Race Evaluation
West Point: RedX day 2
Nadim
| 1. | I had a start time change. Looking at the time sheet from Day 1 I had gotten confused about what start time they gave me--Peggy straightened me out. I quickly taped-up my left leg to minimize the shin problems of yesterday and took some aspirin. I was surprised to be starting at all after the pain I felt yesterday. Fortunately it had improved a little. I rushed onto a bus and got to the start with 40 seconds to go before I was on the clock. Adrenaline already pumping, I was nervous about running on my pulled shin. I ran the road and walked up and around the knoll contouring in as an older man was punching. | ||||||
| 2. | +02:30 | I chased the older guy from #1 up to the ridge and ran on an intermittant trail along it to the road. With the man behind me, I went on, then cut-in. I was wide right and eventually nearly hit the road again, past the control. I came back seeing the older man who already punched. | |||||
| 3. | I chased and caught-up to the older man. At the intersection, I went right and contoured in along the rocks. I was glad the hill was on my left side since running the other way yesterday was hard on my shin. | ||||||
| 4. | Dropping down, I picked my way slowly toward the lake almost straight. A younger runner in blue caught me on the hill back up to the road. I read the cliff SW of the control and then over. The younger runner ran past me after he punched. | ||||||
| 5. | Scary leg for me especially after my injury yesterday. I took my time contouring across between the cliffs to the trail, then down to the bend. Following the rocks, I contoured across, stopping for a minute to relieve myself--my penalty for rushing to the start. I dropped to the road and crossed at the high horizontal bend. Angling and dropping further, I took the gravel road, passing an older runner who was coming up from below. At a road bend, I ran on bearing, climbed higher around the rocks, then went straight in to spike it. I could see it far off. | ||||||
| 6. | +02:00 | Still worried with a route leg on a hillside on my right, I studied the map a while before leaving. The older guy passed me along the way. We ran along the left side of the marsh, seeing Peggy headed the other way. I told her I was still alive. It was nice to have an blazed trail to run on unmarked on the map. I passed the other guy while he read. Before the stream, I chose to hug the ridge as it contoured right, then I dropped down. I got hung-up at the big green marsh and had to backtrack and go left around it, thus loosing contact. I saw Bernie after crossing the stream. I started seeing controls and people searching but got too high myself, nearly hitting the road. Using the knoll near the road, I dropped down and hit it as others were leaving. | |||||
| 7. | I don't think I drank. I ran up to the road and then could see others climbing. They lead me in a little further right than I though it'd be. I caught the older guy that I ran to #6 with. I found out later that he had taken a bad fall near #6. | ||||||
| 8. | Contouring across, I chased the older guy and one other younger runner. Again, I was glad to have the hill on my left side since I could run this direction. I paused to read and lost contact but the older guy and the other guided me to the rock. | ||||||
| 9. | +00:40 | Dropping down, I had to slow and the others got ahead a little. I caught them while running on the road. However, I had gotten confused and thought we were headed to #10 so I stopped when they left the road on the right side. Realizing the error, I ran into the marsh and along side the steep hill, cutting-up at the end. The young runner whom I saw on the way to #4 caught me again. We went up then between the cliffs and dropped right on top of the control. The older runner whom I had lost at the road had just punched. | |||||
| 10. | At first, the younger runner and I caught-up to the older runner. On the downhill, I lost both, running tentatively amongst the rocks. I crossed the road and read the ridge into the control. The older guy had just punched. | ||||||
| 11. | Out to the road near the building and intersection, I charged-in straightish. I found the older guy near the bald rock. We both dropped-down with me losing contact with him again in the rocks. On the trail, I picked-up speed but didn't make-up much ground. | ||||||
| F. | Running-in, I saw the funnel but because the tape was at eye level, I couldn't tell where it was funneling me into until I got close. I was surprised that my finish time had moved me up so much. I was more surprised that I got through without injuring myself even worse. |
Total Time Lost - 00:05:10