Training Log Archive: barb

This morning Isak is taking Walter to do an orange course in the Fells; this afternoon he'll have the high school team do an urban sprint training during track practice. Tomorrow I will take Keegan somewhere, maybe Hammond Pond; should have hung streamers ystrday. Friday the CSUS kids will do another course, possibly at Boojum on a map with no trails, and Saturday we're heading to Nobscot for some contour work. Sunday is off for Easter. Monday and Tuesday the CSUS team will train, and then Thursday evening and Friday morning in Ohio. Psyched.

C • You are awesome 2

Yellow course at Hammond Pond with Alex and Harlan. It went pretty well. We mostly did it together, pausing at each control and talking about alternative routes.

I am seeking advanced orienteers to work with the Cambridge team on Friday and Saturday.
I am not fast enough to keep up with them, and they would benefit from running courses with immediate feedback and corrections. Isak and I have been doing our best to teach, but for this last practice before the Interscholastics it would be great to have more individualized attention.

Today was good. 10 minutes of running an easy course at Fresh Pond. Then about 45 minutes at Harlan's house learning map symbols, walking through route choices on a typical yellow course, learning about the guidelines for course design for their level of course, and then designing a course (each of them separately) on the map that will be used for competition.

Saw the track guys working out at Fresh Pond, and so I handed them O maps to work on. It was fun; they were not expecting me and marveled that I found them.

Dave and I placed electronic controls at Pine Hill using an "attackpoint" training course that I think Erin may have designed, or Ed or Alex, for a sprint camp. Then we went back to the woods; I was there with kids for 4 hours, first the high school, then the middle school team.

All the kids were there; we first did half of the course, then a distance/direction exercise (see below) and then the second half of the course.

THANK YOU so much to those who have donated to our fundraiser, getting Cambridge kids to the Interscholastics. It is a crazy dream but you know, I think they are actually going to do well. I really do. When I see contributions from my orienteering friends, it makes me feel supported and is really motivating.

Yesterday we trained at Danehy on courses set by Isak. Keegan was a little disappointed that he did not beat the high school track guys.

Tomorrow we go to the woods again, during the time that a winter storm is supposed to be starting. I think we'll do a hard yellow course at speed and do some work on distance and compass.

A lot has been happening! Tuesday, Isak led the entire CRLS team through a tough course designed by Ian Smith. They met at each control and discussed strategy for the next leg. It was rainy and a little cold.

Thursday, the CRLS team sold baked goods and talked about orienteering to parents at the high school, as part of the teacher conferences night. Very successful - we brought in $129, and recruited a girl to come to orienteering training.

Friday, both the CSUS and CRLS teams (plus the girl) trained at Danehy Park - first with a longer streamered course (with lots of route choice around uncrossabel fences) and then an electronic punch course. Navigation Games provided loaner thumb compasses and the epunch equipment. Isak designed the courses. It got cold and rainy toward the end.

I spent yesterday baking and "working".
I spen today hanging streamers, and driving frantically back and forth to work for meetings, and then driving the kids there and back and coaching.

Here is a photo from Sunday's grid-O exercise; we learned this exercise from Erin at the Arizona training camp:

Isak, Pilli, Ethan and Jeffrey conducted a bake sale and orienteering consciousness awareness yesterday at parent-teacher night. Isak's idea, from a suggestion by Elizabeth. I baked all day, including a highly successful new recipe for choc chip cookies (in the past I have always made Toll House version but was told no nuts, and some research led to a new recipe). I didn't attend the bake sale (instead going to a CSU/hang-with-Diego meeting), but did drop-off and pick-up of stuff. They wore the hats. They prOselytized. It was good. It was gratifying to have this happen without me needing to be there. Isak is awesome.

Jeffrey was talking about going door to door for donations, and asked me if I thought one person alone or two people would be more successful. I mentioned this to Isak later, and Isak said he managed to convince Jeffrey that going door to door was his (Jeffrey's) idea.

We are up to $94 + $555 toward our goal of $3600.



Dave took this photo - the maps were for the star / attackpoint-to-control exercise from last weekend and Monday.

C • Goal 2