Race Evaluation
QOC: Avalon Patapsco St Pk: Red
Nadim
| 1. |
Bad distance judgement +01:30 | 0-1 Two weeks back I pulled my left calf. Except for the meet at Riverbend I've done little but racquetball and biking since then. I wanted to run Blue at Avalon but Red was as far as I dared. Trying to run the previous day, I slowed me to a crawl within 1/4 mile. While jogging up to the start and walking he last hill, I had to keep steps short to keep from pulling it again. This map was BIG. I'd run at Fran Uhler on 1:7500 but was more familiar with that park and map. I had forgotten my gaitors. Starting off, I didn't want to risk bad footing and hill climbs so I jogged SE up the trail, turning right at the second junction to go around the deep reentrant. At a bend in the green, I cut right following the ridge to the dropoff. I wasn't feeling confident of where I was but angled down straight as if I did. The control was visible soon where I thought it'd be but way down the hill. At the control, I reached for the pin punch but then realized we were doing e-punching. A better route would have been to turn right at the first trail junction which I'm not sure I actually saw. | |||||
| 2. | 1-2 My calf injury decided this route choice for me. I felt the footing would be better and that I'd go faster on the road. Even uninjured, the road looked good given my navigation skill level. The road also helped me adapt to the scale of the map as I counted the reentrants off. I left the road at the big reentrant but climbed up the steep ridge to the left side. Walking up, I hit trails then contoured back into the reentrant. I then came-up the reentrant SE of the control, spiking it. I wonder if I could have run it w/o mistakes had I been running faster and uninjured. | ||||||
| 3. |
Did not like map Bad compass work Did not read control description +02:00 | 2-3 The green kept pulling me off route. I wanted to make sure to hit the road so I went right a lot. I hit the road NE of the control, then followed it around to the last open area south of the control. My attack took me right to it, clued-in by the dark green, however I stood on top w/o seeing it for a while. The ruin shown on the map also visible ahead NE of the actual control confused me since I was already standing on a ruin--the map only showed one. As another runner approached me from the NE, I looked down and then punched first. | |||||
| 4. |
Did not read control description Lacked confidence | 3-4 Out to the road, I turned right until reaching the west most trail junction. I went on bearing but followed around the green into the reentrant. Seeing others ahead helped que me in too. I think the runner I saw at #2 beat me to #4 partly because I took long to read and decide direction a few times. Obviously going straight would be quicker too but I wanted to practice good navigation strategy and thought my route had less chance for a big error on a short leg. | |||||
| 5. |
Bad compass work +00:20 | 4-5 Either the green or the slope pulled me right. I sensed it and corrected. The woods were clear enough to see it far off. | |||||
| 6. | +00:45 | 5-6 The runners leaving #4 went straight toward the road. I decided that since I was going slower, I would risk navigating across. Following the fence seemed to be safer since it lead straight to the control most of the way. I got confused at a trail intersection and ran past it to the next causing loss of 45 seconds. The fence was all but gone. Some of the posts helped confirm where I was. I ran through a rough open area to get around the green. I went straight to #2 where I drank then took off on bearing. Another runner was also headed to #6. I caught him but I'm not sure who got there first. I was surprised that my calf was loosening-up and I could run okay going downhill. | |||||
| 7. | +00:15 | 6-7 I sort of contoured but was more direct than that. On the correct ridge, I tripped on a rock and fell. I was too high so I followed the rocks down. | |||||
| 8. |
Did not plan ahead | 7-8 At first, I headed down across the reentrants wanting to hit the trail system. Only 100 meters in, I realized there would be a lot of dropping and climbing so I changed direction going due north up the reentrant and then NE. Finally crossing the creek 200 meters east of the direct route, I turned NW climbing to the Blue Trail. Down that for 100 meters, I turned right on a trail dropping down almost on the straight path to #8. I could see it far ahead across the next stream and up the next reentrant so I left the trail. Heidi Onkst was climbing up the trail below me and somewhat parallel. She spurred me to go faster making me forget about my calf. I beat her there. | |||||
| 9. |
Bad map reading | 8-9 A man ahead had just left #8. I wanted to catch-up so I didn't take long to plot a route. In my haste, I never saw the trail option. Instead, I headed toward the corner of the field. The man I first saw and another headed a little more northward along the reentrant into the green. I climbed the hill and went right past the ruined house. I hit the field corner just as planned and ran on the trail. It was a great place to run and I lamented being injured since it held me back from running faster. Course setter Francis was hiking the other direction on this trail presumeably to pickup controls. I followed the trail back into the woods and left from the bend. Not seeing it at first, I did not hesitate and kept running straight until I saw it. | |||||
| 10. |
Bad map reading | 9-10 Seeing the thick and wide area of green on the straight route, I opted to go back around to the field where I had just come from. Heidi was leaving the field as I entered it. Following the field edge around to a corner, I entered the woods and next followed the reentrant on the east side to the trail. I looked for and found a bend to attack from. The bend was confirmed by the last rock pile. Too-bad I hadn't planned it that way. I spiked it from there. | |||||
| 11. |
Lacked confidence | 10-11 I went straight across the first reentrant, across the next, across the trail and to the ditch. Not confident of my bearing, I saw the thick green from the ditch, decided on where I was and turned right. It worked. Though the control was a pit, I could see it after a few steps, still 35 meters out. It disappeared from view as I dipped and got closer but one glimpse was enough. | |||||
| 12. |
Not thinking clearly +02:00 | 11-12 I was confused before leaving, having the map oriented 180 degrees off. I corrected it before leaving but in the process started thinking I was leaving #12, not #11. I realized it almost right away but by now was a bit flustered. I tried contouring around the knoll but not knowing just where I was, I dropped down the reentrant east of the actual control. Going down, I got far enough to be able to see a building. Making an estimation of where I really was on the map, I adjusted by going uphill, far to the left then down to the control. I had taken a question mark shaped route to the control (bottom to top). | |||||
| 13. | 12-13 Down the reentrant, running on the steep hillside made me think I should have run higher on the flatter ground. It wasn't long however, to and straight across the road. After crossing the road, I used and appreciated the land bridge over the stream. From there, I contoured around to the control, again on steep hillside. I had to climb just a little at the end along the ditch. | ||||||
| 14. | 13-14 By now I could run okay and it was downhill. Left, right, left right, left right, I hopped down the steep sides of the ditch, over the leaves to the road then down it. I passed some women just before turning left onto the trail. | ||||||
| F. | 14-F I felt loose enough and was excited enough to try running harder so I cut loose doing about 90% effort. I was a little confused by other finishers at the finish and wasn't sure which was the finish punch box. I punched anyway. The e-punching finish box time was off so I wasn't sure about this split. I calculated it from my own watch and the #14 e-punch time. |
Total Time Lost - 00:06:50