Training Log Archive: JanetT

Forerunner and Garmin Connect aren't speaking to each other this afternoon, so I'll try to download and write up my race later.

Suffice it to say that at ~46:30 I was 20 minutes behind the leader :-O :-)

Nominal stats: 3.2 km, 70 m climb; 1:7500 map with 2.5m contour interval

12 minutes behind the fastest woman (Sue Kuestner ... this map favored runners by a large margin); 6th woman on Brown, 19th overall of about 33 or 34; first F65 since Penny wasn't there.

To start at Point Pinole Regional Park, from the assembly area (which was about a 5 minute walk from parking). Temp was in the 50s, and it was sunny, which made it a considerably nicer day than yesterday.

I was able to get a start time a few minutes earlier than my assigned (when another Brown runner came up and requested one, as hers was almost an hour later).

COW Stage 3 at Point Pinole, 1:7500 map and courses by Steve Gregg.

Fast park with not much climb, especially the first half or so; lots of open land (mapped as rough open) with varying lengths of grass.

Steve Tarry passed me on the way into 3 (he saw me punch) and led the way to 4 which came up sooner than I expected (then he disappeared). Passed several slower Brown competitors on the way to 13 and 14, and was passed by Tori Campbell and someone from BAOC to the penultimate control which made it easier to find. Navigated the rest of them by myself, mostly with good results.

Coming out of the woods from 1, I could see a flag in the distance and thought it was mine but when I was halfway across the field (after crossing the ditch) I realized that it was on a thicketed ruin and I was looking for a ditch so I corrected.

Coming out of 7 I looped around to the left and had more of a detour than I expected from the map; apparently a patch of poison oak had sprung up in the last two weeks which affected route choice. Those who looped around to the right had no problem; so that cost me a bit of time although I had no trouble finding control 8 (just getting to it without getting tangled in either poison oak or a downed tree).

As I was crossing the grassy field after 8, my toe caught on a poison oak vine and I fell (fortunately just landed in a grassy area, not more P.O.). I got up and dusted myself off and again headed to 9, which I found with no problem. I didn't do the right type of navigation to 10 through featureless woods (bearing and pace counting!) but just headed off in the mostly right direction and eventually found it (sloppily). Didn't take water because I was carrying a water bottle waist belt. 11 was a short leg to a distinct tree--easy.

As I reached for my water bottle I realized it wasn't there, but I wasn't about to go looking for it; I thought it might have fallen out between 10 and 11 but that wasn't a sure thing, so I finished the race with no more problems.

Then I went looking for my bottle (Camelbak brand so a very nice one).

After maps had been handed out (meaning all starters had started), I checked with Vicki and headed out up the park road to see if I could recover my water bottle, thinking I'd check between 10 and 11 where I thought I'd dropped it.

As I was walking/jogging on the road I remembered that I fell coming out of 8, which could very well have launched the bottle out of the belt, so I started looking there (didn't see it, but wasn't sure exactly where I'd crossed the field...there were a lot of elephant tracks in the grass). Tried to follow my path through 11 but didn't see it anywhere. Then I decided to give the field after 8 one more try, found the vine that tripped me up, and a few feet beyond it was my water bottle, nose down in the grass. Yay!!

The walk out to that area (about as far from finish as it could be since 8-9 was where the course turned and we headed back toward the finish area) was nice as there were several thickets with birds flitting around (think I saw a western bluebird), and areas of California poppies starting to pop us as well. I'm hoping we'll see hillsides full of them sometime this week, but I'll take patches here and there. They really need the rain they've been getting this week.

Saw a group of folks near one of the large eucalyptus near the finish (6-7' diameter) and thought it was a birder group we'd seen near parking, but it was Peter Goodwin's mapping session. :-)

Middle - Brown - Splits

To start of Stage 2 at Morgan Territory

COW day/Stage 2 at Morgan Territory near Livermore, CA. Upper 40s to ~50F. Nominal stats 3.2 km, 120 m climb
Good courses both days by Matej Sebo.

Solid bearing to first and map reading to 2 and 3, with tricky navigation (and some confused gentlemen finding the wrong flags). I thought I was doing well to 4 attacking off the trail junction but was too far downhill; I saw several other Brown course competitors uphill from me (1 min). Partly it was because I couldn't quite see what was in the center of the circle (still can't now as I look at the map with just reading glasses but no magnifier). Passed those Brown runners on the way to 5, and another on the way to 6 (a copse? Really? Mapped as--I think--a tiny green dot among yellow and rocky ground, I noted only one tree stem on the vegetation with the flag).

Glen, and Sharon on Green, passed me as I was sliding under the barbed wire fence en route to 7. Good and steady through 10, then I stood near the road/trail junction SW that we'd passed on the way to start, trying to determine which side of the steep, massive reentrant I needed to be on to find 11, the water control. Eventually figured it out and followed intermittent trails, then dropped through area mapped as yellow to where I thought it should be, but looked downhill and saw a flag and several water jugs. Had to be mine so I worked my way down the steep hill to the flag (2 min, between the confusion about which side of reentrant, and then being too high on hillside), then took a less steep angle to climb back toward 12.

Good to 13, careful to 14 to avoid dropping until I was past the worst dark green; followed cow path most of the way to 15 and climbed at the end when I could see the two boulders near the tree.

16 was a short (~100m?) leg, across a field, path, rocky area, and over the rocky ledge to a large boulder (1.5m/3.5m). I was off to one side and turned the wrong way before reaching the trail where I turned back towards the correct boulder (2:20 min lost). I was extremely careful (albeit slow) to 17 to be sure I didn't go too far down the steep hill to the wrong boulder.

I had seen folks heading to a distinct tree which I though was my 18 (also a distinct tree) and I punched there, but the control number didn't match mine which was a distinct tree among dead/fallen ones (a green circle w/2 green x's), so I punched at the next tree too. Okay to 19 but then had to be careful on the descent to 20 so my time is slow compared to others on the course.

Most of my problems might have been lessened if I could have read the map better, in the areas near controls. Dennis noted on the shuttle ride back that the last time they'd used the area for a national meet the Brown maps were printed at 1:7500; we used 1:10000.

2nd F65 again (Penny was ~48 min). 19/37 on Brown when we left; fastest time was 36-37 min.

To shuttle pickup from finish, talking with Peter Goodwin.

Narrow, windy road and lack of turnaround space meant they had to hire small vans. They were party vans from a limo service (14-passenger), complete with drivers in white shirts and ties. I was impressed!

Middle - Brown - Splits

Event: BAOC: California Orienteering Week (COW), Part 1
 

Brown day 1 middle @ Morgan Territory near Livermore, CA. Nominally 3.3 km, 110m climb Temps near 45F with showers holding off until after I finished.

2/5 in F65 (13 minutes behind Penny DeMoss), 7/19 among women on Brown.

Trouble getting into the map to number 1 but settled down after that. Couple minutes error there. To 7 I looped around more than necessary (15 sec?), and then messed up 16 by exiting 15 at the wrong angle, and checking out a control that I was pretty sure wasn't mine. Looped by 17 on the way to 15, so I knew what it looked like when I returned. :-)

Started two minutes after Karen Didisse, who made an error at control two, where I caught her. We flip flopped (she a bit ahead when she wasn't making mistakes) through much of the course and she finished ahead after outrunning me from 17 in (but a minute and a half back overall).

Recommendations for Brown courses are to avoid placing controls on mapped features in cluttered areas of the map but many of ours were in hard to read areas. I managed okay with my glasses-plus-magnifier but would have had difficulty without the magnifier. At least the climbs were reasonable (the watch reported greater climb than "nominal").

I enjoyed most of the course, especially the control picking near the end (14-17).

To start and back from finish. To start was 1.5 km, with some climb, back to arena from finsh maybe less than 500m.

Middle - Brown - Splits

After we checked out of our SF motel we had all day to get to Livermore so we stopped at the public marina near Crissy Field and since it wasn't raining (like the morning before) we walked out to the end of the jetty/breakwater to what I had seen marked on Google maps as Wave Organ, a sculptural installation.

We weren't there at high tide (or full moon) when apparently the best sound is generated, but it was still somewhat interesting to see.

And of course it started showering again, but only lasted a few minutes.

...

Then we drove through the Presidio, near the GGB (but not over it), and down to Lands End, where we hiked just a bit to where the USS JFK memorial is, and back. No whale sightings; no seals or sea lions on Seal Rock (but lots of birds on adjacent rock outcrops). Drove through GG Park but didn't stop anywhere, then at around 2:15 pm headed toward the Oakland Bay Bridge where we joined others sitting in traffic before eventually making our way across it to Treasure Island and then the rest of the way, and to Livermore via I 580. Coffee at Starbucks in Dublin while we weighed dinner options and ended up at First Avenue Brewery downtown...decent beer and food.

Spent today wandering the north end of San Francisco, where the weather was unsettled to say the least, going from cloudy to showers to rain, with occasional sunny breaks. We walked from our motel on Lombard St out to the marina then past Ft Mason as far as Pier 39, where we had lunch at one of the many fish restaurants, during yet another shower.

Then we headed toward Columbus, climbed up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower (and actually paid to ride the elevator most of the way up...then 37 steps). Afterwards we heard squawking on the east side so investigated...parrots, a couple dozen of them, were hanging out in the trees there.

Back to Columbus, then down as far as the 300 block or so past City Lights book store where we looked at the murals along Jack Kerouac way/lane.

Rogue has a San Fran brewery nearby so we went there first for a drink before finding a very nice Italian restaurant in the 300 block (Franchino's). Dessert and coffee at Stella's in the 400 block, then Starbucks on Bay and Taylor to surf the web for awhile (because the connection at our motel is attrocious).

Walked back to motel during a non-rainy period--yay!

Forgot to start and stop the watch sometimes, and went inside or near taller buildings, so the track is wonky in places, but distance is probably close enough.

Edit: adjusted time too because some of it was not moving. Changed Fisherman's Wharf to Pier 39...where also saw a couple hundred sea lions resting or playing on the floating docks there.