Training Log Archive: the kempster

Last race of the COC's and I finished off with a bang. I started out pretty well, wasn't really sure about 2 because I couldn't figure out where I was on the trail so then I didn't know when to cut in, but I found it alright. 3 was right in the middle of really nice running woods which was sweet. 4 I was worried about because 1: I was feeling really tired and my legs hurt, and 2: It was hard to follow along the trail. So again I wasn't sure about when to cut in but I did find it really well despite all of that. Once I got into the white, I could see it perfectly but then I had to wade out back to the trail through the raspberries. 5 was good, it was just by this thicket of trees that did not look friendly at all. Very green!!! 6 I found really easily and then 7 was right on the trail. I hesitated a bit on that one though because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to see it, but you couldn't miss it. 8 was easy because it was in that awesome running woods but 9 I made about a 2min mistake because again, I didn't know where I cut in. I really should work on that, geese. On the way to 10, I had my power gel which helped I guess. The only problem was while I was following/tripping over this fence that went right past the control I fell in this swamp. Up to my elbows I was covered in muck. I was also holding my gel in my hand and that also got covered in mud along with my map and compass. Somehow, I must've gotten it on my face too, because once I'd gotten back, everybody thought that I'd been playing in the mud. :-) Anyways, found 11 fine and then I went off to find 12. Twice, I was running and then 2m ahead of me, this giant brown bird flew up and scared me to death. That's probably why I wasted 3mins trying to find the control. Ok, maybe not, but the field was really hard to wade through and I didn't want to go over to this depression that had an orange "flower" in it which actually ended up being the flag that showed where to put the control. Stupid stupid!!! 13 I spiked so badly!!! I was battling through the green when I come upon the trail. I hadn't thought of this route, but I think that it was the best one by far. Instead of wallowing around in the clearings and green, run along the trail to the bend and then cut in and trip over the control, just like that. Did well on 14, 15, 16, and 17, no mistakes there, a bit more mud, but that's it. 18 is in the middle of all of these depressions, so I tell myself "go carefully and don't mess it up," well of course I do because I got distracted when I got near the control and went past it. Only lost about 1min relocatin though. 19 and 20 were good although since it was near the end, I was reading my map as carefully as I should have so I missed the trail to 21 and almost came to the finish chute. Oops!!! Even though this race was longer than The Forks-of-the-credit race, it didn't feel as long. It felt actually shorter!!! Wasn't a perfect one, but I felt really good about it!!!

The usual loop and I felt actually pretty good for once...

What a bad race!!!! The first control wasn't turned on, so that kinda freaked me out a bit but 2 was good. Taking into mind what I had learned at the training camp, I read all of the re-entrants and made it to 3 without any trouble. Same with 4, but 5 I had a bit of trouble on. 6 was good and then 7 was awful!!! I was in exactly the right spot at the top of the re-entrant but I couldn't see the control. So I thought I was lost. Then I ran around for a bit getting myself more "lost" until I got back to the same spot. Then I saw somebody go into the control and cursed at myself!!! 8 I had no idea where I was going, but I said to myself, "ok, once it flattens out, I know I'm right below the control." It flattened out, and I was right!!! Phew!!! 9 and 10 were good, and 11 I ended up going in after the wrong trail, but I soon figured out something was wrong, relocated, and found the control. 12 was a disaster, I ended up at 14... hehe, oops. All of the controls were fine after that and I burned off my anger in the finish chute.

I had a much better race today!!! It was fantastic (except for that 5 of the controls weren't turned on.) I only made mistakes on the legs where there were 2 controls really close together. I just ended up closer to one than the other. I felt that I made really good route choices and I was going at a pretty good pace the whole. By control 8, I had Justine and Heather behind me so that kept me going too. I just felt so strong the whole way through and it was awesome running in the white (although, most of the map was green) and I was reading a head a lot. I came 4th, and it felt pretty close to a perfect race.

Did part of the model event with Rhiannon and Emily (the first 4 controls) which were pretty good. Had a bit of trouble on 18 because the indistinct trails were pretty hard to figure out. Relocated off of the major trail and found it all right. Then I went off on my own to do 21, 20, 12, 17, and 16. Hit all of them right on because I was working on reading the map in great detail so as not to miss anything. Once I got to 12, I only had 5min to get back to the cars, so I just ran past 17 and 16 instead of actually going to look for them.

This speed-o was soooo intense!!! When you go the map, the only thing you could see were lines going EVERYWHERE!!! It was so complicated. They had us going back and forth across the map but it was awesome. You always had to read ahead so that you knew which way to go to get to the next control. Only paused once because I hadn't read a head and another time to check the number. Still a really great race.

Had another relay except with the training camp. My team consisted of Victoria, Afan, and I. Victoria did the beginner really well and then Afan and I did the advanced and the intermediate. The first one that I did wa inter. and it didn't go too badly. My second one was advanced and I totally messed up the second control. Ended up in the wrong re-entrant, but I was smart, and relocated out on the trail and then nailed the control. The third leg was advanced as well and I just killed it. I knew exactly where I was going, I was fast and I hardly stopped. It was awesome. I don't know where we finished but we had a blast!!!

Did the first 6 controls on my own and I spiked them so badly!!! I was in contact with the map, was determined not to make mistakes where I had made them yesterday, and I only made a small bobble on control 3. Then Mike started shadowing me and I just lost it all!!! It was mistake after mistake!!! I'd know exactly where I was, where I was going, but then when I started, I'd end up totally lost. The only good control after was 10. I did learn a lot though; I learned that I need to read the map to it's fullest so that I don't miss some small re-entrant and think I'm in a bigger one (kind of stupid, but I do it all of the time). And I also worked A LOT on relocation!!! :-)

Second speed-o today and it was even more fun. I ran it twice again although some people didn't because the relay was right afterwards.

My relay team was me (advanced), Ilona (beginner) and Molly (intermediate). So I went out with the mass start and got the 7 first controls pretty much perfectly. Just on 3 I wasted 30 sec looking for the control although people lost a lot more than that because the whole thing was kinda weird. My route choice to 8 was a bit iffy but 9 was good. 10, I came out on the trail and wasn't sure where I was, luckily, it wasn't that hard to figure out and I found it. 11 to the end all went really well although I felt as if I could've run a lot faster. Anyways, got back and Ilona went out. Then Molly and we ended coming in 2nd place in the over 8 category!!!

Went with Carol with Jim taking up the rear, so Carol and I alternated controls. We were doing pretty well up until 7. We were hitting the controls really well and then leaving them great, but then we got into the part of the map with tons of re-entrants and spurs!!! 7 and 8 were disasters, 9 was excellent, but when I took over at 10, everything went down the drain!!! Oh ya, the map had the trails taken off, so that made it really tricky, although you just learned to run over them. Anyways, I just totally lost myself within the maze of re-entrants and had to relocate almost at 9 again. Finally found 10, and then 11 was a piece of cake... almost.

The beginning part of the line-o was on the really subtle part of the map so it was hard to know exactly where you were. I was with Carol again except Mike was with us this time. I think we found 5 controls in all on these features: a knoll, between 2 knolls, the top of a hill, another knoll, and a teacup depression. Only did 1/2 of the course though because we had to get back for the speed-o!

Did the first speed-o today twice, so actually I was about 5min the first time, and 4 something the second. It was sooo fast because the course was only about 800m, but it was intense. The second time, I did it without a map because it's pretty easy to memorize... that was fun.

The race was the THOMASS format, but instead of taking my regular handicap (2) I took the elite one which was 5. So that was a bit of a difference but I still think that I did pretty well. The beginning was really fast but once we got into the box, I was pretty much alone until the last few controls. Didn't make too many mistakes except for a bad route choise to B and then mistaking a clearing for another on 10. And then a giant one on the very last control because I wasn't reading my map. All in all, a pretty good race.

I think I did pretty well on the score-o, a total of 410 points, and I didn't make too many large bobbles. Had a bit of trouble with 9 because the control was hidden in the raspberries, but 10 was good. On 26 I ended up too far to the right and 24 I just had trouble finding the control even though I knew exactly where I was. I was worried about 27 because it was somewhat of a bingo control, but I could see it even before I got into the green. 25, 23, 22, and 19 I spiked, but 18 I got kind of confused because of the parallel features. 17 and 15 were good, 16 I didn't want to run up the hill in case I went up too far, but the control was up there anyways. On 7, I found a beginner control on the same feature, but fortunately, I pratically tripped over the real 7 on the way to 8. 6 and 4 I was careful on because I didn't want to make a mistake when the cut-off time was so close. Then I messed up 5, I'm still not exactly sure what I did, but I'll blame it on the map. Anyways, 11 didn't go so well either because I lost track of the parallel features. Thankfully, the last 2 I hit so I made it back on time. The only big problem with the race were the burrs. By the first 10mins, the back of my pants were covered in them, so every time I ran, they'd chaf the back of my legs with no mercy. Happy with my race anyways...

Event: Canadian Orienteering Championships Festival
 

Had our 1st race at the Forks-of-the-Credit Provincial Park and for 6.5km as the crow flies it took a very long time. They made us climb this 14 contour hill 4 times!!! Brutal! And then the whole map was pratically open fields that were like wading through water it was so slow. Very physically challenging and pretty good technically too. Usually tried to take the trail around the fields just because it was faster. Came 1st in the F-Elite category which I'm happy with.