PTOC event at Crowder State Park, 14C and light rain
Fritz, Gene and I drove 2.5 hours to Crowder, just to run at a different type of terrain. I had been here once before, and knew that the contours were awful on this map, but I had a good run last time and I was looking for a repeat.
I tried hard to navigate well, by paying attention to my compass, looking ahead, and having a picture of the control circle. I also tried to keep moving. Garmin says I "stood still" a lot, but that was just my pace up the steep wet hills :) I did walk most of the course, rarely jogging. Except for one or two patches of really nice woods where I got to say "wheeee" as I ran down hill. The trails were gloppy messes, so they were no help. I probably should have pushed the pace a bit harder. Gene beat me on the finish split :(
Biggest mistake was leaving 6. I was trying to find the trails along the western side of the spur, but I was just confused by the contours in this area, and I didn't figure out my mistake until I hit the park boundary. It probably would have been faster to go along the eastern side of the spur and climb at the end, but I decided I wanted to attack from above.
The hills at the end (12-13-14) killed me.
Nice to see Grafton Potter and Joe Barrett at the event, and to spend quality time with Fritz and Gene.