Training Log Archive: Thraws

Four hours at Selhurst checking control sites for the brown and blue courses for the event in October. About half of them were unusable because of dramatic changes in the vegetation. On the other hand, some of the areas that had looked impossible aren't actually all that bad. With a few tweaks I think we can get a 9.5 km course on here without a map exchange. I've managed to keep the climb down to about what it was for the 6k course I planned here a couple of years ago. And we might get away with using no more than 40 controls, which would be good on the day. I wonder what the controller will think?

Didn't get into the scale for ages and lost almost a minute at 2 and then 5. Overshot the first and ended up at 21, and was a bit confused near the second where the red line passed through another circle. Really enjoyed the control pick between 5 and 11, overtook loads more people in the parkland bit, and was fairly clean through the flatter woods near the end. Stuck pretty much to the paths, which is what you must do at the Hawth. Thought the planning made really good use of the area. Enjoyed this a lot.

Pretty well gave up after 4 minutes and 3 controls because I couldn't make out the overprinted control codes on the map and the idea was you did odd and even numbers alternately. Was OK in the open but blind under the trees. Then I noticed my watch had stopped on 19 mins so didn't know how long I'd been out. What a fiasco! Anyway, followed, caught, and overtook Lu to 3 then ran through a car park on way to top of map so could plan a route through 5 to 8. Had to leave 118 though as 9 was even too. Made a proper horlicks of 10, the knoll, and lost a good three minutes, then ran down the hill instead of up so lost two minutes on 11. Then ran to one I'd visited already so headed for the nearest odd for 12. 13 and 14 went OK but 15 was not in the right place and after four minutes searching I gave up and went to the nearest even. The rest were in the open so I was OK but had no idea how much time had expired. Never saw another person the whole time either. 16 to 18 was alright but then I needed an even so headed back uphill into the murk to try 15 (19) again and found it this time. 20 to 22 were near the finish, to which I then jogged as the presence of others there suggested my time was up. If I'd put my stopwatch to time mode I'd have seen I still had ten minutes left, which was more than enough to run the 2.5k to collect the missing 118 and final odd control. Good fun event a bit spoilt by the gloomy overcast evening. Wasn't last though, in spite of making no effort.

Got stung by a wasp.

Heard the navigation was pretty easy before starting so knew I'd have to run hard in the open. There were some tricky legs through or across the school buildings but the best route was almost always along the passage separating the north and south buildings. Wasn't always sure about route choices made at high speed but they seemed OK afterwards. Good fun, but horrible weather. Also, some of the flags were visible from a very long way off. Most planners put them behind the feature you're looking for. Did wonder if they were dummies, but they weren't.

Lost about 30 secs at 5 by choosing the northern route to avoid crossing the fence again when the southern was quicker. Otherwise, my familiarity with the trickier areas meant I was able to avoid mistakes. Biggest problem was the sheer number of people in the park.

Lu was going round anti-clockwise so I decided to go the other way. Missed 1 and ended up at 2 then fluffed 4 because I'd failed to realise the controls were all TD2 and I was running on compass and everything. Sorted myself out after that but was rushing and failed to visit 107 and never realised. Turned map over with 12 mins on clock so knew I'd get them all but just had to get a shift on. Then made biggest mistake because I couldn't remember where I was on second map and got all the paths confused. Lost 2 mins here, making about 4 now altogether. Made one 90 degree error on second loop and was a little caught out by the step up in technical difficulty but was OK-ish after that. Was mostly slower than Lu throughout though. Lacked inner calm.

Ran to wrong flag for 1, 7 and 16, overshot 5 and 20 (30 secs plus lost here), and fluffed up exits from 15 and 16. Wasn't on my game; mind was on my hot water boiler. Good fun though. Silly gates were a bit frustrating.