Training Log Archive: dlevine

Kelly Park, Apopka, FL. Florida Orienteering Championships

(Actually staged at Kelly Park, but event was the north part of the Wekiva Springs map)

Gorgeous day, so I decided to run the blue course. It was only 8.3 km and though no climb was listed, it was in Florida, so... The guy at the start (obviously) did not know me and admonished me to be back in three hours; my reply of, "it won't be an issue" seemed to do little to convince him that he was not making a grave error by letting me go out on that course.

Tentative to #1 and I got lost a bit. I was confused by the white woods on the map which were an open field with scattered trees and some widely spaced saplings. Looking for the two-contour (on a 2.5 m contour map) hill was a challenge, too. And, I hadn't run on a 1:15,000 map in a while, so I was somewhat doomed. Two other "foreign" (i.e., not used to Florida orienteers) were also looking for the flag, though it was a late one on their course. Interestingly, we all triangulated at once to it from three different directions. It was on a tree stump, not a root stock and I remarked on this, but the guy said, "no, the root stock is behind you". I looked and saw a fallen down tree with perhaps a 0.5 m rootstock. Ouch. Welcome to Florida. Split: 9:24. Error estimate: 4.5 minutes.

I was conservative to #2, down the trail, in just shy of the junction, between the "green" areas and found the flag, tucked in pretty well. Split: 5:05.

I got to the area of #3 moderately well, saw the corner of the developed area and headed in to the control on the pit. Missed it by a decent amount and spent time recovering unsuccessfully. Went out to trail, but didn't pace count, instead cutting in at the thicket. Missed it again. (I was at the wrong thicket, not having noticed the small green dot on my map that was the one I was at, but was not the one I wanted.) Decided to slowly walk parallel to the trail from one end to the other. Found the flag, finally. Split: 18:49. Error estimate: 12 minutes.

#4 was a white level control. Long leg, but the last 600m were on trail and the control was on the near side of a thicket about 15m in, with great visibility. At least I spiked one. Split: 8:10.

Almost took a silly route to #5, but went the 15m back to the trail and down even further. Cut in late to avoid thick green, pace counted (wasn't I advised to do LOTS of that here?) and spiked it. Ran into a fellow from Possom Trot there who swore it was misplaced (great, I spike misplaced controls now!) though I think not. On the other hand, he had started seven minutes behind me, so... Split: 5:46.

He veered right going to #6, whereas I cut to the corner of the field. Went down the trail to the bend, and shot in, but got pushed to the left by the green. When I realized that I must be past it, I curled around the green and found it again. Actually, my route wasn't bad, but it wasn't filled with confidence. Split: 9:44. Error estimate: 0.5 minutes.

Straight-ish to #7 while I even started to read the 2.5 m contours, a necessity since I was looking for a broad depression in a reentrant. Can't say I spiked it, but it was good. Split: 3:26.

Angle to the trail and run to the pond before heading in to #8 (thicket). With my eyes high trying to glean information about vegetation, I missed it by about 30 m. Learning from #3, I relocated solidly and came in again, overshooting only slightly before turning around and finding it on a "thicket" all of whose vegetation was thigh-high. Split: 14:21. Error estimate: 6 minutes.

#9 was also a thicket, but I vowed to learn from my mistake. Headed in and, knowing what to look for, spiked it even as a few other folks were wandering a bit lost. Split: 5:42.

#10 was also a thicket and I was on a roll. Chose my attack point well, took my bearing, pace counted, and knew what to look for and spiked it again. (You don't suppose there is a lesson here, do you?) Split (guess; punched late): 4:48.

Looked at the clue sheet and saw that only the run-in remained - all 1550 m of it. Ran as hard as I could and face-planted just shy of the trail. Did fine in from there. At the finish, the guy who had been concerned said, "I guess you were right; you must have had a near perfect run out there." I replied that I thought that I had about twenty minutes of errors. He looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to believe me. My statement was apparently outrageous in his eyes, but then again, I'd lived up to my earlier claim. Split (assuming guess at 10): 11:20.

In the end, it proved to be a better run than I thought. It was worth first place on the course although two folks on red and green had better per km times. Not bad for my first foray into Florida Orienteering, though.

C • Congrats 3

Helped with control pick-up. Even spiked my #1 this time...

Run through my brother-in-law's golf-course neighborhood in North Carolina. Gorgeous weather, but the footing on the wooded median was funky. I think they dump all their leaves there; it was really spongy like a bog...

A perfect storm for slowness. Tired (from handball and poor sleep), late (carpool issues), and warm pool. At first I thought I'd be lucky to finish even the short distance. Somewhere about the 30% mark, I found my "stride" and kicked it up a bit. Not a bad swim.

Went to Bradford to play. All experienced players playing all out. Average number of shirts/person soaked through with sweat: 2. (Some folks didn't bring spares.)

The Bradford guys are better players plus have the advantage of home court. Their walls are made of plaster vs. boards and studs at the Olean Y. The ball bounces differently. Also, their courts are relatively poorly lit.

I got destroyed in all games but the first. I should have won that one as I was the first to 15, but was told we were playing to 21. (I lost 21-18 even though 15 was the target.) I only broke double-figures one other game.

Bruised my hip against the wall and am generally sore. This was my toughest handball workout ever.