Race Evaluation
QOC: Patuxent: Blue
Nadim
| 1. | +00:45 | I was sick with a cold but feeling a little better in the morning than the last few days before the race. I intended to run to the road intersection, then angle to the reentrant junction, cross it, then to the control in the white woods. Along the way after leaving the road, I stopped looking at the map and was relying on memory too much. I ran to just before the marsh before climbing and then found myself in the green I starting to make my way along the edge of the reetrant that the control was on but it was too slow. I dropped back down, ran through the marshy reentrant, then back up to the control. | |||||
| 2. | I angled across the reentrant to the trail, then stayed on it to the trail intersection. I turned right from there just a short way to the big reentrant then down. Along the way doing this, I debated cutting more directly from the trail to the control but figured the extra physical effort and potential risk wasn't worth it. | ||||||
| 3. | The memory of having lost some time going the direct way through the reentrant, was on my mind as I decided which way to go. I chose to use the trails to cross the marsh at the bridge. I cut upward from there the through the knoll gap, then I was in white woods most of the way to the trail north of the control. I only had to slow once across the green. I hesitated in the circle, being unsure of which spur the control was on--I couldn't see it but got there without much wasted travel. Though this route was executed fine, it was just too long compared to the direct route--I was moving too slow. | ||||||
| 4. | I went straightish. I crossed the trail and passed just north of the dot knoll in the shallow reentrant. I saw the other reentrant along the way to spiking the control. It was visible from far off. I don't think describing this as a spur is really the best. | ||||||
| 5. | +00:15 | Going to #5, it looked a bit greener to the right. I ended up going left of straight wherever the vegetation was okay to run through. I got a bit too far left. I observed myselft going into a wide shallow reentrant, went further a bit and looked right where I saw it at least 60m away. | |||||
| 6. | I went at this straightish. Upon cresting the ridge, I looked below and was surprised at not seeing it. I went further and descended, seeing it along the way on my right. | ||||||
| 7. | +02:30 | I recalled being in the area before and remembered some bad green getting to the trail through the valley. I climbed to the east and followed the edge of the reentrant to the trail very easily. I cut right and cut the corner turning left at the next intersection. I was careful reading the bends in the trail and knew where I was. I also watched the woods on my left closely as I ran. I probably should have taken the hit on entering the woods early but didn't, being confident that I'd be able to plunge in at a trail bend and either see the control or run into the disturbed ground. I must have plunged in just after the disturbed ground intersected the trail. I ran a long u-turn before getting back to the control. It was deeper into the woods than I was anticipating from the map. | |||||
| 8. | +00:10 | I'd been to this control location before but had come from other directions. I ran straightish at it, visually knowing what to expect along the way. I got a bit left but corrected or saw it far enough away so as not to lose much time. | |||||
| 9. | +09:00 | I'm not sure what happened on this leg. I felt confident starting out. Leaving the control, I felt the green pushing me a bit to the right but in reality I was getting too far left. I suppose that at one point when the woods seemed to open in a small pocket of white, that I was crossing the trail. I never saw it so when I got to the main reentrant, I was confused. I kept moving on my bearing and crossed the main reentrant. I climbed up a distictive side reentrant and then got a bit distracted by another runner who was trying to tell me that the control was misplaced. I tried to tell him that I didn't want to know but in the process rushed off. I lost my place on the map and forgot about the distict side reentrant. If I'd have registered it in my mind again, I'd could have placed myself only 50-70m from the control. Instead I cut left and hit more reentrants and open woods. I had a tough time figuring out my location and contemplated running to the road to relocate. However, I felt the road to be a bit too repetitively bland to figure it out fast enough. I moved left into and around some reentrants and had a hard time lining anything up. Finally after looping to my first pause, I recognized the V shaped ditch intersection I was standing near as being well west of control. I crossed a reentrant and went straight to it. :( | |||||
| 10. | I like this area of the park. I ran straightish and crossed the road. I'd reentered the woods in a curving reentrant a bit right of straight. A couple was converging from my right and I passed them. I ran down to a major reentrant intersection, then up and across a bit to contour into the side reentrant with the control. | ||||||
| 11. | I ran straightish not reading very carefully. I ate a Gu along the way which is probably why I was a bit slow. | ||||||
| 12. | I ran straight. It seemed that the handrail reentrant on the right was mapped a bit funny but I kept my bearing and saw the control from far off. | ||||||
| 13. | +00:02 | I took to the trail along the field then went straight across at the main trail intersection. I suppose I hit the next trail where I wanted but it was green getting there and I also paused to make sure where I was on the trail. Keeping straight, I dropped into a reentrant and followed it to the control. I almost passed the control at the end, not having seen it hung low there at first. the ditch was more pronounced further ahead. Though the ditch clearly started where the control was, not seeing it there initially was a distraction. | |||||
| 14. | +02:00 | I ran low across a reeentrant and along a beaver marsh to a trail, then cut across again to hit the main road right at the maintenance road intersection. So far so good. Going forward on the maintenance road. I changed plans and jumped off the road at a bend nearest the creek but much sooner than I should have. I unexpectedly encountered green woods. Not only did I have to cross the creek but I got hung up crossing a deep ditch too. There was more green getting to the large reentrant on the right side of the creek. I turned there and climbed the left side of the reentrant, where it was most gradual. The running was good once on top. I ran along the edge of the reentrant and when I crossed a ditch, I attacked. I saw the control not 3 steps later, but still well over 60m ahead. | |||||
| 15. | +04:00 | I left #14 too much to the left. The vegetation pushed me that way a bit but I hadn't realized it. When I crossed the road, I thought I was much more to the right. I'd seen a broad reentrant that I needed to angle across so I did. The problem was that I should have been one broad reentrant over to the right. After crossing, I ended up at another small reentrant and some ditches and didn't know what had happened. I fluffed aound a bit and eventually hit a trail and an trail T-intersection. I couldn't believe how far off I'd gotten but ran straight to it from there... | |||||
| 16. | I ran along the stream and crossed just before a confluence. Crossing another stream, I mostly walked up a steeper slope much of which was mapped as green but was fairly clear. There was even a deer trail. I round up away from the creek and on the side of a knoll then went straight Seeing some small ditches clued me in to where I was so I cut right a bit and crossed one reentrant system and ran straight to the control. I thought the placement in the ditch where one couldn't see it from far off was interesting since all the other courses set using the area including my own had been put on the the saddle of the spur. | ||||||
| 17. | +01:15 | I climbed out to the right of straight and hit the trail. As it bent and started to go more steeply downhill, I went straight to use the ridge. Along the way, my epunch unbuckled from my finger. I stopped and didn't lose it because I had a safety line. However, with tight gloves on, it was difficult for me to thread the elastic through the buckle again. All the time I lost was for fixing the buckle. I got going again and crossed the stream when the spur ran out. That put me right at a forking reentrant on the other side. Though there were footsteps going both directions, I went left and spiked it. | |||||
| 18. | I looked at the leg and was concerned about needing to keep a good bearing. The green in the direction of going straight seemed too slow so I went just a bit to the left getting to the top of the reentrant, got around the green and crossed over going straight. Having over-corrected, I was a bit to the right but hit the first of the two reentrants on the other side of the trail. I knew to just cut over to the left and found it in the next reentrant just fine. | ||||||
| 19. | I ran back up to the trail by going straight and hit it optimally at a bend. As the trail descended, I thought to cut through the green rather than go around the spur to the stream. I knew there were good crossings from previous races. I didn't know what the green would be like but it got through it very fast. I was not running very fast but kept a good pace up on the trail on the other side of the stream and took it to the road. I crossed to the next road and turned left. A couple on Blue was ahead and I gained ground on them. I passed as the woman in the group started walking. After the road bends, I went straight in, just trying to stay out of the green and spiked it. | ||||||
| 20. | Leaving #19, I got out quickly and probably didn't aid the couple that I'd passed earlier. I passed them going the other direction about 1/3 of the way back to the road. Using the road bends, I reentered the woods a bit to the left and avoided the worst of the green. I spiked the control. | ||||||
| F. | Climbing back up, I ran straight toward the road/trail bend. After crossing the first trail, I used what is becoming to be a clear cut through to the next. My run in was slow. |
Total Time Lost - 00:19:57