Orienteering race 17:34 [5] *** 2.0 km (8:47 / km) +45m 7:54 / km
spiked:10/12c shoes: Salomon SC 3 Bl/Bl
UC Berkeley. Sprint A. Started 10:20. After two mistakes on #1, pretty steady, ran pretty hard. A distant second to Aron Walker, but several good runners ran this as part of a 3 loop motala so they weren't included.
Had stayed in SF the night before (and stayed up late). Got to Berkeley early, intending to take a nap, but meet organization was rather lacking, so jumped in and helped in several ways. No assigned start times, just go when you want, and I was a bit frazzled by then.
#1. Mistakenly thought that the sidewalk right next to the building didn't go through; think I misinterpreted the index contour as a barrier. Ran on the sidewalk along the street and cut up through the little patch of grass, so that only cost a few seconds. However, hadn't taken a look at the clue sheet prior to starting (ad hoc starts, as mentioned above), and when looking at it on the run, thought the first three controls were distinct trees. #1, though, was actually a monument, so when I got to the center of the circle and there was no tree, I was mighty confused. Took about 30 secs to double check that I was in the right place and then find the bag buried in the bushes. Mark P was coming up to the control by then, and Matej (running the individual motala) was right behind him.
#2, Perhaps going N of the building would have been shorter. Well, that would definitely have been shorter, but maybe not much quicker as it would have required more map reading.
#5. Matej passed me going to 4, and I could still see him going to 5, though he was well ahead. Trying not to be influenced by him, but didn't see him punch 5 and didn't read the map carefully, so I was at the underpass before I realized I'd already passed the control. Looked back, and there it was. Lost about :15.
#6. Didn't look at the clue sheet until halfway there, and that's when I realized that I needed to go under the deck I was on (that realization was helped by remembering that there'd been a control there a few years ago). Didn't hesitate, but the better route would've been going around the N side of the building and thus avoiding going up and down stairs, as I did. There was plenty of time to look ahead while going to #4, so I should have been able to avoid this mistake.
Rest of the course went well, felt strong running, and good advanced map reading on 7, 9 and 10, so I was charging all the way through.
[Orienteering Sprint Race]
Running warm up/down 14:00 [2] 1.05 mi (13:20 / mi)
shoes: Salomon SC 3 Bl/Bl
Warm up: 8 min, ~0.7 miles. Felt pretty good physically, but harried and didn't have the patience for more warm up.
Cool down: 6 min, ~0.35.