Training Log Archive: PG

86-44-2-39, just before the bike ride. The usual brisk walk.

Bike ride with Ali, Alex, and Phil before a party here. Totally wasted afterwards, despite getting a respite partway when Ali got a flat. Sat in a chair when we got back and didn't move for about 10 minutes, then drank about 4 glasses of water/juice.

And that got me back in the real world enough to enjoy a fabulous meal and great company. Count your blessings.

C • Taken out of context... 3

Back to see the surgeon for a two-week check-up. A good visit, at least in terms of dealing with my anxieties. The first of which was the sizable bump where the surgery was done. I had been told that there would be a small bump, that this was one of the disadvantages of being "so thin," that there wasn't a lot of fat to hide it. But the bump was a good bit larger than I expected. Which, of course, led to all sorts of anxieties about something being wrong.

But she thought things looked just fine. And said the bump will gradually decrease in size over the next 6 months, though maybe not go away completely. But that I can live with.

And my next anxiety, that the mesh put in was metal to some extent, which can cause other problems (MRIs, for one), but it issome sort of poly-something, i.e. plastic. Good.

And as far as exercise, she said after 6 weeks I could do anything. Right now, I could do most things, just not be doing stuff too vigorously that stressed the belly. Like a lot of sit-ups or crunches. Which I don't do anyway. Or a hard workout on a Stairmaster. Which I don't do anyway. Or a hard effort standing on the bike going uphill. Which I am happy to pass on for a while.

So I guess it's time to start some running and get back on the bike. And start reminding the heart and the lungs what exercise is like.

And start thinking about events to target this fall.

Long day. From Litchfield to NYC for most of the day. In the process of selling mom's apartment in the city (fortunately there was an immediate buyer), so dealing with the stuff in it, or more to the point, dealing with family relationships. But actually a very productive day, got everything pretty much allocated without much in the way of hard feelings, at least that I was aware of. Still have to make another trip down there to pick up some stuff that wouldn't fit in the car this time, but that should be it.

And also, before we left, set in motion the process for another staff change at mom's house. Hate doing this, but the priority is how well mom's needs are being met, and at some point minor dissatisfactions turn into major dissatisfactions, also the realization that things despite your best efforts are likely to get worse. And so time for a change.

It is all a process that I wish I didn't have to deal with. But I do. And so then it is just a matter of reminding myself, do the best you can. And no regrets.

Got the bike out. Seemed to be OK, still a little soreness but don't think I'm doing any harm.

We have a very modest garden. After a couple of very tentative tries in prior years, where the only winners were the deer, last year was a great success -- thinking that we would be safe from the deer, we moved the operation to the deck and started four cherry tomato plants. They thrived, the deer stayed away, all was good in the world.

Version two, this year, expanded a bit of course, with a pot of basil (thriving), a couple of pots of sugar snaps peas (close to worthless, just a couple of meals), and a couple of pots of beets. Again the four tomato plants. They thrived, flowers and then tomatoes soon appeared, tomatoes ripened, tomatoes disappeared. Hey, that wasn't supposed to happen.

A bit of careful observation revealed that the evil-doers were sweet little chipmunks. Though they were no longer such cute little animals. Especially since their preference was for tomatoes just starting to ripen. Which meant that the score as far as who was getting to eat the tomatoes was: chipmunks -- all; us -- none.

We couldn't whack them. We didn't really like the idea of getting a gun, not that we could have hit them anyway. It was rather annoying.

So we went with plan C, construct a fortress. Got a roll of fencing, put up the first 4' section, which obviously was completely worthless as a defense. Put up a second 4' section (the plants were about 6' high), plus a roof, got that done a couple of evenings ago, and went to bed knowing that we had won.

Woke up the next morning to find two chipmunks inside the "fortress." WTF. They'd gotten in through a small gap where the roof wasn't tight against the house. Took some effort but got them out. Fixed the gap. It's now been 24 hours and it seems to be chipmunk-proof, because tomatoes are ripening.

We also went with plan D, trap them. Got a trap, set it with apples as bait, known to be irresistible to chipmunks. Which is true. Now I just have to figure out how to set the trap so it springs when the chipmunks come in to feed. So still more to figure out.

Things like this happen when you have too much time on your hands. I need to start getting some more serious exercise.

And when the final numbers are added up, these will be the most expensive tomatoes we've ever had. By far.

Note: for the past couple of weeks we have be hosting Ali's garden (also in pots) -- tomatoes, cukes, zucchini, peppers, basil, mint, thyme, parsley. I'm relieved to report that the chipmunks were smart enough not to mess with her stuff. They most have heard about her skills with an ax.

The pots have gone back to Ali's, and the deck is looking a little bare.

C • Cat Food 38

On Greenfield ridge, my usual running spot in the winter, turned out to be a very nice walking place too. Even in the light rain.

And then went and hit a few balls, and played three holes, and took some full swings, and didn't seem like i did any damage. And even hit the ball pretty well. :-)

Generally getting better, not so sore. But hard to know how much to push things, or not to push things.

A couple of good Fresh Air segments, though not that recent (maybe a month old?). One with Jeff Daniels about the HBO series The Newsroom, interesting even though I seem to like Teri least when she has her liberalism on full display. The other with former baseball pitcher Bob Ojeda about pitching through pain. One of those interviews that you wish went on even longer. And the subject applies to all sports, O' certainly included.

South Sugarloaf (14:37, 13:47) after way too long in a dentist's chair.

C • orienteering/South Sugarloaf 3

On South Mountain Road in Northfield (incidentally one of the steep paved roads in the area, a good test to get up it on a bike -- did it once, was switchbacking at one point).

Plus a couple hours working on my short game.

C • The Yellow Brick Road 1

Up and down South Sugarloaf (15:27, 14:21), then a detour to get some corn, then though a little more would be useful, so partway up and down North Sugarloaf (15:46, 13:41). Walking progressively quicker at the end as the thunderstorm was about to hit, got to the car just as it started pouring, perfect timing.

Tried a few steps jogging, but seemed a little too soon for that.

Another walk up south Sugarloaf, getting a little less pathetic each time. 17:15 up, 15:45 down.

Then stopped to pick up my bike -- I figured this was a good time to get a bunch of maintenance done that is beyond my abilities to do -- and rode it home, very very carefully. 8:00.

And then walked back to the bike shop to get my car. 19:50, a little over a mile.

Slow improvement.

Stopped on the way home for Litchfield for a very pleasant visit with Charlie, chatting about ailments and parents. Having friends is a really good thing.

And then stopped at GeorgeLyn's to harvest some tomatoes (with permission), since anything ripe now would rot long before they are back. Yummy.

A little better, still some swelling and still hurts but the redness has pretty much disappeared so concerns about infection have abated.

Another walk up South Sugarloaf, not quite as slow -- felt like 80 years old instead of 90 :-) -- plus it was cooler. Reasonable pleasant outing, whereas yesterday just felt like a struggle. 20:35 up, 17:45 down.

Listening to a Freakonomics podcast "Legacy of a Jerk." Mostly interesting (i.e. thought provoking). Sometimes it's a lot easier to listen to something light and amusing (such as Car Talk or Wait Wait Don't Tell Me), but it almost always feels better afterwards if I've listened to something more serious.

First part of LoaJ was about obituaries, and how one usually is reluctant to speak ill of the dead (or in the case of legacy.com, forbidden, half of their 120 employees are occupied screening posts for derogatory comments). But then there are still some obituaries that aren't all gushing, including one that said in part -- "She was a terrible mother and a horrendous mother-in-law."

Got me wondering what I might eventually do for my mom.

C • legacy 18

Slightly less "sore, bloated, constipated, and generally out of sorts" than yesterday, which I suppose is progress. Went for a walk up South Sugarloaf, very slow trying to be careful, and even that was wearing me out. It's going to be a long time getting back in shape.

23:15 up, 21:10 down. Warm day, but there was shade most of the time.

A very slow walk. Other than being sore, bloated, constipated, and generally out of sorts, I suppose I am feeling great!

C • Walking 1

Hernia surgery this morning. Still alive. :-)

Pretty sore right now. Would be nice if the pain pills kicked in a little more. Not that I can't deal with it if they don't.

So will have to manage the recovery sensibly. And start thinking about what events lie out there in the future to provide the motivation for some training (as it gradually becomes allowed).

But for the time being, glad to have it done. Problem was slowly getting worse, and putting it off didn't seem like a rational option.

C • good job! 16

Very nice trip up to northern Vermont yesterday to visit Mike Fritz. A round of golf was on the agenda, of course, and we were joined by Chuck Fergusen, former USOF president among other things. Chuck was in northern Vermont spending a couple of weeks along with Mal Harding training the USA team to the CIOR competition (for reserve officers from NATO countries, various events including shooting, running, swimming, and a miss-mash of orienteering), which is in Denmark later this summer. Chuck and Mal have been doing this for years, even though the military support for the program has been shrinking, and the last time it was our turn to host (2003 or 2004?), we were in the midst of invading Iraq and NATO relations were a bit frosty and the event just never happened.

But a very pleasant discussion about the history.

And also a discussion about a book about orienteering (a how-to book) that Chuck is writing. This idea got started when Human Kinetics, a publisher of various books about various sports, approached what was then USOF and proposed such a book. And Chuck offered to write it. There have been some ups and downs along the way -- a draft or two or three have been done, various copy editors have done their thing, there was a point at which it seemed like the project might be dropped, but right now they are shooting for a publication date of next March. OUSA will get the lion's share of the royalties (Chuck will get a pittance), which is great for the federation. And as for Chuck, well, he is such a nice guy, and a teacher by profession, so he seems totally happy with the deal too. As long as the book eventually comes out.

So this was pretty cool. On a trip to play a little golf, I learned a bunch about a couple of O' things I knew next to nothing about.

In the midst of this we did our thing on the golf course, playing at Mike's home course in Barre. Just to make things clear, Mike is a very good golfer, clearly the best of the three of us. I am a mid-level hacker, sometimes quite good, sometimes quite awful, with an ability to hit all the shots, just never knowing which one is coming next. And Chuck, well, Chuck can hit the ball a long ways, but he too is directionally challenged, plus he has issues with making contact with the ball anywhere close to the center of the club head.

We headed off. Mike, a proper host, found it a bit difficult to concentrate on his game because he kept having to try to keep track of where in the woods or long grass Chuck's ball (and occasionally mine) had disappeared to. Chuck's game, well, it's been said that the game gets boring if you always hit it straight, and watching Chuck was definitely not boring. Mike commented at one point that he had never seen anyone hit it as deep into the woods as Chuck did. But, again, Chuck is such a good guy, a cuss here and there as to be expected, but mainly a bunch of laughing.

And me? I played pretty well, except for one major psychological meltdown which I feel obliged to report here, perhaps with the hope that part of dealing better with such things in the future is acknowledging the problem.

We walked off the ninth green, headed for the tenth tee, and noticed that the group in front of us was just arriving at the tee, having detoured to the bathrooms or, more likely, the bar. So we had a few minutes to wait. There was a single player behind us whom Mike knew, and Mike suggested it might be nice to ask if he wanted to join us. Was that OK with us?

And I found myself thinking, Why would we want to do that, we're having a good time now, what's to be gained? But also a little bit thinking, sure, why not. And then saying, Sure, fine with me.

So he came and joined us, and right away I just had this strong feeling that I wish it was still just the three of us. But what's done is done.

And then we hit off the 10th, and Chuck hits a ground ball and I hit one deep in the woods to the right. And my morale was just plummeting. And over the 10 or 15 minutes it took to play the hole, I got progressively angrier at myself for how I was reacting -- I really really wanted to go hide in a closet, or something similar, anything to get out of the current situation. I was just losing it.

This has happened before. Not too often, no connection with golf in the past, just there have been times I would get into situations I didn't like and I'd have a really hard time dealing with it. And usually all I wanted to do was go hide.

So after what seemed an eternity I walked off the 10th green, having recorded a well-deserved 9 in the process after a series of horrendous shots -- golf being just one of many things that are hard to do well if your brain is fried. And I walked off by myself and ask myself, Is there any possibility you can show some maturity here? Because this behavior is ridiculous. And the prospect of acting like that, and playing golf like that, for 8 more holes was rather unappealing. Calm down, behave yourself, stop being such a jerk, keep your head down, and don't swing so hard.

And within 10 minutes, or perhaps even 5, my morale, having hit probably a low for this year, was climbing sharply. I'm not sure if the better attitude led to better golf swings, or better golf swings led to better attitude -- the mind/body connection in sports is well documented -- but by the time we walked off the 11th I was enjoying life, chatting pleasantly with our new companion, and thinking, That was one, just seven more pars to break 80 (one can dream).

And the rest of the round was lots of fun.

I don't know why such meltdowns happen. They certainly happen much less than they used to, and I certainly am better at recovering than I used to be. They are embarrassing. It would be nice to think that at some point I would be able to deal with such things with more maturity.

But there were certainly times in the past, when confronted with such a meltdown, that 24 hours later I still would be trying to pull out of it. Fifteen minutes of misery is a lot better than 24 hours (or more). I guess I should be thankful for the progress there has been.

81-42-2-35.

C • You're my hero... 11

Stopped on the way home, 80-43-2-37, short course, lots of good shots but two deep in the woods. I just enjoy trying to hit the ball really hard.... :-)

A few thoughts on today's long qualifying for the women --

Very happy for Sam. I think it would have been hard to swallow, given all the work she has done (and she has definitely gotten better in the process), if she had once again ended up just on the outside looking in. Now she gets another chance at the final. And this was certainly a big improvement from her struggles last year at the long qualifier in France.

And this time it was Ali on the outside looking in. She had just about the same time as Sam, and as it happened gets almost the same WRE points from her run, but the cutoff time was two minutes lower in Ali's class. Such things happen, sometimes you benefit, sometimes you lose out. It looks from Ali's splits like there were a couple of errors, maybe a minute each, in the middle of her course. At the end, she was 53 seconds too slow. Both she and Sam are clearly good enough if they orienteer well, but the margin for errors is still pretty small.

Alex also missed out. Don't know yet how she feels about her run. But the numbers tell me one thing, and that is that it was a huge improvement over her run in the long qual in France last year. This year 8 minutes from qualifying, 19 behind the winner. Last year 13 minutes from qualifying, 34 behind the winner. Different terrain to be sure, but still a big improvement.

Overall, I'd hope, and I'm pretty sure it's the case, that there is a huge psychological plus for our team for having at least one qualifier. If you are a team, and not just a collection of individuals, then success of one becomes success of all. As I said, I hope and I think that is the case.

And it certainly is the case for the rest of us, able to celebrate Sam today, and knowing that the long final on Thursday has suddenly become much more interesting.

C • yup! 1

Late afternoon ride with Phil after a quick trip to Litchfield. Quite good fun, certainly a good workout, and also a reminder of the usual with him. Meaning, he is slightly stronger on the bike, maybe one mph faster, and he knows it and I know it, and he enjoys it, and there's nothing I can do about. So I sit on his tail when I dare. Or slowly fall behind and then maybe bust my ass to catch up, or maybe he waits for me, scornful look and all. :-)

Sweated quite profusely.

And I think the fastest ride of the season for me.

I suppose it is a really positive thing that, despite Ali's 20th place in the WOC sprint today, best ever for the USA at WOC, there is a little bit of disappointment. Because it seemed like there was the possibility of an even better placing.

I say this with nothing but the greatest admiration for her.

She is still pretty new on the international scene, missing the years of experience at the top level of her competitors, so there is absolutely nothing wrong with 20th. In the back of my mind, as I'm sure in others, there was always the possibility she wouldn't qualify for the final. When she passed that hurdle so brilliantly, 3rd in her heat, perhaps that led one to think of possibilities like what Emily did at JWOC.

There is an old saying about how the will to win is nothing without the will to train. Ali certainly has done the training. She understands what it takes to succeed. I have no doubt that better and better results lie in the not-so-distant future.

The other bit of disappointment is for Sam. How many times has she finished one place on the wrong side of qualifying at World and European Champs? Three times in Japan, I think, and then here and there over the years. She too has put in the work. She deserves better luck. Hopefully tomorrow that better luck will show up.

C • Thoughts 4

83-41-2-33.

Longer ride up in the hills to the west. Just trying to get it done, relaxed pace, where "relaxed" means slow. Pretty tired, 90 degrees was definitely noticeable, as was sore butt the last 25 miles. Might need a day or two off the bike.

Plus the early morning walk, 82-40-1-31.

Keeping my fingers crossed for the WOC team tomorrow in Lausanne.

Tried out the loop I suggested for Gail in Whately and South Deerfield. Seemed fine, and the birds are chirping.

And 84-39-0-30 very early and quickly this morning, done by 9:30.

Headed up into the hills a bit for the first time this season. Warm day, about 90, feeling a little depleted by the end. And, now that I think about it, not much zip in general.

And 85-38-0-30 early this morning.

Weight not as bad as I feared, just up a pound, despite eating everything I looked at on the trip. Still figure it's best to restart the program, as I feel better without the extra bag or two of sugar strapped to my middle.

And got a short blurb in the local paper about WMOC, very easy, just send them something already written. :-)

Scheduled surgery for next Wednesday. It's not an emergency, but I figure things will just continue to get worse, so why not fix it (hopefully!) before it gets bad.

And no, I'm not just being competitive with Phil to see who's more of a basket case. :-)

C • No contest 5

Short late afternoon ride to Montague, very pleasant, worked up a good sweat.

And 85-37-0-30 early this morning.

First bike ride in a while. River Road - Old Deerfield loop. NW breeze. Didn't feel too zippy but time wasn't awful.

Heading home (now in the Frankfurt airport). Excellent trip. Let's count the ways --

1. Probably the main reason we actually went was an e-mail from Sandy in January asking if we wanted to share a house she had rented for the 9 nights. Sounded good, the price was excellent (about $75 a night for the three of us), and she had done all the arrangements, so we said yes.

And it was great in all respects.

2. The company. Decided we could share a car with Sandy too, so coordinated our arrivals in Frankfurt. So we basically were a family of three, and it was excellent. Couldn't have had a better traveling companion.

3. The company, bigger picture. A fine group from the USA in town, which we'd see every day at the event sites. Plus we had two parties in the evening, where the vibes were very good. Plus dinner the last night with Charlie/Rhonda and Dennis/Louise.

4. The orienteering -- terrain and courses. I really enjoyed both sprints, even though I wouldn't have minded if they had been trickier, but sometimes the terrain doesn't allow that. I didn't care much for LQ1. LQ2 was OK, except for high vegetation in a few places. And the LF, the one that counts, was really good.

5. My own orienteering. Hard to complain. Pretty much met my expectations/hopes. Could have done a little bit better, but also a lot worse. And made it through without any injuries, which these days is not a trivial matter.

Hope to go to one if these again, and if it was just like this one, that would be just fine.

---------------

Next O' event of significance on the schedule is the NAOC in October. Need to come up with some activities to keep me busy in the meantime. I'd like to get back into doing some lounger outings in the hills, both running and biking. But first I most likely have a hernia issue that needs attention, so I'm not making plans just yet. Right now just glad that issue survived this trip without getting worse.

--------------

I spent a bit of time during the trip trying to report on what the gang was doing, just because I thought it should be done. It's nice to get feedback from ones at home when you over here; conversely, it's nice when you're home to hear how folks are doing over here, more than just seeing the results.

Always enjoy the feedback, mostly from the regulars on AP. And always amazed -- I guess the better word is "appalled" -- by the lack of involvement, which I presume means lack of interest, by our ED. He seems to be in another universe.

C • Thanks for the write up 27

Almost home (at mom's for the night), pretty uneventful getting back, which is always nice. Good rogaine training I suppose, because in a couple of hours I will have been up for 24.

On the same plane with Greg, Vadim, and Angelica. Nice to catch up a bit with them. And I was reminded that there is one other world championships coming up, WRC (rogaine), end of August in Czech Republic, to which Greg and Vadim are going, plus I'd guess some other USA teams. Good for them.

C • Greg and Vadim are the powers that DVOA deploys to subdue the world 1

My route from the final.

C • #1 8

WMOC Long final. 14th.

Not sure how to rate this one. It was a good bit from perfect, two bad controls including being an idiot on the first control, and I'm not sure about a couple of routes. But I pushed harder than I've been pushing in recent times, especially the last 10 minutes uphill, picking up a couple of places in the process, and somehow that is very satisfying. And I did some really good orienteering in a lot of places.

Could have been top-ten. Could also very easily have been 10 or 20 places worse.

So I'll rate it a success.

My course from today. Only real problem was 8, everything in the area was thick, bounced off the road (I was too far left), found it with the help of the tower.

At many of the controls, especially in the last half of the course, there were lots of people around. Certainly helped find some of the depressions (where the controls were always down in them).

The strangest place was #4. Very crappy getting to the clearing. It was long grass. waist to chest-high, with ditches every 10 or 15 meters. My control was in a ditch out in the middle, and I looked out, and there was not a soul in sight. Very weird feeling. Spiked it anyway, judged my position based on the woods to the south. But also walked most of it, not for safe navigation but because the tall grass and rough ground was hard going, and then every little bit dropping down to cross a wet ditch. Very glad when I got back in the woods.

C • depressions 11

WMOC Long qualifying, day 2.

Much better in all regards. Orienteered well, put out a good effort, didn't miss anything of much significance, just one shaky leg/control, but salvaged it.

4th on the day, moved me up to 7th for the two days, so I will start in the middle of the A final. Would have preferred a little later, but after yesterday this was about the best I could have hoped for.

Strange that, in retrospect, I wasn't the least bit nervous. Well, maybe a little before the start, but that's normal. What I'm thinking about is during the run, the nervousness that can get you doing bad things, making bad decisions, worrying endlessly instead of just doing what you are supposed to. Today it seemed like I was always in control.

And also it was hard work. Lots of summer vegetation is a few parts of the map, certainly a day when a late start would have been better, but I was on the early side. Not a hot day, 70F at most, but humid, dew point in the mid-60s. Sweating a lot, dripping wet when I finished. The fact that I ran hard the last few controls may also have had something to do with it.

So mission accomplished.

Though for Saturday and the final I am less optimistic, just feeling I am not running fast enough. Feels like a top-10 would be a real stretch, even top-20 would take some doing. I guess the proper response is just to orienteer well and see what happens. Nothing more I can do.

And at least I'm in the A final. Have never missed one, and really wasn't looking forward to starting now.

Today's map (with M65-5 course), also a larger version.

C • Rock pinnacles 2

WMOC Long qualifying day 1.

Fortunately this is a two-day operation, so I still have possibilities to make the A final, but I'll have to do a lot better than today -- no final results yet, but I expect to be someplace in the high teens. And only 14 make the A final.

Not a good run at all. Very shaky from the start, then lost what I'm guessing is 5 minutes on the 3rd. Then a few OK, a small miss on 8, but at most 30 seconds. Then bad route execution to 9, another minute or two The rest OK. Left me 7 or 8 minutes off the best. And not particularly pleased. But not totally bummed because a good run tomorrow can salvage things to some extent.

But I had best do a lot better tomorrow.

Here's the model map from today.

My Sprint Final route is on Route Gadget

Splits are on WinSplits -- Sprint qual, Sprint final.

Out on the model map for the Long. Mostly walking, some running towards the end, but only when it was downhill. Feeling very lethargic, and glad I wasn't racing today.

Model map would be ranked about 0.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 as far as interesting terrain. But when it's all you have, it's all you have. I'm assuming it will follow the general law of model maps -- that they always suck, because (1) the organizers use the best areas for the competition, the worst areas for the models, (2) you're in no hurry, so you spend your time trashing the map, and (3) you're not in a competitive frame of mind, so crappy terrain just looks crappy.

I expect the next days to be better. And hope I have at least reasonable legs.

C • Model 6

My course from today's sprint final. #7 is mostly lost in the glare, but it's there.

And my route from the sprint qualifying is on RouteGadget.

WMOC sprint final, M65A.

Ended up 9th. And pretty happy with that, given that --

-- I've not had the best year running, a couple of accidents set me back quite a bit compared to mid-winter.
-- I'm getting to be an old man in my age group (68), and at this point in life, each year makes more and more difference.
-- I had a good run. I don't know if it was my best possible, but I'm not sitting around afterwards playing the "would've, should've, could've" game. I'm sure I could have done a little better, you almost always can, but I really ran just as I hoped. Basically, at this point in this competition, I'm just too slow. So be it. In so many things in life all you really hope for is to do the best you can, and from that point of view, today was certainly a success.

And actually, when I finished and heard the best time was 90 seconds faster, I figured I might end up 15th or 20th. So 9th was a very nice surprise. And right where I had set my expectations/hopes.

Unlike other WMOC's I've been to, and there haven't been that many, maybe 6 or 7 over 30 years including when it was the WVC, this one gives you a second chance, since there are now two races, a sprint and a "long." So I have the same process ahead of me, except this time two qualifying races. Need to get through those decently -- "decently" means in the A final (top 14 in my heat), ideally in the top 8 or so to get a start in the latter part of the field. And then try again in the final. Sitting here right now, another 9th place would be just fine.

But before all that, tomorrow is a visit to a model area for the long. And maybe a bit of sightseeing.

C • Sightseeing 5

C • 9th 2

Event: WMOC 2012
 

Today's course (M65, heat 1). Not the best photo, maybe better later.

C • sprint symbols? 4

Sprint qualifying at WMOC. Very nervous, felt like I was orienteering a bit like a chicken with its head cut off, but accomplished the goal of making the A final. Needed to be in the top 14 out of about 70, think I was third. Felt like I left some time out there (30-60 seconds?), but part of that was just being extra careful to not get trapped, nor skip any controls, nor go out of bounds, nor mispunch. Successful on all counts.

Tomorrow will have to be a little quicker, but I think the focus still should be on being clean and letting the running take care of itself. At least that's been the plan for several months now, and no reason to change.

Not sure who else made A finals -- almost certainly Sergey V, Pavlina, Sharon. Quite possibly Jeff, Dennis. Not sure about others. Joe mispunched, totally bummed.