Orienteering race (US Champs Red 1) 1:53:24 [4] *** 8.7 km (13:02 / km) +130m 12:08 / km
spiked:5/10c shoes: 340 ORoc 2010
Running trails has made me soft. The soft and often wet ground underfoot was really tough to run for me. Also I haven't run on a 1:15,000 scale map in a long while and my old eyes have a real tough time reading the fine detail. Generally had to come to a complete stop numerous times during a leg to remove glasses and consult map.
Never found trail headed towards #2 but got there without too much time lost. Was a bit low on #3, but hit trail and bounced back pretty quickly. Got off to the R on #4 and wandered down the spur to the N before figuring out that it went on too long- still struggling with scale issues. #6 was pretty straightforward but a slow jog up the hill. Missed #7 a tad low and wound up searching a reentrant a bit further W. #8 was a long, slow leg, couldn't match up stone walls at all (same area Anna failed to find orange #4) and was uncertain of my position once out on dirt road. Even at a complete stop studying the map I wasn't 100% confident. Struck off into the woods at a cautious pace and eventually hit the control without searching, but was a very hesitant, uncertain approach. Straightline but slow to #9, then bailed to road to go around to the last control. No major booms, but terrain speed and ability to read a 15k map contributed to a very slow overall pace and finished well down the list.