Training Log Archive: blIn the 7 days ending Jul 29, 2011:
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| « | » |
| » now | ||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
| ||||||||
| Sa | Su | Mo | Tu | We | Th | Fr | |||||||
Friday Jul 29, 2011 #
11 AM
Orienteering race 48:00 5.57 km (8:37 / km) +88m 7:59 / km
Day 5, started 29th, 3 in the 47th minute. Didn’t think I’d have to concern myself much with chasing/being chased. Goal was to be accurate, get around the course w/o trouble. If a fellow competitor was of help, great - but couldn’t be sure who was who. It was fun to see the top few with their new #’s - creme de la creme. Misunderstood the call-up, heard my name 2’ before I expected but was right there, 8’ away on the ground, minimizing vertical posture.
QR
1. Fellow ahead of me started just 7” ahead. He was slower getting away fm start triangle so no one around. Went thru sl grn to RF, more grn, along next grn, saw 2 bldrs, woods opened, went to marsh.
2. St, reading everything - hard to see reent just W of RF.
3. Gravitated S to avoid climb/detail. Tried to get W, too. Crossed more E than I might have expected. Did not figure out big fm small PL symbols. Counted refresh stations but goal was to go to end of path/last station. Then up ride to corner of sandy lanes - saw bldr, too but not sure of the blk circle - may have been a trim O point.
4. easy, actually a few to follow in good vis
5. Just get to path I’d been on - count refresh stations but then just go to last one & up carefully. Was on spur inside N edge of circle - went SE to RF - thot I saw a runner punching - but no - so bk to spur, get SOD - pass thru twin RFs to S of it & then go to marsh - should have gone in front of RFs - 50”?
6. Long RC leg - a bit to R of line - mucked thru 20m of very wet marsh (8”) - then into rough open to corner & across to path & around to field, follow the flow & up hillside carefully - runners ahead but did not know where they might be going. Was getting green, stopped short, lost maybe 30” - was unsure re pushing on but did & cp was there. Another way: after marsh, maybe lv rough open to port, over hill in woods, over second hill just R of line in wht woods, along veg boundary to E end first fld...?
7. Yucky leg in the sense of what was underfoot - brashings, Scottish crap! Well, the crap of most any cut forest. Yucked along straight, finally the 2 bldrs by the RO & to control .
8, Compass line to cp.
9. Did not continue N (should have) - went behind houses, then onto rd. was letting others do the leading, could hear finish, probably lost some time by not assessing for myself. No one in my lane in chute.
Started 29, ended up 31 - day’s results not posted...only total 5 day. 48’ for 4.3 seems somewhat mediocre but I’d guess it was better than 30th. Very little mistake time - but fell 2-3x!
Learned a lot over the 5 days - survived w/o evident exacerbation of anything. Had a sore R gt MTP jt on way to start but it was ok on the run. Maybe sore again in the am. Ice is a rare find at these meets. It would take some campaigning to realize potential here or elsewhere in Europe for that matter. This visit is a mini-campaign: 2-1-3-1-3-1-3 --- in 14 days, 11 races, 3 rest days (the “1s”). Sad to leave (for a brief while) but time to move on, too. At train station, asked a young lady who got on bus at O-Ringen stop, which train track was correct. She pointed it out - maybe 60 people waiting for train - 5 or more cars, lots of seats. Coincidentally, she had the seat next to me - several hundred possibilities. She was a D18, generally pleased w/ her week but not today. Did not care for a 305...”increased stress”.... Ryan, the Kiwi H18, was 18th today, pleased with his runs. He did not make NZ JWOC team. He's going to France for the WOC public event.
QR
1. Fellow ahead of me started just 7” ahead. He was slower getting away fm start triangle so no one around. Went thru sl grn to RF, more grn, along next grn, saw 2 bldrs, woods opened, went to marsh.
2. St, reading everything - hard to see reent just W of RF.
3. Gravitated S to avoid climb/detail. Tried to get W, too. Crossed more E than I might have expected. Did not figure out big fm small PL symbols. Counted refresh stations but goal was to go to end of path/last station. Then up ride to corner of sandy lanes - saw bldr, too but not sure of the blk circle - may have been a trim O point.
4. easy, actually a few to follow in good vis
5. Just get to path I’d been on - count refresh stations but then just go to last one & up carefully. Was on spur inside N edge of circle - went SE to RF - thot I saw a runner punching - but no - so bk to spur, get SOD - pass thru twin RFs to S of it & then go to marsh - should have gone in front of RFs - 50”?
6. Long RC leg - a bit to R of line - mucked thru 20m of very wet marsh (8”) - then into rough open to corner & across to path & around to field, follow the flow & up hillside carefully - runners ahead but did not know where they might be going. Was getting green, stopped short, lost maybe 30” - was unsure re pushing on but did & cp was there. Another way: after marsh, maybe lv rough open to port, over hill in woods, over second hill just R of line in wht woods, along veg boundary to E end first fld...?
7. Yucky leg in the sense of what was underfoot - brashings, Scottish crap! Well, the crap of most any cut forest. Yucked along straight, finally the 2 bldrs by the RO & to control .
8, Compass line to cp.
9. Did not continue N (should have) - went behind houses, then onto rd. was letting others do the leading, could hear finish, probably lost some time by not assessing for myself. No one in my lane in chute.
Started 29, ended up 31 - day’s results not posted...only total 5 day. 48’ for 4.3 seems somewhat mediocre but I’d guess it was better than 30th. Very little mistake time - but fell 2-3x!
Learned a lot over the 5 days - survived w/o evident exacerbation of anything. Had a sore R gt MTP jt on way to start but it was ok on the run. Maybe sore again in the am. Ice is a rare find at these meets. It would take some campaigning to realize potential here or elsewhere in Europe for that matter. This visit is a mini-campaign: 2-1-3-1-3-1-3 --- in 14 days, 11 races, 3 rest days (the “1s”). Sad to leave (for a brief while) but time to move on, too. At train station, asked a young lady who got on bus at O-Ringen stop, which train track was correct. She pointed it out - maybe 60 people waiting for train - 5 or more cars, lots of seats. Coincidentally, she had the seat next to me - several hundred possibilities. She was a D18, generally pleased w/ her week but not today. Did not care for a 305...”increased stress”.... Ryan, the Kiwi H18, was 18th today, pleased with his runs. He did not make NZ JWOC team. He's going to France for the WOC public event.
Thursday Jul 28, 2011 #
1 PM
Orienteering race 25:48 1.82 mi (14:11 / mi) +32m 13:26 / mi
Day 4, tidy little map, easy to handle size-wise. Good run, nearly free of mistakes. Late starter but still a lot of activity at start as well as everywhere. Slowly increasing expectations since I have not exacerbated anything. I can feel a slight achiness in the hamstring but certainly not discouraging - now, 4 days under the belt. No ice to be found from that point of view. Had no goal other than to do my best, stay focussed etc. Ended up 16th.
QR
1. easy enough but.... Saw the bldr (w/ control) - then grn as well as rocks - things got a little funky - went over a RF which has to be the one on line 55% of way, now crossing broad white area - see 2 bldrs in terrain but not on map. Should have dismissed as 2 dot knolls but did not (had had some distraction/LOC loss of concentration - maybe 1' before - to do with the 305 - so sl baffled. Saw a lg RF straight ahead, reasoned (?) if it weren't mine, go beyond. It was where, direction-wise, I was supposed to be going. Got right up close, a cp, #112, mine - another good seat-of-pants start!
2. st W, dot knolls hard to read but could see RFs/black symbols, lv to port, get on top, spot bldr, take careful bearing, into reent to cp
3. Focussing better - could see lg cliffs, leave to left, depart at big bldr just N of eastmost part of cliff. NW by reent, yellow knoll onto open area on spur, careful bearing, runners ahead, ck for what I'm looking for - reent - down a bit, it's there.
4. Worst control - simple down the 3 RFs along the knoll into reent. Well, to much down, see 2 bldrs, spot them on map, take a bearing up & drop into reent w/o too much damage. 45"?
5. N to line, then little path to W off SVT til nearly on top of spur. Then up to height - could not figure out reent, got to top, looked wrong way...hmm..out of corner of eye to R, a ruuner leaving, a splash of the right color - 15"
6. st, hard to keep contact but spotted little yellow knoll 65% way to R of line. Down tiny reent, see bldr/cp.
7.Down thru bad footing, R on ride& across, looking for knoll (now see dep) - anyway, keep to compass. See height across slash grn, up, right by reent halfway, just E of grn spot. Careful bearing, to gp of 4 bldrs, and then more care to cp - could see bldr just beyond - got nr it, looked right to cp.
8.NE thru grn to path, to bldg, to blue ditch to lake shore.
Long, hot run in - some wasted distance, could have thrown in another cp. 14th when I looked.
Felt good about this except for 4. Nearly an A, A+ swim in lake immed. following. So few adults in the water...kides, kids, kids.
String O reward...
Itsy bitsy spur
QR
1. easy enough but.... Saw the bldr (w/ control) - then grn as well as rocks - things got a little funky - went over a RF which has to be the one on line 55% of way, now crossing broad white area - see 2 bldrs in terrain but not on map. Should have dismissed as 2 dot knolls but did not (had had some distraction/LOC loss of concentration - maybe 1' before - to do with the 305 - so sl baffled. Saw a lg RF straight ahead, reasoned (?) if it weren't mine, go beyond. It was where, direction-wise, I was supposed to be going. Got right up close, a cp, #112, mine - another good seat-of-pants start!
2. st W, dot knolls hard to read but could see RFs/black symbols, lv to port, get on top, spot bldr, take careful bearing, into reent to cp
3. Focussing better - could see lg cliffs, leave to left, depart at big bldr just N of eastmost part of cliff. NW by reent, yellow knoll onto open area on spur, careful bearing, runners ahead, ck for what I'm looking for - reent - down a bit, it's there.
4. Worst control - simple down the 3 RFs along the knoll into reent. Well, to much down, see 2 bldrs, spot them on map, take a bearing up & drop into reent w/o too much damage. 45"?
5. N to line, then little path to W off SVT til nearly on top of spur. Then up to height - could not figure out reent, got to top, looked wrong way...hmm..out of corner of eye to R, a ruuner leaving, a splash of the right color - 15"
6. st, hard to keep contact but spotted little yellow knoll 65% way to R of line. Down tiny reent, see bldr/cp.
7.Down thru bad footing, R on ride& across, looking for knoll (now see dep) - anyway, keep to compass. See height across slash grn, up, right by reent halfway, just E of grn spot. Careful bearing, to gp of 4 bldrs, and then more care to cp - could see bldr just beyond - got nr it, looked right to cp.
8.NE thru grn to path, to bldg, to blue ditch to lake shore.
Long, hot run in - some wasted distance, could have thrown in another cp. 14th when I looked.
Felt good about this except for 4. Nearly an A, A+ swim in lake immed. following. So few adults in the water...kides, kids, kids.
String O reward...
Itsy bitsy spur
5 PM
Note
Blither
One more day! Where did time go? Wonder that when I look at 3 to 93 y/o's chasing controls here as well. WMOCs start at 35, here it starts in the cradle I'm willing to guess, something about the nipple on the bottle etc to stimulate control seeking.
Have not used gaitors which are not missed: too hot and not so likely to get a karate kick to the shins here...such is reserved for US woods...? Have to wear full length O pants. Backpacks with built-in seats are mighty helpful. I don't have one and occasionally go to considerable lengths to find a suitable place to sit - likely requiring shade, too. Yesterday, I plopped down on a small bank of green grass - noted some sl burn L outside thigh - figured it was some green plant. Got up to investigate ankle taping, came back, sat in same place, more of same but this time req'd ID...lots of ants not pleased with my sitting on them. Happened once in Scotland as well. The little buggers can pack a bite. EO Wilson or similar ant expert posited that ant biomass is of such size that it's about non-believable.
Can't figure out if ITI (ilial-ischial inflammation) gets some beneficial massage fm a hard bike seat or gets irritated. Maybe depends on how long a session is. No changes either way noted.
With thousands of like-minded, decent people here, it's interesting to see how they move about playing by the rules of "engagement" - everywhere. AM & PM ablutions are interesting. Scandanavians, of the O breed anyway, brush their teeth most thoroughly. Watched a dad brush his 4-5 y/o daughter's teeth early this am. All these people, male/female, young/old meeting at the trough or in front of nearby loo for just-woke-up or time-for-bed activity w/o much eye contact, conversation etc. Where else can one see so many healthy, active people in one place, ie, total village?
Took some discreet string O photos of little kids & parents (recalling PGs Ireland experience). Thought of Halloween when both little kids & big kids come to the door for treats.
Was nice to have Kiwi neighbors. Owen ran in M55, his son, Ryan, M20. Ryan's twin brother was here at Mohed at the last O-Ringen 5 years ago. Owen left today to return a car to a friend 3 hrs west. He'll meet up with Ryan in Chamonix - both expecting/hoping to climb the Matterhorn. He has a Kiwi friend who guides there and has guided on Everest several times. Ryan's having a long summer in Europe between HS & university. I recall similar long summers stole in one fashion or another...when life was less complicated. Sailed across the Atlantic in '78, went to the Swiss 5 days and showed up at Chamonix hoping to climb the Matterhorn. Was too strung out re activites, needed a guide etc, spent the night at the Hornli hut & left. We had sailing, O & climbing to talk about.
Gave the right ankle two near-gives by stepping in the smallest of holes or some silly angle. Twice - but for something fortunate - it could have resulted in a puffy, need-to-rest-it ankle. Lucky. After the second time yesterday, went to the med tent but could see they were not the right place for prevention. They had fees posted as well - to see doctor, RN or physiotherapist. Made do with cellophane tape. Today I have the Swedish brace in place.
What of broken compasses? What if one falls, hand-outstretched, compass in palm, breaks on hard surface....having come thousands of miles for the satisfaction of finding all the (expensive) controls in best manner possible. Maybe I should not be leaving my spare compass in the tent. I broke a Silva ty 5 in Scotland 2 years ago - less than 3 hrs use (only 2 more cp's to find & open terrain), some 80lbs - brought it with me along w/ several other broken compasses hoping I'll find that kind of O business person who can fix or find someone who can.
One more day! Where did time go? Wonder that when I look at 3 to 93 y/o's chasing controls here as well. WMOCs start at 35, here it starts in the cradle I'm willing to guess, something about the nipple on the bottle etc to stimulate control seeking.
Have not used gaitors which are not missed: too hot and not so likely to get a karate kick to the shins here...such is reserved for US woods...? Have to wear full length O pants. Backpacks with built-in seats are mighty helpful. I don't have one and occasionally go to considerable lengths to find a suitable place to sit - likely requiring shade, too. Yesterday, I plopped down on a small bank of green grass - noted some sl burn L outside thigh - figured it was some green plant. Got up to investigate ankle taping, came back, sat in same place, more of same but this time req'd ID...lots of ants not pleased with my sitting on them. Happened once in Scotland as well. The little buggers can pack a bite. EO Wilson or similar ant expert posited that ant biomass is of such size that it's about non-believable.
Can't figure out if ITI (ilial-ischial inflammation) gets some beneficial massage fm a hard bike seat or gets irritated. Maybe depends on how long a session is. No changes either way noted.
With thousands of like-minded, decent people here, it's interesting to see how they move about playing by the rules of "engagement" - everywhere. AM & PM ablutions are interesting. Scandanavians, of the O breed anyway, brush their teeth most thoroughly. Watched a dad brush his 4-5 y/o daughter's teeth early this am. All these people, male/female, young/old meeting at the trough or in front of nearby loo for just-woke-up or time-for-bed activity w/o much eye contact, conversation etc. Where else can one see so many healthy, active people in one place, ie, total village?
Took some discreet string O photos of little kids & parents (recalling PGs Ireland experience). Thought of Halloween when both little kids & big kids come to the door for treats.
Was nice to have Kiwi neighbors. Owen ran in M55, his son, Ryan, M20. Ryan's twin brother was here at Mohed at the last O-Ringen 5 years ago. Owen left today to return a car to a friend 3 hrs west. He'll meet up with Ryan in Chamonix - both expecting/hoping to climb the Matterhorn. He has a Kiwi friend who guides there and has guided on Everest several times. Ryan's having a long summer in Europe between HS & university. I recall similar long summers stole in one fashion or another...when life was less complicated. Sailed across the Atlantic in '78, went to the Swiss 5 days and showed up at Chamonix hoping to climb the Matterhorn. Was too strung out re activites, needed a guide etc, spent the night at the Hornli hut & left. We had sailing, O & climbing to talk about.
Gave the right ankle two near-gives by stepping in the smallest of holes or some silly angle. Twice - but for something fortunate - it could have resulted in a puffy, need-to-rest-it ankle. Lucky. After the second time yesterday, went to the med tent but could see they were not the right place for prevention. They had fees posted as well - to see doctor, RN or physiotherapist. Made do with cellophane tape. Today I have the Swedish brace in place.
What of broken compasses? What if one falls, hand-outstretched, compass in palm, breaks on hard surface....having come thousands of miles for the satisfaction of finding all the (expensive) controls in best manner possible. Maybe I should not be leaving my spare compass in the tent. I broke a Silva ty 5 in Scotland 2 years ago - less than 3 hrs use (only 2 more cp's to find & open terrain), some 80lbs - brought it with me along w/ several other broken compasses hoping I'll find that kind of O business person who can fix or find someone who can.
Wednesday Jul 27, 2011 #
12 PM
Orienteering race 50:57 5.27 km (9:41 / km) +66m 9:06 / km
QR if it isn't too dark.
1. Turned map over, no easy solution! After wondered about trail to right but how awfully boring it would have been - and can’t believe faster. Saw no simplification - came upon features but which? Just kept plodding, up & lots of stony ground, seemingly everywhere. Finally, in indisputable patch of same, looked at map & knew where I was - 350m out & guessing! Not good. Still did not get a grip but had big cliff (75m to L of rhumb 65% way along) in mind & believe I could see ahead. Had to be it, right? Terrain began matching map (as I saw it) - more SG, cluster of RF’s which I still could not single out - but, finally, saw spur/RF/bldr 90m fm control on line - then rocky knoll and no problem, mon. Except I got there by the seat of my pants.
2. St, right over L hand yellow knoll, then read other knolls ok but stopped short on wrong spur 50m to north. Couldn’t make the veg boundary work, circled, lost a minute or so, saw a similar-aged runner come near and go in reasonable direction - with authority - took a gander & was rewarded. Spur was tiny, hard for me to figure out on map. Not sure how the detail will show up on quasi-crinckled map.
3. was good, st, read everything - have a tendency to think I’ve gone far enough but haven’t. Here, green patch w/ boulder triangles was duly noted, then some green blocking visibility...just keep going, Bob - voila....
4. worst control; after yellow knoll to NW, couldn’t tune in - saw path but then rockiness w/o names. Reasoned the control was between 2 highest points so went direct to top of hill w/o paying much attention. Got there - on W knoll but didn’t say “Ahah, west knoll, head east old man” - instead played some other tune in my head until a runner “was over there” to my benefit. Not good!
5. Good leg, read all. Passed S of cluster of black 55-60% way there. Read way to curved path which I took to pt just SE of paired bldrs - then oh so carefully. Went right to it but wondered as vis closed in, what bad outcome might befall me.
6. ever so careful st S - after all, don’t blow it now....Noted tiny bldr triangle 50m to N - went in expecting it to be there - which it was.
7. easy
8. oops, followed trail thinking was going between 2 patches of OOB but seems passed between big bldg and smaller bldgs immed to WSW - that’s why I was on the blk road etc - not clear at time. L on hard top to T - NW thru fields, but bailed out to trail leaving W field where it ends at little stream. Then to jct due N & in, expecting it to be there.
9. To OOB house & along edge - big animal trail out back, followed to where the competitor tr divided in two, went R to control
10. went with the flow
Blithers
From finish right to lake swim, not 50 m away - that was A+.
Nice conversation in bus sitting next to an M18 that I started (was not too pleased with his 55’ for 7.5k). We had fun looking at his 1/15 map - even he commented on small symbol size & suggested a magnifier! In his circle 3, there were about 5 small, black thingies near the circle center.
Advantage to being early? Cooler, can concentrate?
Advantage to being late: animal tracks there for the using if one can keep out of trouble; when one finishes & looks at results, it's increasingly likely to be pretty much it
Day 5 finish taking shape
My old soldier bike in the grass at bus parking - after "Where have all the flowers gone"
1. Turned map over, no easy solution! After wondered about trail to right but how awfully boring it would have been - and can’t believe faster. Saw no simplification - came upon features but which? Just kept plodding, up & lots of stony ground, seemingly everywhere. Finally, in indisputable patch of same, looked at map & knew where I was - 350m out & guessing! Not good. Still did not get a grip but had big cliff (75m to L of rhumb 65% way along) in mind & believe I could see ahead. Had to be it, right? Terrain began matching map (as I saw it) - more SG, cluster of RF’s which I still could not single out - but, finally, saw spur/RF/bldr 90m fm control on line - then rocky knoll and no problem, mon. Except I got there by the seat of my pants.
2. St, right over L hand yellow knoll, then read other knolls ok but stopped short on wrong spur 50m to north. Couldn’t make the veg boundary work, circled, lost a minute or so, saw a similar-aged runner come near and go in reasonable direction - with authority - took a gander & was rewarded. Spur was tiny, hard for me to figure out on map. Not sure how the detail will show up on quasi-crinckled map.
3. was good, st, read everything - have a tendency to think I’ve gone far enough but haven’t. Here, green patch w/ boulder triangles was duly noted, then some green blocking visibility...just keep going, Bob - voila....
4. worst control; after yellow knoll to NW, couldn’t tune in - saw path but then rockiness w/o names. Reasoned the control was between 2 highest points so went direct to top of hill w/o paying much attention. Got there - on W knoll but didn’t say “Ahah, west knoll, head east old man” - instead played some other tune in my head until a runner “was over there” to my benefit. Not good!
5. Good leg, read all. Passed S of cluster of black 55-60% way there. Read way to curved path which I took to pt just SE of paired bldrs - then oh so carefully. Went right to it but wondered as vis closed in, what bad outcome might befall me.
6. ever so careful st S - after all, don’t blow it now....Noted tiny bldr triangle 50m to N - went in expecting it to be there - which it was.
7. easy
8. oops, followed trail thinking was going between 2 patches of OOB but seems passed between big bldg and smaller bldgs immed to WSW - that’s why I was on the blk road etc - not clear at time. L on hard top to T - NW thru fields, but bailed out to trail leaving W field where it ends at little stream. Then to jct due N & in, expecting it to be there.
9. To OOB house & along edge - big animal trail out back, followed to where the competitor tr divided in two, went R to control
10. went with the flow
Blithers
From finish right to lake swim, not 50 m away - that was A+.
Nice conversation in bus sitting next to an M18 that I started (was not too pleased with his 55’ for 7.5k). We had fun looking at his 1/15 map - even he commented on small symbol size & suggested a magnifier! In his circle 3, there were about 5 small, black thingies near the circle center.
Advantage to being early? Cooler, can concentrate?
Advantage to being late: animal tracks there for the using if one can keep out of trouble; when one finishes & looks at results, it's increasingly likely to be pretty much it
Day 5 finish taking shape
My old soldier bike in the grass at bus parking - after "Where have all the flowers gone"
Tuesday Jul 26, 2011 #
9 AM
Biking 38:20 [2] 6.97 mi (5:30 / mi) +58m 5:22 / mi
Bike to yesterday's forest. Mostly level highway, quite a few biked on the first 2 days. Biking short distances makes me feel young! Have done very little of it in past years. Interesting that the 7 at the end of the ride is where I put bike down and set off to repeat yesterday's leg to #7.
10 AM
Orienteering (map walk) 2:06:06 [1] 3.82 mi (33:01 / mi) +57m 31:33 / mi
Made a course & walked it. An opportunity to look at vegetation, rock features etc. First redid #7 - went right to it, could see at end from about 15m - avenues of view in short, spruce, maybe 50% thick. Lost close to 3.25' on this!! Should have been around 2:20 - was 5:34.
Didn't see anyone - did hear 2 people. Lots of controls in the woods. My last circled point was an actual cp - like a winning lottery ticket. Blueberries plentiful but so were flies & mosquitoes when stopped. The white woods occ had even 200m visibility but contours are generally soft due to vegetation.
Came to the open marsh Degelmyran. Heard a loud, screeching cry - 2 large birds displeased w/ my arrival. Need to QR as had vague feeling I'd convinced myself I was where i wasn't - when I came to this large marsh, was too far west. The uncrossable portion was strange - the whole thing was one open grassy, wet area. Seemed to me the yellow needs to be appreciably larger.
QR Walk
Nature's carpeting
Day 1 Finish
Didn't see anyone - did hear 2 people. Lots of controls in the woods. My last circled point was an actual cp - like a winning lottery ticket. Blueberries plentiful but so were flies & mosquitoes when stopped. The white woods occ had even 200m visibility but contours are generally soft due to vegetation.
Came to the open marsh Degelmyran. Heard a loud, screeching cry - 2 large birds displeased w/ my arrival. Need to QR as had vague feeling I'd convinced myself I was where i wasn't - when I came to this large marsh, was too far west. The uncrossable portion was strange - the whole thing was one open grassy, wet area. Seemed to me the yellow needs to be appreciably larger.
QR Walk
Nature's carpeting
Day 1 Finish
1 PM
Biking 56:13 [2] 8.25 mi (6:49 / mi) +2m 6:49 / mi
Return to tent, even shower area. Stopped at the buffet and bought a fried chicken lunch - good food, all one might care to eat. Tried to take a nap in shade but flies got the best of me. It's a bright, hot day - a Scandanavian summer day as I imagined.
5 PM
Note
Met an 18 y/o Swedish orienteer/exchange student and his parents yesterday. Gustav will be staying with a family in Peterborough, NH beginning mid-August. Needless to say, he wanted to know about orienteering and anything else in the region. I showed him (and parents) distances and links to various possibilities for O and similar activities in NH, Boston area, western MA, even further afield. All of them were pleased to have "An Introduction to New England, 101" short version.
Visited the large, lovely lake to the west. Sat under trees reading "Girl who Played with Fire" - easy to pass time in such a setting...kids laughing/playing at the beach. Was riding along a lakeside path, noisy breathing over taking...an orienteer with a map in his hand doing some small competiton I'm not aware of. A lot going on - hard to keep track of, esp w/o Swedish.
Visited the large, lovely lake to the west. Sat under trees reading "Girl who Played with Fire" - easy to pass time in such a setting...kids laughing/playing at the beach. Was riding along a lakeside path, noisy breathing over taking...an orienteer with a map in his hand doing some small competiton I'm not aware of. A lot going on - hard to keep track of, esp w/o Swedish.
Monday Jul 25, 2011 #
Note
Blither
Hard(est?) things to do here:
1. get around a course w/o a miss
2. have a time that stands its ground over the course of the day
Same arena for days 1&2; ditto for days 3&4. The work involved in setting up one's S/F and all related is orders of magnitude more than we've likely ever done in the US than WOC '93. Day 5 is right at the O village - probably because pragmatism/convenience trumps effort/expense req'd to do otherwise.
Was a minute of silence all over Scandanavia and Iceland today at exactly noon today for the Norwegian tragedy. So, so silently, eeriely strange (thought of snowflakes falling w/o wind)...just footfalls and breathing if one was near chutes.
On confusion, was reading the program on the bus (why not? minimizes confusion). Thought to myself - dates should be on first page which they were but stage 5 was listed as being on 7/30, the day I fly to Scotland. As the blurry vision cleared, I noted it was their print mistake - stage 5
being on the 29th....
My start area encompasses D55-D90 & M65-90. Interesting to look around & note faces/body habitus, imagine prior experience.
Was about dead last on chute time yesterday - reminded myself it wasn't a 5k and I wasn't to cause trouble.
Saw a USA jersey on a runner quite a bit ahead on the trail on the way to start - to far to catch or yell to. Dark, short hair, stocky....
Would now describe a bike as indispensable. Have to pay attention when parking it - at bus stop parking, it's a harder pkng for (re)location than Manchester airport on a dark winter night when one failed to note the space in the first place - 1000 bikes?
Was paying 19kr for a chocolate-covered ice cream pop. The O village market sold me 0.5L of vanilla bean for 15kr - bad habits can be hard to escape. Little hope - in Scotland they have Scotch.
Hard(est?) things to do here:
1. get around a course w/o a miss
2. have a time that stands its ground over the course of the day
Same arena for days 1&2; ditto for days 3&4. The work involved in setting up one's S/F and all related is orders of magnitude more than we've likely ever done in the US than WOC '93. Day 5 is right at the O village - probably because pragmatism/convenience trumps effort/expense req'd to do otherwise.
Was a minute of silence all over Scandanavia and Iceland today at exactly noon today for the Norwegian tragedy. So, so silently, eeriely strange (thought of snowflakes falling w/o wind)...just footfalls and breathing if one was near chutes.
On confusion, was reading the program on the bus (why not? minimizes confusion). Thought to myself - dates should be on first page which they were but stage 5 was listed as being on 7/30, the day I fly to Scotland. As the blurry vision cleared, I noted it was their print mistake - stage 5
being on the 29th....
My start area encompasses D55-D90 & M65-90. Interesting to look around & note faces/body habitus, imagine prior experience.
Was about dead last on chute time yesterday - reminded myself it wasn't a 5k and I wasn't to cause trouble.
Saw a USA jersey on a runner quite a bit ahead on the trail on the way to start - to far to catch or yell to. Dark, short hair, stocky....
Would now describe a bike as indispensable. Have to pay attention when parking it - at bus stop parking, it's a harder pkng for (re)location than Manchester airport on a dark winter night when one failed to note the space in the first place - 1000 bikes?
Was paying 19kr for a chocolate-covered ice cream pop. The O village market sold me 0.5L of vanilla bean for 15kr - bad habits can be hard to escape. Little hope - in Scotland they have Scotch.
10 AM
Orienteering race 47:29 5.42 km (8:45 / km) +48m 8:23 / km
Day 2 Glossbo. Started gray & showery but precipitation never became a problem. This was in the process of being a very good run until #7 - which for all the world looked like a yellow control. Earlier points had been of appropriate difficulty & I’d hit them all. No trips/falls/wrenches. Course did not favor running until the end - found I could move satisfactorily fast w/o apparent exacerbation of anything. Just pop more Alleve & continue to sit on my SAS pillow at every opportunity.
QR.
Not right at 7 - much more circling - almost all the way to both intersections. Not sure of significance of red & blue dots and blue target, latter 2 in particular. Most of this was moved to known points or track but by time 7 came the track was foreshortened & I was tired of the process!
1. st to jct, aim off a little, hit path, knew to turn right, jct there, up path a bit to bldrs, over spur - noted yellow patch, over knoll to cement location, then vague reent, then dep - could see runner punching.
2. hard - straight, saw bldr on spur halfway - then very careful -fairly grn, saw cluster of bldrs & voila - another runner there.
3. st to SVT but lg rough open area where map shows only a patch. Tad confusing - could see bldr at edge of SVT & other runners entering. Started to drift to R - had to remember to focus, not follow. Could see 3 rock faces ahead & forest opening in general. Went along top & then could see knolls.
4. Just lv big cliff to L but got in close & some confusion - still left what i thot was big cliff but it went round the corner to W.... Looked at map, noted this other cliff to N - OK so far - thot CP was a knoll which I could not see - did see a bldr w/ runner punching - ck’d # - it was mine. Lesson: know what you’re looking for....
5. Down the busy, rocky slope - kept in obvious open area til end then into green - had considered marsh as ck pt but decided it would not help - so along side of hill - then the mess of of bldrs - very hard to tell what was what - but knoll was on far side - keep going, voila!
6. St rhumb to intersection but logging made veg reading all but undoable for me. Finally lg rough open area, lots of runners converging, was the (much enlarged/not as mapped) rough open w/ path leading away to major SVT; then right to jct - then W to veg pt. & NW along distinct line (hi pines vs low, new pine growth). Fm west most-corner, using care, went st. Bldr was 1.2m - went the distance - did not see anything - trees were moderately close, maybe 1.6m high. Looked carefully - saw nondescript bldr to my left - could it “hide” a CP. Went there, it was.
7. Trivial looking! Yellow! Big path to jct which was tad over-grown but did have a marker there. Was going to lv fm there - patch of rough open did not exist to my eye - whole area was new growth pine - all less then 2m hi. Finally left path on compass - came to road, no cp, no suggestions from anywhere/anyone/anything. Went R first I think, almost all way to jct - ok, go back, hop in “woods”, run parallel to SVT - nothing but close-together (green) pines making for 15mish vis. Out & toward other jct, turn round, try again. Finally came upon it - luck. Was not vis fm road as I had expected based on yesterday’s experience. I think it was nearly 50m fm road, not 30m. Sigh, best laid plans.
8. Long boring RR to jct by 8 - did not trust woods! Too bad because such runs are so boring. Not sure which was faster. Will take a look at splits. When I realized 8 was up, then down, it was ok
9.Pit on saddle side between 2 knolls - but got there, no pit. Another runner showed up, stood around, went higher - I followed - there it was. Seemed a tad too high.
Must have lost 2.5' total - maybe even 2.5 on the "yellow" #7. Splits will be interesting to note.
QR.
Not right at 7 - much more circling - almost all the way to both intersections. Not sure of significance of red & blue dots and blue target, latter 2 in particular. Most of this was moved to known points or track but by time 7 came the track was foreshortened & I was tired of the process!
1. st to jct, aim off a little, hit path, knew to turn right, jct there, up path a bit to bldrs, over spur - noted yellow patch, over knoll to cement location, then vague reent, then dep - could see runner punching.
2. hard - straight, saw bldr on spur halfway - then very careful -fairly grn, saw cluster of bldrs & voila - another runner there.
3. st to SVT but lg rough open area where map shows only a patch. Tad confusing - could see bldr at edge of SVT & other runners entering. Started to drift to R - had to remember to focus, not follow. Could see 3 rock faces ahead & forest opening in general. Went along top & then could see knolls.
4. Just lv big cliff to L but got in close & some confusion - still left what i thot was big cliff but it went round the corner to W.... Looked at map, noted this other cliff to N - OK so far - thot CP was a knoll which I could not see - did see a bldr w/ runner punching - ck’d # - it was mine. Lesson: know what you’re looking for....
5. Down the busy, rocky slope - kept in obvious open area til end then into green - had considered marsh as ck pt but decided it would not help - so along side of hill - then the mess of of bldrs - very hard to tell what was what - but knoll was on far side - keep going, voila!
6. St rhumb to intersection but logging made veg reading all but undoable for me. Finally lg rough open area, lots of runners converging, was the (much enlarged/not as mapped) rough open w/ path leading away to major SVT; then right to jct - then W to veg pt. & NW along distinct line (hi pines vs low, new pine growth). Fm west most-corner, using care, went st. Bldr was 1.2m - went the distance - did not see anything - trees were moderately close, maybe 1.6m high. Looked carefully - saw nondescript bldr to my left - could it “hide” a CP. Went there, it was.
7. Trivial looking! Yellow! Big path to jct which was tad over-grown but did have a marker there. Was going to lv fm there - patch of rough open did not exist to my eye - whole area was new growth pine - all less then 2m hi. Finally left path on compass - came to road, no cp, no suggestions from anywhere/anyone/anything. Went R first I think, almost all way to jct - ok, go back, hop in “woods”, run parallel to SVT - nothing but close-together (green) pines making for 15mish vis. Out & toward other jct, turn round, try again. Finally came upon it - luck. Was not vis fm road as I had expected based on yesterday’s experience. I think it was nearly 50m fm road, not 30m. Sigh, best laid plans.
8. Long boring RR to jct by 8 - did not trust woods! Too bad because such runs are so boring. Not sure which was faster. Will take a look at splits. When I realized 8 was up, then down, it was ok
9.Pit on saddle side between 2 knolls - but got there, no pit. Another runner showed up, stood around, went higher - I followed - there it was. Seemed a tad too high.
Must have lost 2.5' total - maybe even 2.5 on the "yellow" #7. Splits will be interesting to note.
Sunday Jul 24, 2011 #
9 AM
Orienteering race 42:23 [2] 5.1 km (8:18 / km) +36m 8:01 / km
Goals: to finish all Europe days w/o any injury exacerbation, w/o undue error, w/o MP
Day 1 map named Glossbo, cloudy at start, spitting showers, a few splashes of sun. Want to say good run but looking at course later, easy to see it’s easy. Some O to 3 & 4, 7 & 8. Was accurate enough to all of them, no mistake time (well, except at end running to lady/computer in tent and not punching at end of chute). Am suffering from a confusion theme in spite of having been to large meets before. Asking older people (if that’s all that’s around) might result in only slightly better than 50% satisfaction re what's what. 6 & 7 hard to read right to control but was direct w/ appropriate sense of distance. On several occasions, spotted a control I was able to locate on map. Depressions as in #1 were maybe 18” deep yet visible enough. No trips/wrenchs/falls. Just nipped 10'/k. Under 9'/k, 35-6' with everything working, perhaps. Finished providing the various body parts with nothing to complain about. Decent start in that tomorrow’s start is something to look forward to!
1- straight, seeing control at end of long depression, then 2 paths - changed mind re jct as I could see clearing & it was all so very open
2 - path, thickish in spite of white
3 - road, intended to lv at depression but jct came up quickly
4 - st, came upon/looked for end of ride
5 - thickish again
6 - expected contour change to be more visible
7 - st, did not read everything but was st, confident enough & there was a backup
8 - thought for awhile about how to blow this one - left of rhumb to path curve but opted st - thought the control i saw was in the distinct clearing but apparently not. Could see the land rising & a marker in a pit & then the very lg bldr
9/10 easy
QR shows additional confusion on way to #8...QR fits
Confusions:
epunch clear but no check because the next “check” was the start punch, unbeknownst to me.
find the start - good thing I had nearly 30’ for the one k walk/jog to start. 8 starts (maybe 4 areas) identified by commercial names (w/ same name on bib). I thought mine was “Moderna” after looking. "Moderna" was one of three at the first start complex. Went there, noted H65M but gave M no thought. After a few minutes, I noted the runners were studying their maps before starting! Hmm. Asked one of the staff who said something I did not get but pointed to where my “Sveaskog” start was (had passed it). Started away, came back, indicating the H65 but then the M (“motion”) took on significance & of course the Sveaskog on the bib was not there by accident. Had confusion w/ the 2’ call-up which began at the time on the bib but no problem. Had trouble w/ where the start triangle was but that was easy to to deal with, too. Had trouble with where the start punch was - just after map pick-up point or at the start point/control some 100m away itself? No - it was back at the first point of call-up where a helper checked my epunch # with her list and then indicated to punch “check” or equivalent - that was my start....
There were 8 lanes at finish, finish under Sveaskog which I did ok - don’t recall runner-specific chutes recently. And, since confusion was such a successfully re-occurring theme, why not pass the final punch, go directly to the “get splits” so the finish person could point out that tidy bit of stupidity...I needed to go back 40’ or so, punch & return, maybe 25” lost.
None of these questions will arise tomorrow but there might be others! One bene of being part of a group (or even with, say 2, is that info might be “located” twice as fast - with 4, maybe 4x fast. At some point, though, the info flow would cease and even reverse. Drew the route on map to compare w/ QR where it can be seen.
There is WiFi tho not mentioned in the program. Finding a battery charging solution takes some consideration. There are several outlets in front of mirrors in the camping area - but only 2 nearby. Large distances from tent to anywhere - so much so that I rented a bike.
No end to cute kids
Power in the field
Day 1 map named Glossbo, cloudy at start, spitting showers, a few splashes of sun. Want to say good run but looking at course later, easy to see it’s easy. Some O to 3 & 4, 7 & 8. Was accurate enough to all of them, no mistake time (well, except at end running to lady/computer in tent and not punching at end of chute). Am suffering from a confusion theme in spite of having been to large meets before. Asking older people (if that’s all that’s around) might result in only slightly better than 50% satisfaction re what's what. 6 & 7 hard to read right to control but was direct w/ appropriate sense of distance. On several occasions, spotted a control I was able to locate on map. Depressions as in #1 were maybe 18” deep yet visible enough. No trips/wrenchs/falls. Just nipped 10'/k. Under 9'/k, 35-6' with everything working, perhaps. Finished providing the various body parts with nothing to complain about. Decent start in that tomorrow’s start is something to look forward to!
1- straight, seeing control at end of long depression, then 2 paths - changed mind re jct as I could see clearing & it was all so very open
2 - path, thickish in spite of white
3 - road, intended to lv at depression but jct came up quickly
4 - st, came upon/looked for end of ride
5 - thickish again
6 - expected contour change to be more visible
7 - st, did not read everything but was st, confident enough & there was a backup
8 - thought for awhile about how to blow this one - left of rhumb to path curve but opted st - thought the control i saw was in the distinct clearing but apparently not. Could see the land rising & a marker in a pit & then the very lg bldr
9/10 easy
QR shows additional confusion on way to #8...QR fits
Confusions:
epunch clear but no check because the next “check” was the start punch, unbeknownst to me.
find the start - good thing I had nearly 30’ for the one k walk/jog to start. 8 starts (maybe 4 areas) identified by commercial names (w/ same name on bib). I thought mine was “Moderna” after looking. "Moderna" was one of three at the first start complex. Went there, noted H65M but gave M no thought. After a few minutes, I noted the runners were studying their maps before starting! Hmm. Asked one of the staff who said something I did not get but pointed to where my “Sveaskog” start was (had passed it). Started away, came back, indicating the H65 but then the M (“motion”) took on significance & of course the Sveaskog on the bib was not there by accident. Had confusion w/ the 2’ call-up which began at the time on the bib but no problem. Had trouble w/ where the start triangle was but that was easy to to deal with, too. Had trouble with where the start punch was - just after map pick-up point or at the start point/control some 100m away itself? No - it was back at the first point of call-up where a helper checked my epunch # with her list and then indicated to punch “check” or equivalent - that was my start....
There were 8 lanes at finish, finish under Sveaskog which I did ok - don’t recall runner-specific chutes recently. And, since confusion was such a successfully re-occurring theme, why not pass the final punch, go directly to the “get splits” so the finish person could point out that tidy bit of stupidity...I needed to go back 40’ or so, punch & return, maybe 25” lost.
None of these questions will arise tomorrow but there might be others! One bene of being part of a group (or even with, say 2, is that info might be “located” twice as fast - with 4, maybe 4x fast. At some point, though, the info flow would cease and even reverse. Drew the route on map to compare w/ QR where it can be seen.
There is WiFi tho not mentioned in the program. Finding a battery charging solution takes some consideration. There are several outlets in front of mirrors in the camping area - but only 2 nearby. Large distances from tent to anywhere - so much so that I rented a bike.
No end to cute kids
Power in the field
Saturday Jul 23, 2011 #
Event: Swedish O-Ringen
Note
Arrived*, an accomplishment! Trials of credit card online etc. Fortunately Central Station was close by where a real person sold me a train ticket. Set up tent next to 'native' English-speaking neighbors, a father & son from Dunedin, NZ (south island) - muddy "streets" but dry enough grass. And about 200m from day 5 finish. I'm fairly certain it is the smallest sleeping quarters at all the O-Ringen (photo contest?). Noted at least Neil Dobbs' name as well as one or two others from HVO (?) but no more info. No training aspired to - only aspiration might be an ice cream on a walk about.
*interesting to finally arrive at a place seen from the air by sat photo, read about and finally, voila! - a welcoming sign to the O-Ringen, 30% or so around the world.
*interesting to finally arrive at a place seen from the air by sat photo, read about and finally, voila! - a welcoming sign to the O-Ringen, 30% or so around the world.