Training Log Archive: MCrone

I tend to be consistent, I can hit most of the controls correctly, but battle slightly with others. I am still happy, because it means that I am able to win races even though I am far from having a perfect race. There is a lot to improve on but I am getting there.

4: Caught Alex to 4 where we played around a bit trying to find the control.
6: Unintentionally went too far along the road that led into the out of bounds area, so was forced to turn around and lost a bit of time.
7: Very slow up the hill to 7, should have pushed harder.
8: Decided to go south, will be interesting to see the splits. Decided not to risk the indistinct path on a downhill through green...
10: There is a clearing on top of the hill close to 10, completely threw me off because it is not on the map (Nic agreed that it should have been there)
14: Was struggling for grip down some of the roads, the slope also pull me further south and so I was forced to run along the road to the re-entrant. Control was also placed in the re-entrant and not close to the top as on the control description, a bit heart breaking to see it at the bottom :P.
15: "easy control" and I ended up again playing around in the undergrowth with ant.
16: Lost my head a bit and this almost cost me. Had the correct exit angle initially and saw a road across the marsh. Thought that this was the road more to the south so I ended up going toward the dark green and trying to cross. Was completely disoriented when I came up on the other side. Also looked back to see Ake catching me (probably around 1 minute behind). Took a while to correct and I saw the ruin and headed toward 16.
17-18: Road running legs with ake close behind me. Couldn't even think to stop to drink.
20: Slog up the hill and battled a bit to find the control.
21-22: Could see these controls from the previous control so no problems. Decided that I should try to push in this last section and see whether I could drop Ake. I would need to find around 2 minutes.
23: Punched the first pit but realised quickly and found the second pit. Saw ake at the first pit just after I exited.
24-finish: Somehow managed to take 16 seconds out of Ake to the last control and then the finish. He had also been playing around trying to find the pit.

Very close in the end with only 2 seconds between us, but I do need a slightly longer race to really make an impression.

Things to work on:
Strength
Not losing my head when I see other people.
Pushing hard when I am confident and holding back when I'm not. I can really push many areas of the course and I'm not doing that at the moment. It shows when I can really push the last few controls, I should be completely spent.

C • being spent on the finish line 1

Course 1 - Splits

Event: South African Orienteering Championships
 

Had a reasonable race but still with some considerable mistakes. Speed started off really well, but battled in the middle with some of the climb.

Tried to keep the fact that I had to wait 15 minutes for my map out of my mind. May have been able to catch Alex early and push on from there, but wasn't able to in the end. First win at a WRE event :).

1: Unexpected easy start. Ran as hard as I could across the open with undergrowth. Control description said rootstock but it was actually a porcupine hole in the end, but the placing of the control allowed me to see it without much of an issue.
3: Slowed down unnecessarily so as not to miss it, but it was a rather large feature in the end, just wasn't sure that I was right on track.
4: Went slightly too far right, but again saw the control so I could compensate.
10: Played around a bit in the undergrowth close to the control, for some reason thought that the control was on top of a hill, so climbed the saddle next to the re-entrant unnecessarily and was forced to proceed through the brambles below very slowly...
12: Missed the clean open strip through the open area and went on the road so lost a bit of time here. Slog up the hill to 13 and then 14.
15-18: Enjoyed these slightly more technical controls because this is where I usually battle, took it slowly and spiked them all.
19: Silly routechoice that could have cost me the race, decided to go along the road instead of straight because I was extremely tired. Didn't find the control very easily after that either...

Things to improve on:
Strength for next season
Slow down and focus in the difficult sections (every time)
Read inside the circle

Course 1 - Splits

Really great session planned by Nico, makes you think about every leg even when you know the place that you are running really well. I'm sure that this could be applied to all other maps as well. Really looking forward to doing more of this!

C • Do share 4