Training Log Archive: maprunner

Long, uneventful travel day home. Anyone else suffering from Nationals withdrawal? I'm still checking logs, looking at photos, waiting for results. Wonder if I'll check for Winsplits if I awake at 3 am (as Danny and I both did this weekend).

C • We're still checking AP... 11

US Nationals, relay day!
I like relays, so this was fun. I ran third leg, which meant I could learn about all the deadfall, and the vague area around the first control, before I went out. Hence, I walked to the first control. And to many others due to deadfall and tired legs. I was afraid to push beyond my limits and make mistakes.
But I did make a mistake. First, I didn’t see the trail option from 3-4. Second, the route from 3-4 had recently been cut, so there was tons of deadfall which slowed me down. Then I drifted right a bit, relocated off the trail junction. Lost about 2 min there.
BAOC organization was spotty again, and we started 1.5 hours late. But markers were in right place. So fun to hang out with friends. And so happy to have an official OK team. Thanks PeggyD and be-the-map.

US Nationals, Long

Crash and burned. Never found 2, wandered aimlessly, took forever to find the main road and walk back to finish. More details later, but I'm pretty sure I went off our map.

OK, a few days later, I'm ready to share some maps (brown and green). Here is my brown map with the track. Obviously I was way off on my compass bearing towards 2, then kept on going. I never read the map or contours, never recognized I was crossing the marsh, and had no clue about time or distance traveled. Even coming back, I didn't recognize the marsh. You can see I stood there for a while (red part of track southeast of 2) for a while trying to identify the feature. I never did (while I was on the course). It looked like a big long field to me. I was looking for yellow on the map. I was not able to read the map at all from about half way to 2--- then a few hundred meters before the finish. A big blank mind in-between while I wandered.



Just for fun, I loaded my track over the green course. The crude red circle is my #2. I found control 90 while I was out there, and asked around later to identify which course had that control. That's when I knew how far off I had wandered.



Any ideas on how one can read a map perfectly one day and then completely forget how to read it the next day?

C • Been there. 5

C4 - Splits

US Nationals middle, Little Truckee summit.

I remembered to bring my brain with me on this run. I remember running here before, so I concentrated on contours and rocs, and mostly ignored vegetation. I had so much adrenaline running downhill to 1 that I never noticed I was running past the Go control (which might have been helpful later).

As I was running to 2, I looked at my HR and saw it was 165, so I made myself walk a bit to calm down and be careful. Aimed off the very obvious clearing and large rocks to hit the control.

Had to walk all the uphill sections, of course. I glanced at my HR one more time on the climb (it was still 165) and I ignored it after that.
Slight bobble on 7 (aimed to the left and had to correct) and 8 (where I hesitated and didn't go far enough at first).

I was so tired from 9 to 10 and the terrain was rough. I told myself to run, but I just couldn't. I was also hesitant in reading the map, when I should have had more confidence that I would see all the flagging. Tired brain!

I was pleased with this run. I was even happier when I discovered that I had won by just 1 second!

C • Yea! 10

C4 - Splits

Event: 2021 Orienteering USA Nationals
 

US Nationals Sprint, Loomis CA, Sierra College

A bad day. I had no system, was not actively orienteering, just running.
Compass disaster from 2 to 3 (should have realized how long I was running, way too far).
Then I went from 9 to 11 then 10 and missed 11 coming back.
Looking now, I see that my HR was too high (probably adrenaline, not pace). If I had looked at my HR during the race, I would have realized it was too high and slowed down.
Need to get my head in the game for the next races.

C • HR 1

Sprint 4 - Splits

Easy session in the shady parts of Holcom