Training Log Archive: dlevine

Event: Niagara Falls Sprints
 

BFLO - Niagara Falls Sprint

Afternoon pass through to turn on e-punch units/vet course/PR/etc. before competition starts. Ran only a bit as my ankle was VERY ginger.

GLOF O-Cross 3

My ankle was very sore and I just wanted to make it through what I thought would be a fun course. Out of the start, I veered off to the right too much near #1 and fell to the back of the pack. Did fine navigating to #2, but I couldn't find the flag. I saw the flag in the depression which was clearly for a "different fork" and wandered on the hillside as I watched other folks punch it. Eventually, I couldn't make sense of anything and went to see it only to discover it was mine. Yes, it was on the north side of a small hill, but as with Saturday, I would have clued it differently. (The lesson is that I am not the course setter and there is more than one way to do things. Duh!) Up the hill trailing a bunch of folks - but not everyone as I had left a few guys on the hillside above #2. Clean through #5. I took a decent path through the green to #6, but then took the trail around the ravine to #7 because my ankle hurt too much. Nice idea, but this detour was TOO long. Caught Stina at #7 as she came in from a different fork. I tried to cut straight to #8, but saw that she was passing me on the trail, so cut down.

Second loop was slow and painful. Awkward to #9, but clean. Fine the rest of the way although I suffered greatly climbing in to #11 and #12. Had no wind to go to #13 and fell behind several folks. Clean to #14, but again had no wind climbing to #15. Just wanted to finish and was happy that the third map had only 800 meters. Followed the elephant trail to #17 and then took a path to #18 that curved slightly north of the line. Vaguely enjoyed the last down and up to the GO control. Ankle problems best evidenced by a 28 second finish chute split. Yuck!

Given the ankle (bad), an acceptable run. I'll be walking the "vetter's run" of the Goat Island sprint on Tuesday, though.

GLOF Long

The effective end of my weekend. I made a dubious route choice out of #1 and then executed it poorly. To add injury to insult, I then stepped into an unmapped hole and sprained my ankle badly enough that I debated stopping the race. (Hammer says that I should now start an Attackpoint thread about unmapped holes, but I'm worried about the bandwidth implications.) I hoped that I could work it out and tried to make it to #1. In keeping with the theme for the day, I was slow, but effective. The rest of the race was cleanish, but slow. Winsplits says that I lost 5:40 total with over 5 minutes of that coming on leg 1, but it also says that my overall leg score was down quite a bit from yesterday, so the ankle problem was real. (Swelling and bruising Monday and Tuesday back this up.)

Nice course; neutral run since it was the best I could do under adverse circumstances.

Long 6 - Splits

Event: 2010 Golden Leaf Orienteering Fest
 

Got to the GLOF site with little time to spare (wrong line at Canadian customs cost me over twenty minutes!) but I knew that I have had trouble getting up to speed quickly so I wanted to run hard for a bit before the sprint.

GLOF Sprint race

Fine to #1, but went back to the trail for #2 when I should have crashed down the hill to the bridge. Then, leaving #3, the field was so enticing that I didn't see the way around (90 degree departure) that would have saved a bunch of climb. In my defense, no one I spoke to saw this during the race. Overshot #5 by a bit but saw my error. Went West out of #7and down to the stream. It had looked runnable when I crossed it from #3 to #4, but wasn't so much so where I was. Once I hit the main stream, I was fine, but sucking wind on the hills. Clean through the spectator area, but I missed the exit option on the trail to the right and went straight at #11 which was further than I expected. Then clean through #14. Attacked #15 from behind the cabins and was surprised to find the control at the bottom of the streambed as my quick reading of the map had put it one contour up. So, down and up one last time before finishing.

4th of 9 in my age group (top US - I NEVER get to say that), and 16th of 33 on the course. A good, not great run, so I'm happy with that.

Winsplits says that I lost on 34 seconds (on #8) so I have to be happy with that, too.

GLOF Middle 6

A bit rough to #1, but right on. Crossed the stream a bit too soon on the way to #2, but I recovered reasonably. Sucked wind up to #3, but it turned out okay. Tried to contour to #4 and came in WAY north of the control and spent what seemed like a long time working my way south to the flag. Clean to #5 and then took the high road to #6. Coming down, I couldn't find it and wandered around long enough to be caught by Stina Bridgeman. We sort of triangulated on it together and I took off to #7. I went through the circle just right of the flag thinking that I had crossed the saddle. Stina came in behind me, punched and left. I relocated off the swamp and then the fence corner and found the control in what I would have called a gully more than a saddle. (Lesson NOT learned by Monday). Through the woods/swamp to the Northbound trail heading to #8. Once I hit the main trail, I was clean the rest of the way in, including seeing #10 from a great distance. #12 screwed me up momentarily as I saw the feature and the radio transmitter. I thought the control was stolen until I touched the transmitter and saw the flag hidden behind the tree while looking for a manual punch. Those rocks were slow, too.

Not a very good run, though I had recovered to beat Stina (who apparently blew #8). I made large mistakes at three controls in the first half of the course (Winsplits says over 7 minutes) and I was very frustrated. Nothing like the morning, but it was a great course and a beautiful day.

Sprint 4 - Splits

Middle 6 - Splits

Payne - Never could get the rhythm of the game; in any of the three rounds

7-15 - really never got it
15-7 - he was off at the beginning (I led 11-1) but I wasn't really on
11-6 - Okay, it was 6-5 and I finally found some ability, but it was mostly serves

Warmish pool...

"Comedic" class as the instructor has laryngitis and had to "mime" the moves unless someone nearby would "echo" them for him. As the class went on, the nearby folks realized the potential and stopped being so cooperative. All in good spirits.

Random @ 18, but the bike was the one that skips. (They moved it on me!)