Training Log Archive: bbrooke

Green course (Classic) @ East Pelican Bay.

This was so different from yesterday's course & terrain, even though the two maps are adjacent. Today was less runnable in general (more sage, more deadfall), and had more route choice. I enjoyed it overall.

I totally lost track of where I was on my way to #4 -- I wasted time checking multiple rocky ridges until I finally bailed out to relocate. 17 minutes on that leg. :-\

No huge mistakes otherwise, just some inefficiencies and instances where I found the control even though I wasn't where I thought I was.

C • you seem to have nailed a l... 3

Western States Day 1 Green - Splits

This course was really fun -- technical without any grueling climbs. My original plan was to walk the course, focusing on clean navigation. I ended up running most of it, but I slowed down often to match features to the map.

Tyra passed me on the way to #12. I saw her leave a boulder heading in the general direction of #13, so I ran to that boulder. Oops -- the control wasn't there. I turned around and found it fairly quickly.

Somewhere between #13 and #14, I started thinking I was on my way to #15 (13-14-15 were somewhat in a straight line). Luckily I stumbled on the control and figured it out before I got totally confused & lost.

I had a plan for getting to #18 but I kinda lost track of my distance / location halfway and lost some time there.

The most embarrassing mistake was sprinting from #23 to the wrong knoll in full view of everyone at the finish. DOH!

I finished #13 of 21 on Red -- about eight minutes behind #12. I don't think my mistakes totaled up to eight minutes (it was more just my general slowness), so the mistakes didn't cost me a place in the standings.

Middle Red - Splits

RMOF Day 2 -- One-Cowboy Relay @ Rattlesnake Hill.

I totally blew the first control, but managed to do OK after that. Tracks indicate small errors here and there, as well as some inefficient routes, but no disasters. :-)

This course was slightly shorter than yesterday's course, but it had more climb. Maybe I shouldn't have run at all yesterday, because I felt slow / tired and really lost steam on some of the uphills today. Charlie caught me near the end of the course, and I couldn't re-pass him...but I was happy to get a Top 20 crystal prize.

Airbnb update: yes, it's nice, but it's loud for sleeping with the windows open (constant interstate & RR noise), and hot for sleeping with the windows closed. Didn't get much sleep at all last night...

C • You did well! 3

C • ear plugs? 2

Event: 2018 Rocky Mountain Orienteering Festival
 

RMOF Day 1 at the "Lights of Cheyenne" map. I was very anxious about arriving late after leaving home behind schedule and then missing the turn for road 712, but I got there with time to spare.

The mass start and open terrain made this fairly easy. I followed Neal Barlow's mantra -- straight is great.

I planned to walk the whole thing...but I ended up running downhills & flats, and then I ran some of the uphill sections at the end since I was feeling OK and I realized I could pass a few people.

Then I headed to my Airbnb place, which is very nice. Spent about 30 minutes unloading my car and organizing...(my personal stuff and, mostly, all the snacks). Oof.

Except for packing my clothes & cooler and squeezing everything into my car, I think I'm finished with all of my RMOF prep work. YAY!

- Received final Event Reg data file from Sverre; generated all packet & bib labels; sent PDFs to Sverre for final QA; printed and organized all labels; met Sverre for handoff.

- Printed 15 sets of meet notes (only two people requested them...).

- Organized and boxed up awards.

- Charged & tested two-way radios.

- Started loading car with table, snacks, etc.

I met up with the LoCO group, but I just did two easy miles while they did their 5K & 10K time trials.

Yoga class at the park (since the rec center is still closed for massive upgrades).

- Drafted HTML email w/ photos & links (final RMOF updates); posted the same info to Attackpoint.

- Bought large amounts of finish-line snacks at Costco & King Soopers. Schlepped it all up the stairs and into my house so it doesn't overheat in my car between now and Wednesday...(12 tubs of pretzels, 18 packages of cookies, and four 30-pound boxes of clementines).

- Picked up award printouts at FedEx.

- Most time-consuming: assembled all three sets of awards (Middle, Classic & WSC). I think each one looks OK individually, but they don't have any unifying elements (other than using the same font...). On the other hand, I didn't want all three to look identical for people who might win one of each.

Tons of RMOF prep work -- finalizing three sets of award designs (Middle, Classic & WSC); testing different paper types at FedEx; finalizing label merge files for packets & bibs; updating Excel & Word VB macros to match new EventReg export file layout (adding the recreational course options changed the file layout after I wrote my original macros); website updates; created PDF for meet notes (lots of tweaking & re-doing to fix page breaks, etc.); and email follow-ups.

Ten laps on Tyler Ave hill loop (in reverse), at an easy pace.