Race Evaluation
QOC Little Bennett: Blue
Nadim
| 1. | +01:55 | I rushed the start. The compass I bought in January is a little looser than my old one. I suppose I didn't let the needle settle long enough. I knew early on that I wasn't seeing what I expected to. By the time I should have been at the control, I was far to the left, near the top of the reentrant 150m away. | |||||
| 2. | I ran down to the trail, then chose to go through the valley along the left side of the stream. It didn't make sense to me to climb and use the trail. I was having second thoughts as I encountered deadfall low down. I kept having to climb a little higher to avoid it. My shoes were feeling loose with the lighter socks that I was wearing so my feet were adjusting to this too. I felt like I wasn't reading the map. | ||||||
| 3. | I ran the trail and then up the left side of the reentrant. I had planned to use the right side as I was thinking that the map showed it clearer however the map really showed both sides to be okay. The left side really was okay and shorter. | ||||||
| 4. | +00:50 | I left the control finding myself using the remnant of the old trail. I completely missed seeing the first reentrant on my left so when I left the old trail and saw the second reentrant, I got confused. It was right in my path when I thought it'd be on my left. I ran around it and then got on a trail that my mind was trying to make fit the one further west. I avoided dropping into the last reentrant on the direct path but had to pause when I found myself thear a trail intersection between the two fields well east of the control. I ran the ridge through the slash to the control after that. The slash was not that bad and I kept running most of the way. | |||||
| 5. | +00:05 | I contoured a little bit and even used the trail just a short way before dropping and hitting the field. I ran to the bend, over the bridge and in. The control was visible very soon after leaving the trail. | |||||
| 6. | I used a deer trail to get back to the main trail and crossed the road. | ||||||
| 7. | I didn't drink at #6. I was starting to feel tired from running the Night-O, doing the climbs last night. As I left the control I was still debating the left or right trails. The left one seemed safer and had less climb so I took that to the bend. The woods proved to be better running than the field. I cut up just before the creek, then followed the side stream to the control. | ||||||
| 8. | I stayed on the left side of the stream but still crossed it a bit early. I felt like I was dragging. | ||||||
| 9. | I headed out on bearing but cut right just a bit to avoid deadfall. I corrected the bearing and hit the trail. To be safe, I went to where the trail started to go down and curve before leaving it. | ||||||
| 10. | To avoid climb, I decided to angle southward. Crossing the first trail, I was just west of the mapped cairn. This bit of going out of the way avoided most of the second reentrant for me. Intending to hit the control dead on using the reentrant south of it, the vegetation kept pushing me west. When I finally cleared it reaching the second trail, I fortunately recognized that I'd come too far north in an inefficient S-curve. I curved back and spiked the control. It helped that Sam had hung it away from the cliff enough so that it was visible from above while still far off. | ||||||
| 11. | I contoured somewhat. | ||||||
| 12. | I drank, then when leaving #11, I kept careful track of my bearing. I had to weave some bits of deadfall but hit the control just on the south side. | ||||||
| 13. | I didn't want to risk the deadfall by going straight. I cut NW sharply starting out. In my mind, I had incorrectly read the line of cliffs as an intermittent trail. I kept wondering about it when I didn't see it. Once at the trail at the bend/intersection, I stayed to the trail. This was out of the way but I felt it'd be safer and perhaps even faster by avoiding more deadfall/vegetation. Going down to the control, I twisted my right ankle and slowed. My left knee was also starting to ache a little. | ||||||
| 14. | +00:05 | I decided to stay in the valley leaving #13 and heading SE. I angled leftward a little early but came back to the whiter woods before hitting the trail. After crossing the ride, I almost made an error by dropping into the reentrant just after it. I realized it after a few steps and was glad to see the control from far off when I dropped into the correct reentrant. | |||||
| 15. | +00:10 | I didn't notice the hand drawn correction for control #15. I only saw it after the race. After getting to the bottom, I set a bearing and went to the root stock that was originally mapped. The rootstock that the control was on was nearby so when I went to it, I felt more confident that it had to be it. | |||||
| 16. | +00:30 | I crossed the creek several times since the running was better along it initially. For the last 200m, I was closer to the bottom of the hillside. I had started to cut up the hill in the correct place but had thought I was further ahead. Once a little way up, I saw the spur I was looking for so I dropped down again (it would have been a shorter distance if the control was where I thought it'd be. 25m later, I saw the control up above but my direct route was blocked by a fallen tree. I cut back, then up near where I'd climbed before and went to the control. | |||||
| 17. | +00:40 | I went straight rather than run the valley again. I climbed up quickly after crossing the reentrant. As I tried to stay on bearing and find open ground, I got at least 2 contours too high. I dropped to what I thought was a cairn--that was mapped as a stone wall so I still wasn't sure of my position. Dropping just a bit more, I saw the control. | |||||
| 18. | Rather than drop and run the valley hard, I stayed high. I reached the road near the knoll and trail intersection. I went down the trail to the right, then across the woods to cross the next trail while descending along the reentrant. Once to the road, I turned right and read the bends before popping across the creek and stream. I angled up the steep hillside and the followed the reentrant up. It was good to see the control far off. I was able to run up a lot of the reentrant. | ||||||
| 19. | I was a little careless crossing the road and parking lots. I had to stop looking back at the second lot before choosing the right reentrant. Another person was punching as I approached but I still didn't see the control until very close. | ||||||
| 20. | +00:25 | I climbed initially to get above some vegetation, then dropped to the bottom of the next reentrant. I would have stayed on the left side of the larger creek but the vegetation was mapped to be thick. I cut east more sharply and got on the trail. It took me up an unnecessary 2 contours. I dropped back again following the trail. At the bottom, I looked left and saw a gap in the thick mapped green; the gap wasn't really there on the map unless it was the dense low vegetation. It would have been faster to stay low. Soon after this, I saw what looked like it could have been a dirt wall so I climbed, walking because it was too steep. The wall initially looked like a series of dot knolls more than a wall. The second wall was more defined. A woman was up ahead of me and she got to the double rootstock first. I thought she, and later I were at the correct root stocks because I didn't see the wall continuing but with neither of us finding it, we went on. The woman was higher up than me and saw the control first. It was on 2 smaller rootstocks; the first ones I'd stopped at were unmapped. | |||||
| 21. | I took off, passing the woman I'd seen at #20. The vegetation pushed me left a bit but I saw the control almost 70m out. After getting to it, I realized it was the same one I'd been to the night before. | ||||||
| F. | I ran in more quickly than I had the night before, and knew where the finish punch would be this time. |
Total Time Lost - 00:04:40