Training Log Archive: cedarcreek

Hot, Humid. Felt sluggish, especially uphill. Same route as a few days ago.

Yesterday, I stopped by Camp Graham to tell them I didn't have the map ready yet. I ran into some OCAD problems that I didn't have time to figure out. I could have gotten them *something*, but I was close on time, and I figure that's not going to change, so I don't want the excuse of giving them *something* let me stop working on it.
I found out they own property in Warren County, but that my GIS basemap is from Clinton County, so...I stopped by the Warren County GIS office, and got an aerial and 2 foot contours for the Warren County land. It was more expensive to get electronically than printed out, so I got 2 sheets of 11x17, one contours, one aerial, for $12. He wanted to give it to me at 1:2400 (which he noted is 1 inch = 200 feet), but I asked for 1:2500 "since I'm using metric". The park is a little bigger than I thought, and I think it will be a good forest sprint venue. Let's hope.

Felt like I needed to run before I did anything else. Just sort of run down; ate way too much today; still even had a full stomach. After 300m, my body just said, "Stop, Walk, Please", but I stuck with it, and didn't walk until the turn around at 1.8km. Had to walk briefly coming up the big hill because my heart rate felt too high. At the top of the hill, I didn't speed up noticeably, but I was reasonably comfortable, and ran it in. I'm so glad I went out (at like 10:20pm). Now I just need to shower, go to bed, and get up at 3am or so. I have to brief 30 charts tomorrow, and they're not updated yet. (This is a problem, but not overwhelming.)

I still haven't drafted that map yet. Time is running out. I'm hoping I can do it tomorrow night. {fingers crossed}

Spent 4 hours mapping a little 4H camp near Clarksville, Ohio. A guy I work with volunteers there, and he's been doing compass course stuff. The camp starts tomorrow (Sunday), and I'm trying to get him something usable by Monday afternoon. I got a basemap with 4-foot (1.25m) contours and a really nice aerial .jpg from the county GIS department. I told them what it was for, and they just e-mailed me the data I needed---free. The contours are sometimes good, sometimes not-so-good. The area will fit on a letter-size (A4-ish) map at 1:4000, which means it's really small. I'll probably use 1:5000 and try to get 2 on a page. I've been looking at the 5m contours (every 4th), and I think 2.5m might be better. It might even be neat to use 1.25m---I'll go check the ISSOM. I mapped the main areas, and every decent trail I could fine, and I didn't map streams, or vegetation in the woods. I did change a tiny number of contours.
From looking at the basemap, I expected it to be hideously steep (if you did the US Champs Relay this year, you know what I mean), but I was really surprised. If I can find some mappable features on some of these slopes, it might be an awesome little map.
I had a lot of trouble mapping today. Because I got the GIS data sort of late Friday, I didn't have time to perfect my aerial photo/basemap. I made the basemap lines too thick, and made the aerial photo way too dim. Plus, I dinked around with the scale as long as I could before I had to print something, and I went into the field with an unknown scale on my fieldwork. I realized about halfway through that I needed to draw longer lines as I added trails. I carried a good copy of the aerial, and that helped a lot, but some of the trails far from recognizable features might be a little...off.
One good thing---A lot more runnable forest than I expected. A lot of medium and third green, though.
Great day in the woods.