Orienteering race 2:37:01 [4] *** 13.5 km (11:38 / km) +300m 10:28 / km
spiked:26/30c shoes: Salomon XA Pro 3D (2006, black
Possum Trot X at Heartland Conference. Not a good run, but fun. The bad:
- Wanted to get to 1 ahead of the major crush for the punch, so ran hard and got there in the first few. That kept me from seeing the group that wisely decided to skip #2. I didn't see 2 as an option until after a couple more controls where I had the chance to slow down and check the whole loop.
- Steven G and I messed up going to 2, then I messed up going to 3 and fell well into the middle of the pack. Not the plan I wanted to go with this year. Went safe and easy to 4 and 5 to settle down and get into the map.
- I easily could have been 10 minutes faster with spikes on instead of trail shoes. Had to kick steps mountaineeing-style going up at least one spur.
The good:
- Kept energy level up the whole race. GU in the sleeve worked as anticipated.
- From about #6 on my navigation and route choice was pretty good.
- Ran back and forth with Steven G for a fair amount of the race.
Forgot to take splits. I would have been happier with a 2:15 finish, with any less (from drafting on the lead pack) being bonus.