Training Log Archive: neon

This course was much more my style. Less marshes and less opportunity for parallel errors, for one thing. It was also pretty similar to the parks I encounter at local QOC meets in Maryland, so that made me more comfortable and more sure of myself on the course.

I had a pretty good run, too. I was a little hesitant and unsure in the beginning, and I took it slow for that reason, but after I hit a couple controls straight on I started to warm up to the course and take things a little faster. It was a really fun course, with lots of interesting route choices, and a long leg in the middle, which I thought was pretty cool. I'm proud of how I ran on this course, especially because it was such an improvement from yesterday's mess of a run.

Long Green X - Splits

Moreau Lakes is the hardest orienteering I've ever experienced in my life! I've never orienteered in a place like this park before, and it was like an alien planet (especially when it was dark and rainy and you couldn't see anything). But that made it really fun too. I only wish I had started getting used to the map earlier, because once I adjusted to figuring out what features to use to navigate by (marshes, distinct cliffs, longer ridges and reentrants) and figured out how to read the map, I felt pretty confident. In the beginning, though, I completely lost track of where I was almost right out of the start triangle. It was kind of laughable, because I'd keep trying to reorient by going in the same direction, but that wouldn't help, because everything in a one kilometer radius of where I was walking basically looked exactly the same as everything else. I'd go over a hill and see a marsh and it would look exactly the same as the marsh and the hill I had just left.

I was dead last on the green course, but at least I managed to finish. It was definitely a learning experience.

Middle Green X - Splits