Race Evaluation
QOC PWF South Fork: Blue
Nadim
| 1. | I started out using the trail to go to #1--that may have cost me a few seconds. | ||||||
| 2. | I used the trail on the left side of the to #2 too, to conserve energy. I angled up the ridge at the end and dropped right to the control. | ||||||
| 3. | Going to #3, I achieved the fastest split and this was unexpected since half of it was going uphill and a greener than mapped leg--neither my strong point lately. I did go straight on that, following the reentrant. | ||||||
| 4. | +00:15 | I drifted left going to #4 but there was no issue finding the control by correcting at the edge of the hillside. | |||||
| 5. | Straightish along the hillside but cutting right when crossing the reentrants. | ||||||
| 6. | +00:15 | Sticking to the trail too long, I got a little to the left on #6. The circle was hiding a reentrant confluence so I hesitated there before spotting it to my left. | |||||
| 7. | I went straight at first toward #7. It was greenish and I felt I was drifting. Fortunately I came within view of #4 and decided to just hug the hillside and use the trail from there. I passed Tim Good before the trail I think. I nearly caught up to Tom Strat right at #7. | ||||||
| 8. | +02:30 | I chased Tom across the bridge much of the way toward #8, then classically, I made an error after leaving the trail and passing him. I had headed straight through the mapped green but I knew it wasn't as bad as it was mapped. In fact, I kept running right through it. I suppose I paid too much attention to getting ahead of Tom than my compass bearing. I cut right and went into a reentrant that seemed to have a stream but with it having rained hard 2 nights back, I attributed this to residual wetness. There was no control there. When trying to correct, I went to another wrong reentrant, further west. I finally got to #8 now two reentrants over, just behind Tim Good and Brian Mayer. | |||||
| 9. | Leg #9 was uphill. Brian was pulling away slowly but I saw him drifting to the right. The mapping of #9 was misleadingly shown as a reentrant but I remembered this issue as I hit the sunken old road bed. I followed it up to the control as I surreptitiously passed Brian below to my right at the creek. | ||||||
| 10. | +02:00 | I intended to use the northern road (to the right) going to #10. I did do that however, I hit it much further out than intended, thus losing some time. Brian was closing in on me when on the road, I attacked from a less than definite point on the road bend, and still 300m out. Crossing a sort of campground made me think I was at a ruin so I used that to correct, but I still drifted right to the wrong reentrant after crossing the second road. Brian had passed me there and dropped into the reentrant. I was suspicious because of the close proximity to the northern end of the road so I peeked in a little then headed south to the correct reentrant. I got there just after Tom Strat was leaving--he'd come from the south. | |||||
| 11. | I checked my map while Tom Strat raced away down the side of the reentrant. I got going soon but I didn't catch him until we crossed the creek and headed up the next reentrant. It seemed a long way up but I was able to run it okay. Meanwhile, Brian was closing-in on me. | ||||||
| 12. | I didn't want to go out of the way to climb the hill back to the road at #10. I stayed on the west side of the creek for a little way and even climbed to the ridge. I dropped as the ridge became a spur and then I crossed the creek. Up the next side, I passed one of the pits, knowing just where I was. I headed over to the ditch to thread between the darker greens. I moved well until I got to the darker greens, then got through that. I had drifted a bit north but the woods were so clear, I could see the land dropping away far to my south. I almost would have missed this otherwise. I glimpsed but wasn't sure if I'd seen the control until I got pretty close to it. | ||||||
| 13. | As I left #12, I could hear footsteps approaching behind me. I thought this was Brian Mayer but I didn't look. As I descended quickly, I crossed a side reentrant west of the straight line, then I saw Brian Mayer ahead, heading toward the control. I was confused at how he'd gotten ahead but I think he used the road going to #12 and was just running faster. | ||||||
| 14. | I chased Brian toward the bridge (my speed was much closer on flat and downhill running) and I debated going over the ridge to #14 after the bridge. Brian chose to go straight over it. I took the trail to conserve energy however, this was also a safer route. I ran up the reentrant and saw Brian ahead. He wasn't sure where he was in the larger reentrant so he turned back down the reentrant. I passed him going somewhat the opposite direction but I was sure of where I was from the contours. It did seem a long way up the reentrant and with some tree cover, the control was not as visible as expected. | ||||||
| 15. | I got out of #14 quickly but grew less confident of my position after crossing the first ridge. I chose to head south, up to the trail intersection. From there I was confident but Brian came into view just north of me, a more direct route. I got to #15 first, still running fairly strong. | ||||||
| 16. | I hopped the ridge and ran up the reentrant to the control. It was visible a long way off, and Brian was chasing me. I think he passed me near the end. | ||||||
| 17. | +00:20 | I was anticipating the finish and wanted to stay close to Brian. I focused on the best route and not so much on the attack. Brian had chosen to stay to the right as I had. Having mapped this area for sprints I was confident in how to avoid the unmapped green (they weren't using my sprint map version of the map for this event). Brian seemed to hesitate and I closed-in. I angled over but once again I lost my focus in trying to pass a competitor. I headed toward the finish, not #17. I realized this as I hit the road, not far from #17. I didn't see Brian anywhere and suspected him to be on my right, not out of the woods yet. I jumped back in and got to the control right behind Francis Hogel. | |||||
| 18. | +03:44 | Trying to finish ahead of Brian, I headed to the finish line and punched. I waited to download. The printer didn't work so I went to the shelter to get a drink. I noticed the monitors there but my time was still not popping-up. I got curious and looked at my map more. I knew I hadn't checked the control codes on the last 2 controls and wondered if I'd mispunched. Only then did I see that from #17, the leg went straight through the finish and on to #18. I jumped and ran straight to the control--it was the same control feature used for #1 on the Red course for the US Champs in 2007 and it was starting from very nearly the same starting location. I went straight to it but the time standing around was already lost. I figured this might not be a legal finish but I was more interested in the knowing my running time than my finish place. | |||||
| 19. | I used the road and as I did, I noticed Tom Strat below me in the forest. The control feature was another one used for the US Champs in 2007. I came off the road and using the ridge while Tom climbed, I got there just behind him. | ||||||
| 20. | Tom moved well down the hill and across the ride. With the control shown just beyond a spur/ridge with a trail on it, I started getting confused. Up was looking like down since the trail resembled a stream in the center of the contours. I slowed as did Tom while in my head I knew the control would have to be beyond the spur. I got more confident as I climbed the spur but still got there behind Tom. | ||||||
| 21. | I got out fast, passing Tom Strat, and then Francis Hogel just before a footbridge. I debated going around the same ridge for #2 but I reasoned that I was going to have to walk anyway so I might as well go for the shortest distance. I went through the saddle. I crossed the trail then passed the two spurs on my left. I expected to turn left after the second but I saw a control to my right. Suspecting something being amiss, I went to it, and sure enough, it was the one I was looking for--mis-hung about a contour too low. | ||||||
| 22. | I ran up the steep hill as far as I could, then began to walk. It was 5-6 contours over ~100m. I'm not yet back to being that strong but headed in the right direction. | ||||||
| F. | I started off good, then seeing a guy ahead I aimed to pass him. He pushed when he heard me so I pushed myself harder. Jon Torrance cheered me in. I was out of breath and lots of people were seemingly hanging out at the download. I squeezed in and downloaded. Valarie asked if I had missed controls and I just said I had some troubles. I was happy however that I was given a legal finish--in a championship, that would have been something that could have been protested. I have to work on my focus especially when passing competitors. |
Total Time Lost - 00:09:04