Training Log Archive: David_Waller

Gateway Grunt, near Farmington, MO. Very slow -- I though my overall time was around 3 1/2 hours, but two weeks after the event, I checked the SLOC website to find that it was actually closer to 4 1/2.

This was a tale of two races. The first half was pretty fun, with appropriate challanges. My head was in it, and I navigated relatively well. But from about control #25 to the finish, I really bonked. I think that the race was just too long for me. Next year, if the Grunt is >15 K (and if I go) I'll probably opt to do the Runt. I made a lot of really stupid mistakes toward the end, basically veering away from every control and having to come back to it from some catching feature. Super sloppy. I was with Chris Svoboda at control 24 -- he walked the rest of the way in, and still beat me!

But here is what really annoyed me about this race, especially during the second half of it (and I realize that these sentiments come from an over-fatigued and somewhat deranged mental state): with only a couple of minor exceptions, every single leg on this entire course of 35 controls was best navigated along the red line. Here and there, one might choose to veer around some thick vegetation, but the vegetation wasn't really that well-mapped, and pushing through light green wasn't that big of a deal. For the most part, there were basically no real route decisions that were necessary: just line-up your next target, follow the red line, and check-off features along the way. This wasn't entirely an issue with course setting; to some extent, the terrain just didn't support a lot of route options. But I realized how much I appreciate the option to take longer/safer or shorter/challenging options depending on my mental and physical state during a race. I also accept that this is probably a minority opinion within the orienteering community.

The other annoyance about this race was the low turnout; probably only 25 people or so ran it. Much of the fun of the mass start event is the head-to-head competition throughout the race. When 100 people run a goat and you slip behind a pack of runners that is better than you, there is another pack to join. Running major portions of a goat-style event alone is really not as fun as having competitors around throughout.

Event: MVOC - Ceasar Creek West
 

Event: Georgia Navigator Cup 2011
 

Event: Gateway Grunt III
 

A fairly clean run at S-F Scout Ranch in Farmington, MO. I was below 10 min. per kilometer for the first time since sprint season. Some very open forest, with some pretty good and appropriate technical challenges from the course setter, ebuckley. All in all, a pretty enjoyable run on a very good map.

Red - Splits

Field checking at Western/Peffer

Ran fairly hard between controls for about the first hour of field checking.

Trail running at Hueston Woods, taking a few minutes here and there to check a few control locations.

Checking control locations on Western campus