orienteering race (Narrinyeri long (Hagaby)) 1:29:58 [4] 9.3 km (9:40 / km)
shoes: Asics gel 2120
I felt like absolute crap at 5am but getting to Narrinyeri by 7, breathing the cool autumn air and watching the sun rise wasn't all bad. Wallaringans had the place looking pretty professional by the time elites started turning up. Simon set a great course (actually he set about 18 of them if you count all the combinations) and I haven't enjoyed a loop race this much since Eureka at Nerrina in 1999.
I felt like I was running really well; pity my brain wasn't orienteering at the same pace. Went to the wrong first control because I dropped too far down the hill (I wasn't the only one) but did pretty well through the rest of the controls on the first loop, which for me was the one with the most scrub-bashing.
Changed over near Shannon and Fel, first couple of controls no worries, then did something really stupid. Heading up to 174 I asked myself "is this the same control I've been to before?" and myself stupidly answered " no, you have to go further left!" I went way left, and found 180, which I thought was on a boulder (actually it was meant to be a cliff) and then hunted all over my map for a boulder in the relevant position, which I couldn't bloody well find, then I had no clue where I could be because nothing matched, and did laps of the hillside before I tried attacking from the same angle again, and what do you know, it led me straight to 174! (effing bloody stupid, shouldn't talk to myself).
Anyway...on the 3rd lap lost a couple of minutes in a couple of places and then did something else stupid after crossing the road. Very short downhill leg, I decided to run along the top of the rocks and then drop, but I was already well beyond the control before I decided to drop (I am used to this map being at 1:15 000, but that is no excuse) and consequently spent at least 5 min checking out the scenery on a couple of other spurs.
I figure that I lost about 15min all up on this course which is such a bugger because I am smarter than that...but it was fun, and I do like Narrinyeri. Even collecting controls was fun though I forgot to mark one on my map and the others had to go collect it afterwards :(
Geroge and I took Sus & Lachlan to the airport and then went to see Adam Hills. He is very funny but also much cruder than I expected from his Spicks & Specks persona.