Run warm up/down 12:51 [1] 1.5 mi (8:34 / mi) +20m 8:14 / mi
Out to O with Dean. Lots of traffic for people going to the airshow, but at least they stuck in the breakdown lane and didn't foul the mainline. Quick warm up on the brand new pavement road ROLLERSKII!.
Orienteering race 1:45:00 [3] 6.0 mi (17:30 / mi) +402m 14:29 / mi
Orienteering is fun! Having done a decent amount recently I'm getting more of the feel of it and not getting hopelessly lost. Time to add speed, but it was very warm today, and pants were a must, and I was hot and dehydrated, lots of mosquitos, so that didn't help. Navigated pretty cleanly (no huge errors, no major contact lost) but a lot of jiggles and niggles. Controls:
1. Run through the woods, find control.
2. Down a bit too close to the swamp, then along the swamp and across the top, but because it's been dry I went to the wrong cliff. To make matters worse, it had a faded permanent control. Too me a while to realize there was another.
3. Around the hill, attacked off the spur.
4. Down to the little swamp and trail junction, down the trail to the curve, above the rocky hill, across a stream. This went well, I was happy.
5. Two streams, then a slog up a steep hill on to a little step, and a couple niggly hills.
6. Tried to contour, this was bad. I spent a lot of time just grasping at rocks and trees and trying not to fall or slide down the hill. Not good. Finally ran down a bit and then up to the trail. The rocks for the controls were very cool! Awesome traprock formations. Not what you normally associate with a black circle. Fun!
7. Easy run over the hill, a little off but spotted well.
8. Tried to contour but got sucked down the reentrant as contouring on these slopes is rough. Not a terrible route but not well executed. Finally found the green and the control.
9. Navigated towards the circle well, but wound up at the dot hill below the control. Realized I was low and ran up to find it. Whoops.
10. Slog up the spur left of the rocky reentrant. Definitely feeling the heat by this point.
11. Navigated this well. Dam. Step. Swamp. Control.
12. Ran down the spur to the stream. Then around the green hill through some rocks. I wasn't sure where I was but decided I was right and went right to the control. Accidental spike!
13. Contoured well and wound up right at the stream junction, but then attacked too far up along the stream and wound up behind the hill, so had to come back over.
14. Brain was shutting down with heat, but I was able to go down along the stream and attack off the big ass rock in the stream. Rock wasn't that big, but was the only rock in the stream, so I assumed it was right. Fumbled to the control.
15. Down to road. Avoid climb and thinking. Saw guy who said "I'm hopelessly lost." Well, dude, at least you're on a road!
16. Up reentrant.
17. So my brain was pretty fried, as was my body. Looked like a choice between contours or green. I didn't like either. So I ran down to the road and then up the trail. Faster? Probably not, but in that state, I was happy just to have some time to turn off the brain. Easy to find the control off the trail.
18. Scooter down the hill, control visible, then finish.
So, a good time. Decent navigation, and some decent running. Didn't do that well in the heat, but I'm just starting to regain the feel for O. Of course with the heat, bugs and foliage, it's nearing the end of spring O season. Well, the trails await!
Run warm up/down 10:09 [1] 1.0 mi (10:09 / mi) +15m 9:42 / mi
Quick cool down, good for me. Alex was off playing somewhere. She did two courses and a trail run. So I'm soft.
Then we went out the rollerski road, and then realized that the Pike was jammed so went off on 202. Long stop for lunch mainly because the lunch place forgot my order for a malted, but I got my ice cream, and then ran out of water on Route 2, but that's okay. Took the train from Alewife. Dehydration!