Training Log Archive: Jethro

Northern Champs, Bigland, M60. That was better!!! Ran hard and got 9 fastest splits. Only major mistakes were at 5 & 6, mainly due to switching off and not navigating carefully enough to crossing points - although I also missed in the circle at 5. Other misses in the circle at 2, 4, 12 & 15 (although I still managed fastest split at 4) There were 15 compulsory crossing points on walls, fences and roads which in many cases acted like extra controls as they needed careful navigation. 1st by just over 7 mins. Had a problem with the colour of the course printing - couldn't see the start when I picked up the map - eventually had to find a control circle and backtrack to find the start triangle.

Event: British Night / Northern Championships (UKOL)
 

British Night Champs, Great Tower Wood, M60. First night event for years! Full on technically difficult with the added problem of mist and rain! Had an absolute nightmare at 1 - couldn't see more than a few yards in the mist, overshot what looked like an obvious junction on the map, didn't compensate for the 1:7500 scale, eventually relocated off start but still had problems - 12 mins on a 4 min leg FFS! Headless chicken syndrome. Settled into it better after that - helped by the mist lifting. Bad route and a miss at 7 and several other smaller wobbles but nothing disasterous.

Round the perimeter of Bowanhill checking electric wire for faults - quite a few on the Binks boundary so a bit stop/start. Got going better after that, then it got too dark to see anything and I hadn't taken my headtorch... and the weather turned foul!