Training Log Archive: Sandy

And another day just like the first. A few bobbles, a few not quite clean controls having moments of not being sure but figuring out where I was quickly, and one really bad control. The bad control was horrible - I navigated perfectly right to the control but in using the magnifier somehow lost track that I was navigating to 3 and when I got to the control thought I was navigating to 4 and didn't even check the code of the flag that I could touch because it didn't match the feature on the map. After leaving the control and continuing on a compass bearing to 4, starting navigating to 3 again and nothing was making sense. Finally stopped, figured out where I had to be based on the directions of the rides I could see ( I thought the yellow was relatively easy to use) and then figured out what I had done. But a lot of time lost. AP says 4 minutes but I was with Charlie at #2 and was saw him leaving #3 - which I had seen him punch; it might have made me stop and check at the control - which means I then wasted 7 minutes before getting back to 3.

So again, just not mentally there. Another early morning setting up - at the event site at 7am - and busy up until going to the start. But I don't think that's really the culprit. I'm having trouble focusing on much of anything these days for more than 5 minutes.

Day 2 - Brown X - Splits

Event: UNO Boulder Dash
 

An okay but not great race. Small bobbles on many controls, some time lost on others but no real damage, and one really bad control. Was having trouble focusing - I could tell because I had to talk to myself to keep my head in the map.

I could blame having to get up really early to be at the event site at 7:30 to start setting up results, but I think it's more just general distraction with other things going on at the moment and knowing that I really need to take it easy on my knees.

Day 1 - Brown X - Splits

Model event with Amy just checking out how things were mapped.

Then went to Beaver Brook. I finally took care of this. It took 8 years, but I had brought my map along thinking there might be time and went out and tried to navigate from 7 to 8. Damn if I didn't end up in exactly the same place as I did 8 years ago! I recognized it and was dumbfounded - both by the fact that I ended up in the same place and that I totally remembered exactly what it looked like. And once again could not figure it out right away. This time though, after a few minutes of feeling like I was in a time warp, I relocated off something entirely different and went right to the control (which I also totally remembered looking exactly like what it looked like). I then re-found the area where I had originally found myself and now realize that I never went far enough. I took some thinning of green to be a gap in the green and so was one green blob off. The knoll I ended up on had some rocks so I thought I was one knoll further than I was - the rock on the knoll where I ended up thinking I should see the spur my control was on was was not mapped. Anyway, a fun outing and very glad Valerie egged me on to do this. It's been filed away in my mind as something that needed doing.

Some more quality time with the gnats. We need a frost!!

Someone was messing with my streamers. A few were missing and I found a few of them tied on to trees about 500 meters from where I put them. At least no stakes were moved - at least none that I visited today.