Training Log Archive: BigWillyStyleIn the 7 days ending Sep 13, 2015:
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Sunday Sep 13, 2015 #
Event: Cedar River Navigation Race
Note
25 Days of SARTember, Days 11 / 12 / 13
Location: Savona, BC
As Canada's internets don't get along with my phone or computer, we observed a sabbatical for the weekend.
Location: Savona, BC
As Canada's internets don't get along with my phone or computer, we observed a sabbatical for the weekend.
10 AM
Orienteering race 1:06:07 [4] *** 8.3 km (7:58 / km) +240m 6:58 / km
17c
BC Champs, Day 2. In the immortal words of Troy Aikman, "as good as they were in the first quarter, that's how as bad as it is now." Lost several minutes @ 2; only found it after running into a control from Saturday and remembering where it was on the map. Then much more time lost on 3-4-5 through the open meadow area. For some reason I couldn't figure out that damn meadow to save my life. Got better after than until a parallel error on the penultimate control cost me another couple minutes. I ended up fourth on the day after Adam, Graeme, and a Danish guy; Adam in particular had a great run and came within 2:00 of making up the entire deficit.
Results
So I get to add BC champ to Western States champ on my list of obscure, esoteric orienteering accomplishments, yet having a bad run on Sunday cancelled out most and/or all of the confidence-building of Saturday.
9/18 September races done:
4 above average
3 average
2 below
Results
So I get to add BC champ to Western States champ on my list of obscure, esoteric orienteering accomplishments, yet having a bad run on Sunday cancelled out most and/or all of the confidence-building of Saturday.
9/18 September races done:
4 above average
3 average
2 below
Saturday Sep 12, 2015 #
Event: BC Champs
12 PM
Orienteering race 1:06:23 [4] *** 8.0 km (8:18 / km) +280m 7:04 / km
21c
BC Champs @ Sabiston Creek, Savona, Day 1. One for the "Best Of" compilation. <2:00 error time - one minute where I lost focus on a very short leg after bumping into Ian C, and 30-45s where I saw my control but decided it wasn't mine because I misread the control description as hilltop rather than depression. Other than that, a very good race with a number of controls in tricky contour terrain (especially reading at 1:15). All the Canadians had not good runs so I ended up with a giant 14-minute lead clear of Adam.
Results
Results
Thursday Sep 10, 2015 #
Note
25 Days of SARTember, Day 10
Location: Home
Maintenant, les internationales de SART. Allez!
Elise Egseth: Norway, JWOC gold medalist, WOC silver medalist (2x). Already known to many Cascade members due to a few months spent in Seattle three or four years back; a world-class orienteer and the only competitor at SART belonging to that most rarefied class of orienteers: those who have Wikipedia pages.
Simon Fors: Sweden, Ski-JWOC. Cursory research shows that he appears to be primarily a ski orienteer, and one of some distinction. At Ski JWOC 2014, finished 4th in the Sprint, 9th in the Long, and 17th in the Middle. Hard to say exactly how that translates to running...but probably pretty well.
Jourdan Harvey: New Zealand, Cascade OC, JWOC, WUOC. In December 2012, while several of us Cascaders were at the Relay Champs in Ohio, an unknown name showed up at the top of the results list at a concurrent local Seattle meet. No one could give us any info and the name disappeared as swiftly as it appeared, so over time the Legend of Jourdan Harvey became a ghost story that we told around the campfire to scare little orienteers. Then, a year ago, the apparition miraculously came to us in the flesh; now we count him a clubmate and friend. Oh, and he may be the SARTfavorite favourite.
Peteris Ledins: Latvia, Cascade OC. Things always get competitive in Cascade-land when this local mapping/organizing one-man dynamo shows up. You'll find him in the dictionary under "O-frenemy."
Lucas Zwicky: Switzerland. In 2009, this M32 completed a middle distance race in 46min that Daniel Hubmann did in 33. Dunno what that really means. But we'll find out!
Location: Home
Maintenant, les internationales de SART. Allez!
Elise Egseth: Norway, JWOC gold medalist, WOC silver medalist (2x). Already known to many Cascade members due to a few months spent in Seattle three or four years back; a world-class orienteer and the only competitor at SART belonging to that most rarefied class of orienteers: those who have Wikipedia pages.
Simon Fors: Sweden, Ski-JWOC. Cursory research shows that he appears to be primarily a ski orienteer, and one of some distinction. At Ski JWOC 2014, finished 4th in the Sprint, 9th in the Long, and 17th in the Middle. Hard to say exactly how that translates to running...but probably pretty well.
Jourdan Harvey: New Zealand, Cascade OC, JWOC, WUOC. In December 2012, while several of us Cascaders were at the Relay Champs in Ohio, an unknown name showed up at the top of the results list at a concurrent local Seattle meet. No one could give us any info and the name disappeared as swiftly as it appeared, so over time the Legend of Jourdan Harvey became a ghost story that we told around the campfire to scare little orienteers. Then, a year ago, the apparition miraculously came to us in the flesh; now we count him a clubmate and friend. Oh, and he may be the SART
Peteris Ledins: Latvia, Cascade OC. Things always get competitive in Cascade-land when this local mapping/organizing one-man dynamo shows up. You'll find him in the dictionary under "O-frenemy."
Lucas Zwicky: Switzerland. In 2009, this M32 completed a middle distance race in 46min that Daniel Hubmann did in 33. Dunno what that really means. But we'll find out!
Wednesday Sep 9, 2015 #
Note
25 Days of SARTember, Day 9
Location: Lake Wilderness Park
We've read the fine print and discovered to our chagrin that there will be Canadians at SART too. Who invited these Canadians? Not me. Vancouver has a well-earned reputation as a hotbed of sprint orienteering, and many of GVOC's top performers will be invading Seattle at the end of the month.
Nathan Barrett: Greater Vancouver OC. The first of several speedy names whose notoriety on the Can-Am scene is far lesser than it should be. Everyone wants to know: What costume(s) will he wear, and will they affect performance?
Ian Collings: Greater Vancouver OC. An extremely fast Vancouver Sprint Camp stalwart, he finished an impressive third at VSC 2015. Probably has the most pure track speed of anyone in the field, and legs that are eight miles long.
Graeme Rennie: Greater Vancouver OC, JWOC, WUOC. Has a track record of several very strong results in big races in the past year or so; certainly has the ability to be a contender. Current fitness unknown.
Emily Ross: Greater Vancouver OC, JWOC. The 2014 Canadian Long F21 champ, who also rivals Emily Kemp in the category of "Orienteer Most Constantly Smiling While Orienteering and Named Emily." Very prestigious.
Ian Saari: Greater Vancouver OC. The other half of the dynamic duo of Ians from Vancouver finished fifth at VSC 2015. For some inscrutable reason, enjoys running up and down mountains.
Adam Woods: Greater Vancouver OC, JWOC. Recently graduated from the junior ranks, he's still relatively new to orienteering. Yet another speedy Vancouverite who earns his best results in sprint races.
Tomorrow: The Internationals.
Location: Lake Wilderness Park
We've read the fine print and discovered to our chagrin that there will be Canadians at SART too. Who invited these Canadians? Not me. Vancouver has a well-earned reputation as a hotbed of sprint orienteering, and many of GVOC's top performers will be invading Seattle at the end of the month.
Nathan Barrett: Greater Vancouver OC. The first of several speedy names whose notoriety on the Can-Am scene is far lesser than it should be. Everyone wants to know: What costume(s) will he wear, and will they affect performance?
Ian Collings: Greater Vancouver OC. An extremely fast Vancouver Sprint Camp stalwart, he finished an impressive third at VSC 2015. Probably has the most pure track speed of anyone in the field, and legs that are eight miles long.
Graeme Rennie: Greater Vancouver OC, JWOC, WUOC. Has a track record of several very strong results in big races in the past year or so; certainly has the ability to be a contender. Current fitness unknown.
Emily Ross: Greater Vancouver OC, JWOC. The 2014 Canadian Long F21 champ, who also rivals Emily Kemp in the category of "Orienteer Most Constantly Smiling While Orienteering and Named Emily." Very prestigious.
Ian Saari: Greater Vancouver OC. The other half of the dynamic duo of Ians from Vancouver finished fifth at VSC 2015. For some inscrutable reason, enjoys running up and down mountains.
Adam Woods: Greater Vancouver OC, JWOC. Recently graduated from the junior ranks, he's still relatively new to orienteering. Yet another speedy Vancouverite who earns his best results in sprint races.
Tomorrow: The Internationals.
7 PM
Orienteering race 25:42 [4] ** 5.0 km (5:08 / km) +40m 4:57 / km
24c
Last Wednesday event of the year. I was somewhat last-minute meet director, but still got to run, yay. Course was essentially a 5k sprint; I was pretty clean, losing 15s on 4 and maybe 10s on 21. Got Eric by almost three minutes but I don't think he was trying very hard. Patrick had a great race, coming in third around 31 min. I run a lot of sprints where I get close to 5:00/km (straight line distance), but somehow I rarely go sub-five unless the venue is exceptionally fast, like Boston Commons. That needs to change.
Tuesday Sep 8, 2015 #
Note
25 Days of SARTember, Day 8
Location: Home
With the SART registration period soon drawing to a close and 75 of 80 spots currently filled, it's time to look at some names. The full list is here; it includes many of the more eminent personages in North American orienteering, as well as some lesser known competitors who may nonetheless prove themselves worthy. Let's take a closer look at some of the folks who'll be a part of the spectacle, starting with the Americans. Because America is another word for Awesome.
Eric Bone: Cascade OC, US Team, JWOC, multiple-WOC, WOC finalist. The elder statesman of American orienteering. Not as explosive over short distances as he once was, but will enjoy a major homecourt advantage at SART. Not to be counted out.
Tori Borish: Cascade OC, US Team, JWOC, WUOC, multiple-WOC. A strong sprinter and native Seattlite who also boasts experience with most (all?) of the SART venues.
Tyra Christopherson: Cascade OC, US Junior Team, JWOC. The breakout performer among the American juniors at JWOC 2015 with a 37th place in the Sprint, Tyra is still relatively new to orienteering and improving rapidly.
Ali Crocker: Cambridge Sports Union, US Team, multiple WOC finalist. Certainly no introduction necessary. Greatest American orienteer ever as measured by WOC placing (15th).
Alex Jospe: Cambridge Sports Union, US Team, multiple-WOC. Another whose reputation precedes her. Whether on wheels or skis, enjoys defying death in her spare time.
Nikolay Nachev: Cascade OC, Former US Team, WOC. Hopefully nearing the end of his long, arduous recovery from injury. If he can run well and without pain, could be the feel-good story of the tournament.
Kseniya Popova: Hudson Valley Orienteering, US Team, WOC. Her personal preference for the forest is well-documented; however, she's quickly becoming one with the concrete jungle as well.
Erin Schirm: Bay Area OC, US Team, JWOC. The Schirminator may currently be best known as the excellent coach of the US junior team, but he also ran D-I XC in the not-so-distant past. If he ever decides to train everyone will be in trouble.
Tomorrow: The Canadians are coming.
Location: Home
With the SART registration period soon drawing to a close and 75 of 80 spots currently filled, it's time to look at some names. The full list is here; it includes many of the more eminent personages in North American orienteering, as well as some lesser known competitors who may nonetheless prove themselves worthy. Let's take a closer look at some of the folks who'll be a part of the spectacle, starting with the Americans. Because America is another word for Awesome.
Eric Bone: Cascade OC, US Team, JWOC, multiple-WOC, WOC finalist. The elder statesman of American orienteering. Not as explosive over short distances as he once was, but will enjoy a major homecourt advantage at SART. Not to be counted out.
Tori Borish: Cascade OC, US Team, JWOC, WUOC, multiple-WOC. A strong sprinter and native Seattlite who also boasts experience with most (all?) of the SART venues.
Tyra Christopherson: Cascade OC, US Junior Team, JWOC. The breakout performer among the American juniors at JWOC 2015 with a 37th place in the Sprint, Tyra is still relatively new to orienteering and improving rapidly.
Ali Crocker: Cambridge Sports Union, US Team, multiple WOC finalist. Certainly no introduction necessary. Greatest American orienteer ever as measured by WOC placing (15th).
Alex Jospe: Cambridge Sports Union, US Team, multiple-WOC. Another whose reputation precedes her. Whether on wheels or skis, enjoys defying death in her spare time.
Nikolay Nachev: Cascade OC, Former US Team, WOC. Hopefully nearing the end of his long, arduous recovery from injury. If he can run well and without pain, could be the feel-good story of the tournament.
Kseniya Popova: Hudson Valley Orienteering, US Team, WOC. Her personal preference for the forest is well-documented; however, she's quickly becoming one with the concrete jungle as well.
Erin Schirm: Bay Area OC, US Team, JWOC. The Schirminator may currently be best known as the excellent coach of the US junior team, but he also ran D-I XC in the not-so-distant past. If he ever decides to train everyone will be in trouble.
Tomorrow: The Canadians are coming.
Monday Sep 7, 2015 #
Note
25 Days of SARTember, Day 7
Location: Stuck in a very dark sunken lava tube near Bend; cell coverage not optimal.
Finally getting around to the second map of NSC (refer to post and links of SARTember 4 below).
I started out with S-113-114-115 - all normal sprint legs.
115-116 - "Foot of lower stairway" - also fairly intuitive based on the mapped location. Look down rather than up when you arrive.
116-118 - Where things get fun. This one was on the upper level, which you cannot tell from the control descriptions, but can tell from the map. The control circle is not centered on the dashed line which denotes the ground-level extent of the building; ergo, it must be on the upper level, since the feature is "E side of building." Ideally you'd figure this out early, because you still need to figure out the best way to get up there. I did not figure it out early, so I bumbled around on the ground level for awhile. Also would have been better to go around the north side of the building.
118-120 - It's clear that the pond is on the lower level, so back down we go.
120-124-122 - Phew, regular legs.
122-121 - Back into the maze! Unlike 118, on this leg you must rely on control descriptions rather than the map. "NE edge of upper paved area" - up the stairs and we have it.
121-116 - Technically, there's nothing concrete which tells you what level 116 is located on. We have no information about the ground level; given the presence of olive green on the ground level near the control, we can make a conjecture that there's no accessible area at the control location on the ground level; ergo, it should be on the upper level.
A thought experiment - in theory and with no information of the terrain other than the map, it is possible that there's a walkway on the ground level, identical to the profile of the upper level. Such a situation is where the shortcomings of a 2D map are revealed, since it's essentially impossible to map the same thing in the same place twice on one piece of paper. (To my recollection this is not the case here; the ground level below the upper level walkway is merely olive green.)
116-119-F - Find the nearest stairway, get out, cruise into the finish.
The takeaway: the usual problem is how to get to where you need to go; at NSC, first you must discern where exactly you need to go, and then how to get there. However, this is possible through careful fusion of information gleaned from some combination of map and control descriptions. The inaugural event that we've just walked through was actually quite gentle relative to what this venue could throw at competitors; only at the moment of flipping over the map will we know how diabolical the course setters have decided to be. Prepare for the worst.
Location: Stuck in a very dark sunken lava tube near Bend; cell coverage not optimal.
Finally getting around to the second map of NSC (refer to post and links of SARTember 4 below).
I started out with S-113-114-115 - all normal sprint legs.
115-116 - "Foot of lower stairway" - also fairly intuitive based on the mapped location. Look down rather than up when you arrive.
116-118 - Where things get fun. This one was on the upper level, which you cannot tell from the control descriptions, but can tell from the map. The control circle is not centered on the dashed line which denotes the ground-level extent of the building; ergo, it must be on the upper level, since the feature is "E side of building." Ideally you'd figure this out early, because you still need to figure out the best way to get up there. I did not figure it out early, so I bumbled around on the ground level for awhile. Also would have been better to go around the north side of the building.
118-120 - It's clear that the pond is on the lower level, so back down we go.
120-124-122 - Phew, regular legs.
122-121 - Back into the maze! Unlike 118, on this leg you must rely on control descriptions rather than the map. "NE edge of upper paved area" - up the stairs and we have it.
121-116 - Technically, there's nothing concrete which tells you what level 116 is located on. We have no information about the ground level; given the presence of olive green on the ground level near the control, we can make a conjecture that there's no accessible area at the control location on the ground level; ergo, it should be on the upper level.
A thought experiment - in theory and with no information of the terrain other than the map, it is possible that there's a walkway on the ground level, identical to the profile of the upper level. Such a situation is where the shortcomings of a 2D map are revealed, since it's essentially impossible to map the same thing in the same place twice on one piece of paper. (To my recollection this is not the case here; the ground level below the upper level walkway is merely olive green.)
116-119-F - Find the nearest stairway, get out, cruise into the finish.
The takeaway: the usual problem is how to get to where you need to go; at NSC, first you must discern where exactly you need to go, and then how to get there. However, this is possible through careful fusion of information gleaned from some combination of map and control descriptions. The inaugural event that we've just walked through was actually quite gentle relative to what this venue could throw at competitors; only at the moment of flipping over the map will we know how diabolical the course setters have decided to be. Prepare for the worst.
9 AM
Orienteering race 41:02 [4] 6.1 km (6:44 / km) +75m 6:20 / km
Daze Day 6 - Arnold Ice Cave
Not so good for me today; lost 1min @ 7, 3min @ 11, 1min @ 14. For the finale Eric and I went head to head in the mass start in an ultimate battle for Daze supremacy. I was leading through 6, then hooked 7 and fell behind by 40s or so. Slowly reeling Eric back in through 8 and 9, then hilarity ensued. 10 was behind a big rock thingy; Eric rounded the bend and disappeared. When I got there I naturally assumed he'd punched and continued on, but what actually happened was he ran right past the control and continued merrily on to the northwest, when 11 was southwest. So I take off from 10 like a lunatic in a general SW direction still trying to catch Eric, only unbeknownst to me I'm actually now back in the lead. "Where the hell is he?" --> "...Where the hell am I??" Turns out, off the map to the west. By the time I figure it out Eric has found 10 and 11 and I'm back behind by a couple minutes. He ended up 3min ahead, so I blew my chance to take home the Daze trophy as we ended up tied 3-3 and will have to kiss our sisters.
The lesson, as always: don't be an idiot, read the map.
Not so good for me today; lost 1min @ 7, 3min @ 11, 1min @ 14. For the finale Eric and I went head to head in the mass start in an ultimate battle for Daze supremacy. I was leading through 6, then hooked 7 and fell behind by 40s or so. Slowly reeling Eric back in through 8 and 9, then hilarity ensued. 10 was behind a big rock thingy; Eric rounded the bend and disappeared. When I got there I naturally assumed he'd punched and continued on, but what actually happened was he ran right past the control and continued merrily on to the northwest, when 11 was southwest. So I take off from 10 like a lunatic in a general SW direction still trying to catch Eric, only unbeknownst to me I'm actually now back in the lead. "Where the hell is he?" --> "...Where the hell am I??" Turns out, off the map to the west. By the time I figure it out Eric has found 10 and 11 and I'm back behind by a couple minutes. He ended up 3min ahead, so I blew my chance to take home the Daze trophy as we ended up tied 3-3 and will have to kiss our sisters.
The lesson, as always: don't be an idiot, read the map.