Training Log Archive: OranjIn the 7 days ending Feb 22, 2016:
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Sunday Feb 21, 2016 #
11 AM
Orienteering race (HH Ace of Herts) 1:43:13 [4] **** 15.35 km (6:43 / km) +223m 6:16 / km
ahr:152 max:165 spiked:30/30c
HH Ace of Hearts, Ashridge, brown course: 11.7km, 120m, 30c.
Feeling a bit tired today and rather regretting signing up for brown, when short brown or blue would probably have been a better idea. Can you swap courses on the day? Anyway, more controls = more learning I suppose.
Quickly located myself off the start for once, yay, but then lost a shoe in a bog on the run to #1. Ran into the marked open area for #1 but couldn’t see it in its little pit and looped around twice before locating it (+3:00). Ran a bit of a loop for #2 (+0:30) – I was struggling early on with the definition between open and forested areas on the map – it all looked the same on the ground. Ran straight to nearby #5 when looking for #4, but didn’t realise it was on my course (didn’t check the next ctrl no., d’oh) then looped around for #4 in another loosely mapped forest/open area when it was in fact only 100m away (+5:50). Tried to run straight through rhododendron bushes to get to #6, but it was *very* hard work and I won’t be doing that again. I got a little disoriented coming out the other side. The other shoe got sucked into a bog around here – I need some better laces.
Couldn’t find #6 in a pit on the steep hillside below a big path (+6:15). Then I had a few good long runs, started to get a better feel for the mapping. A skinny girl passed me going smoothly through #9 and #10, I think it was Anastasia Trubkina, some sort of Russian O superstar. Too quick for me. I was getting tired with the heavy squelchy terrain, my HR was tailing off, and made a few stupid slips towards the end, e.g. banana route to #16 and a hard fall out of it although still 3rd fastest to #17, weird. Made a bad path choice out of #19 (+1:00) and headbutted a tree branch on the way into #20 (rather red coloured buff by the time I finished :-/ ). Doubted my line to #23 but jogged nearly straight to the control. Overran #25 (+1:10).
Starting 28 min after me, Roger T started to catch me coming into #28, but I just held him off to the finish. 22nd/28 (fastest Nigel Bunn, 64:20)
Results are already up on BO. Somehow I scored 1056, which wipes out my previous worst score (BKO Concorde Chase, where I went walkabout on the way to #3). Evidently it pays to keep plugging away on a difficult course.
Feeling a bit tired today and rather regretting signing up for brown, when short brown or blue would probably have been a better idea. Can you swap courses on the day? Anyway, more controls = more learning I suppose.
Quickly located myself off the start for once, yay, but then lost a shoe in a bog on the run to #1. Ran into the marked open area for #1 but couldn’t see it in its little pit and looped around twice before locating it (+3:00). Ran a bit of a loop for #2 (+0:30) – I was struggling early on with the definition between open and forested areas on the map – it all looked the same on the ground. Ran straight to nearby #5 when looking for #4, but didn’t realise it was on my course (didn’t check the next ctrl no., d’oh) then looped around for #4 in another loosely mapped forest/open area when it was in fact only 100m away (+5:50). Tried to run straight through rhododendron bushes to get to #6, but it was *very* hard work and I won’t be doing that again. I got a little disoriented coming out the other side. The other shoe got sucked into a bog around here – I need some better laces.
Couldn’t find #6 in a pit on the steep hillside below a big path (+6:15). Then I had a few good long runs, started to get a better feel for the mapping. A skinny girl passed me going smoothly through #9 and #10, I think it was Anastasia Trubkina, some sort of Russian O superstar. Too quick for me. I was getting tired with the heavy squelchy terrain, my HR was tailing off, and made a few stupid slips towards the end, e.g. banana route to #16 and a hard fall out of it although still 3rd fastest to #17, weird. Made a bad path choice out of #19 (+1:00) and headbutted a tree branch on the way into #20 (rather red coloured buff by the time I finished :-/ ). Doubted my line to #23 but jogged nearly straight to the control. Overran #25 (+1:10).
Starting 28 min after me, Roger T started to catch me coming into #28, but I just held him off to the finish. 22nd/28 (fastest Nigel Bunn, 64:20)
Results are already up on BO. Somehow I scored 1056, which wipes out my previous worst score (BKO Concorde Chase, where I went walkabout on the way to #3). Evidently it pays to keep plugging away on a difficult course.
Saturday Feb 20, 2016 #
10 AM
Orienteering race (TVOC Saturday Waddesdon) 37:40 [4] ** 6.41 km (5:53 / km) +145m 5:17 / km
ahr:156 max:172 spiked:30/30c
24th/68. Jogging to the start (weirdly just about warm enough for just a T-shirt despite the wind), got chatting to Roger Thetford who said he was coaching today as he’d already done Buckingham parkrun; said he’d like to shadow me through the middle “technical” section. I was dubious/scared! but said OK.
Overran #1, adjusting to the large 1:5000 map scale, d’oh (+1:05). Bamboozled by the overprint out-of-bounds/bulb growing areas on the approach to #5 which obscured a path/junction to the L (I wasn’t alone in that, I found later. No excuse though). I ran up to the control (without checking the number – that’s how convinced I was it was the wrong one) and past it, doubled back and then wandered around before telling myself I was right the first time #idiot (+4:30).
Started to get a feel for the terrain (lumpy parkland) through the next controls and after a slight dither to #8 Roger picked me up on the path to #11. I then had a near-faultless 10 controls, with three fastest times, never out of the top six. Concentrating hard, looking ahead all the time, with Roger a few steps behind. Made a slight misjudgement on the approach to #21 (R instead of L into the three isolated trees, so looped round them) where Roger left me with a #WellDone
Then I made a gross bearing error leaving #21 - too far W across the open land - and ended up in the wrong copse for #22. Re-located myself eventually (+3:45) and then steady for the remainder. Although I’d planned to do a second run, I was too pissed off with myself for what should’ve been a fairly straightforward run and just warmed down and went home. Without those +9:20 mistakes, I’d have finished in 28:20 (5th). First was Chris McCartney (25:35), someone I was only just behind on Basingstoke urban last October. Hopefully Ashridge will go better tomorrow (perhaps I could ask Roger to follow me - knowing he was there made me concentrate HARD!).
Overran #1, adjusting to the large 1:5000 map scale, d’oh (+1:05). Bamboozled by the overprint out-of-bounds/bulb growing areas on the approach to #5 which obscured a path/junction to the L (I wasn’t alone in that, I found later. No excuse though). I ran up to the control (without checking the number – that’s how convinced I was it was the wrong one) and past it, doubled back and then wandered around before telling myself I was right the first time #idiot (+4:30).
Started to get a feel for the terrain (lumpy parkland) through the next controls and after a slight dither to #8 Roger picked me up on the path to #11. I then had a near-faultless 10 controls, with three fastest times, never out of the top six. Concentrating hard, looking ahead all the time, with Roger a few steps behind. Made a slight misjudgement on the approach to #21 (R instead of L into the three isolated trees, so looped round them) where Roger left me with a #WellDone
Then I made a gross bearing error leaving #21 - too far W across the open land - and ended up in the wrong copse for #22. Re-located myself eventually (+3:45) and then steady for the remainder. Although I’d planned to do a second run, I was too pissed off with myself for what should’ve been a fairly straightforward run and just warmed down and went home. Without those +9:20 mistakes, I’d have finished in 28:20 (5th). First was Chris McCartney (25:35), someone I was only just behind on Basingstoke urban last October. Hopefully Ashridge will go better tomorrow (perhaps I could ask Roger to follow me - knowing he was there made me concentrate HARD!).
Wednesday Feb 17, 2016 #
Event: Oxford Street-O Series
7 PM
Orienteering race (TVOC Street-O Summertown) 1:00:55 [4] ** 11.75 km (5:11 / km) +56m 5:04 / km
ahr:147 max:166 spiked:19/30c
Minging evening - wet and cold - raced in tights, hat and jacket so didn't feel like pushing on. Foxed by a temporary road closure that apparently had an unmarked pedestrian cut-though the locals know about (I found out when I got back to the HQ). MARK IT ON THE MAP THEN. Ah well, probably cost me +50 points in doubling back. Otherwise not a bad run, missed a 30-pointer to the NE I should've nabbed and maybe another 20 points on the way out from the start. 55 sec over time = 10 point penalty. 430 point total, when +500 will probably be top score.