Training Log Archive: Wyatt

Event: DVOA Ridley FoxTrot and Ridley Orienteering Riddle
 

This ranks up there as one of my favorite orienteering races of all time. After a overcast but dry weekend so far, the skies opened up - from drizzle to parking-lot-under-1-2" of water - in the 10-20 minutes before the race started. Shivering while maps were handed out and looking round at the other faces ready for the party in the rain was primal-scream craziness in waiting. And then we were off. Me feeling fit enough (at least for the first hour) to hang with the leaders, and/or lead the chase pack. And then splash, splash, splash down trails that were all-puddle. Pig mud going to be there today!

Too much crazy fun to write it all - a few highlights:
- Leading the chase-pack of ~5+ folks in sight of the lead 2-3 across a major reentrant, then up the stony, under-muddy-waterfall "Pig Stairs" in the stream, then, 'wait', this isn't right, and recovering in seconds...
- Coming in to a control to see Eric coming out "I think I broke my hand", "whoa - it's okay to bail", "no, I think I'll keep going"... oh-kay (and then just win the thing... :)
- Stuck behind some green for 20 seconds - oops lost 5 places... Pack!
- Run the lake bank confidently, and bail well - break-away into 4th.
- Cross of tough reentrant, cut out toward trail, see large pack - think it must be Red course - and then 'oh, ...' that's the Blue pack. Apparently the around route was much better. (splits say 1 minute!)
- For the rest to race, Clem & I were pretty close - and he was awesome - keeping each other going with sarcasm, and self-deprecating humor that became all the more real as we both fell apart - yet saw others doing the same. And we even enjoyed delusions of forcing the organizers to figure out what to do with a tie for 3rd US - only to find 3 folks from the 'pack' we though had fallen off the back already finished.... Apparently 2 had taken a more aggressive cross-reentrant route and pulled out of sight, and Maricel (who I'd just learned was the '96 JWOC winner) who had disappeared ahead, and then we having though we passed him just a few minutes later - but twas another ChicagO bait-n-switch.
- Chasing "Maricel" to see him dead stopped looking over a steep hill for a way down, and then turning left for a way down I could do - with Clem, while he and the lead MVOC runner turned right - and then while race-climbed parallel spurs on the others side hearing an "aaaaaaa" - looking back, and seeing a little Zac Barker - at the bottom of the slope - with a line of mud behind him at least 4 time as long as he was...

Absolutely incredible adventure.

US_Ultralong_2012_8 Blue - Splits

US Orienteering Championships, Club Relay - DVOA 4pt team.

Unfortunately for us, and reasonably good for excitement, the results were right as predicted, leg after leg....
Leg 1 - Ian & Vadim out of the woods side-by-side, then Ian flies away aided by a 1.5 minute Vadim mistake at the end to tag off 2:20 out.
Leg 2 - Nate hammers round the Orange course, navigating cleanly, making up a few to several seconds every time we see him in the great-for-spectating venue, closing the gap in in half
Leg 3/4 - Ali Crocker and Ken Walker, both finishing ahead, each by less than 1 minute, of James McGrath and Wyatt Riley.... Ach... Need some, more, speed in DVOA... 2 Jr's rising... (Zack & Nate) may push us over the top next year - esp. if mixed w/Zhyk & Balter!

Impressed that my HeartRate shows I was actually hammering to L5 - I was pushing hard today with this being the goal race - didn't know that meant I could reach L5 orienteering (check my other O'races -that is rare...)

Red - Splits

Event: OCIN A-meet (Night, Relay, Ultra-long)
 

Took it moderately paced, as the big race was Saturday. Nailed controls repeatedly and had dreams of grandeur, well-deflated upon seeing the results. Curious if I could've won if I'd hammered it. Physically I think I had 7% speed in me, but I may have made more mistakes - and then been tired for the Relay.

US_Night_2012_Blue - Splits

taper

WOC Hungary run. Got a bit higher, nearly to the road...

Drawing with footprints in the snow:

Pretty dark, snowy, lots of slipping made the hamstings, esp. left one, a bit touchy - though nothing too bad by evening. Cold seems a bit better too.

Semi-light run w/Angelica & Tom (recovering from cold)