| Valley Forge O-marathon, put on by Wyatt. Forerunner says I covered about 29.2 miles. Temperature in the 30's was good for me. Really, the course was a 42.2 k white course, which was fine. There was still enough interest in the navigating to keep the mind occupied (except for a couple of really long trail legs).
I did about what I expected, so I can't say I'm disappointed: what I expected, and what I did, was feel fine for the first half, and then have a physical meltdown over the second half. So I took increasingly more frequent and longer walking breaks, which made it physically and psychologically tolerable. The second half felt more like a rogaine than an orienteering race.
I started out with Peter for about the first 75 minutes; Randy was there (and Tim Good and Mike Bishop, early on); but I was struggling a bit to keep up. Hilary passed me going to the first aid station, and I arrived as the others were leaving. At which point I said, "too fast for me", and let them go. But to my surprise, I caught Randy about four controls later, the one at the end of the road, as he apparently was rethinking his next route. I was with him or had him in sight for the next four or five legs, losing him for good just before the half. I had to change shoes at the halfway point - the sole on one shoe came loose and was flapping with every step. By the time I got going again, Jeff Saeger had come in and was heading out, and I had him in sight for a couple legs, but I couldn't stay with him on the long trail run. Then, to my surpise, I saw him again coming from the back way to the depression on the trail, and we were together for a few more legs, when Christina caught us. Jeff and Christina went off together, and I fell back before the aid station on the road, and did the rest on my own. Just one mistake to speak of, as I was transitioning between maps: cost about a minute (or a bit more at the pace I was going!)
I'm really glad I did this. Too bad, though, that my body can't hold up for this long a run anymore. But I don't think I did any damage. I'll take it easy until the new year, then try (once again!) to build up without getting injured. |
| Southside of Norwottuck, starting from parking area off Batchelor Road. Bike trails on west side of lower access (including IA and RC). An out and back, even though when I turned around I was 3/4 around a loop back to the start. Trails were all ice, either solid or loose granular; but not a problem with my studded o-shoes. A pleasant, relaxed pace. Nobody human besides me was out there, I'm sure of that. 30:00 out, 24: 39 back. |
