few minutes. More with poles that before (35 min) including some double-pole bits (Alex is strong on the DP, even without having been able to train much!) and we got out to the second hill, which was nice.
Felt good, nothing making loud complaints from highlander!
Felt good, nothing making loud complaints from highlander!
Monday Oct 4, 2010 #
Note
QuickRoute of 3rd Highlander leg.
Unfortunately my Garmin was off for most of the other legs. But this track shows me a few things I knew that look slow- my trail detour between 24 and 25, and going to the wrong boulder for 25.
But didn't quite realize how weird my leaving 22 was and also think absolutely straight to 29 was maybe not the best, should have tried to go for the gap in the dark green under the powerline?
Unfortunately my Garmin was off for most of the other legs. But this track shows me a few things I knew that look slow- my trail detour between 24 and 25, and going to the wrong boulder for 25.
But didn't quite realize how weird my leaving 22 was and also think absolutely straight to 29 was maybe not the best, should have tried to go for the gap in the dark green under the powerline?
7 PM
Strength 20:30 [1]
Nothing seems broken from yesterday, including hamstring, woo! But an easy one today anyways.
10.30 of general strength
10 min abs
10.30 of general strength
10 min abs
Sunday Oct 3, 2010 #
Event: Hudson Highlander
Orienteering race 3:58:26 26.2 km (9:06 / km)
30c
Hudson Highlander 2010
Exhausterating! But a good race. Most happy with getting around the last map almost entirely alone and not making any big mistakes. Sam and Hilly must have been catching me on it though, because I heard/saw them at 28, and knew I really couldn't mess up 29 or 30 to stay ahead.... they are amazing for having chatted the entire way around. I'm 100% positive I can't carry on a conversation and orienteer at that speed...
Worst leg was probably the 1st, when I tried to just go left of a blob of green, got way tangled up in it, dropped my SI card, and realized with my heart dropping just a few steps later that I didn't have it. Went back to look, and luckily did find it just a few meters away, but in thick green, that was really worrying!
Thanks so so so much to everyone involved in organizing/planning/putting out controls/picking them up/feeding us, everything!!! Was fantastic!
Some thoughts on controls: (will have QuickRoute up sometime later, but unfortunately, I somewhat randomly started and stopped it and not sure what I actually have).
Map #1
1- Knew where I was, where I was going, just bad decision to try to go through that green...
2- Fine, along side of the hill, pretty easy to pick out right hill while approaching.
4- Decided I liked the look of the way through the marsh better than the other green, worked well, but got confused while approaching control, and paused for a good while having a look at the giant reentrant just south of the control.
6- Around green this time at the beginning, but then had to go thorough more close to the control, which confused me as I thought I was where it should be white. A group caught me here, including Sam, Hilly, Paul and Daniel, which ended up sticking together off and on for the rest of this map, the trail run, and the first half of the 2nd map.
7-8-9-10- Chatting with Sam and Hilly, orienteering some too.
Trail run.
Felt fine, could feel the hamstring, but wasn't really pain, so didn't focus on it.
Map #2
13- We ran up the trail, maybe a better route choice to stay lower? But not if you had to battle vegetation, although our way down the cliff was iffy. Didn't see the trail I wanted off to the left after coming down the cliff. Sam corrected the group when we'd gone too far.
15- I got out to the trail straight away, which was slightly quicker than the rest of the group, think they had more green? But I came into near the control quite a bit low.
17- Green bashing out to the trail, and then as soon as we got off it too. And we were a bit lower than we thought. Least lovely leg.
18- Long king/queen of the mountain leg. Following cliffs and then up and things made sense at the top, so straight into control.
20- Slightly different route choice than Sam and Hilly ducking through some short green to end up just west of control
21- Out to the road and then up, could have come up slightly earlier, but not much.
Map #3
22- Out on road then turned off, hill, hill saw tower, then up and paused at a good spot, looked around and saw control and Jon Torrence.
23- Rough bearing to camp huts area, then along trail above marsh to dotted stream then up and over. Made myself pace count so I didn't stop too soon.
24- Stream to path to waterfall and in. But hesitation approaching path (hidden by green) and waterfall (figuring out exactly what it was).
25- Rought bearing around big swamp, out to path, lost time staying on it, because I was tired, should have just kept cutting to road. Through nastiness at powerline junction, then decided to go up and over. Followed spur on backside, then down to it, checked out one wrong not mapped boulder first.
26- Contouring, noticing cliffs. Popped over in the right spot.
27- Down trail between houses, over on road, then contoured, noticing cliffs again. Hesitation close to the circle based on some boulder confusion. Think this is actually when I noticed Sam and Hilly approaching first.
28- Down up, didn't see rock wall, but cliff with grey was obvious, followed spur up stayed left of it.
29- Down straight on line, through marsh, battled green on other side, ran along edge of marsh, noticed going through green and then was very careful on the way in.
30- Time to fly, downhill, pushed right by a different set of cliffs than the ones I thought. Out by the set of 3 bigger houses, then over on road, down to boulder and back and finish!
343/2000
Exhausterating! But a good race. Most happy with getting around the last map almost entirely alone and not making any big mistakes. Sam and Hilly must have been catching me on it though, because I heard/saw them at 28, and knew I really couldn't mess up 29 or 30 to stay ahead.... they are amazing for having chatted the entire way around. I'm 100% positive I can't carry on a conversation and orienteer at that speed...
Worst leg was probably the 1st, when I tried to just go left of a blob of green, got way tangled up in it, dropped my SI card, and realized with my heart dropping just a few steps later that I didn't have it. Went back to look, and luckily did find it just a few meters away, but in thick green, that was really worrying!
Thanks so so so much to everyone involved in organizing/planning/putting out controls/picking them up/feeding us, everything!!! Was fantastic!
Some thoughts on controls: (will have QuickRoute up sometime later, but unfortunately, I somewhat randomly started and stopped it and not sure what I actually have).
Map #1
1- Knew where I was, where I was going, just bad decision to try to go through that green...
2- Fine, along side of the hill, pretty easy to pick out right hill while approaching.
4- Decided I liked the look of the way through the marsh better than the other green, worked well, but got confused while approaching control, and paused for a good while having a look at the giant reentrant just south of the control.
6- Around green this time at the beginning, but then had to go thorough more close to the control, which confused me as I thought I was where it should be white. A group caught me here, including Sam, Hilly, Paul and Daniel, which ended up sticking together off and on for the rest of this map, the trail run, and the first half of the 2nd map.
7-8-9-10- Chatting with Sam and Hilly, orienteering some too.
Trail run.
Felt fine, could feel the hamstring, but wasn't really pain, so didn't focus on it.
Map #2
13- We ran up the trail, maybe a better route choice to stay lower? But not if you had to battle vegetation, although our way down the cliff was iffy. Didn't see the trail I wanted off to the left after coming down the cliff. Sam corrected the group when we'd gone too far.
15- I got out to the trail straight away, which was slightly quicker than the rest of the group, think they had more green? But I came into near the control quite a bit low.
17- Green bashing out to the trail, and then as soon as we got off it too. And we were a bit lower than we thought. Least lovely leg.
18- Long king/queen of the mountain leg. Following cliffs and then up and things made sense at the top, so straight into control.
20- Slightly different route choice than Sam and Hilly ducking through some short green to end up just west of control
21- Out to the road and then up, could have come up slightly earlier, but not much.
Map #3
22- Out on road then turned off, hill, hill saw tower, then up and paused at a good spot, looked around and saw control and Jon Torrence.
23- Rough bearing to camp huts area, then along trail above marsh to dotted stream then up and over. Made myself pace count so I didn't stop too soon.
24- Stream to path to waterfall and in. But hesitation approaching path (hidden by green) and waterfall (figuring out exactly what it was).
25- Rought bearing around big swamp, out to path, lost time staying on it, because I was tired, should have just kept cutting to road. Through nastiness at powerline junction, then decided to go up and over. Followed spur on backside, then down to it, checked out one wrong not mapped boulder first.
26- Contouring, noticing cliffs. Popped over in the right spot.
27- Down trail between houses, over on road, then contoured, noticing cliffs again. Hesitation close to the circle based on some boulder confusion. Think this is actually when I noticed Sam and Hilly approaching first.
28- Down up, didn't see rock wall, but cliff with grey was obvious, followed spur up stayed left of it.
29- Down straight on line, through marsh, battled green on other side, ran along edge of marsh, noticed going through green and then was very careful on the way in.
30- Time to fly, downhill, pushed right by a different set of cliffs than the ones I thought. Out by the set of 3 bigger houses, then over on road, down to boulder and back and finish!
343/2000
Saturday Oct 2, 2010 #
Event: WCOC Brooksvale meet
Orienteering 43:34 4.4 km (9:54 / km)
Hmm, can't find my map for this now, boo. Either in car, at parents in Poughkeepsie, or at friend Maria's house, not sure which...
But anyways, had a nice little Highlander-warm up around the woods. I was wimpy and did green despite George's protest that I should be tougher... =) Did jog it, especially as I felt my hamstring feel weird as I started off through the fields.
Was ok orienteering-wise, but not spot-on. One control came out far too high and another was staying too low. Another I took a lower, earlier path, which wasn't the intended plan, but actually did save some climb.
313/2000
But anyways, had a nice little Highlander-warm up around the woods. I was wimpy and did green despite George's protest that I should be tougher... =) Did jog it, especially as I felt my hamstring feel weird as I started off through the fields.
Was ok orienteering-wise, but not spot-on. One control came out far too high and another was staying too low. Another I took a lower, earlier path, which wasn't the intended plan, but actually did save some climb.
313/2000
Friday Oct 1, 2010 #
XC skiing 49:00 [2]
And just snuck in the week's rollerski! Just before dark 6-6.50 and just out on the bike path. Glad I waited til the evening though, was much less rainy than the morning when whatever hurricane/tropical storm coming though was still at it. However, there were lots and lots of soggy leaves on the trail, so could only skate here and there, mostly double-poling. Even a tree down in one place!