Race Evaluation
US Long Course Champs: Red Long
Cristina
| 1. | Took mostly trail to the first control, which was probably unecessary, but made it an easy control, which is a good way to start out. | ||||||
| 2. | +01:00 | I had a hard time seeing a good route, and the way I went seems to be overly circuitous. I don't think I realized at the time that I could go left of the L-shaped barn. That would probably have been worth stopping for a closer look. It was also on this leg that I realized that my legs were not about to move fast. | |||||
| 3. | +00:15 | This was basically a long field run, threading through the gaps in the boundary vegetation. I had planned on attacking from the last trail intersection, but hadn't really paid attention to the veg. So I stopped when I got there, evaluated the veg, and decided it was easy enough to go through. A little confusion about which knoll (opposite side of stream than i had thought), but not a huge problem. This leg was where I tried holding the map more out in front of me, enabling quick glances between map and terrain. It worked great, though not sure if the fact that it was mostly fields made it more effective. | |||||
| 4. | I popped out to the field and ran to basically the low point of the field/forest boundary. Hopped down towards the stream and along it to the control. No problems, but very tired. | ||||||
| 5. | There was a faster guy ahead of me on this leg, which motivated me to move my tired legs faster. I had more juice left than I thought, though I didn't want to waste myself too early in the course. I opted for the mostly field run to the left of the line, finding the trail/veg break at the white forest without any trouble, and attacked from the trail/stream intersection. | ||||||
| 6. | +02:00 | I broke this leg up into two sections and just folded my map to show the half I was running. The intermediate "control" was the stream crossing. The left crossing seemed to offer a better approach to the control, so I took as much of a field route as possible along the way - fields were not always easier running, but pretty good, but mostly it was impossible to get twisted around. Navigation very simplified. Executed everything fine until I (once again) misread the control location and thought it was on the far side of the stream. Didn't take to long to figure out my mistake, but then spend some time hacking through green, still on the wrong side, before heading back over and across. I had a gu on the way to this one. | |||||
| 7. | +00:15 | Again, probably used more trail than I needed to - could easily have cut the corner and still had simple navigation from the same attackpoint (rootstock/stream). Not too big a loss. | |||||
| 8. | Some fast guys running around, which reminded me that I could mentally force my legs to move faster. Just hopped across the stream and swung left along the marshy stuff. | ||||||
| 9. | +00:30 | Tried picking off rootstocks for this leg, but there seemed to by some unmapped ones - rather than waste too much time trying to make sense of it, just ran to the edge of the hillslope, where I expected it to be...contours reading still works! | |||||
| 10. | +03:00 | Followed the fields and trails to the right of the line, attacking from the trail/stream intersection. Right away I saw a control by a rock, with water, and made the mistake of leaping for it, despite the fact that it was too close. That wouldn't have been such a big deal. The stupid part comes next, when two women run by in the vague direction of the correct location and I (incorectly) assume that there are on Red. So I go along. We get to where the hill starts to slope more, and they keep going. I realize that "we" had gone way too far, and that they were not, in fact, running the same course. Recovered well. | |||||
| 11. | +01:30 | über stupid route choice #2. I didn't like the broad, open trail that cut diagonally up the green hillside because it went the wrong way. I decided to try going straigh up on one of the "indistinct paths", but missed the turn and realized it partway up the hill. Instead of just continuing, I turned around, went DOWN the hill, found the "path" and basically crawled under the brambles to the top. It took forever. No problem snagging the control from the trail in the white woods. Rough distance from the field, then headed right. | |||||
| 12. | A Canadian in red (Jon T?) came tearing through the woods here, which, for the third time, inspired me to kick myself in the butt and move faster. The inspiration seems to have lasted for the entire remainder of the course! This was a simple leg, slow because of veg. Rough distance along trail from the intersection, then up hill. | ||||||
| 13. | Newly motivated, with a clear plan I tore through the woods, and nailed the control. I had a good picture of what the area in the circle was going to look like as I approached, which made it easy to find. | ||||||
| 14. | Aimed left straight towards the stream, then just bearing right to all the rock features. | ||||||
| 15. | The control here was at the point on the hill that got extra steep, right at the curve in the stream. So I just made sure not to drop any lines and headed to the corner of the hill. | ||||||
| 16. | Ran along the side of the hill, using the reentrant and some rootstocks as a guide. No problems, but I moved more cautiously, because the terrain was subtle in comparison to the rest of the course. And I could smell the finish (in my mind). | ||||||
| 17. | Passed a handful of slow movers on the way to the aid station. Drank some gatorade and grabbed a handful of pretzels and tore on. Took the trail entrance to the right of the line into the woods, crossed the stream, then followed it til I hit the next trail. Again used the trail intersection to attack. No problems. | ||||||
| 18. | Took the shortest route out of the woods, then took the broad trail to the intersection. Cut into the woods and curved around to the "cliff". | ||||||
| 19. | +02:00 | First stupid compass/orienting mistake. Made a 90° error and ran across the broad trail to the south into the next field. Confused for a while, not able to turn the map the right way and believe it. Eventually figured it out and made my way under the tunnel. Headed straight through the white woods from the deciduous tree in the middle of the field, with stream on left as a guide. | |||||
| 20. | +00:10 | Basically just followed the line, with a slight overrun. Used the trail bend as an attackpoint, but ran right around it the first time. Quick recovery. | |||||
| 21. | Stayed in the white to the road. Didn't seem to be faster (two others ran through the green more directly). | ||||||
| F. | Mustered enough energy to have the fastest finish (again) in F-21+. Does that mean I'm not running hard enough the rest of the time? Or mabe the others are just wimpy finishers. |
Total Time Lost - 00:10:40