Training Log Archive: ccfredrikson

Challenging terrain.

#1 was 4:08. Could have been halved, but confirmed each intersection.

#3 Did not pay good attention to surroundings and probably ran by a depression without noting it.

#4 hidden in draw at northern end of marsh. Found site alright, but questioned if I was there. If I had actively looked for point straight off, would have saved at least 90 seconds.

#5 Took trail, but was sloppy and ended up heading west before I meant to. Caught myself and turned north on trail. Was slow on trail because I questioned where I was going. Split: 9:22.

#6 Easiest point on course, but made mental error. Noticed on map that point was at end of marsh and beginning of stream. Saw that vegetation in marsh ended sharply and assumed that was the end of the marsh, so I spent five minutes looking in the wrong spot for my point. Saw another orienteer heading in the general direction of my point and realized my mistake. I was about 75m from the end of the marsh. Cost me 5 minutes.

#7 Did not have an attack point. Catching feature was the water, but there were so many little points of damp that I was unsure of my location to the left or right of the point. Had to "explore" for quite a bit before I cam across it. Next time, aim left to hit distinct body of water ~100m out, then keep going left until next body. Finally, cut in right. (Jess's suggestion.)

Course definitely could have gone better. Don't second guess myself unless given reason. (I.e. Trust past decisions.) Pay attention to what I pass (collecting features) and set attack points.

Long - Orange - Splits

Course started on top of a hill and worked its way down. Fun to run.

Overall, the course went well. Best one I have run so far, with no big goofs. I mainly stayed on trails, as COL Campbell suggested. Can get in better shape (would help going uphill for #10) and sprinting faster between points, but overall, no major changes.

#9 Made good decision to stay on paths. Tookk me 7:31 to get to point, but a lot of people got lost. Slow, but steady. (Also, long movement.)

Middle - Orange - Splits

Sprint from auditorium at Trophy Point to get points. Some planks.

Ran a practice course at Round Pond. Lost a lot of time on #'s 6 and 7. For #6, I was too high on a parallel feature, and for #7, I stopped too early. I need to learn how to better translate rock features on the map into reality.

Note: Not positive on how long it took, so just an estimate.

Training course with LTC Campbell. +50 burpees

Coming back from point, terrain pushed me down hill and toward water. Read map poorly and thought I would get pushed into valley, not water.

#1: Slow getting here. Ran past and hit point I saw about 40m up hill. Had to go back to see point. Speed up moving to point; slow down once in vicinity.

#4: Ran east from #3 to trail, took trail north. Cut off at intersection. For speed, should run heart out on trail, then slow down for the last bit after cutting off the trail. I used terrain association rather than compass to get to the point after the intersection; it slowed me down a bit, since I looked about 40m south of where I should have been. Pay attention to draws.

#5: Biggest goof. Had a long movement; aimed off and hit to the left of large and small trail intersections. Ran right for about 20-30 seconds, couldn't find intersection, and darted off into the woods to find my point. It probably would have taken me about 2 minutes to verify my position and then 90 seconds to find the point after that. However, because I chose haste rather than reason, my split was 18:43. VERIFY POSITION WHEN CLOSE TO POINT AND UNSURE.

#Everything else went smoothly. If I had a 7 minute split for #5 (what seems likely) my overall time would have been 34:42. A stitch in time saves nine.

Sunday - Orange - Splits