Training Log Archive: kensai

Event: Irish Orienteering Championships
 

Made the mistake of running without my orthotics. Slight sprain of L ankle about half-way.

I thought the planner did a good job with what is a very well-worn area. The courses tried to emphasise route choice and I don't remember running anything very similar there before.

Heather was high enough to slow running pace in a few places but overall fairly runable. Gaiters not needed.

I was motoring well until number 5. This area has caused me problems before and I've always felt that section is not properly mapped. On the map the large marsh should be a huge obvious feature. The reality on the ground is quite different with the marsh only visible when you are standing in it. Q: Can you map a feature if you can only see it when you are standing on it? It's not even that marshy when you are standing on it. Talking with JMcC at the finish he agreed that the area around 5 could do with some changes. I suspect that the base map goes back to the original version of the map and probably would benefit from a modern photo plot. There certainly seems to be more detail in the contours than is shown. There are also very distinct veg. changes between large areas of heather and areas which are completely clear which ideally should be mapped. My mistake at 5 cost me about 10 minutes which is my biggest mistake for a long time.

No major problems with the rest of the controls although I was slow on 14 through being too cautious. Number 9 seemed a bit strange in retrospect. I distinctly remember running 50 m or so after leaving the control before crossing the ditch so I wonder if it was in the right place (or maybe another problem with the map) but since you could see the control almost from the previous one I didn't actually do any navigating to it.

Weather: Dry, overcast, 10 C, no wind. O-gear. Single top.