Training Log Archive: FernWerm

Despite my quads being in agony I still went out on course and what a mistake! I stuffed number 1, drifting right on my bearing through the vague mallee and thinking the erosion where my control was was the creek further to the left. So I searched in the form-lines to the right before working out my mistake, taking 8 minutes on a 2 minute leg. Then I was super hesitant and generally just not getting into the map for the next few before having a massive 27 minute blow out on an 11 minute leg from 6-7. Haven't had a whopper like this for a while! I was in oxygen debt at the top of the hill and got confused which creek I was following. I was expecting to drop into a star-shaped creek system and as my luck would have it there were two star-shaped creek systems - one about 300m SW of the one I wanted. So when I couldn't make things match up I just stalled. I couldn't work out where I was, there was no one else around, and I just stood there - tired and over it! Eventually I figured I might be south of the control, climbed north over the spur and low and behold there were people everywhere. I hated orienteering in that moment. So I got the next few controls before deciding that Patrick would be waiting for me as Tyson was due to go out on course soon, so I skipped 12&13 and got my last 3 controls on the way back in. Just as well, because Fiona Morcombe who was kindly looking after Paddy, had a very screamy baby on her hands.

That night my legs were so sore I couldn't walk down stairs and I got a fever and a sore throat. Yay.

However, this meant that I didn't go out to the event on the last day because I was really sick which turned out to be a good thing as it was raining and freezing cold - I don't think Paddy would have had much fun.