Training Log Archive: iansmith

NEOC Nobscot C-meet Red Course. I started very well - the difficulties I have had over the past few weeks of failing to concentrate, focus, and approach the problem deliberately and thoughtfully were absent today.

The course was fairly easy, with a number of orangesque controls (i.e. 2, 3, 4, dogleg at 5, 11, 14). There were numerous trail legs. That noted, I did make some nontrivial navigational errors. I hesitated on my route to 6, with about a 30 second error; this could have been corrected by having a more robust plan - while I was on a good route to hit 6, it was not the one I expected. I chose a poor route to 7, traveling down the left side of a large reentrant and over a spur, and then overshot the control by about 50 meters. At control 9, after crossing a "marsh," I crossed a stream I shouldn't have. I immediately realized something was wrong, but it took me about a minute to figure out precisely what. Ironically, the control was basically visible from where I was standing, but in a different direction. Finally, I got confused microorienteering near control 12 - I couldn't find the clearing on the broad spur and had to relocate on the trail to the south. Most of my errors were of the microorienteering flavor, though I do need much practice with route choice.

I was a weekend warrior this week, and my physical performance seemed strongly affected by my weak training. Audun Botterud, with whom I often have comparable times, beat me by a solid 7 minutes. Of interest is that I started with the fastest first few legs, then dropped off. I simply did not have enough gas to make it through the relatively short race at the aggressive pace I should have. I stumbled and walked up parts of hills (e.g. 10, 11) that I should have been running well at. I estimate that with a clean run and better conditioning over the previous two weeks, I could have run this race in 50 minutes. However, speculation is futile; I must train.

After the race, I talked a bit with PG, examined the area near one (and observed the data he synthesized on his route), compared splits, and generally socialized. It's neat that he knows who I am; naturally, I am familiar with him and his orienteering exploits. I have beaten him on occasion (mostly sprint distance events), but I am far from a reliable competitor, especially on technical terrain like Mt. Tom. Today he beat me by 7 minutes despite a few errors on his part. He is a logical target for my performance in the fall - if I can get my body in sufficient running condition and practice mental execution and tactics, I think I have a legitimate shot at reliably competing and beating him in the not too distant future. Of course, if I'm half as good as he is when I'm 65, I'll be pleased.

C • PG 1

Warm up and cool down for the Red course followed by a very short ARDF 2m practice course. Nick (M50 world champion on 2 meter band) set up a very short 2 m course with 5 controls about 100 m apart. This session was to help us build good habits and gain experience with our equipment. Nick followed Lori, Keith, Sean, and Lez around while we "raced" the course. He then gave us critiques.

I successfully found all five controls, though I needed two cycles for controls 4 and 5. I also appreciated my need to sweep more deliberately with my antenna (moving through 360' with a frequency of 0.5 - 1 Hz while closing on the control) and to adjust my volume to maximize sensitivity.

This brief session made me much more comfortable with the 2 meter band than the previous experience had left me; I feel confident that I can race the course on Sunday without excessively high probability of failure. Vadim is also extremely good; he typically found each control in 15-30 seconds, and had time to hang out and chat with us while waiting for the next cycle.

Keith and Sean tried 2m ARDF for the first time and demonstrated aptitude. Keith in particular was excited about the prospect of beating Ross at a running sport, though he should seize the opportunity quickly, because Ross is rapidly improving. I'm confident he will be a pro in short order.

After my race, I ran into Michael Commons, with whom I had a polite conversation about implementing a year round competition for C-meets and the CSU Park-O from 19 May (about which he is apparently still displeased). Apparently he was unfamiliar with either term "C-meet" or "B-meet."

As I was breaking away to get some water, he asked me what my time was on my course. While I was not overly pleased with my performance, I was somewhat shocked when he asserted that my time was "not bad." I briefly considered asking what his time was, but I decided nothing good could come from such a gesture. It is true that "not bad" is a fairly accurate assessment of my performance, but I would have preferred to make the assertion myself and allowed him to agree with me, rather than being weighed on the scales of orienteering judgment. I'm also not entirely sure what he was using as a benchmark; he didn't have any other red finishing times. Assuming he knew the course was 6.8 km, he could have figured I was about 9.5 minutes/km, which while remarkable for Pine Hill is unimpressive for Nobscot. In any case, I was amused.

C • Congratulations... 6

Red course - Splits

ARDF (radio orienteering) training at Breakheart reservation on the 2m band. I had tremendous difficulty with reflections, though I think I've analyzed my problems and generally found solutions for them (with coaching from Vadim).

I found the first control by its third cycle - at minute sixteen. I then took a bearing and moved on the third control, but I got really confused in a valley between two hills. I spent over an hour looking for it, and gave up in frustration. I went back to the start completely deflated (though planning to try again another day), but Vadim sent me out to find control 5 with Nick. With some coaching on how to approach the problem from Nick, I found 5 without that much difficulty.

Lori had a good run, finding all five controls just outside of two hours. The 2 meter band is much more difficult tactically than 80 m; I must put in much more practice time if I am to become proficient.

A few key lessons:
- Only have confidence in bearings taken from relative elevation, or more precisely, doubt bearings taken from low elevation (knew this already)
- Scan more frequently as you move (move the antenna through a full 360' cycle)
- Adjust the volume much more liberally to avoid saturation
- Consider the strategy of moving to high altitude initially and taking a reliable bearing (and make a location guess) on all 5 controls
- I'm not very good with drawing bearings I have taken on the map, and should avoid that until I become proficient.

C • ARDF 2

Event: CSU Cat Rock Park-O
 

Ross' Cat Rock Park-O. Most interestingly, there was a baby deer (presumably newborn) that was curled up on a trail near the start. I encountered the mother as I meandered in that area looking for a suitable tree on which to relieve myself, but left when I realized the relationship between the deer.

Ross set an excellent course which made good use of the terrain (and spared us a bit of climb on the western hill!). He was generally gentle about the vegetation to the southeast, leaving suitable trail routes in lieu of storming through poison ivy. I rather like Cat Rock Park; it's generally runnable and has a sufficiently interesting and varied feature set.

I had an acceptable, if unremarkable run. I have struggled lately with the mental aspects of racing - concentrating sufficiently, organizing my time and actions, planning ahead, and diagnosing routes and features around me adequately.

I didn't take splits, unfortunately; I had uneventful legs up to control 3, where I caught Alex. I stayed ahead of her through control 7, despite a small flub at 5, but I got confused in the circle at control 8, and she punched ahead of me. I then made a 30 second error at 9, followed by at least a minute error at 10. Controls 11 and 12 were fast, and as I was leaving control 12, I caught sight of Alex. I took a different route to 13, and slogged up a hill to punch just behind her. I then took off down a hill and beat her to 14; I didn't see what her route was, but I think she must have taken a suboptimal path. I was ahead of her again at 15, but I heard her behind me and tried to push it intelligently. I punched 16 perhaps 10-15 seconds ahead of her, and somehow overlooked the seventeenth control. I sprinted into the finish, at least ninety seconds ahead of Alex, whereupon I realized my epic MP disqualification FAIL.

Some observations: I still struggle with ignoring (or at least intelligently noticing) other orienteers. I was so focused on getting ahead of Alex en route to 9 that I didn't plan my route adequately, and so made a mistake. It is likely I would have noticed 17 had I not been preoccupied with staying ahead of her again at 16. I was trying to break away from her, but my errors compounded to make that impossible. I need to be concentrating and ready when I start a course to synthesize information correctly and quickly and make good decisions based on incomplete information. These difficulties caused nuisances today and catastrophes two days ago.

I felt fine physically today; I probably could have pushed harder in the open terrain (e.g. near 6-8, 11). I was wheezing a bit, but my breathing was sufficiently controlled. Had I not ignored 17, I would have had a generally good run despite my errors. I conjecture that were I to perfectly rerun the course fresh, I could complete it in perhaps 26 minutes.

Warm up before the park-O and a warm down run with Alex (and initially Clem).