Orienteering race 3:29:06 [3] 7.5 mi (27:53 / mi) +1257ft 24:04 / mi
shoes: MPMW15:w
Rosaryville - Mid Atlantic Championships
Blue - 17 controls, 9 km, 235 m
Actual Distance Traveled: 12.1 km
Other than a few mistakes I don't think I lost too much time today.
The 1st and 2nd controls weren't difficult to find.
The 3rd one gave me trouble but only because I wasn't searching exactly where I should have been, although I was close to it. I was just a little to the north of the control and couldn't spot it. I didn't give up on searching that area until I had thoroughly checked it. Then I headed south and another person ran past me and basically led me right to it.
The 4th and 5th controls weren't difficult to find.
The 6th control gave me more trouble than it should have because I convinced myself that I was on one trail when I was actually on another trail. After heading west from the 5th control I turned north. I figured that once I reached the stream I could follow it to the control. The only problem with that strategy is that I wasn't as far west as I thought I was. I went north for a ways before realizing that I must not be where I thought I was because I had not run across the stream. I turned southwest and almost immediately ran into a trail running north-south. I headed south and then turned west and found the stream and eventually the control.
The 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th controls weren't difficult to find. I didn't hit them all dead on but I found them easily enough.
The 12th control gave me a little trouble because I wasn't sure exactly where to turn in to start looking for it. My first attempt was off because I turned in too early. My second attempt was dead on.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th controls didn't give me any trouble.
The 16th and 17th controls gave me a little bit of trouble. The 16th was a little more understandable, due to the terrain. I was searching in the deep trench that it was near. I went past it before it occurred to me that I must have gone too far and doubled back. That's when I spotted it right after I spotted someone else about to punch it.
There's no good excuse for what happened with the 17th control. I went right past it. I should have been able to see it from a distance. I think what happened is that I got it in my head where it was going to be and I got tunnel vision and just didn't see it. I probably only lost 2-3 minutes on this control. I'm still shaking my head about how I walked right past it without seeing it.
On the whole it was a good day of orienteering. The weather was perfect. I got back in time to have a couple hot dogs before I headed back out for some control pickup.