Training Log Archive: bl

Seeds of exhaustion!

either:
the 2 'e's are 2 'eyes'
or:
each 'e' is its own 'eye'

NAOC long, dry, pleasant weather. MP on #9 though so not pleasant in that regard. 305 shows my going near but not near enuf! Conclusion - dropped into the reentrant with 9 in mind from maybe 1' before but the oxygen draught cancelled the thought & focussed on #10 - clueless until after downloading. #4 - rough O most of leg tho wanted better contact. Crossed stream lower than I thought & when unexpected reentrant opened ahead fortunately reconsidered/relocated & minimized loss. #8 - was right behind Jim Henderson who had a tumble on this very short leg - distraction added up. #12 - too far L, recovered (to 9 & 12 were tiring, concentration-challenging climbs) & then proceeded to make a 180 leaving 12 for about 50 secs, mostly down. That hurt psychologically as it was a hard climb to get back in business. Went around on road for 13, tired in the chute & also oblivious of MP.

Long

Long - - Splits

Friday Middle, NAOC, a rainy but pleasantly warm day. When I got the map in hand, I was surprised with how long & narrow it was. Would give this run a B, losing time at 7 & 11 (don't these numbers relate to luck?). Rest were ok. The first leg was "whoa, see how much time you could lose?" So other than plenty of caution, went right to it but never certain even tho looking up for the veg "isle". #7 went right for some reason when woods became white. Persisted in searching in light green until it was clear that was a non-plan with a dismal future. Got in white, went round a bit looking for reentrant landshape & voila. #11, did not now where I was after crossing the open. There was a distinct knoll with a cp but, stupidly, did not take time to pinpoint it. Came upon a cp nr man-made debris & that gave me an AP. #12, cliff top surprised since I had not checked description. At final cp, an adolescent female was literally screaming "don't punch that control" - for an instant, I thought there might have been something fishy. Looked at #, 152, & "non-carefully" punched, uncertain until download. Pissed me off, the yelling from 10' away evidently directed at a friend, tho why not to punch there was not figured out.

305 did not acquire, asked me if I was indoors, thought I was changing to outside but instead I told it "yes" & it never acquired. Often, QR is just fun entertainment & not really revealing. Ran pretty much straight-line, maybe 3.4 k total. Dealt ok with all the wet - in past, I usually went up in steam. Was second when I left, PG sizzled the course under 30'.

Finish chute


Beth & Betsy, two happy campers


Map/route

Middle - BrownB - Splits

Event: 2012 North American Orienteering Championships
 

Nottingcook with dogs, in part looking for RF's "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" for BOS pamphlet. Found that and a butchered deer or moose - hard to tell. Found the Dave's Septic guy frustrated because he could not find the 5 porta-potties he came to get. He stopped where two roads diverged...would have been ok with either. Sent him on his way in a better frame of mind.

Figure 8 on the honest side. Got to point of thin red line. Wondered if i didn't feel chest tightening. Know I felt an earthquake here last eve - shook everything....

Nottingcook brown course from last spring's local meet. Steady pace, worked on map contact which isn't so necessary on the home front. Woods open with most leaves down. Lovely stretches in birch forest sections. Windy day. Pine woods looked impossibly dark as I approached start around 3:45 but it was mostly contrast at work.

Brown - Splits

R&R for the beaten body.

Marcello left for home today. Feel sad about that. He was an extremely hard worker. I don't think he missed a single day from 21 Aug thru yesterday. Occasionally, he packed it in when too much rain. He tells me that are "3030 stones" on the map which must approximate 5 km2. Back to a nice cabin in a mountain meadow in the shadow of the Dolomites. A lover of maps, nature, the woods, orienteering and a minimal consumerist.

Event: NEOC: Boxford
 

Boxford SF, NEOC local. Gray, rain/chill day but stopped for most of meet time. Would give this a B+. Need to be accurate there, still a crappy map - not enough green mapped and lots of rock features that haven't made it to the map ever since the USOC in 1978! Could be remapped well and have another "A"-quality A meet there. Can't recall the hx, but believe there was another A meet there in early 80s. Do recall some of the "Northeaster hits Boxford" day, nothing like that today. Nice chatting with Joanne & Roger on same subject.

E punch & self-tending S/F and good rain cover setup. Just needed a few shafts of sun. Concentrated ok, was careful, easy to get mixed up. Had some vis problems, mainly water coming off tree boughs. Also got distracted when the croakie came untethered & was lost.

Started just before dness and saw him at #2. Not sure if right around was best way for first cp - a long slog into the forest to get acquainted - lost contact with where I was on trail...oops. Got ahead of Dean at #3 which needed some tic lines and a cut circle. Was looking for up when it was down. The 150m coming into #4 was gorgeous fern with colorful marsh behind. The uncross marsh just before #5 extended well to SE & should have been corrected to show that. It did not throw me off, however, as I was paying sufficient att'n. #6 was looking for cp on downslope when it was across reentrant on upslope. Lots of unmapped stony stuff just before #7 About 1/2 way to 7 was another lovely stretch of forest up to the wall. #9 - went to a bldr to L some 40m for a look-see. 5k XC run to finish circle. Saw a 45 & 55' (to be young!), Coach 60+, tp 61+.

Map
#3...
much in need of a tic line at the south end of the wall as well as circle cutting x 2 to show the depression which I considered a knoll top
Route

Saw gas on Rt114 for $3.77 on wrong side of road. Stopped at last station (Mobil) on right before 495 - finally looked up to see $4.19/gal. Across the street was a Wave station selling at $3.89 - needless to say, bought as little as possible. Considered going in to ask why.

Ended up a mild day in Bow. Went to see how scouts left things: not a scrap of paper or styrofoam anywhere and a tidy circle of ashes with some 10 pallets waiting to be taken away.

Green - Splits