Orienteering race 50:21 [3] *** 4.7 km (10:43 / km) +230m 8:36 / km
spiked:12/15c
Kariotahi. Pleasantly surprised to go under the hour but most of the field were somewhat faster. Missed hearing my start call-up (could grumble on a bit about how this happened but I wasn't doing the part that I was responsible for either) so went out last of the M40s. Which I decided handily minimised any chance of getting hyped up and not running my own race - though that theory went out the window when at number 1 I met Swanson on his way back from number 2... kept him in sight til shortly after 3 and then it was back to plan A. I think I can find only about 3 minutes of mistake, nearly a couple of minutes drifting a bit further left than I intended to avoid some climb 4-5, then a little time lost in the circle at 7 and near the circle at 10. Narrowly avoided a big one right near the end, when I realised just in time I was somehow reading an up comtour as a down contour, which went some way to both explaining the large hill in front of me that I wasn't seeing on the map and stopping me from funneling down a big re-entrant to 14. Not that it was a particularly tricky course (first few controls probably the hardest) but it would be nice to be so clean when I'm fit. On that note, can probably find as much as 10 minutes just from having nothing in the legs on any sort of uphill, and being a little wussy around the fences (which isn't fitness but indicative of not really been out there looking for a top result). Did seem to be able to get up to a good trot on the flatter parts of the course though which felt promising.
