Training Log Archive: Swampfox

Took a map and walked several controls, and then walked to the places where I made my map reading mistakes yesterday, and saw exactly what I had done. Each time all the information I needed to do the right thing was in easy visibility from the point where I messed up; all I needed to have done was look a little bit carefully at what was going on. Too bad.

Sometimes mistakes--usually, in fact--don't cost very much in time. For instance, the last time I raced prior to coming out to Minn/WI was in Idaho, where 1 mistake over 2 days cost roughly 1 minute.

But you can't know that in advance, and sometimes they really cost a lot. Today I had 4 mistakes, and dropped a whole bunch of time on each of them.

2 mistakes stemmed from lapses concentration that led me to start following the wrong line where the course crossed on itself, and went to 15 instead of 11--and then going to 11!--and taking controls 14, 13, & 12 in that fine order before taking them in the more "traditional" manner. A little bit shocking to be standing at 12 after punching and realize I was about to head back to 11 once again. ; )

It could be my concentration wasn't what it should have been then because by then I had already completely eliminated any chance for a good race, but I don't think that's what happened. My attitude was still good and I think I just goofed up. At any rate, I don't plan to train on how to follow the line and take the controls in the right order. In spite of this recent contrary evidence, I'm pretty sure I'll be taking the controls in the right order again in future events.

My other 2 mistakes each were rushing the map reading at critical moments, and not quite getting the picture right. If you don't get the picture quite right back home, it hardly ever costs anything. Here it did, and like many others on this day, I was off into voodoo land for a good bit of time, but twice.

I'm writing this not because I think it's of any general interest, but in hopes of reinforcing some lessons re-learned! Orienteering can be such a humbling sport.

The capper on the day was realizing while I was finishing up that my right calf wasn't feeling right. Within a few minutes of finishing, it was very sore, and when I looked at it back at the motel, it was a little swollen and discolored--must have torn something in there--and it was clear I wouldn't be able to go out on Sunday. A double bummer because the terrain and forest were so nice, and it would have been great to have gone back out and had a clean race after what I did today. So it can go, however.

C • So how's the calf? Sounds l... 2

Blue Day 1 US Champs - Splits

US Champs model event, Kettle Moraine, WI.

Quick run out in the woods at Telemark before shoving off for new parts.

Ran at a map at Tamarack Nature Center, sticking mostly to trails, and checking most, but not all of the trim controls set out there. Thus, this qualifies as true trail orienteering (akin to mountain bike orienteering and ski orienteering) and had nothing to do with map puzzle gaming. It wasn't cold, but neither was it warm, thus it was somewhat surprising that my most "at one with nature" moment involved a very large, fat snake in the middle of one of the trails. I don't know what it was, and know only that it wasn't a snow snake. I wouldn't have guessed that Minnesota had much in the way of massive snakes, but then who knew about the secret trash talkin side of certain orienteers that has been recently revealed?

C • Tamarack and snakes 3

My legs were very sore, and after jogging just a tiny bit, I decided it was going to be a rest day, and walked for an hour instead.