Orienteering race 1:12:50 [5] 5.5 km (13:15 / km)
shoes: Icebug Spirit 4
Oatka Red, hot clear day.
Enjoyed the chance to get out on a course that had some trail run sections with route choices.
Apparently the overgrowth concealed a trail here an there - I didn't see one at all until picking up controls and was - oh yeah - that is there. [didn't affect me, but did affect Rachael]
1 - nice run leg to get warmed up.
2 - took the road option and then north past 9. The cut through the green hash was a bit more struggle than I thought. [Interestingly, Rachael took the trail West further specifically to avoid that - good for her]
3 - and I am not the only one saying this - no other choice than to bash really, but after I thought I was past the stone fence headed to 5 I said "huh - that's odd that there's such a big unmapped pit here, I'll have to tell someone later... But happy to say I corrected and said - hmmm - what if I'm not right there... and sure enough, there's a pit near 8 and that was helpful. Ended up getting distracted in the circle and lost time there.
5 - took the unmapped trail to 5. Rachael says it was blazed too though I didn't see that aspect.
6 - seemed to be much further down the trail than I thought, but no real loss except hesitation. [had been seeing Mitch through this area]
7/8 - not as certain as I thought I would be there. Must be that the overgrowth and pitting slow me down more than I think because I expected both sooner.
9 - Think I lost Mitch on this one, I took East then South on trails and it worked for me.
10 - Took East then North on trails,and I think that was common. Cut in to the trail by 10 reasonably well. [back and forth with Nathan in here]
11/12/13 - a nice set of controls that required concentration.
14 - Kind of the reverse of 9-10, and I kept my legs moving. Apparently lost Nathan here as he went the other side and missed. [He was still faster overall, guess he started after me]
My speed has been hovering at 90 and this was 89, so right in the ballpark. 6 minutes lost and I can believe that.
One fastest split - leg 7 - not sure how I did that other than looking to hustle out of 6 a bit.
But nice day out in the woods.