Training Log Archive: Thraws

Event: GO Middle Distance Event
 

Was really in the mood for this, but persisting problems with back (I was dosed up on ibuprofen) undermined confidence in body and ability and the run soon became a total disaster. Nowhere could I seem to make the map fit the ground, although I do feel some of the vegetation mapping was very unhelpful and the choice of control sites, I thought, often neglected some of the map's worst ambiguities. Others coped, though, and I must take most of the blame. Sort of circled round to 1, trying to find a bit of map I could identify on the ground, and was poor exiting too. But wheels came right off at 3 when the bend in the path never came up, and then an unmapped junction did, and I concluded I wasn't where I thought I was. Within a few metres of the control I gave up and went to relocate and thus lost 4 mins. But 6 was even worse. Again, left 5 badly (distracted!), got two path junctions confused and started to hunt among bracken (for a vague veg boundary?) in an area of scattered trees. I soon gave up and only really found the control by a lengthy and depressing process of elimination. After this I just jogged, feeling downright miserable. At 15 I went up the wrong reentrant, and when I crossed to the correct one I was way too high. Very poor mapping here made relocation almost impossible and I'd thrown away another 2 to 3 mins. The map was no help with nav at 18 (what spur?) and 19 (no thickets!), and I continued to ship minutes through the last three controls mostly because I couldn't tell what sort of vegetation the map symbols were supposed to represent. Upward of 15 minutes of mistakes on a nice running day in a good area. Things can only get better, can't they?

Looking at the splits it seems that actually just the winner seemed to cope with the course/map. Otherwise excellent orienteers were making huge mistakes all over the place, on easy-ish legs that would not normally have given them any trouble at all. And most of those seem to have been at the controls (2, 6, 10, 15, 17, 19, 20, 26 and 27) where the vegetation was particularly confusing. Shame. It’s a good area and was a good day. Perhaps I shouldn’t have given up? That was probably my back more than the map though.

Can't believe I'm missing a SOG at Selhurst, one of my nearest and most familiar SO areas. Back is a bit better, but I'm playing safe and resting up for tomorrow which I've already paid to enter. Plus it's pouring down.

Good week to have off cycling and give back and legs a chance to recover. Rain rain rain!