Training Log Archive: WileyKyO-T

Event: SLOC - Meramec SP
 

Meramac State Park meet. Ran the 8.5k Red course. Good course, really classic orienteering compared to some other recent events and training.

1: Had the option of straightline vs. following road and then up a draw. Chose the latter and came to the point cleanly and in contact, but was probably overcautious. Missed 1:00
2: Continued up the draw and then straightline. Lost a little time in the bubble. Missed 0:20
3: Veered off too far to the right to start out down a spur; hooked left a followed another runner in. Missed 0:40
4: Longest leg. Had the option of going up to follow a ridgeline or going down to follow a creek/trail. I chose the ridgeline, which was mostly flat once I got to the crest. Terrain was easy to read as I went along and I had a great attack point with a saddle. However, I was again overcautiously slow to ensure map contact and I lost some time in the bubble. Missed 4:00
5: By this point another runner, Brian, had caught up to me, and we traded points for most of the rest of the course. This leg was a good fit for precision compass, and I came right to it. Some time lost while periodically checking azimuth. Missed 0:30
6: I went straightline again, but Brian gamed some time on me by staying a little higher to avoid some of the ups and downs. Missed 0:15
7: Fairly long leg. I followed Brian for a bit but realized I wanted to veer slightly left and hit a saddle. Kept up rough compass to an almost featureless trail, then kept going but realized that the terrain wasn't matching. Brian came up behind me and we realized simultaneously we needed to contour left to find the point in a boulder field. Missed 2:00
8: Had the option of straightline vs. getting back to the trail I'd crossed and taking a longer trail route. I chose straightline across some spurs with another saddle as an attack point. Brian chose the trail route and came in slightly behind me. Lost a little time for prematurely looking for the point. Missed 0:45
9: Rough compass straightline with a saddle and power line to catch. At the powerline, I misjudged how high on it I was and came out ~80m SE of the control. When I realized my mistake I ran in the right direction and caught Brian running from the control. Missed 2:30
10: Easy route along a ridgeline
11: Mostly straightline with some deviations for trail segments and contouring. Lacked a great attack point, so I initially stopped 50m SW of the control. Missed 1:15
12: Another straightline vs. road option. I chose the road and was trailing Brian. He wisely chose a powerline bypass of part of the road which I missed, but it didn't increase his lead on me. Missed 0:20
Finish: 3 options: back up to the road, along a wavy trail, or into an open field. I chose option 2, slightly faster than Brian's option 1, but I think option 3 was the fastest. Missed 0:10
Total Missed Time: 16:45
Missed Time as %: 17.4
Straightline Distance: 8.55k
Travelled Distance: 10.54k
After the course, sat down and talked over the course with Brian. Since we often took different routes, it was instructive to compare the relative speed of different approaches. This is something obviously lacking in solo practice or a rogaine. I also bought a second, clean map of the state park, so I now have only an hour to travel to run on O-mapped terrain.

Tabata A2

Warm up for the trail race.

The Aeries February Freeze Tall Timber Trail Run
This event was my first ever non-navigation trail race. It was a blast and was not what I was expecting. A more proper name would have been the "February Thaw" because temps got up to 60 that day and I ran in short sleeves. The trails were mostly single-track and very muddy--made moreso by the fact that the previous night that route was used by teams running the loop for 12 hours straight! The muddy steep up- and downhills required precise footwork and quick reaction times. After the first couple miles I broke out into the lead and kept it until the finish. I almost ate it on a segment where we were running in a creek--part liquid and part ice. There were a few places where I had to stop and walk uphill and other places where I alternated 7 paces jogging, 3 paces walking. The last half mile of the race was a continuous, brisk downhill on paved roads for a fast finish.
I came in first out of about 30 runners; male, female, 20s to 50s, and of various trail running and adventure racing backgrounds. It was nice to get a first place medal, even in a relatively small event. Great people, great run, and a great morning.

C • Nice job! 2

Practice solo orienteering on a permanent course in Rockwoods Range, near Eureka, MO. I picked the next nine odd number controls after 17, but I ended up heading in only hitting 2 controls. As with the trail run this morning, there was a lot of mud, and I slid and fell after less than 3 minutes in the woods despite falling zero times during the trail run. Mostly used terrain association with precision compass from attack points. I had quite a few frustrations, particularly the fact that I never found point 19, instead substituting point 18 after spending too long searching up and down the reentrant system 19 should have been in. Even finding point 18 was not easy, though; I had to take a trail 400m down to its trailhead to get an accurate route to the point. I used pace count and contouring pretty effectively once I knew where to get off the trail. Then I headed to point 21, but I spent too long on a parallel mini-spur and somehow forgot that the v symbol is a pit (I thought it meant fallen tree for some reason). Once I found the point, again just a pole with a small orienteering sticker and the number, I was amazed by how nearly invisible it had been until I came right up on it. After getting my second point, demoralized from only having two points in 70 minutes and tired from the trail run, I headed in.
Overall, a humbling session with a bit more challenge because I was less confined to the trails this time.
Total Straightline Dist: 4.06km
Total Travelled Dist: 8.24km

Event: Aeries February Freeze Tall Timber Trail Run
 

Warm up run. Band battery was dying so I had to cut it short to recharge.

Run along Hwy Y. Stopped for a break along one of the side roads on the way back.
Splits:
1: 6:37
2: 6:36
3: 7:00
0.36: 7:20

Run in the neighborhood and Hwy Y.
Splits:
1: 6:49
0.46: 7:02

Lollipop run through the neighborhood, then out to Missouri Ave, along Old Hwy 66, over the interstate, and back.
Splits:
1: 7:00
2: 7:17
3: 7:00
4: 6:51
5: 7:23
6: 7:04
7: 6:45
0.34: 6:58