Training Log Archive: lorrieq

Needed rest. Had enough energy for a bit of tennis!

Loong and tough walk to start

Saved the best for last. I went out and took the first two controls to warm up. After that I had a really steady pace that I could navigate at and keep up for the race.
Hit every control really well except for 11. Missed just under a minute here. Got stuck in some gorse and couldn't tell where the control would be coming into it.
But this was probably one of my best races ever technically. Very confident throughout the course.

Routes

Roll on France

A bit of jogging and then string course.

Day 6: 44 - Splits

My foot was sore after yesterday. There's some bruising on the side of the foot, hurts with every step. Shouldn't take too long to pass over.
This kept distracting me but I wasn't up for racing today. Like Cillín, I just wasn't enjoying it. It was very rough and wet. Made mistakes aswell as being slow.
Missed 4 minutes to 1, no plan and no concentration. More focusing on how sore the foot was in the terrain :P
Made a mistake on 3. Too lazy and not up for reading great detail. It took me close to a minute to properly analyse the map.
Lost 3 minutes on 4 as the map was wrong. It was open on the map but in forest on the ground. Very obvious mistake by the organisers.
The next few went well but awfully slow.
Missed 40 seconds to 13 by not making out the hills on the ground with high ferns covering them.
14 was a disaster. Must have missed over 3 minutes. It was way further down than I expected but then I wasn't reading the map very intently.
No problems for the rest exept struggling to run. I'm sure it wouldn't have been much faster even with a healthy foot. Just couldn't run with sinking or slipping etc.
Was orienteering like days 1-3 again. Getting flustered and annoyed. Enough of that!!
Tomorrow - Run as fast as you can navigate.

Routes

Day 5: 44 - Splits

Better run today. I was struggling physically after about the first half, mainly on the hills of which I had to walk the majority.
To 1 I got into the area nicely but didn't read enough detail in the circle and climbed too much.
2-4 were fine. Picked routes and executed them.
To 5 I dropped too low, not reading the detail correctly on the way. Hit the bottom of the wall and had a bit of a climb up.
It was all good to 18 but from 9 onwards I was walking a lot.
To 19 I did a proper mistake unfortunately. I got to the cliff even though I was uncertain going through the opens. But I didnt see the flag through the trees! Moved around and eventually relocated off the cliff above. Came back down and got the control!
To 20, I was caught by some guy who was top 6 on the first day. Ran with him to this. He was very steady but nothing special, just a bit stronger.
Hurt my foot and made a small mistake to 21 so couldn't overly push the last easy part.
Finally sprinted the run in! I'll have to check the times tonight.
11th today! Happy as this race was nothing special but not a disaster!

With Jonathan

Day 4: 44 - Splits

All of my maps with routes are going up on my Facebook every afternoon. It's the best I can do using just my phone!

Sprint race on the rest day. It was a great event with different terrain types and an excellent map. The course was also fun with 26 controls in 2.9km, it suited the area.
Did a good race, physically and technically. Probably missed optimum routes to 1 and 13. Also had small mistakes to 8, 10 and 20 but nothing more than ten seconds.

Sprint: Long - Splits

Did something I have never done before in an orienteering race. I took the wrong map! I read the order on a sign when waiting to go and ran off grabbing the 'correct' map and was off to 1. I got there well, running a lot of the uphill leg. Spiked it nicely but the code didn't match my control descriptions on my arm. What?! I started to relocate but I was sure I was right. After a bit I considered whether there was a mistake with the course but many others had finished it earlier in the day. The control on the map was in a re-entrant and my descriptions said saddle. This is when I thought maybe I had taken the wrong map. Checked it and my stomach sunk as I saw 'M21S'. Started heading back to the start... Later turned out I was right but the sign at start was different to the actual order of maps on the ground. Cillin noticed this but had the foresight to actually check the course numbers on the map bags. Fault by the organisers, what can you do?
So I arrived back at the start after 13.30 minutes. Chucked the map on the ground and grabbed my correct one. Was ready to start my course minus some energy and I had to do the climb at the start all over again. It was kind of funny at the time. Kind of.
Number 1-3 went well. Steady pace and good map contact. Just what I was looking for heading into the race.
Missed 5 minutes to 4 though. Got pulled by an elephant track and didn't use the compass and headed off 90 degrees wrong. Didn't cop it for ages even with the massive open. This was bad on my part.
For the next few controls I was happy with how I put this mistake behind me. Back to steady pace and good map contact all the way to 10.
Not sure about my route to 11. I think straight would have been better. At 10 I saw 77 minutes was still in reach. Simon Bradbury had set this time earlier in the day. I really wanted to beat it, would have been funny given the circumstances. But this haste, made me miss some time to 11 and 12. About 2 minutes in total. Ran well for the rest.
Once again enjoyable despite another poor run :) That's what I want though! Obviously my worst result all week but my best performance minus the start! Easily fixable mistakes. Find I'm kind of getting back into orienteering well after the break since EYOC. Need more :D

Day 3: 44 - Splits

Unfortunately went worse than yesterday. 
Started well to 1 and 2 but 3 was a disaster. Just not taking enough detail off the map.
Ran fine for the next few but two consecutive mistakes on 8 and 9. And they were big. Not concentrating etc.
From there I gave myself a talking to. Told myself to run at a speed I could navigate at and read the map with greater detail. Turned out this works and I spiked the rest at good speed. Need to do more of the same tomorrow. It needs to be me and the map and nothing else.
Like the way the Scottish gives so many chances. At the moment I'm almost just working stuff out having not orienteered a lot recently

Day 2: 44 - Splits

Event: Scottish 6 Days Oban 2011
 

At the start my lungs were feeling tight. Not used to running recently. But the chafing on the side of my foot felt good.
Started well but probably a bit fast. Spiked the first three with good flow.
To 4 I made a mistake somewhere between 2-3 minutes. I left the control wrong and even with warning signs in my head about an overly shallow re-entrant I still continued up the hill to the east! At the top I checked my compass and realised. What a fool!
5 and 6 went well but there was a dodgy bit of mapping to 6.
To 7 I made another and bigger mistake. Thought I was looking for a spur in rough open land. So kept thinking I would just see it. Spent 5 minutes wandering before I realised it was in the trees and then quickly got to it. Again, what a fool!
The rest went well but I was slow and not really competing with my laces undone. Stupid as the field was generally slow too, obviously minus the top guys.
Aim of top 10 for the week! Need to just cut out the mistakes and ignore this pain on my foot! Had fun though

Need to be warming down. Wasn't so loose so don't want to stiffen up further

Day 1: 44 - Splits