Discussion: Pointers for getting started - new to sport

Hey all! I'm just starting up in the sport- I love it, and I intend to push myself as far as I can go, so I'm looking for some good advice about starting pointers. Here's some specific questions, but if you have any other lessons-learned or things you wish someone told you when you first started, fire away!

1. Anyone know a real good trainer that could coach me in northern CA area?
2. What can I do right now while I am out of the country without access to o-events to get ready for competition in Dec?
3. What type of shoes are best? How much should I end up spending on them?
4. There are books out there- anyone recommend one in paticular that is actually a useful read?
5. What does a typical competitive orienteer's training program consist of?
6. What advice do you have on picking the clothing to wear?
7. What do you wish you did differently as you started your orienteering endeavor?

Thanks all! I look forward to meeting some of you soon, and definately appreciate whatever advice you may have.

Get yer self to a BAOC meet and talk to everybody.

Coaches are a rare thing on this continent, mostly we learn by talking to other competitors. There are several decent books that cover most of your basic questions. You might check the vendors on the links page or your local library.

The most important thing is to just get out into the woods with a map as often as possible. There's no substitute for practice.

Yes- definately going to get plugged in with BAOC when I get back- thanks for the message!

In the category of things I wish I had done differently when I was starting out:
- relied less on taking compass bearings.
My over-emphasis on the compass during the early years kept me from developing my map handling, map reading, and terrain reading skills, and I'm still overcoming this deficit.

Out of the country where? Depending on your location, you might have better access to orienteering opportunities.

Cyprus - haven't found anything as of yet but definately looking.

Ah. Not a particular hotspot for orienteering. Some info here.

In aid of giving you a better answer to one of those questions, where and in what kind of terrain will you be competing in December?

Having read most of the existing English language (mostly British) books on orienteering, most of them are fine to use as technique manuals. I'd read whichever one, if any, you can easily get your hands on. If none of them are readily accessible without buying them sight unseen, I may be biased but I think the Canadian Level Two Coaching Certification Manual is particularly good at clearly explaining the essentials.

Other than getting yourself a thumb compass if you haven't already, I wouldn't worry too much about equipment and clothing. Not that specialised O shoes, which should cost roughly as much as high end road running shoes, don't make a significant difference but technique is vastly more important and it's rather hit or miss trying to select O shoes you can't try on. Quite a large number of people find O shoes terribly uncomfortable in any case and prefer to use trail running shoes or shoes designed for running on ice and snow that also give somewhat better traction off trail.

Jtorranc- My local area is in Northern California, and the Dec BAOC event is my first try at competitive orienteering- I'm looking at it as more of a training deal for me though since I'm totally inexperienced beyong very basic "try it out" courses - yellow and score-o's. Did well (2nd), but that was easy stuff. Looks like the BAOC event will be hilly but not very thick vegetation- can't remember the specific site as I'm having trouble bringing up the BAOC site.

Okay, I wondered if you might be planning on a jaunt to a major event in Israel - I believe they have a WRE or two planned in December.

If December is training, I still wouldn't worry about equipment other than the thumb compass (though baseplates have their partisans). I believe BAOC was the first US club to set up their own RouteGadget site so your most efficient armchair orienteering to prepare for December would probably be to study people's routes in past local BAOC events.

No one's mentioned Catching Features yet!

Prepare for steep hills and Poison Oak. Plus vegetation could be completely impassable.

Also, GCO has nice maps around Sacramento, try to get one and to see how it goes.

As for training: check out the training logs on this website-- I'd point you to a few names in particular but I'd surely leave somebody out and feel bad about that:) Browse around (especially look at some of the logs that are getting lots of comments) and you'll find a vareity of training. In short though-- get into the woods with a map and run lots, especially on trails and some in the forest too. Look at lots of maps (to find some online, Peter Gagarin has maps for all of his races for many years on his website).

In terms of learning how to orienteer: When I teach orienteering I tend to emphasize two things: keeping the map oriented and looking for an attackpoint to help you get to the control accurately -- in other words, identify the feature you are looking for first and then find something nearby that is easier to find that will help you find the control (usually something bigger or more obvious). There is more to orienteering than that of course, but I've found that those two concepts are a good foundation.

The BAOC event is in November, not December BTW.
In terms of clothing, get yourself some silk pajamas - they are the latest fashion in orienteering ;-)

And you can trust Barbie. She *knows* about fashion.

and a pair of slippers to attract barbie

They weren't silk, although that would have been classy. The label says 65% polyester, 35% cotton.

Pajamas are nice for an urban sprint, when lightweight is key, but I thought the overalls were more appropriate for most orienteering events, which occur in the sticks.

Hmmm - sounds comfy, but I'm not going for it! Did Barbie or someone actually show up in silk/poly PJ's?

Thanks to all thus far for the great pointers!

Depending on which "side" of Cyprus you're in, you could check out the Istanbul 5 day in Turkey at the beginning of November..

http://www.ist5days.com/

Ah - no can do that day. Have to work- but thanks for the info! Greek side- mmmm Greek food!!

Ypovrichio!

What is your sports background, and how did you get involved in orienteering?

Hey Terry- Most relevant to orienteeting for my sports background is that I ran varsity Cross Country in high school and continue running to this day with occasional 5K or 10K meets. I also instruct land navigation for search & rescue agencies.

Other sports include varsity Tennis in high school, Ranger Challenge team at college, Fencing team at college, recreational skiing and cross-country skiing, soaring pilot, badminton, and recreational baseball & softball.

How I got started in orienteering- While I was in college I started competitive land navigation by joining the Ranger Challenge team. At the time I didn't realize that orienteering existed as a competitive racing sport- I thought it was just a walking sport. It wans't until a couple years ago that my uncle told me to look up orienteering as I was talkinga bout how cool it would be if there was a sport where you just run through the woods- not just on trails like with cross country. So I looked it up on the web, but there wasn't a program anywhere near where I lived at the time (a remote part of Texas), so I waited to get involved. Then I moved to California and tried it out at some Gold Country Orienteer events and loved it. One Score-O, and one yellow- placed 2nd mostly because I got hung up trying to find one control... I had so much fun this time and felt so much in my nature that I resolved to do the sport competitively.

Lots of overseas work assignments and a busy schedule has kept me from getting serious with the sport, but now I can definately get started.

I grew up running and exploring around 200+ acres of deeply forested and hilly terrain in Michigan. My family owned 6 acres, but our neighbors had the 200+ that I had free reign to explore. I came to know almost every square inch of that land and still know it today. I would run with my German Shephard, train for cross country, cross country ski, and sled back there. So you might say that my childhood got me involved in orienteering and I've finally found my sport.

Incidentally I'm also open to the sports of ski-o and biathlon, but I really don't have competitive cross-country skiing technique down so I'd probably be getting above head if I take that road.

How cool that you envisioned orienteering before you knew it existed. Most non-orienteers have the notion that orienteering is not a running race and that it involves intricately technical compass work.

Do you know about the ski orienteering festival happening at Tahoe this coming January? It does include a national championship event but it is definitely appropriate for beginner orienteers *and* beginner skiiers.

Yeah - I see that ski-o event on the schedule. I think I'm going to try it out just to see how it goes and if I like it. I'm big into the downhill, so this might be hard to balance in my life too.

Vector, here are some of my thoughts for someone getting started.
http://dl1.yukoncollege.yk.ca/brent/newsItems/view...