Training Log Archive: RosstopherIn the 1 days ending May 15, 2010:
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Saturday May 15, 2010 #
Event: 2010 US Team Trials for WOC
11 AM
orienteering 37:03 [5] 4.8 km (7:43 / km) +200m 6:23 / km
So, I had high expectations for myself going into this race. I raced hard, but this course and this terrain were hard for me. This type of low visibility low runnability racing really tests my skills.
Middle map. Garmin had discharged fully somehow so route is just drawn in.
I started off quite well moving very quickly and with great confidence. Sailed through to 4. Getting very huffy about how the green was impeding progress the entire way but not quite losing my cool or focus. On the way to 5 I broke out through the green on to the trail and ran with the intention of taking a left onto the indistinct trail and from there into the control. As I pounded up the trail I lost faith that I would be able to see the indistinct trail, then I started to worry that maybe I'd already passed it. At quick as blinking I decided to cut into the woods and run along the reentrant thus hedging by bets... If I was still too early I'd be able to run up the reentrant and head to the small hilltop... if just past then I would need to relocate off the swamp. I was too early, but happily heading towards the feature when I saw a big swamp that I didn't expect (I guess it's actually on the map, just obscured by the circle). I hesitated quite a bit, not wanting to approach the swamp (thinking it the swamp farther on) but not knowing how to procede. after several seconds I notice the indistinct trail and finally pressed on the rest of the way. Shaken but not too perturbed actually.
I see that 6 is the kind of control that I love to make mistakes on, so I intentionally aim high, so that I can read stuff along the top of the hill and make my way down. come basically right through control 12, but still miss the cliff to the left. Drop a few contours too low, but correct quickly. Now I'm definitely flustered and I go and compound my troubles by not climbing high enough on 7 and hitting a lower boulder near the stream and having to bounce back. 8 went okay but then on 9, I again read the swamps wrong and was checking the west side of a swamp that wasn't mapped. All the controls were so well hidden that I spend a really long time combing the side of the swamp to make sure that I wasn't just overlooking it. 10 I stayed low (to me it looked just like the control on the West Point Middle distance race that I bombed and I wasn't going to do that again). On 11 I was really picking up speed in the nice runnable woods and cornered the swamp with my eyes searching for the closest boulder cluster. The boulders I was looking for were behind a little hill though so I instead ran to the set farther on. Did a poor job of anticipating the contours on that one.
12 I did well, having been there already, on 13 I was perhaps too cautious swinging way right to stay in the reentrant. The control was at the very end of the cliff and I was starting to get worried when I didn't see a flag as I ran the entire length. For 14 I climbed early (going right) because I wanted a chance to recover after doing the hard climb. I figured that I would be stupid with oxygen deprivation when I got to the top but that I could figure things out as I approached the contol if I went from the right. This worked out okay, though I did overshoot just a tiny bit. I was running faster in the white woods again, and 15 - 18 seemed to go okay. I was blazing down the stony ground towards 19 but then hadn't been reading enough on the way in to be confident about which boulder the flag was behind. I thought I was at the one closest to the swamp, but didn't see a flag. Just then I saw Angelica way off to my right appear from behind a boulder. I sprint over thinking that it must be my control, only to discover that there wasn't anything there. I relocate then quite easily and finished the rest of the course.
Too many mistakes to be truly satisfied, but I think I had plenty of company in that regard. Impressed that Eric was able to stay cool and run a mostly clean race. Nate also ran really well. It was a really tough course and even with other people out there in the woods at the same time, racing at that speed is a good indication of what he's going to accomplish this summer at JWOC and in the years to come.
Middle map. Garmin had discharged fully somehow so route is just drawn in.
I started off quite well moving very quickly and with great confidence. Sailed through to 4. Getting very huffy about how the green was impeding progress the entire way but not quite losing my cool or focus. On the way to 5 I broke out through the green on to the trail and ran with the intention of taking a left onto the indistinct trail and from there into the control. As I pounded up the trail I lost faith that I would be able to see the indistinct trail, then I started to worry that maybe I'd already passed it. At quick as blinking I decided to cut into the woods and run along the reentrant thus hedging by bets... If I was still too early I'd be able to run up the reentrant and head to the small hilltop... if just past then I would need to relocate off the swamp. I was too early, but happily heading towards the feature when I saw a big swamp that I didn't expect (I guess it's actually on the map, just obscured by the circle). I hesitated quite a bit, not wanting to approach the swamp (thinking it the swamp farther on) but not knowing how to procede. after several seconds I notice the indistinct trail and finally pressed on the rest of the way. Shaken but not too perturbed actually.
I see that 6 is the kind of control that I love to make mistakes on, so I intentionally aim high, so that I can read stuff along the top of the hill and make my way down. come basically right through control 12, but still miss the cliff to the left. Drop a few contours too low, but correct quickly. Now I'm definitely flustered and I go and compound my troubles by not climbing high enough on 7 and hitting a lower boulder near the stream and having to bounce back. 8 went okay but then on 9, I again read the swamps wrong and was checking the west side of a swamp that wasn't mapped. All the controls were so well hidden that I spend a really long time combing the side of the swamp to make sure that I wasn't just overlooking it. 10 I stayed low (to me it looked just like the control on the West Point Middle distance race that I bombed and I wasn't going to do that again). On 11 I was really picking up speed in the nice runnable woods and cornered the swamp with my eyes searching for the closest boulder cluster. The boulders I was looking for were behind a little hill though so I instead ran to the set farther on. Did a poor job of anticipating the contours on that one.
12 I did well, having been there already, on 13 I was perhaps too cautious swinging way right to stay in the reentrant. The control was at the very end of the cliff and I was starting to get worried when I didn't see a flag as I ran the entire length. For 14 I climbed early (going right) because I wanted a chance to recover after doing the hard climb. I figured that I would be stupid with oxygen deprivation when I got to the top but that I could figure things out as I approached the contol if I went from the right. This worked out okay, though I did overshoot just a tiny bit. I was running faster in the white woods again, and 15 - 18 seemed to go okay. I was blazing down the stony ground towards 19 but then hadn't been reading enough on the way in to be confident about which boulder the flag was behind. I thought I was at the one closest to the swamp, but didn't see a flag. Just then I saw Angelica way off to my right appear from behind a boulder. I sprint over thinking that it must be my control, only to discover that there wasn't anything there. I relocate then quite easily and finished the rest of the course.
Too many mistakes to be truly satisfied, but I think I had plenty of company in that regard. Impressed that Eric was able to stay cool and run a mostly clean race. Nate also ran really well. It was a really tough course and even with other people out there in the woods at the same time, racing at that speed is a good indication of what he's going to accomplish this summer at JWOC and in the years to come.
3 PM
orienteering race 11:41 [5] 2.4 mi (4:52 / mi)
Second race of the day, and I had a late start so I had lots of time to scope out the venue. Ended up giving me some trouble, actually, makes me wish that I hadn't bothered with the spectating.
Sprint map.
Felt great out of the gate, spiked 1, quite good to 2, clean to 3... now I had seen all the rest of the runners punch 4 and I kind of expected to recognize the bare rock cliff as I ran at it from the top. I didn't recognize it though, and then I was momentarily lost trying to figure out where in the field I was. I knew I had to drop down to parking lot level so I plunged over the edge and then had to hack through green to get to the flag. oops, should have been an easy control, but I didn't navigate....
5 you could see from the parking lot. on 6 I lost a few seconds when I came around the boulder and didn't immediately see the flag. I started to cast around looking for another huge rock, but then finally saw the flag just sitting there. trail to 7 and I finally calmed down again. a little shaky to 8, getting too far right. Then overly cautious to 9 (you could see it from a long ways away). I stayed high on 10 which I was pleased with, and then came down past the green to 11. 12 I was a little to the right on, but corrected when I realized that I was too far from the building. I caught Andrew at 13 and he was going straight to 14 which made it seem like a good idea. I cruised along behind him (momentarily worried by the missing stone wall) and crossed the road then the line of vegetation and then down to the tree. Lost a few seconds on some wonkily mapped green in the circle at 15. Saw a control down by the lake but assumed it was the women's flag. Didn't see mine though so I went to investigate and it turned out to be mine. up to the trail to 16, around the hill to 17 (Andrew still ahead, moving really well) I went a bit straighter to 18 just following the fence. Then was moving too fast so I shot right past the opening in the fence down to the beach. This was another place where I had thought I knew where the course was going to go. I had seen Sam finishing by cutting left around the fence. By the time I saw the proper route I was well past, which cost me another 15 seconds or so.
Very impressed with Mr. Pithers on this one, he was very clean and quite fast. about 2 seconds faster per split. I'd like to get to that level in my sprints.
Sprint map.
Felt great out of the gate, spiked 1, quite good to 2, clean to 3... now I had seen all the rest of the runners punch 4 and I kind of expected to recognize the bare rock cliff as I ran at it from the top. I didn't recognize it though, and then I was momentarily lost trying to figure out where in the field I was. I knew I had to drop down to parking lot level so I plunged over the edge and then had to hack through green to get to the flag. oops, should have been an easy control, but I didn't navigate....
5 you could see from the parking lot. on 6 I lost a few seconds when I came around the boulder and didn't immediately see the flag. I started to cast around looking for another huge rock, but then finally saw the flag just sitting there. trail to 7 and I finally calmed down again. a little shaky to 8, getting too far right. Then overly cautious to 9 (you could see it from a long ways away). I stayed high on 10 which I was pleased with, and then came down past the green to 11. 12 I was a little to the right on, but corrected when I realized that I was too far from the building. I caught Andrew at 13 and he was going straight to 14 which made it seem like a good idea. I cruised along behind him (momentarily worried by the missing stone wall) and crossed the road then the line of vegetation and then down to the tree. Lost a few seconds on some wonkily mapped green in the circle at 15. Saw a control down by the lake but assumed it was the women's flag. Didn't see mine though so I went to investigate and it turned out to be mine. up to the trail to 16, around the hill to 17 (Andrew still ahead, moving really well) I went a bit straighter to 18 just following the fence. Then was moving too fast so I shot right past the opening in the fence down to the beach. This was another place where I had thought I knew where the course was going to go. I had seen Sam finishing by cutting left around the fence. By the time I saw the proper route I was well past, which cost me another 15 seconds or so.
Very impressed with Mr. Pithers on this one, he was very clean and quite fast. about 2 seconds faster per split. I'd like to get to that level in my sprints.