Orienteering 1:09:00 [4] 7.82 km (8:49 / km) +205m 7:48 / km
shoes: Shoes w/ Holes
EVENT: TVOC Summer Series sprint event at Hughenden and Downley
COURSE: XY (one long loop instead of two short ones), Z
TERRAIN: The east side of the map is all fields and open area, while the western half has some woods (white with blocks of green). Not too many nettles, although one section has quite a bit of brambles. Overall fun, fast area.
MY RUN: I did the first (long) loop quite well and was with Jon Marsden at the beginning of the second short/easy loop. But then I spent a long time trying to find #2 (which was a gigantic depression). I'm still not sure how I kept missing it. What's more, is while I was looking for it, I kept running through the brambles and since I was wearing an ancient pair of trainers instead of my O-shoes (to let my blisters heal), the thorns actually went through the bottoms and into my feet! So I had to stop three times, take off shoes, and pull the thorns out. Pretty nasty. Anyway, after this control, I was a bit discouraged and felt like everyone was ahead so even though I finished the course cleanly, I wasn't really excited anymore. I also didn't realize that the first loop was actually both X and Y combined into one long course, so when I got back, I asked for another map, was given one, and took about 5 steps before (1) I looked at the map and realized I'd already run this course (2) they yelled at me to stop because I'd already finished all the courses. Hehe.
RESULTS: 15th on the A course.
THOUGHTS: I was having a lot of fun with the first long loop and I had some good flow there and virtually no mistakes. Once I went to the wrong control (the courses were gaffled), but I realized this and found the right one just seconds later, so it wasn't a big deal. In general, I knew which control and feature I was heading to and where I was going. So that felt good. And if it wasn't for that #2 on the second course and the thorns surrounding it, I would have had a very respectable result.