10:57 AM. Jerangle NSW. Burned 694 calories.
2013 Australian Long Championships - Slap Up Creek Course: M21A 8.3 km 220 m
I entered M21A for the first time in my life, knowing full well i couldn't handle Elite long distance, and I would have felt like doing more after M21AS. So M21A it was to be. It was a perfect day for orienteering too, cool and sunny with some fantastic scenery and rocks. The forested bits were pretty scrappy with tonnes of fallen timber, making it quite hard to proceed much faster than a jog (I really don't know how the elites do it). Navigation was pretty good up until 5, where i helped Jane Fuller out and ran off missing my gully after the track by a bit. It wasn't too bad an error except for it not being quite as efficient as i would've liked. Number 6 was a disaster with the vague poor visibility i had no plan or attackpoints, and it showed. Let that be a lesson kiddies. I smartened my act up after that and was doing great until 10, where i stopped for water then the Tachycardia kicked in and I had to rest to get it to stop. I lost about 90sec to 2 minutes waiting for my ticker to do the thing it is meant to do, then i was able to run again. I was pretty good through the rest of the course and even beat a couple of elites from 15 to 16 as they took a less efficient choice. I was 2nd place by only 16 seconds, and i know all that time could've been saved and more. So my heart just wasn't in for the race, and I didn't take the win as a result. Will be scheduling that surgery in 2014 now. Still pretty happy with 2nd place, no complaints from me!