Training Log Archive: SandyIn the 1 days ending May 12, 2013:
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Sunday May 12, 2013 #
orienteering race 1:25:32 [3] 4.6 km (18:36 / km) +165m 15:46 / km
Disappointed in this race. I didn't make any big mistakes, always knew where I was, but I guess I just didn't move purposefully enough or fast enough and perhaps took some poor routes.
Turned the map over and did a double take - this looks like 1:15. What's going on. But the run to the trail convinced me it really was 1:10 so the fact that I could barely read the map meant that it was my eyes. (And apparently the black is really too dark. We had the same issue with the NAOC maps so I sympathize.)
Okay to 1, just off the trail. 1-2 was sloppy. Came back out to the trail the way I came in instead of to the other side of the small hill - dumb. Then left the trail too early and fought my way through some junk and swamp. But then ran on a compass bearing and spiked the control. But lost time, maybe a minute.
I lost more time on this control. My plan was solid and I executed it reasonably well. Got out to the trail (the one we used to get to the start) by just going for it and i don't think I lost time there. Then ran down the trail - I suppose people were running the trail faster but I did run the whole time. Left the trail just before the turn and the water made sense but I didn't see the indistinct trails that were mapped so I hesitated a bit wondering if I really was where I thought I was. In retrospect, I'm just not really sure whether I left the trail early but I think I did. At least I have company if I did - PG did too. I hesitated a lot wondering where exactly I was but realized it didn't really matter - I needed to climb hill anyway and it wouldn't be that hard to relocate from the top. I ended up underneath the large cliff faces to the north of my control so it was easy to sort out where to go but I did end up climbing through more rocks than I probably needed to. So several minutes lost here. Perhaps wearing a Garmin would be useful after all.
3-4 was a short easy leg. 4-5 I decided to go straight and not out to the road. I lost another minute or so here according to AP but AP doesn't know that I don't run the roads much faster than I tramp through the terrain. There were lots of obvious features on my route so had no problems finding the control. But, it was slow going since there were a few sections of logging slash. Not sure if the road would have been faster or not. My route did tire me out though - both mentally and physically - and I had very little left for the last part of the course so that might have been the bigger consequence.
I went straight on 5-6, swinging to the right of the marsh. Checked out one set of rocks to the north first - they didn't seem to be in quite the right place but they were the biggest ones around. The circle was around 2 large and and 2 small boulder dots that blurred together and looked like one large black pointy thing to my eyes so I just went to the rocks that looked the biggest thinking I was hunting for some sort of monolith looking thing. Checking the control description told me I was looking for the control between two boulders and I corrected reasonably quickly.
The rest of the course was straightforward, but I was out of gas and couldn't push and it was an effort to read carefully and not do something stupid.
Still when I finished I felt pretty good about the run - no real mistakes. But several people did better. I guess I'm getting a bit complacent and if I care about how I place (I do) I need to step it up a notch.
And figure out a solution to the fact that I can't really read the map very well any more.
Turned the map over and did a double take - this looks like 1:15. What's going on. But the run to the trail convinced me it really was 1:10 so the fact that I could barely read the map meant that it was my eyes. (And apparently the black is really too dark. We had the same issue with the NAOC maps so I sympathize.)
Okay to 1, just off the trail. 1-2 was sloppy. Came back out to the trail the way I came in instead of to the other side of the small hill - dumb. Then left the trail too early and fought my way through some junk and swamp. But then ran on a compass bearing and spiked the control. But lost time, maybe a minute.
I lost more time on this control. My plan was solid and I executed it reasonably well. Got out to the trail (the one we used to get to the start) by just going for it and i don't think I lost time there. Then ran down the trail - I suppose people were running the trail faster but I did run the whole time. Left the trail just before the turn and the water made sense but I didn't see the indistinct trails that were mapped so I hesitated a bit wondering if I really was where I thought I was. In retrospect, I'm just not really sure whether I left the trail early but I think I did. At least I have company if I did - PG did too. I hesitated a lot wondering where exactly I was but realized it didn't really matter - I needed to climb hill anyway and it wouldn't be that hard to relocate from the top. I ended up underneath the large cliff faces to the north of my control so it was easy to sort out where to go but I did end up climbing through more rocks than I probably needed to. So several minutes lost here. Perhaps wearing a Garmin would be useful after all.
3-4 was a short easy leg. 4-5 I decided to go straight and not out to the road. I lost another minute or so here according to AP but AP doesn't know that I don't run the roads much faster than I tramp through the terrain. There were lots of obvious features on my route so had no problems finding the control. But, it was slow going since there were a few sections of logging slash. Not sure if the road would have been faster or not. My route did tire me out though - both mentally and physically - and I had very little left for the last part of the course so that might have been the bigger consequence.
I went straight on 5-6, swinging to the right of the marsh. Checked out one set of rocks to the north first - they didn't seem to be in quite the right place but they were the biggest ones around. The circle was around 2 large and and 2 small boulder dots that blurred together and looked like one large black pointy thing to my eyes so I just went to the rocks that looked the biggest thinking I was hunting for some sort of monolith looking thing. Checking the control description told me I was looking for the control between two boulders and I corrected reasonably quickly.
The rest of the course was straightforward, but I was out of gas and couldn't push and it was an effort to read carefully and not do something stupid.
Still when I finished I felt pretty good about the run - no real mistakes. But several people did better. I guess I'm getting a bit complacent and if I care about how I place (I do) I need to step it up a notch.
And figure out a solution to the fact that I can't really read the map very well any more.