Training Log Archive: Kat

First half of first day of OUOC training up in Scotland at Loch Vaa. We did a line-O (which took me about 32 minutes) through hills of heather, then split up into pairs to hang controls for the control-picking course. It took me about a third of the line-O to adjust to the map, but afterward I felt that I could understand all of the contour lines just fine. The control-pick was fun. I had some difficulties when the controls were hung too low (or ended up being blown by the wind into the heather) but in general I found everything right on. Fun day.

The second half of the training day. The first exercise was a long-legs one, which I did with Helen. She taught me how to do proper bearings and I kept practicing with this throughout the rest of the day. It is definitely a useful skill to have since this allows me to run fast through the woods on a bearing till I hit some big feature, then relocate, rather than worry about smaller features on the way that I do not necessarily have to even notice.

The last exercise of the day was an emit course which I should have done in about 30 minutes (since it was a bit over 3 km) but which I actually did in 50 minutes. I was still trying to practice taking bearings, and unfortunately, when going to #3, I only took a bearing and didn't look at the features at all, which I knew was a mistake but I kept hoping I'd spot the control anyway. But we weren't using control flags, just the emit stakes, which are rather hard to notice unless you are looking out for them. So I wound up spending almost 20 minutes looking for #3. But besides this disaster, and two other smaller mistakes, I found the rest of the controls cleanly.

EVENT: BUSA Relay
WOODS: Lots of snow on the ground, about knee-deep in places for me. The woods were not too technical but the relay course was tough because there were controls everywhere and people running all over the place.
RESULTS: Our Oxford women's team of Kat (me), Kat Asker, and Helen Gardner ended up being the third women's team, which is cool. I personally did not have a good run, however. Messed up control #2 badly and lost the pack then and there. Then had problems with some other controls despite trying to be careful. It was my first relay, though, so there's room for improvement. And it was fun running in the snow.

Event: BUSA 2006
 

Warm-up run.

EVENT: BUSA 2006 at South Achray
COURSE: Women's A, 6.3 km, 340 m climb, 23 controls, double-sided map
WOODS: Very hilly, lots of soft ground that resembled marshes in areas, some thinned areas with lots of chopped down trees. Overall, a very physical area.
RESULTS: I was the first woman sent out so I was alone for the entire course with no one to race with.
The first loop was really tough but satisfying to do. It included one leg that had us going about 145 meters straight up the side of a big hill and another leg that had me heading downhill through solid green (which in this case consisted of really dense coniferous trees). Then, after the spectator control, came the second loop, which was almost like a lengthy technical sprint. I had difficulty getting adjusted to the 1:5000 scale after having done the first loop on 1:10,000. I also was not in the mood for doing short technical legs after having done long, physical legs. So I messed up countless times in this second loop after having done decently well on the first part. Then, while going to #22, I tried to cross a small wooden bridge across a stream and since it was so slippery, I wound up falling on my side on that bridge. So I limped to the next two controls, then raced the finish leg. I ended up being right in the middle, 21st out of about 47 entered.

Two Christ Church loops while looking at a map of the area I'll be orienteering in this Saturday at BUSA. Lots of hills and cliffs, but at least the map looks pretty straightforward.

I didn't time the first loop, second was 9:48.

It felt so good to be outside! I went to South Park since I haven't been there for a while, but felt really weak going up the hill, so after doing one loop there I decided to go run around the Christ Church meadow. I saw people running (probably doing Teddy Hall relays) and couldn't help but speed up a little in enthusiasm. So I ran fast for about a minute (just to see how I would feel), then did one CC meadow loop slowly. The weather was great for running. Really light rain, more like a spray. Although I felt weak the entire time I was out, I was really happy to be up and about.