Training Log Archive: GlenT

Event: West Point National Meet
 

Event: World Masters Orienteering Championships 2017
 

Walk to the start. Included a jog back to the car of about 200m each way. Claimed climb to the start = 25m, actual = ~100m. At least the distance was shorter than the 2.7km claimed. Sprinkling.

West Point Day 1 - Green-Y ( 5.1k, 195m). Lake Popolopen map (NE of Camp Buckner). Low 50s, sprinkles before I started which made things wet enough to be a little slippery. Good course by Brigette Bordelon with a couple of nice route choice legs. Pretty physical (Duh, West Point) with lots of climb and side-hilling opportunities ( and rockiness).

Had a good run. Lost about two minutes on #7 when I stopped one cliff line short - helped a bit in finding it by the 5 or so others in the area. Missed #10 by a little bit to the right but turned and saw the flag (~20 sec lost). For 4-5 I dropped and ran along the bottom of the hill, then climbed about 8 contours to get to the control, but had a pretty strong attack point from the end of a large cliff (also saw Phil here heading towards the control, having made up most of the 12 minute head start he had). For the long leg (7-8) route choice I climbed back up the hill I had just descended and went through the saddle west of #7, made my way to the road and then approached 8 from the north using trails and the wall west of the marsh as handrails (and checking #9 as I passed). Second in M60, 7 or 8 minutes behind Tim P.

Saturday - Green Y - Splits

South on the Saucon Rail Trail from the Library to Landis Rd (the southern "end" of the rail trail, although the railroad grade continues and appears to be passable beyond a couple of concrete barriers). Did four 30-second pick-ups in the last mile. 70 and partly cloudy.

From the Lehigh Gap Nature Center (where the Lehigh River cuts through the Kittatinny Ridge (aka Blue Mountain). Climbed up to the top of the ridge on the north side, stopped to look at the view to the north and take some pictures, then along the ridge to the first communications tower where I used the tower access road to cut over to the Appalachian Trail to head back to the Nature Center. Pretty rocky underfoot, especially some of the steeper descents on the AT. The north slope is quite open, still recovering from the effects of a zinc smelting operation in the river valley (shut down in 1980). The slope was totally dead (as in the microorganisms which help dead vegetation decay couldn't even survive) until about 2002 when an active program involving planting of prairie grasses was initiated. Perfect weather - upper 60s, sunny.

Along the Little Lehigh River, so mostly gravel path. A little bit on grass while briefly checking out the fish hatchery. Nice Spring day, about 70F.