Training Log Archive: peterk

Last day of the Oceania Champs - unfortunately for a mass start - I hate mass starts. INteresting but very steep open terrain. My body was telling me this was the last event I wanted to do for a while. Initially a farce with every one following every one else. Some legs I tried to contour but climb seemed to be unavoidable. Oxygen deprived clear thinking goes out the window. Aproaching 10 I cannot find my control. I do a number of circuits and relocations. I am not the only one looking but others just pass through. 20min down I finally realise that an unfotunate positioning of the control number has convinced me that my control 10 was in fact my earlier control 1. I had some sympathy for the remaining people so I told them the solution. A bugger of a way to finish a carnival.

Finished the carnival ninth overall, better than I would have expected with no running training

Event 7 - Course 6 - Splits

Excellent middle distance event with very technical legs. Very enjoyable despite two errors. One a basic error on a stump on the side of a hill. Did not set up an attack point and lost 5m after a relocation. The other was a route choice error. Finished 7th again which I am happy with.

Event 2 6 - Splits

Oceania Long Course 6

Given 1:15,000 maps - so hard to read in the dark forest and aging eye sight. Early controls relatively easy then to 5. This initially was a dead flat run to two bad options crossing a very deep and vegetation covered ravine. I only saw one option on a track (fortunately it turned out to be the best option) which was extremly steep and all I could think of was how sore I was going to be tomorrow. Next few legs were straight forward except for the incessant steep climbs. 7 to 8 another gully crossing with the track the only realistict option. 8-9 a dead leg across paddocks which every one had to follow. Minor mistakes towards the end due to the brain deprived of oxygen.

The course was described as torture by one of the runners on my course and I would have to agree. Not one of the best maps around.

7th in the age group. The best result so far. The GPS log is incomplete due to only starting it on the way to the 2nd control.

Long Champs - 6 - Splits

1:4,000 map looked like a 1:10,000 map and everything seemed to come very fast. Some of the best orienteers overshot the first control. Early controls were on tracks in the bush and strait forward, followed by technical detail around a school. Multiple levels and stairs made this later part of the course tricky. No major errors just slow descision making. 9th in the class.

To and from event

Sprint Champs - C5b - Splits

Very technical map. Only one significant error when I missread the green and white both of which corresponded to pine trees. Finished 15th and reasonably happy with the effort.

Middle Champs C 6b - Splits

Oceania Champs Day2
Much better technical map today. Took it carefully and slowly. Lost contact with the map on the long leg to 3. I had run far enough and nothing fitted ( I was too far to the right) so immediately headed west to the track. On the way so somebody dive into behind a mound 50m to the left. It looked a bit like a feature I was looking for and fortunately it was my control (loss of only 2m. It could have been a lot worse. Really complicated terrain covered by very branchy pine trees. Easy to go astray here so took it slowly. Very different terrain to what we are use dto in WA. Finish 14 in age group and40th on the course.
Could have done better.

Event 2 C 6 - Splits

Event: 2013 Oceania Carnival & WC Races
 

Day 1 of Oceania Challenge

Rounded sand dunes and pine forests. 2.5m contours. Some features difficult to read. Still no excuse for drifting left on the first control. As always some features did not fit. I lost 2m work out where I got it wrong. Next few controls were spot on using the straight line aproach confirmed by features near the straight line. The far western side of the map was technical with low visibility. I had 3 controls in this area. The first two I aproached slowly and was glad to hit them bang on the third control Idrifted too far right and missed it entirely. I found a control on someone elses course but could not work out which of the many knolls it was situated. Eventually I hit a moter bike track and knew instantly where I was. I lost 5-6m here. The rest was uneventful but slow. Overall not bad.

Breifly I though I was in Europe when a Finnish lady asked me where she was. Why was she doing orienteering when she was standing in the middle of a major track and adjacent fence with features either side of the track?

Event 1 C 6 - Splits

Loop walk to Dawson Falls in Taranaki National Park