Orienteering (Foot) 52:01 [4] *** 5.7 km (9:08 / km) +138m 8:08 / km
spiked:12/16c slept:8.0
BOK: Birkhead Wilderness Classic, US Classic Championships (near Ashboro, NC). After my run Thursday night, I was rather worried about how much I'd be able to run. I was pretty worried that my right Achilles tendon would not hold-up. During my recovery week from the 50K last weekend, just a small rise was enough to set it off on Thursday. With a course full of steeper hills I knew I was risking further debilitating strain. However, a day of rest and good sleep really helped. I felt my right leg going up the first hill and subsequently walked a bunch of it. Once up, I felt okay and was able to run. As I passed Peggy (she started a minute or so ahead of me), I warmed-up more and turned more attention to the navigation. However, my run to #2 was not so good--I ended-up too low. I was a bit too high going to #3, then okay on #4 and #5. I was fine on the way to #6 but hitting one of the stream junctions, I didn't notice there being two of them. I ran on past the control when I should have followed the stream up. That was a 2:30 error. I made up for it on #7, #8, and #9, running smoothly and cleanly. Just like many people, I didn't climb high enough going to #10. I corrected that quickly. I started tiring going to #11 but hit it well. I was a bit high but corrected getting to #12 without any noteworthy loss of time. I was still tired getting around #13, #14, and #15, I ran the flatter ground into #16 on trails pretty well but didn't have much of a sprint finish. I think I was just feeling tired still from the 50K. I shouldn't have made the error that I did going to #6 but I was pretty happy after this race mainly due to being able to run without hurting my right Achilles tendon again. The softer ground and naturally slower speeds in running off trail probably offset the effect of the steepness and minimized the hurt. I did run with magnifying eyeglasses today; first time for me in an A-meet. They worked okay, as they had done at QOC's event in Pohick, VA, 2 weeks back.