Training Log Archive: Jay-T

Day 3 'Classic' Headless Hill / High Meadow

Excellent course in some beautiful terrain the perfect end to a fantastic weekend of O - the area is in great condition at the moment. (Shame about my run).

#3 Loopy contour route from path junction - bearing better [25]
#4 Massive detour to south for worse running (?) [75]
#5 Drifted west to path [15]
#6 Headed into the wood, but it was very rocky so decided to revert to the open [10]
#9 No way of knowing, but the control was so far down the re-entrant that dropping to the main track straight away then climbing back up would have been quicker [25]
#10 Used track, unnecessary (but safe?) [10]
#12 Slow progress in first section of wood, then again curring through rough open (a little high). Not sure whether climbing to the top track was quicker? [60]
#15 Distracted, missed path turning. Then attacked too early as mapped green wasn't really there, bounced off feature above [30]
#19 Recognised control on stream source, but looking too low on slope for quite some time [80]
#20 No plan, just trying to run well up the hill. Too high up spur, tried but failed to interpret veg boundaries. Relocated on crag next to knoll, rough bearing did not yield any results. Reattacked and saw possible rock feature to my right which turned out to be hiding the flag. Something not quite right with the map here, but a better initial plan would have saved most of this time loss [4mins]
#22 Not paying attention; drifted high to path [30]

10th of 46 (+4), 10mins down on Romualdas.

http://www.ngoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#71&cour...

Day 2 Urban Gloucester

Not enough complicated bits in the city to make it that interesting, but a pleasant enough sojourn.

#5 Spotted that you couldn't get into the control from the west early, but inexplicably took a longer eastern route because of this (?) [10]
#14 Had to stop briefly as a guy on a mobility scotter was exiting the narrow alley with no way to get past! [5]
#18 Just a little hesitant in selecting and executing route [10]
#23 Map not quite right as tall fence with spikes marked as crossable boundary. Eventually made it over with a bit of difficulty [15]
#24 Very busy here; had to push past a couple of particularly slow (in both senses) members of the public. Getting tired now too [10]
#29 Annoying error - I had a recycled map and excessive folding meant part of an uncrossable fence had rubbed off to create an imaginary gap. I had initially planned to use the earlier pass through but this was a closed gate, so carried on. Got to the fence and it was eminently uncrossable so had to retrace my steps to the gate. Fortunately it was just closed rather than locked, so time loss wasn't as bad as it might have been, nevertheless very frustrating [40]

6th of 25 (+4), 7mins down on James Hoad, who can obviously run a bit.

http://www.ngoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#70&cour...

Event: Triple Gloucester Weekend
 

Day 1 Middle - Mallards Pike East

Great little area for a middle distance and a fun control pick course.

#9 Slightly longer leg gave me an excuse not to take an initial bearing (?) and I veered east. Relocated on small form line hill, but still couldn't resist punching a similar control in a small gully before heading to the actual feature... [30]
#12 Route was ok, but not enough conviction, then slightly overshot crag at the end of the leg [20]
#14 Hesitant up the hill, felt like I lost more time than this [20]
#21 Played 'safe' by heading west to follow the veg boundary, but this didn't really exist. Headed back NE hoping for the best and fortunately spotted the ditch then control. A lot of people lost time here [40]
#28 Spotted open patch early, but hesitant into green as it appeared to be too soon [15]

4th of 31 (+1), but only 44s off the winner (Birtwistle).

http://www.ngoc.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#69&cour...

Went to doctor, no results from scan, couldn't do blood test as they weren't prepared and it's a bank holiday weekend... Useless.
Belated token canal visit after election debates.

https://connect.garmin.com/activity/761818293

Beat John 6-2.

Left glute not at all happy :/

Orch