Run warm up/down 8:22 [1] 0.6 mi (13:56 / mi) +15m 12:56 / mi
Jog to the start after a drive up with Carol. This went well …
Orienteering 3:55:33 [1] ***** 14.0 mi (16:49 / mi) +604m 14:50 / mi
Orienteering did not go well today. Other than the Billygoat (mostly following) and two park-o races, I haven't orienteered since last year. It showed. I immediately flubbed #1, circling by the wrong control twice before stumbling in to the right one. 2 went better: made a plan and stuck to it, and I thought about doing the same thing for 3, then didn't, wound up losing and regaining contact far from where I should have been and bumbling to the control. 4 I overran to a trail, got caught, then turned the wrong way having been pulled by the terrain (compass skills not on display today).
5 I took what would have been a good route if not for the trail being overgrown and me having to duck under dozens of bushes. 6 was okay. 7 I went around the hill and found the control okay. 8 went pretty well. I was sort of remembering how to orienteer.
Then 9. I had a good plan: cross the first trail, right on the second, if I knew where I was, attack, otherwise follow trails to attack. I didn't know where I was, and proceeded to then turn on the trail and run towards the control, taking a right and then—an uphill? Another trail? I finally reconned off a swamp and a cliff and was half a mile in the wrong direction.
Then I went to find 9. By this time Ross et al were coming by. Thierry was probably done. (1:25 on this terrain is most impressive. Just, wow.)
Then a long leg. I didn't trust myself enough to take a northern option (an early non-trail section, less climb, decent catching features and landmarks) which would have made sense. I went south instead, then truned on the wrong trail over by 14, had a long run down the hill, then a long run up it. 39 minutes, and mostly I knew where I was, but I was getting tired and 3 miles and 200m of climb didn't help. 11 was mostly okay, and I made a plan for 12. Then I misread a trail (the 1:15000 scale doesn't help), went in a circle and found a different trail to 12, which I executed cleanly once I was on the trail.
Run to 13 was fine, but tiring. I found the swamp, looked for the rocky hilltop, and wandered for a while, finally finding more rocks, and a different rocky hilltop (or maybe the same one). 14 was dandy. 15 was pretty okay (control was well hidden) and 16 I made a good plan, muffed it, then stumbled upon the control.
17 I overran the trail junction I was going to attack. 18 and 19 were spectator controls. 20, 21, and 22 I slowly orienteered, but orienteered well. I was finally remembering how to do this. It took too long. There is something to be said for training, I guess.
At the end, I said I had way too much fun, in that I had the right amount of fun per hour, but spent way too long out there.