O race 1:33:00 [4] *** 8.1 km (11:29 / km)
spiked:15/19c shoes: Inov8 Mudroc
foggy mist - about 50. Red X course at Granite MD. arrived with enough time to get ready, but forgot my clue sheet holder anyway.
learned a new dimension to this sport beyond just the running and map reading - the tactics used in designing the course. this course seemed specifically designed to challenge abilities by constantly switching tactics -e.g. big easy-to-find reentrant/ maze of boulders/ long run w/ no trails/ short run with some trails / fields / controls easy to see from far off/ controls hidden down in pits etc. I really enjoyed myself and everything went reasonbly well too except for # 6 where i lost 12 minutes. Also noticed that there seemed to be a lot of wildlife in this end of the park - which suggests to me that there are not as many people there.
comments:
1. OK - went at a slow jog, not wanting to blow #1. trail 1/2 the way, then follow the stream to the shallow reentrant.
2. Missed - really interesting terrain here. but map details confused me and the watery mist clouded the magnifying glass on my compass. I didn't really work out where those round hills on the ground appeared on the map until I read the map more carefully at home - I think I could not really make out the contour lines w/ all the distracting black markings on the map. Interesting note: Francis H. noted after the run that you have to learn what to ignore - here the black features were too complex, so it was better to ignore them.
3. OK - (lost 1 minute searching though). followed the fields then searched left from the big ditch. scared a deer out from where it was hiding under a log.
4. Ok - followed the fields then stayed left of the reentrant to follow the stream. scared a racoon out of a ditch and up a tree. the control (looked like a wolf den?) was obvious from afar . .
5. OK - used the trail as a backstop to locate the control.
6. Big error. started off w/ a poor plan to follow a compass course from the trail intersection (200 m across nondescript terrain). Even now I can't understand why I did that - perhaps success at the previous 2 controls made me rush. I think as I ran along I also thought that some patches of low green bushes (blueberry?) in the area were actually the small green features on the map - but that turned out to be wrong because there were many more bushes than features on the map. After missing the pit, foggy/impatient/frustrated thinking took over (probably the bigger mistake) and I rushed around in circles sort of "freaking out" w/ impatience. I remember even thinking briefly that I should just stop and mull this over for a moment but I was in a hurry to get this one done - which made everything worse. saw other runners in the area, which always clouds my judgemetn. Note this was almost the same type of control and the same error that I did on the course at greenbelt - a pit control situated on the edge of a hill in a relatively nondescript circle area - w/ me just kind of running toward it across 200m of ground w/ a vague idea of finding it when I get there. Although I recollect now that that one was approached from below, and this one from the top. Francis H. noted after the run that the straightline approach to this one made the spur particularly difficult to discern. lost 12+ min here.
7. OK - another relatively easy one w/ a big funnel leading down to a ditch - but I was wary after the #6 debacle and went hesitantly
8. OK - straight across stream and 2 big reantrants to control
9. OK - contoured along the side (the mudrock shoes accell at this)
10. OK - ran gradually left and uphill to the field, and hit it at about the stream valley, then followed the field down past the junkpile and down the spur; used the ruined house to key off of
11. OK - contoured along then went up left and around the deep stream valley and down to the control.
12. OK - straight through the field, keyed off the corner of the field - saw another runner but got to the control before him
13. OK - basically just went straight cross country. Passed conrol #1 and #18 along the way, hit the stream and followed it to the control. passed one along the stream w/ the wrong number.
14. OK - but hunted and pecked a bit in the boulder field. Another tactical change to the course . . .
15. OK - straight across to the farthest boulder before the pines
16. OK - straight through the pines
17. OK - but a little hunting for the pit (I was very wary of pit controls now). turned my ankle on the way . . . .
18. Missed - hunted around the pits for the correct one. keyed off the biggest one near the top of the hill.
19. Missed - basically checked every pit in the area. I think Dasha might have photographed me standing there staring at my map w/ the control just a few feet below me in a hole.
ran in to finish w/ no problem.
looking back I am counting 15 "spikes" but I think I am being overly generous to myself on a few of those.
Notes for future:
- still need one of those e punch leashes
- practice taping the ankles for a few routine runs so I can do it for next O meet. I continue to roll either ankle at unexpected moments causing severe pain.
- what can I say about #6? don't succumb to the mind fog that sets in when you miss one? don't try to to rush across 200m of nondescript terrain to a control hidden below ground level? Looking back, I see I missed some decent potential attack points and even relocation features. Oh well. Practice, practice, practice.