1. | 0-1 Several people asked me after the meet if I was doing speedwork. Yes, but only once a week. I've also been doing long runs that I enjoy a lot too. I started putting my training on Attackpoint this year, inspired by Tim Good who has a goal of 30(?) miles a week for the year. I used to keep my training log from 1975 until the mid-90's. I'm once again curious how much I really put in a year and also how getting older is affecting my running. Instead of more speedwork, I'd be happy to just be able to run without having the occasional knee troubles. I warmed-up nice this time because I noticed that I'd been losing time to people on the early controls--not always due to mistakes. I live only 2 miles from Greenbelt so I had some home court advantage. Work keeps me late so often it's too dark for me to train for orienteering here (I only did that once) but I run the trails regularly. The home court and smallness of the park (to keep me from making big errors) made me confident before the race. I started with Heidi Onkst who was running Green. Tim Good left 6 minutes before I did at 12:38. I meant to go earlier than him but had forgot to copy controls to my card. Going to #1 I took the road to the grassy area and got on the trail crossing the creek on the bridge. On the trail, I realized that I had forgotten to put my map in plastic. Near the top of the knoll as the trail bent left, I attacked. Immediately I was in stickers that turned me but I just kept heading toward the top. | ||||||
2. |
Bad route choice | 1-2 The stickers getting back to the trail should have been a sign. Instead of going around on the trail, I went straight. It was slow getting to the creek. Crossing it, the gully was deep but okay. Not sure where I was, once again at the trail, I turned left, saw the ditch and some others punching. This was a poor route choice but I executed it okay. My map was already smearing from dripping sweat. | |||||
3. |
No attack point Bad map reading Confused parallel features Bad distance judgement +02:15 | 2-3 Back to the trail and turning right I left it to the left and got on the road. I passed Sweetgum parking and the Park HQ service drive then cut into the woods at the next hole in the thorns; east of #4. I estimated where I was and set a straight bearing. I missed because my estimate was off and I ended-up in the ditches NE of the Laurel parking lot. Eventually coming back toward #4, I realized I had been too high back at the ditches and set a new bearing right to it. | |||||
4. |
Hesitated +00:08 | 3-4 Going straight, I paused in-front of the control not seeing it as another group stood in front of it. | |||||
5. |
Bad route choice Bad compass work +01:30 | 4-5 I thought this was one of many nice legs that Ted set. I went out to the field on the trail. Running down the east side of the field, I cut-in left past #17 and picked-up trails which took me through the thick green and put me on the road near the N. Branch Still Creek. Following the road left at the intersection and to Dogwood parking, I ran right onto the trail to the first intersection. Just setting a straight bearing, I crossed the stream and hit the hillside west of the control and saw the trail ahead. I saw Dann Quinn's dog wandering and it came to greet me. Spinning around a little, I soon found #5 just before Dave Onkst who had caught me from behind. Dann's dog didn't follow. | |||||
6. | 5-6 Rushing out to the trail and through the intersections, I stopped at the second intersection and attacked. Dave was not far behind. | ||||||
7. | 6-7 Following the trails I angled left off the trail at a bend and nearly spiked it. | ||||||
8. |
Bad compass work Confused parallel features Disturbed by others Followed by others +02:00 | 7-8 Hoping to stay ahead of Dave, I hit the trail and dropped-down on the trail with a bench at the top. I was glad to be running downhill without pain in my knee. As the trail lead to the bridge, I interpreted the sign to mean that the bridge was only closed to horses. I've been running across the bridge a couple times a month since the sign was put-up over the summer. I stayed on the trail, turning left at the Blueberry Trail--the long and supposedly safe route. This leg was reminicent of a Green course leg in the fall of 2000 (that time it was my first course after a nearly 20 year hiatus). I attacked where the Blueberry Trail bent south and up the hill. I missed, being too low and left of the control. Dave and someone else soon came up from in front of me. After we passed each other, I turned around and wandered. Stopping to get a read, I turned around when I heard leaves behind me rustle. Dave only 20-30 yards away had been punching and was kind enough to re-hang the bag that had fell sometime after V. Benetis had left it. | |||||
9. |
Did not follow plan Did not check features en route Ran too fast +04:00 | 8-9 Another good leg for Ted I took a few seconds to figure out a route. I glimpsed Dave and gave chase but lost sight of him. I kept straight. It was green. I crossed the trails, then turned right on the road. I cut into the woods at the trail to the Campfire Circle. My plan was to go around the first reentrant, then follow a near straight line to the control or intermittant trail. I beared left to go around the reentrant but found myself too low and climbing up. I took these to be reentrants not on the map but actually they were. After the second, I should have adjusted going right to finish going around the reentrant. Instead I went over the third and then kept going downhill, staying perpendicular to the hill. In my mind, I was expecting to hit the creek at a perpendicular so I didn't look at the map much. I should have checked my compass as Peggy admonished me for later. I ended-up crossing some marshy areas and hitting the creek at a major confluence of gullies. Thinking at first that I was west of the bridge, I actually was much further upstream NE of the pond near the housing development. Realizing my error right away because I saw the houses, I decided to play it safe and take the trail down to the bridge, instead of going more directly past the houses. I never saw the intermittent trail but recognized the reentrant and followed it up to the saddle. When the thick green was evident, I went left to get around it, then curved back right to the control where Tim Good was punching. My map was smeared by sweat on #9, #10, #12 and #13 by now. | |||||
10. |
Bad route choice Took a chance Followed by others +00:45 | 9-10 I haven't beaten Tim before that I can remember. Knowing he had road raced the previous day, played soccer and done other bad pre-race stuff, I was eager to take advantage. I chased at first but bore left to get around him and use good footing. I like to run downhill and moved-out. Coming out on the trail. I looked left and right to check my location, then decided to turn right. I could sense Tim was taking a more direct route. However, the trail let me take-off even faster. Nearing the trail intersection and bridge, I thought I could stay ahead of Tim by cutting the corner and crossing the creek w/o a bridge. I dropped-into the creek gully easily but in climbing out of the gully, I stuck my head into thick thorns and had to back down. Finding a hole in the thorns, I emerged, rounded the ridge and dropped down the hill toward the control. Another runner was punching and he handed me the punch. | |||||
11. |
No attack point +00:30 | 10-11 I read, then rushed parallel to the fence leaving the other runner behind. It was difficult footing which required a lot of high stepping over fallen logs and stickers. I got wrapped-up in stickers at one point but spun out of it. I cut toward the trail and crossed the old road shown as a double ditch on the map. Left on the trail, I took a vague guess as to where to attack from--somewhere before where the trail bore right. I followed the first gully then went to the next further west. Dropping down, I punched just before Tim. I thought it only fair since he started ahead of me that I tell him I had 6 minutes lead. Also by now looking at the overall time, I realized catching John Torrance was just about out of the question--he had told me his finish time just before I started. | |||||
12. | 11-12 Back to the Perimeter Trail, I followed it across Still Creek then turned right. An intermittent trail paralleled the creek. Some point along here I stepped on a stick with my left leg. When it was behind me but with my weight on it, the stick rolled backward and I hyper-extended my ankle aggravating the same injury I've been re-hurting all Fall. Screaming-out, I hopped about a little. I thought I might have to walk-in but started again, slow at first. The trail ran out a couple times. I passed a group who began to cut a straight path to the same control from the second bridge over the creek. I stayed near the creek until I could see the road, then turned due north. The control was in the second ditch I checked. I laid low when drinking water so as not to attract much attention. | ||||||
13. | 12-13 Popping-out, Tim saw me leaving. I crossed the road and angled straight. I passed someone at the N. Branch Still Creek crossing. More stickers caused me to duck when climbing out of the gully. Another guy punched just in front of me causing me to pause momentarily. | ||||||
14. | 13-14 I wanted to pull away from the other runner and stay close to the N. Branch Still Creek. The stickers pulled me away from the creek and more in the path of the other runner. Sprinting to get ahead, I got in the power line clearing and could see the control at least 50 meters away. | ||||||
15. | 14-15 I was familiar with the Perimeter Trail here but because I didn't read the map well, I had trouble reconciling what I knew the trail did with what I thought I was reading. The map was right. I took the trail up the ridge and immediately was disappointed with the choice as I found a fallen tree blocking the path. Going over it an up the trail, I left the trail at the bend and dropped in a straight line toward the stream gully. I crossed the stream at a fallen tree just above where the gully part ended; right where someone else had stepped. I pulled-up short of the control but then just kept going and found it happily. | ||||||
16. |
Hesitated | 15-16 I went straight. As I looked down in the valley where I knew the control was, I paused because I couldn't see it. A group of people were standing in-front of it. #16 on my map was smeared by sweat beyond legibility by now though the circle was evident. | |||||
17. | 16-17 I took the trail north to the intersection, then fought through the green. It was slow but it got me to the road where I turned right. Turning left onto a trail, I turned right again on the Azaela Trail. Turning left again, I followed an intermittent trail most of the way to the field, just as I had in reverse on the way to #5. The manuever from #16 to the road saved me some climbing. Nearing the control, Heidi was running to the finish having just punched. I tried to encourage her on by telling her I was going to catch her. | ||||||
F. | 17-18 Here (and on the hills) is where the speedwork helps. However, Heidi (on Green) headed my warning. I wasn't able to catch and pass her--we finished just as we started at the exact same second but with me a step behind. I felt I ran well and made some small mistakes. It wasn't until I got to look things over that I realized where I made my worst errors but I'm happy with the improvement and lack of big booms. |
Total Time Lost - 00:11:08