Training Log Archive: davelevine

Event: QOC Patapsco Granite
 

Patapsco/Granite - Blue
18 controls; 9.3 km

Actual Distance Traveled: 12.4 km
Actual Climb: 420 m

All in all I had a good day of orienteering with one exception.

I lost a fair amount of time looking for the second control flag (195). I made a number of mistakes in the search for 195.

Mistake #1: I mistook one trail for another. Leaving the second control I headed west. I skirted the open field to the northwest of the first control flag (174). My plan was to take the trail which starts at the southwest edge of the field and that heads south and then turns southwest most of the way to 195. I found a trail and thought it was the right one. Instead of heading south-southwest I was heading west. It took me close to 161, which I found rather quickly.

Mistake #2: I didn’t check to see if 161 was part of the blue course. I assumed that it was too close to 195 to be also part of the blue course. I headed further west and circled around looking for 195, without success.

Mistake #3: I mistook the trail and the stream to the southwest of 161 to be the trail and stream to the southeast of 195. I circled around, wound up back at 161. For a moment before I reached it for the second time I thought it might be 195. I headed west again still believing I was close to 195.

Mistake #4: I took me quite a while to deduce that the big east-west open area to the north of 161 was mapped as more than just a trail. At first I thought it was the northeast-southwest trail to the northwest of 195. Once I figured out it wasn’t, it occurred to me that I might not be in the right place and to check if 161 was the 6th control on the blue course. The light bulb finally went off and I knew that I wasn’t where I originally thought I was on the map, where I needed to go and how to get there.

As painful as it was to go through this process it also boosted my confidence. The ability to recover from mistakes is as important if not more important that the ability to get things right on the first try.

After the ordeal of 195 it was more or less smooth sailing the rest of the way. I had to search around a little bit for some of the controls but not for long. I passed the 13th (159) and 14th (171) controls on my way to the 8th control (167). This made finding them that much easier later on. There were some long legs, but there were enough handrails (trails, streams, etc.) that I didn’t have trouble navigating the long distances.

I didn’t take the direct route from the 17th (169) control flag to the 18th (187). My intention was to head east and then turn south once I crossed the stream. I headed more east-northeast (than east) and wound up at the bend in the stream. From there the 18th control was more or less due south. It worked out well enough although I might have saved a little bit of time if I had headed east-southeast from the bend in the trail instead of opting for the route I took.

The weather was great. Cool and crisp but not below freezing. I started off wearing a wool cap but I took it off after 10-20 minutes. I put it back on a couple times when it got a little breezy. I ate half of the pro bar I brought with me while I was on the course. I wasn’t hungry but I know from experience that under conditions like these I need some sustenance in order to keep myself from making bad decisions.

After finishing the blue course I rested for about 20 minutes before going back out to pickup controls. I was given a fairly easy batch of 6 controls. There was supposed to be water at one of them but I didn’t find anything other than the control flag and punch box when I got there.

After orienteering I went to dinner with Dan and Jon at The Woodlands in Langley Park.

Patapsco/Granite - Control Pickup
6 controls; 1.3 km

Actual Distance Traveled: 2.4 km

Blue - Splits

Due to construction Carroll Ave was reduced to a singe lane from Philadelphia to Park. I stopped on green because the guy with the sign had the STOP side facing outward. The driver in the car behind thought I shouldn't have stopped and let me know by honking at me. I didn't feel like trying to point out the obvious so I just turned and gave him the finger.

Immediately after that the guy with the STOP/SLOW sign flipped it to SLOW and I took off. I bicycled down the center of the lane making no effort to give the cars behind me the opportunity to pass me.

The rest of the ride to Columbia Heights was uneventful.

I hit all the lights green except Missouri Ave and 13th Street. Total stop time at lights was about 30 seconds, although I also stopped at a few stop signs for cross traffic of the human and vehicular varieties.

STEAL 4:39

Event: QOC Prince William Forest
 

Prince William Forest/North Fork - Blue
25 controls; 8.4 km; 310 m

Actual Distance Traveled: 12.2 km
Actual Climb: 311 m

I forgot to start my Garmin until after I was on the way to the first control. Using Garmin Basecamp I estimate that I was 0.3 miles from the start at that point. I turned it on and checked periodically to make sure it was still running. At Cabin John my Garmin stopped tracking my progress a couple minutes in; I'm not sure why that happened.

I screwed up my approach to the first control (101) but I managed to recover, eventually. I think I was distracted by all the other people around me. I was headed in the right direction (northeast) when I decided that 101 was east of my position at the time. I should have continued to head northeast, instead I turned east and wound up at the creek. Realizing where I was, more or less, I turned around. I headed west-northwest until I was able to deduce that I was one hilltop over from the one where 101 was located.

The sun was shining brilliantly, and in my eyes for most of the second half of the course. I forgot to bring my brimmed hat. I shaded my eyes frequently with the map. It helped some but I think the bright sunlight contributed in large part to the amount of time is took me to find 115.

As I approached 115 the first time I was wide right but not by a huge amount. Once I was in the area I chose to circle to my right but it wasn't there. I turned back to search to the left and walked right past it without finding it. I wandered around for a while without finding it. I didn't see any one else in the area. I started to wonder if I was in the wrong area. I crossed the creek and looked back up in the area where I thought it was. It was a little easier to see in that direction because the sun was at my back but I still didn't see it. Then I saw three other people pass through the area where I had looked and believed the control to be. I saw them all pass through a particular spot and move along. I didn't see them punch a control but they all took off as if they had found it. So I headed over there and found it very easily. It was very low to the ground.

I was a little concerned that I would have trouble finding 118. As it turns out I had nothing to worry about. There were several other people looking for it at the same time as I. In addition to those near me, combing through the woods looking for 118, there were 5-6 people standing right next to it when I found it. I dubbed it O-Con. It didn't end there. I saw many of those people at, near, or on my way to the next couple controls as well.

The weather was beautiful. It was cool and crisp but not too cold. I was wearing a hat and a buff when I started but I took them off within less than a half hour and didn't feel the need to put them back on until I finished.

I stopped on the way home and had dinner at THAI in Shirlington with Dan and Jon.

Blue - Splits