Training Log Archive: AliC

Sprint Relay Model - Pergine Valgusarna

With Ethan and Ross after successfully navigating from Jesolo and finding the organizer with our maps, woo!

I drew a course on, the guys copied, and we did it as two sections, meeting up after the first and at the end to see if any routes were interesting. Didn't feel that tired, and orienteering felt pretty smooth.

Map walk/jog around Lavarone - South on the 1:15 map to just try to get into that mode. Ross delivered me close to the lake and just went back from there. Legs felt pretty tired on the steep ups, so I just took it mega easy, walking and taking breaks. The idea is to be into the map, not take juice out of the legs!

C • Good luck tomorrow!! 2

Event: WOC 2014 + 5 Days of Italy
 

Sprint Qual - Burano - Mazzorbo

Oof! Caught out by a gate that didn’t look like I could go through it, and although it was right where I thought I should go through, I didn't have enough confidence and just took off in some direction. (On the way to control #12.) And then I relocated *amazingly* poorly, finally actually using the finish... whoops, that's embarrassing.

So not a close miss of making the final and I'm taking it as more a major lesson to learn - when a passage is marked as passable, it really could be, even if it looks like someone's backyard. I probably also need a pinch more confidence coming into that location and should have paused and figured things out and relocated far better than I did. 3 minutes is an awful lot of time to lose!

There was one other minor mistake (#7), that I blame being a bit overconfident, choosing the more direct, but slightly harder route choice, and then not having enough patience to execute it well.

The rest of the controls, I ran pretty well, just a few seconds back from fastest, which does the trick, generally. So I'm happy with lots of things from the race today:
1) I did a good job finding the right narrow passages
2) I never got trapped

C • Hard luck 5

C • Commiserations 4

Sprint Model, Venice
Made it from Milan to Jesolo just fine thanks to Linda and Rick yesterday evening, so woke up and out to the sprint model! Some excitement as we barely made the boat and ended up jumping onto it along with two from the French team. Phew!

The boat ride over from Punto Sabbiono to the model was about 45 minutes, but that was fine as gave us time to draw some courses on our maps and chat a bit. The specific map section we used was “Venezia - S. Marta”, to the west of the bottom bend of the Grand Canal. The rest of the US crew out for the training (Sam, Tori, Ethan) had already been on this section of map, but it was my first time on *any* map of legendary Venice. The canals do add an interesting dimension, but it’s not so different than other dense passage-y European cities. Very ski-o style, but with more dead ends - I realized that we don’t have that many dead ends in ski-o, since snow mobiles generally don’t turn around in their tracks.

The bridges do take a bit out of you, and more so the taller bridges, but there’s no way of judging a bridge’s height on the map. Probably not that important though. They are also a bit slippery right at the edge due to smooth marble, but the majority of the stairs had less slippery material closer in, so will aim for that.

Thoughts on tomorrow:
- Have to have the full route before leaving previous control. In particular, this may take patience off the start if they pull a tricky one.
- Faced with two similar route options, take the simpler one.
- Check all codes, read all descriptions. They seemed to like corners of paved areas on the model map.
- Green light when I have an easy feature to run along (straight road/passage or along a canal)
- Yellow light in the more complicated sets of passageways, or when a narrow passage has to be found (but use anything and everything else around to do this!)
- Pay only enough attention to other people in order not to collide, else ignore
- Be careful of artificial fences blocking routes!!!

After running my course, I jogged slowly around, taking more in.

C • Good luck tomorrow!! 11

C • Venice and orienteering....... 1

And then just a few controls fast, to feel the speed I want to run tomorrow.

Last little workout in Toledo before heading to Italy tomorrow! A putter around Ottawa Park with Tom in the morning. (Woke up at 5:15 am this morning, still dark.)

C • Good luck in Italy! 10

Woke up at 5:45am and went out for a morning row before leaving. Down and around Boyd Island with a wind from the South, which is pretty unusual. Still, not strong enough to make to rowing poor.