Orienteering race 2:28:13**** 8.53 km (17:23 / km) +263m15:04 / km ahr:146 max:184 12c shoes: Salomon Speedcross 3
NAOCs - F Green - Long
The front 1/3 of this course was meh, picked things up in the middle, safe long leg, and then great flow on the back end of the course.
I bobbled 2 by ~8:00 more hesitations than were necessary (a regression from yesterday) along the trail and when to leave the trail and then again near the control circle. So much to read in the terrain - defs have not been on anything like this before. Massively bobbled 3 by ~20:00 it looks to me like I ran past it, got confused and relocated to a trail well west of the CP and then nailed it from the trail in... if only I'd done that the first time :P
Was more cautious and in contact due to this error from 3-4 and really focused on using linear features as now I wasn't confident in my compassing. This timidness likely cost me ~8:00 plus I bobbled in the control circle coming off the path too soon and going to the cliffs behind the ones I wanted wasting another ~3:00. Gah!
Somehow though this is where things started to turn around and shape up. I climbed the cliffs to the valley before 5 and suddenly the terrain made a lot more sense! Plus 5 was a water control and I took my gel while Emily Kemp bounded by like a forest ninja.
5-7 went really well and 6 was a neat control location which I quite enjoyed.
I took the safest route I could think of that was not absurdly out of my way from 7-8 and was really quite pleased this was a most excellent leg!
8-F I was going strong, winning splits, and leading people. Small bobble ~10 on 10 but I was getting pretty tired and dumb.
Overall I felt this race went well. I feel quite proud of myself despite the time loss because I really have not been doing this long ~4 years and ~1.5 years at this level, and that's "years" as a recreational fair weather orienteer so my experience on maps does not occupy much time out of those years. As well I did not come into this sport from an intense running background. It was VERY technical terrain, dim in the woods, and long legs. I felt like I handled the challenge well with the tools at my disposal.
I look forward to continuing to grow my orienteering skills :D