Orienteering 1:10:00 [3] *** 10.35 km (6:46 / km) +284m 5:57 / km
spiked:24/28c
Fun terrain and course. ARXers ran well.
My best placing on a split (like yesterday) was to #1. 2nd place again. Then I got tired. :-)
My knee was still warming up and it took me too long to cross the creek to #2 and #3 (quite silly really given how wet the course got on the stream crossing from 9 to 12. Not wearing my glasses was a disadvantage today. Several times I was right on my bearing and couldn't see the flag so started to doubt myself and did a small hook only to have to recorrect back (#6, #16). But the only mistakes that show up on the split analysis are the road crossings (I deliberately took lots of time on those un-timed legs) and the slow creek crossings at #2 and #3 so perhaps I didn't lose as much as I thought. Still won't call them spikes though.
I really enjoyed the open woods on the east side of the map and after the random creek crossings. I felt I got faster after that or perhaps the cold water had numbed the knee pain. Not sure I could have raced much farther than the 10'ish km. Despite that I feel I'm a wee bit stronger this year but the continued knee pain is very frustrating.
Snow wasn't a factor again today but I'm looking forward to running on bare ground soon.
Fun weekend and well hosted by DVOA. But perhaps 2-day classic isn't the best format for a schools and Uni race. Perhaps a chase start? 2 person relay? More opportunities for team cheering.