Race Evaluation
QOC - Great Falls, MD: Brown
Nadim
| 1. |
Ran too fast Confused parallel features +01:25 | With the park being so close to home, I had gotten there a bit late. Suddenly I realized that starts would close in 15 minutes. I finished getting ready quick and ran down to the start feeling energized. Tom Strat (doing his second run of the course) and Joe Garmin were to start behind me. Figuring this would be a short course and no longer the MD Championship due to park permit problems, I thought to run fast and make it a bit of a sprint. I glanced at the map out of the start and headed off in the right direction. Glancing again, I lost my place on the map and started reading the Go leg to the finish. The leg had the exact bearing and was about the same distance. In my mind I thought all I needed to do was run to the top of the hill somewhere around 100m away and look for it just past the other side. I ran over the knoll and not seeing it I read the map incorrectly again, looking at the Go leg backwards. Fortunately, it was similar enough to get me near so that when I look at the map long enough the next time, I understood where to go. As I approached, Tom Strat was approaching but I got there ahead of him. | |||||
| 2. | I took off reading the map correctly this time but still a bit less carefully than I should have. I ran up over the hill a bit left of straight and through the saddle. Rounding the first bit reentrant I skirted the hillside and continued descending. I noted the long spur north of the line so I had a good idea of where I was. After crossing the next big reentrant with a partial controur and then descending a bit the other side, I expected to see it. I paused when I didn't read the map again and 3 seconds later saw it dead in front of me 30m. | ||||||
| 3. | I contoured slightly to the left. Some people were near the area but I wasn't sure what they were doing since they didn't seem to be going to the control. | ||||||
| 4. | I went out pretty straight, crossing the trail just west and above the first earth bank. I contoured in from there. I hadn't read the control description but was fortunate to be able to see the control at the bottom of the next earth bank. | ||||||
| 5. | +01:40 | I didn't plan the whole route out before leaving. Out along the earthbank to the trail, I got on the trail and tried to read on the run. After 400m, I cut left, following the trail up the wet reentrant and backtracking slightly to go around a big spur. I should have left the trail completely and gone right. After rounding the spur, I cut up the flat ridge with the many clearings that used to be ant hills. I thought if I were on top I might see #7 but I was a bit too far left side of the ridge. I didn't pay attention to my compass and distance enough. Before the ridge ended, I came off on a spur on the east side in the direction of #8. I realized this soon enough but by then it seemed best to angle to the Gold Mine Loop Trail. I hit it before the Y shaped trail intersection a full 350m NE of the straight line. At least I knew exactly where I was then and could use the trail. Coming off the bend, I got into the reentrant between #5 and #6. Running too fast made me not think clearly. Next I saw Peggy coming the other way, having left #6. As often I do when I see Peggy ahead of me, I made a mistake. This time it was the mistake of thinking that #5 was #6 and #6 was #5. I got to #6, punched then left fast for #5 without having checked the code. #5 and #6 were so close together that the navigation was simple. 55 seconds later I hit the real #5 approaching just a bit low after having contoured slightly from #6. Some other guy about my age in an O suite was either approaching or leaving. Again, I didn't check the code. I was thinking I had just punched #6. | |||||
| 6. | +00:30 | I left the real #5 starting up the reentrant and heading toward #7. When seeing the leg to #7(parallel with the leg #4 to #5) and knowing where I was, I realized what I'd done. I cut back in the reentrant toward the real #6 and got there just after the other guy whom I'd seen at #5. | |||||
| 7. | +00:15 | A bit despondant, I tried to make the most of it. I ran a bit slower and planned half the route. I didn't execute it well. I drifted a bit left and got on a ridge going the right direction. I passed some big boulders and these clued me into where I was. I ran down the spur, crossed the trail and up the reentrant on the other side. I passed Scott who was at the training yesterday--he'd paused looking a bit puzzled. I followed along the map well the rest of the way, climbing the spur right before the control but somehow getting to the reentrant a bit low. I was actually past the control and wonder if it was hung too high up the reentrant. | |||||
| 8. | A bit more despondant at the error going to #7 and having glanced at my watch showing 24 minutes and change, I knew I wasn't going to place well. I guess that despite the errors earlier I somehow had hoped that by running fast I might have made up for some of it. Leaving, I just planned to run this leg straight and read my way across. I crossed over the first ridge, came off the left side of the spur that I had made a mistake on earlier on the way to #5, crossed the flatish area and the formline spur. I hit the Gold Mine Loop Trail right at the trail intersection. I angled to the gully after that and cut right. I was a bit surprised that I had to run along it a way but could see the control ahead. Seeing other White course runners there also was surprising. One parent and his son recognized me from the introductory talk I had given to the Boy Scouts about a week an a half back. I was definately tireing by this time. | ||||||
| F. | I went straight passing various people along the way and feeling a bit tired. |
Total Time Lost - 00:03:50