Discussion: Don't feel bad

about getting overtaken by the likes of Pavlina. It happens to the best of us. Not surprising when you consider her resume.

I guess I don't think pushing yourself to go faster when you are uncertain about where you are is a useful strategy for improvement. Instead, concentrate on navigating cleanly and pick up speed as your navigation improves. The southern part of Sessions is very detailed and difficult. 9 in particular is a difficult control. 16, the one you lost time on, is also in a difficult area. I missed it the first time when I was vetting a couple of weeks ago, and I have been lost in that area a few times in past years, despite it being a small area. Just kind of confusing in there. You are making good progress. It takes a while to get good at it, like a lot of things. I was impressed at HH at how well you maintained map contact.

I agree with Charlie. I far more often have to remind myself to slow down than to speed up, if I want my time on the course to be faster.

Amazing how much more accurate I am when I walk! A year and a half or so ago I had a hamstring strain and had to wrap it up and walk an A meet Brown course. I beat some runners that I would often struggle to beat if I were running.

I was once very sick (bad cold), and had signed up for an A-meet, the first one at Gay City. I wanted to see the new map, so I changed courses to Brown, and went out and just walked the course on Saturday. I did not run a single step. Turned in the second-best time on Brown for the day. (On Sunday I was feeling better, and was able to run, and I crushed the field. :-) )

Yes, I suppose the real objective should be to minimize errors before they get too large. Going slower should help with that.

Practice makes perfect...when you are coming to the control in the final 20 or so meters, you should have a mental picture of the exit direction - ie, north, maybe a big pond to the east etc... so you don't have any significant pause - at least be walking in the predetermined direction as the route choice comes into focus. Practice this by trying numerous short legs on a local map - in and out inside the circle with a facile exit strategy in mind.