Training Log Archive: Akira

Xmas 5 Days - Day 5 - Belanglo
I had raced at Belanglo State Forest once before on one of my first bush orienteering courses. Let`s just say that things didn`t go quite so well that time navigation-wise so was hoping not to do a repeat. Well overall out of 21 controls 18 I was able to find without too much trouble, 2 I was misplaced and 1 control I totally had a brain freeze moment trying to remember if I actually had punched the control. These three errors caused at least 15 minutes of loss and an uninspiring finish. Ho-hum! Despite this time I was the first to finish my course which resulted in horrified faces from organisers fearing that others were suffering the same fate. Well this didn`t end up being the case but it was quite hilarious at the time. The organisers were generous with flags putting out multiple controls in close proximity to one another so it was essential to check the control number to avoid a mis-punch. From the start it was essentially off trail to control 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5! These went quick well except for control 3 or 4 where I was misplaced 20-30 meters from where I thought I was. Controls 7 and 8 were straightforward using the road and trail system where possible. Controls 10 and 11 were short legs and posed no problem. However for control 12 I either missed it altogether going to control 13 or I punched it in subconsciousness!?! For some reason my mind drifted and I was on route to 13 in doubt. I ended up tracking back to 12 which I don't recall visiting and headed back to 13. Control 14 was nailed and 15 I had deviated too far north requiring a correction south. 16 the boulder was straightforward, then it was to the other side of Belanglo Road for the remainder of the course. Despite the relatively flat and open terrain I was still travelling slow trying to concentrate on staying in the correct heading and not overshooting the control. I was glad to finish but wished I could get out of third gear more often.

Day 5 Hard 2 - Splits

Xmas 5 Days - Day 4 - Snows Hill
The orienteering course is close to the town of Tarago not far from the Merino capital of Australia, Goulburn. Of mention is the stunning Bungonia gorge not far away. Snows Hill is an area I had orienteered before with beautiful open spur gully terrain. However this course ended up being one which I had questioned if I could finish and considered DNFing. Oh my! Things started off well with controls 1 and 2 being easy picks. Then the long route of the course between 2 to 3 which caused the first (minor) grief. Getting midway across this leg was slow with lots of fallen trees requiring gazelle like grace which I didn`t have at the time. Happy to hit the east-west cleared strip/road it was smooth sailing along the minor trails close to control 3. Problems occurred getting to 3 where I didn't read the maps well in terms of number of gully`s to cross. I ended up searching (going laterally off my track) and ended up making an offset keyhole route to return to find control 3. Short leg to control 4 - fine. Same with the leg to control 5 and 6. Then came control 7, the shallow re-entrant. I don't know how varied the definition of shallow can be, however this control was in terrain as flat as a tack. I searched the area in and out and ended up going far afield to a boulder marked on the map and walking out taking a bearing to eventually find this control. One of those helpless moments which left me wondering if it was worth persevering.... well in the end it was worth it! Control 8 was by comparison a walk in the park however the last control, 9 I had somehow not concentrated and took the wrong bearing nearly 15 degrees off track to the right! Ended up retracing to control 5 and was able to quickly make it to 9 and the finish. Despite these misadventures I didn't DNF and wasn't the last one to finish!

Day 4 Hard 2 - Splits

Xmas 5 days - Day 3 - Baronga Creek
This was a new map for me held in an area largely of eucalypt forest and some pine forest. A network of dirt roads and minor trails meant a mix of on and off trail navigation.
This course was the fastest between Days 2 and 5, partly because of the extensive trail network which was used extensively. Out of the 13 controls, two were botched up quite bad which led to about 10 minutes of losses on an otherwise straightforward course. The first botch up was to the first control going through runnable (not) white terrain. Instead of quickly deviating to the nearest road I somehow ended up going through crappy white to even crappier green terrain. I ended up on the road on track but went for the wrong rocky outcrop cluster which resulted in a double cluster-f**k (excuse the pun). With control 1 finally punched everything was relatively smooth sailing with control 2 being an easy find, control 3... la la la and control 4 ... why is this so close to the road? The off track between controls 4 and 5 were far sweeter than the off track to the first control and after pinging control 5, I grovelled in the blistering heat up the steepish terrain to hit the minor track and claim 6 near the road bend. Control 7 was a simple traverse of the pine forest and control 8 a simple find close to the road. Control 9 I got to via the steep direct slab route, however exited on route to control 10 through easier (though not easy) terrain. Though 10 to 11 was a short hop but I hadn't read the map properly and darted for the scenic views at the wrong set of cliffs on the wrong side of the gulch. This added to my unintended 135m of ascent. No bonuses here and it was a fast run from 11 to 12 and another fast leg to 13 uses the road for a short section before getting entwined in the finish tape at the end. Minus the scenic excursions this would have been one of the cleaner runs of late.

Day3 Hard 2 - Splits

Xmas 5 Days - Day 2 - Canyonleigh
A new map for me to the Amazonian forests of the southern highlands. Day 2 was supposed to be the long course for the Xmas 5 days orienteering carnival with a line distance of 6.5 km and 7 controls. The terrain on this map was superb with nice runnable forest filled with huge Amazonian animals; kangaroos and emus which were towering above me! Things started off okay to control 1 except for being over 100 meters away from the correct saddle/re-entrant. From 1 to 2 I descended down the ridge and traversed the open terrain to end up overshooting the short neck of clearing and control 2 and having to return. Controls 2 to 3 was a disaster. Trying to travel a more or less straight line between controls got confused in the terrain close to control 5. I had to back track and use the clearing and road to get to control 3. A loss of at least 10 minutes. Ouch! From control 3 the legs were shorter and off track navigation simpler, so controls 4, 5, 6 and 7 were found without much difficulty. Minus the two large errors it was a descent though not super speedy run through some really beautiful terrain!

Day 2 Hard 2 - Splits

Xmas 5 Days - Day 1 - Chevalier College
Opening day for the Xmas 5 days orienteering carnival. It was one year since I last ran a sprint event at the Xmas 5 days in Newcastle. I played the race conservatively, carefully following the map to stay oriented and checking each control number. Whilst this slowed me down, numerous orienteers mis-punched and had no result. I had two errors, one at control 6 where I went to the visible but wrong control on the corner of the fence line and control 11 which I over ran and had to backtrack. Additional losses were made when I failed to realise the stairs to get to the lower level between controls 11 and 12 and between controls 19 and 20. After the even I re-ran some of the legs using the stairs and it saved considerable time. I am hoping to get more confident with the sprint maps and not have to check each control number and also to be quicker to keep momentum at the map change (flip) which created further loses. Overall a fun and fast course!

Day 1 Hard 2 - Splits