Training Log Archive: tommig

First half of course fun, lots of paths and mountain bike tracks, running quite well and positively. After road crossing and map exchange got much harder in places, longer legs, fewer paths etc. Pretty happy with my navigating, some slowish route choices but really at the edge of my fitness. Great fun weekend, relays still to go tomorrow.

Part 1. 1 round paths, could maybe have cut through but doubt I would have been faster. 4-5 lost time as got confused onto 1st path when should have pushed on up to 2nd, 1st path took me back down contours I had climbed... lost 2 minutes to Paul on this leg. Stuck to paths for many of the legs roudn to 7, then contoured across and used an extraction lane into 8. A bit confused around 9 but then good round to drinks point. Decided to have a wee after all just 20s before re-start, so was late for restart by about 10s. 2nd half of map suddenly tricky round rhodis, and struggled with contour detail on 1:15000 map. picked up extra control on way into 13. Missed bridge on map into 14, planner really could have cut circle a bit here, but also my eyesight just a bit too poor for this scale. Planned to cut through rhodis to 15 but ended up wrong side and went round. 17-18 leg though I had a good route but hadn't considered possibility of cutting through fields. Think that may have been faster. 18-19 got a bit confused coming across and dithered round a pond on route. Clean round to 24, and crossed haybale happy to be on run in home. Felt Mark Bown pulling up to my shoulder so kept increasing pace to keep up with him, and punched final control on the fly thinking it would be fun to try to keep pace with him on the run in.... turns out Mark had an old SI card and had to stop to punch, so when I turned around at the finish he was still miles behind! Well that finally settled the argument as to whether SIAC saves you any time or not on forest events.....!

Quite low down in results, but better than my previous final day of JK races, and oh so much fun!

Great fun, could maybe have pushed harder but was quite clean orienteering. A few slower controls but generally clean. Just wish I could either be fitter and run faster, or be more motivated to not slow down when it hurts a bit...! Brilliant fun though!

Hesitant into 1 as wasn't into map yet, a bit slow coming across to 8. Coming out of 10 got a bit distracted and hit wrong path down to road, took me too far south so had to come back up road. Clean round to 14 but confused by occasional very large trees and veg on ground that wasn't mapped. 14-15 only real mistake, just was slow and hesitant, and then had to stop by stream for maybe 10s to work out what was going on with map. Clean from there on in, just slow going up hills. Must lose weight and get fitter! SO much fun running from 24 through finish with SIAC card, felt like a little boy as could just stick arms out like an airplane and fly past the controls!!

19:10. Winning time Nick Barrable 14:33

19/37 on M40, about 45 of 110 (?) on the course.... happy with my race, two route choices that I need to check whether I went the longer or shorter way round as couldn't decide on the fly. One proper error on not checking control description and ending up below the control on the wrong side of a wall. I reckon I lost about 30-40 seconds which would have taken me up into the fight for 14th place. Still, only one error and reasonably happy with my running too. Such fun! :)

Had Becky Hester give my glutes, abductors, adductors, hamstrings etc a really good going over. Apparently one of them felt like bubble wrap....

Bit of a struggle to get going after sharing a nice Chateaubriand with Helen Rice... lovely surprise to be taken out for dinner and lovely to catch up with a dear friend.