Orienteering race (Ultralong Brown) 1:48:51 [3] *** 6.3 km (17:17 / km) +195m 14:58 / km
spiked:8/9c shoes: Jala Jukola Spider 6 #2
Flying Pig / U.S. Ultralong Champs at East Fork State Park
Of all the races at the Flying Pig, this was the one I most worried about for my knee. Left knee had not bothered me at all in the Middle or Sprint races, but I knew the East Fork map for the "course formerly known as «Long»" came with a potential for steep climbs, and sure enough I had a steep one on the way to number 1 (my route choice), where I then managed to also make a parallel error on costing me a couple of minutes or so (because I had to descend and climb an extra reentrant/ditch). In retrospect it probably would have been better for my knee and faster if I'd stayed along the creek longer and skirted around the north side, reducing the climb. In any case, the knee tweaked again, and ached for most of the rest of the race, though it didn't slow me down on the flat running.
Most of the rest of the course was up on the plateau area, but on 7-8 there was opportunity to go down and up some more steep areas. To avoid all but the last little bit of climb to # 8, I took a longer route around (beeline was 900 m; I went about 1.4 km), but my time on the leg (3rd fastest) was good enough to beat all but one of the M65s, who otherwise all beat me overall. [Sharon C. had the fastest time on that leg, and the course.] So it wasn't a bad route choice.
Time to rest it (again) so I can attempt the Billygoat next Sunday (which I know will have climb, but maybe not really steep slopes?).