Training Log Archive: jennycas

Took the Beechworth O map - and Blair - through town, around the gorge loop road and back to Lake Sambell caravan park. Was really beautiful going down past all the native pines and mossy rock slabs (although my shins felt the effects of the descent afterwards) and not too bad coming back up the hill on a fresh morning. Afterwards my ambitions of visiting the bakery and Woolshed falls were fulfilled, so I felt like a proper tourist, and Mt Buffalo (where we encountered the extended Arthur clan) was deemed to be en route to Wagga.

Rowdy Flat
Despite the pre-event hype, this turned out to be fairly similar to other intricate goldmining areas, and therefore equally enjoyable - although the branched erosions/watercourses were in a more complex network than usual. 'Twasn't a good day for cramps, however, and I struggled/was distracted accordingly.

My bearing to the first control suddenly found me on top of a breadknife - quick scramble down the other side :) Ran too far downhill on 3 and looked in the wrong side gully, Jo went through me here. Hesitant to 5, track route to 6, okay plod through the spectator loop and to 14 which some people had trouble with, then across to 15 got confused about how many ridges-with-MTB-tracks I had crossed and, when I caught a glimpse of Susanne running along one of them to the fence (so I think she had caught me 6 min by then), decided to do the same. Overshot 17 on the downhill although I had crossed the creek very near to it, came back a couple min later. Wombled a bit on 18 and then unmapped rocks in the creek at the control confused me (I am easily confused) and finished in time to see a bit of the GPS tracking on the big screen and before the bottom dropped out of the sky.

15th turned out to be the best I achieved all week, which is not saying much, but was very excited for Sus with her second place!

Event: Oceania Long & Middle Distance Champs
 

Starting 3rd-last in a long race in the Warbys at 1pm on a rainy afternoon more suited to June than October wasn't really my idea of a good time as it would be a long time until lunch, and although WMOC had taught me plenty about waiting around when the entire day is taken up with orienteering and the getting to/from thereof, wearing a GPS unit was an entirely new experience and one which made me rather jittery.

Started out slowly and sensibly but that only lasted about 2 controls and then I remembered about my 'extra bra' and got distracted just long enough to veer in the wrong direction crossing the track to 3. Corrected okay and went cautiously down the rock slabs to the correct little gully but thought I was above the control when I was actually less than 5m below (didn't spot it because of foggy glasses), and came back to punch a minute later. Long leg to 7 was okay, very slow up the hill through the rubble, then really cautious in to the circle. Overshot 8 (on a bearing and a prayer) but when things didn't seem right I slowed down, looked behind me across the clearing and saw the control - good save. Basically, every time I couldn't see to read the map, I made a mistake - the next was on 10 where coming down the hill I couldn't make the little gullies fit and the bare rock to the south seemed closer than it was.

Still, was feeling okay (if slow) running-wise but could feel an attack of the vague-and-hungries coming on. Disaster struck in the same place it did two years ago, coming over the ridge above the spectator/radio control. I crossed the minor track right by twin/split boulders* and a tree with a blue blaze on it, headed NW across the saddle and ended up in completely the wrong spot, unable to make anything fit. Somewhere between 6 & 8 min later I decided that the blur of the commentary was definitely coming at me from too far south, so I headed south in search of the control.

Final loop was okay, took a poor down/up route across the hill/valley, Tash caught me here - first person I'd run with all day - but got away from me towards the end, by which time I was very glad to see the finish. Really, it was a great course and a good physical challenge but I made close to 12 min of mistakes, which is definitely not cool. Probably the hardest I've had to concentrate all year, plus my brain was otherwise preoccupied.

*In hindsight, I think that these rocks aren't mapped at all but that in both 2009 and 2011 I have mistaken them for a pair of boulders marked near, but not on, the track - about 150m south of where I actually was.

Course 3 - Splits

Didn't leave work until the time I was meant to be at Belair so met Zara at her place and we went for a run through the park with Callum. It was a lovely chance to catch up and we are both (independently) looking forward to a week of not being at work!

Between the rain showers, some of which were rather heavy, judging by the amount of water flowing past the pool (in Brownhill Creek) . Unley Council has gone high-tech, with swipe cards and a sensor-operated turnstile, but I kind of miss the books where you could tear out a ticket and know how many were left. As for the swim, first since May some time, it was pretty good and I felt much fresher than last night.

Pretty tired this morning, but my head was much clearer by the end. Hot-and-cold patches along the creek were weird. NO DAM signs are gradually propagating.

River run through Hackney: suspension bridge, playground (where the slippery dip is new and un-slippery) and back to the uni footbridge so we could try to make it bounce - but we only got the cadence right for about 2 steps - with Fern, Tyson, Bridget, Eric, Robin, Mel, Aiden, James. I was very weary but the stops to play on things were fun.