Discussion: I got stuck on a fence...

...and ripped a hole in my jersey when I stupidly tried going through the dog park... if that makes you feel any better.

oh no, not the pink chex! I'm just upset because I knew what the hard legs for me would be for me before the race, and had a game plan going in, butI didn't follow the plan and ended up making the mistakes the plan was supposed to prevent :/

It's no biggie, I think I can mend it. Coincidentally, I just ordered one of the newer club jerseys last week, so I'll have a brand spankin' new one. (Though, I'm more frustrated in the 80-second route choice loss...)

Looking at RouteGadget, it looks like you figured the hard legs were ones traversing the flat marshy areas? What was your game plan? I felt a little less confident in there, too, especially since I chose not to run with a compass today, and that's a really easy area to get disoriented, since the vegetation is spotty out there.

Basically I remembered that middle swampy area being pretty rough and easy to get turned around in. I told myself to be extra careful on any legs through there and follow a clear bearing since there are so many similar features. By the time I got there I hadn't made a single mistake, so I got overconfident and thought I could just head out in the general right direction and re-orient myself near the control. On 9 I went way too far north, and then I overcompensated on 10 by going too far south. I should've just taken the extra 10 seconds to take a bearing and make sure I was going in the right direction. I nailed every single other leg but those two mistakes were big enough that it didn't matter.

Yeah, I've had problems with the take "10 seconds to save 10 minutes" errors before, especially when things are going well leading up to it. I think you'll want to do the same at nationals in some places. Some of the areas have several reentrants and stream junctions and stuff, so it's not that hard to run up the wrong one. In some of the areas with denser trail networks, if you're off a bit on your bearing in the woods and you hit a trail, you might not be hitting the trail you think you are.

I noticed that Tim is doing really well. He won last year in JV, right? And he won on Saturday, so it seems like he's made a good transition from JV to Varsity.

What grade is he in? Will he be a contender with you, Mathew, and Devon this season?