Training Log Archive: syd

Red Middle - 4.7 km (220 m) - 25c
Granite Planite

This race was a lot of fun. Very cool terrain and I finally felt like I was able to run at this altitude. Navigation went well. I had some hesitations on a few controls in the first section, but nothing major. I then stopped paying attention and made a 180 mistake out of 11. Only the second time I have ever done that. It should have been so obvious for a lot of reasons, but I was just running without looking at my map. Made it all the way to 16 before turning around. Ugh. Lost at least 3 min there. Only other error was on 18. I thought I had drifted on my bearing, so I turned N. I should have just trusted my compass as I was on the right line. Found the control no problem, it was just a very slow approach. I was happy with how well I read the rocky terrain. A little bummed that I made such a silly mistake.

Control pickup. A short loop around the finish area with Kevin.

Middle Red - Splits

6.7 km - 26 c
Rattlesnake Hill

One man relay with a mass start at 10:30 a.m. We received a packet with 5 maps at the start and swapped out for the next one each time we returned to the S/F area. Kevin and I ended up with the same order of maps and went back and forth for a while. Navigation went well. I had an error on 1-3. I went to the wrong flag first. The next 2 loops were very similar iterations. The 4th loop was only 2 flags! And I had already been to both, so that was a nice break. The last loop was in a different area with more challenging navigation. It was fun, but I had very little energy left. I drifted on my way to 5-1, but corrected once I hit a reentrant and not a spur. I drifted too far S on the way to 5-3, but it was an easy correction once I hit the field. The rest went smoothly. Won a cool rock as a prize!

We joined Steve, Angel, BJ, and Julie for some climbing in the afternoon. This was my first time climbing outside. It was a lot of fun!! The crag had a lot of easier routes that were still enjoyable climbs. Routes we did ranged from 5.7 - 5.10a. I started off with top-roping after others had set a rope and then I led my first outdoor route :)

Event: 2018 Rocky Mountain Orienteering Festival
 

Red - 7.7 km - 15 c
Lights of Cheyenne

We had a very eventful flight to Denver, but we made it and so did our bags (the next day). We got groceries in the morning, picked up our bags, and drove to Curt Gowdy SP to find a campsite. Made it to the start of the event with plenty of time to spare.

The race was a mass start red length course. After a few brief instructions we all took off at 4:00 p.m. Terrain was really open and runnable. It was mostly follow the leader, I only had to navigate to a couple of controls. I had a lot of hesitation coming into 7. I should've just paused to study the map and realized that the control was in the valley, but I thought it was up higher. I then came in to 8 too low. Everything else went smoothly.

This race was a good way to learn the terrain and it was cool to see how micro route choices can make a notable difference. The elevation didn't feel as bad as I thought it might, but it was so dry! Coming from ridiculous humidity for the last month I was feeling the lack of water.

Scouting for our meet this fall. Beautiful day!

Forecast was for rain all afternoon, but it turned out to be a pretty nice day. It just sprinkled for the last mile or so. Quite humid.

My legs have been taking so long to warm up recently. First half felt rather sluggish, but the second half felt good.

Beautiful weather. Looking forward to when we have the majority of these house renovations finished - should be soon.

A light sprinkle and some rumbles of thunder, but no storms materialized. Stomach was not very happy on the way back.

Climbed 10 routes including a couple V3-5 and a V4-6. Good climbing day.

So humid. Made it back just before the rain started again.

Hybrid loop around South Park. Enjoyable run.

Easy spin along the trail.

So humid. Seemed like a lot of effort for how fast we were running.

So nice to be able to bike from the house.

Legs felt decent, but did not have any speed. Kevin forgot his shoes so he biked next to me.

Bouldering with Kevin!

Event: Green Corn Moon Rogaine
 

Green Corn Moon Rogaine

Arrived at Great Seal State Park Saturday afternoon and set up our tent at the campground. It was hot, close to 90 F, and very humid. Relaxed for a bit and then headed over to the race shelter just after 4 p.m. to check-in and pick up our maps. The layout of the CPs made planning pretty easy. I decided to head S first, grab all the S points in a CW loop and then finish up with the N points in a CCW loop. It looked like I would be able to clear, even including a decent time buffer for potential errors.

Race started at 6:00 p.m. and I headed off up the hill. I cut in to 63, arrived at where I thought the flag should be, and didn’t see anything. The RDs had said some of the flags were in thick areas to increase the difficulty, so I hunted around in the bushes for a few minutes before finally spotting the flag in a nice open area just past where I was looking. I then headed straight through to 74 and there were so many spiders. They were HUGE. I had spider webs everywhere. I am irrationally afraid of spiders, so it was not an enjoyable experience. After a while I decided to hold a stick in front of me to knock down the webs and it worked great! So for the next five hours I carried a stick whenever I was in thick areas :)

I hit the water stop shortly after starting and decided that I didn’t need to refill yet. Made it to 70 with no trouble. Hesitated a lot down the reentrant to 44, not sure why. Mistake on 42. There were some new mountain bike trails in that area that weren’t mapped and I wasn’t paying close attention to the reentrants I was passing. Hit a major trail and climbed up to figure out where I was before heading back down to the flag. The next few went well and then I had a big error on 82 (pretty sure the flag was misplaced). I took a bearing from 56, pace counted and ended up in a reentrant that was the right shape/direction. Mark was there too, which seemed like a good sign. No flag, though. Wandered around for a while before going back to the trail. Sat down, put on my light, and decided to go a little further down the trail and check one more reentrant. And there was the flag. Lost about 15 min there. The rest of the S section went well. It got dark around 64, which actually made the flags a lot easier to find.

Made it back to the water stop at 3:40. The rest of my route had a lot of trails, so I was on track to clear. Refilled my bladder and then headed back N. No problem on 50. I was too high on the way to 81. I hit my pace count and didn’t see a reentrant, so headed downhill and spotted the flag. 31 was right next to the trail. 43 was plotted on the trail, but I trudged all the way up that massive hill and didn’t see it. I actually thought someone might have stolen it since it was on the trail, but just in case I headed back down a bit and scanned the woods for a reflector. Spotted it way around the side of the hill. Whew. 62 felt like it took forever, but I hit it right on, and that was the last tricky flag. I made my way to 52, out to the campground loop and then I had a road run to grab the last 2 flags and head to the finish.

I did a very good job drinking and eating. Felt good physically the whole race. Those hills were so steep! O pants get a thumbs up for short rogaines with minimal thorns.

Cleared in 5:14. Finished 1st OA! My first solo win at a rogaine :)

C • Congrats on the overall win!!!!! 4

Finished 8 routes, 1 V3-V5. Spent more time playing around on routes I didn't finish. I miss top-roping.

Legs took a while to warm up, but felt pretty good after the first mile.