Orienteering warm up/down 20:00 [3]
shoes: VJ Bold 2011
knee was being a nuisance on the warm up so I knew it was going to be an uncomfortable race. Hoped that I wouldn't notice it so much once I got going.
limp of a warmdown with kate after.
Orienteering race 1:02:12 [4]
shoes: VJ Bold 2011
Very happy with how this race went. Navigation wise went really well, with only a couple of small blips. Noticeably when my concentration dipped or i doubted myself.
Good clean start through to 4. Then headed out to the marsh, intending to go leftish/straight to 5. But saw a nice clean running route to the right, so switched across. In the end my split was similar to the other girls, but I feel I had a safe approach to the control. Would have def been the right route choice i feel, if i'd taken it straight from the control. Lack of reading ahead let me down there, 30s dropped.
5-6 I got caught in the rocks and concentration dipped as I caught susanne, got dragged high and lost another 45s or so on T-dawg.
Then got into the swing of things and felt really good through to 13, where again concentration started to dip as I knew I was having a good race (should never happen!).
Had picked the track route to 10, knowing it was reliably fast running and decent entry to the control. The open strip to the right was tempting, but you're never sure just how runnable it will really be. Unfortunately couldnt stretch out to full speed on the leg, with my knee feeling like a rusty gate the whole way :s Realised why there was a crossing on the fence 10-11, as I got caught in about 8 places by the barbed wire on the way through. cockies top still intact though. phew.
scratchy 13-15, just not being clean through the circle. Then out into the open until 18(?), kept the directions accurate and hit the controls fine, again just couldnt get the speed I wanted with my knee. Back into the forest for the last little loop. Mis read things heading into the circle at 19 and ended up doing a little loop. then slow to 20.
Then lost my nerve, knowing I'd had a decent run and that this was the final control to navigate on :s Went really slowly and unsurely, despite deep down knowing I was doing the right thing. Rounded the rocky hill before the control...then no control?! Stopped dead and tried to calm myself down, then heard someone behind me, turned around and there was no.21!
No Idea how i'd overshot it though, i'd only just come around the hill and it should have been 100m further than the hill...in my mind anyway. So lost a minute there, but atleast it wasnt a big blow out. Still. Confidence!
Pleased with the result, 1min behind Jo on Badja isn't bad at all.
Knee seized up afterwards and I must have looked like a cripple limping around! Weird thing, sometimes I'd get up from sitting and it would be fine, but others it just wouldn't work at all!