Training Log Archive: Matej

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RouteGadget link (click-and-drag upwards to see the course)

Middle distance at Boggs Mountain. I was excited for some more technical navigation, but the sheer brutality of this course shocked me. Most of the ~200 meters of climb on Red came in the first seven controls, which together covered about a third of the course length.

The first two controls were easy, but I contoured a little too high (south) along the hillside to #3 and had to drop down. The contour features around the control seemed strange and possibly mismapped at the time, but after going out on control pickup, I saw that the map was perfectly fine; I had simply been misreading it and searching for the control about a contour too high.

To #4, I contoured around, using the path bend as an attack point. #5 and #6 were straightforward, and I followed the re-entrant into #7 to minimize any chance of missing it. To #8, I had decided on taking the brutal uphill slog up to the southern vehicle track and contouring along the hillside to the control. Unfortunately, I had no clear reference point past the black X. I must have hit the north-south footpath in the narrow region between the major path junction to the south and the indistinct path junction to the north. I ended up thrashing around in the green for 1-2 minutes before finding the indistinct path and then the rocks... I probably should have gone up to the path junction and attacked from a known point; it would have been much safer.

The next few controls were in terrain that resembled Saturday's, and since the legs were downhill or flat, I sped up dramatically. I aimed off slightly to the west on #9, hit the indistinct trail, and followed it into the control. #10 and #11 were straightforward, and I took the roundabout western route to #12, following the small footpath all the way to the major road, from where I took a heading into the control.

I almost messed the entire course up by not having a plan to #13 other than "follow the rides and clearings". I ran due north, hit the first ride, then ran northwest to the second one, from where I ran to the small clearing/ride to the north. At this point, I was unsure of where exactly I was on the map and luckily spotted the control stuck behind a patch of thick forest. The rest of the course was straightforward, and I finally got a respectable finish sprint time (11 seconds, through Will Hubsch had 10...).

Overall, I'd say this was an OK Middle race, though I could have avoided some silly mistakes and hesitations if I was paying more attention to the map. Navigating using long-distance compass headings in terrain like this can be dangerous, as I saw on the way to #8. I should have read the map more like I did on Saturday, especially on legs with recognizable features (like #13).

Thanks to the organizers for an amazing event in high-quality terrain!!

C • Boggs 2

Red Middle - Splits

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The Boggs Long. To be honest, I didn't have a definite plan of attacking this course, other than to start out slow and not take risky route choices. I used the jog to #1 to look over and plan my route choices (#15 in particular), something that I later regretted...

I found #2 without a problem and then ran southeast to the road, which I followed all the way to the sharp bend in the first major re-entrant. My goal was to avoid the gratuitous climb and descent of the northern footpath, and the road provided a much flatter alternative route. At the sharp bend, I took the ride up to the footpath, which I followed to the clearing before the dark green. Manzanita extended past the dark green area on the map, and it took some thrashing to find the large path through the green (I saw the small ride almost immediately).

From #3, I ran almost due south, going along the indistinct path for a while before dropping down into the rocky spur-road crossing. I took a heading from there and read the vegetation successfully into the control. To #5, I ran along the southern path to the bend, from where I took a heading towards the rocks. Getting confident, I aimed straight for #6 from the road junction, reading the clearings and contours into the control (it seemed a little to the east of the shallow re-entrant where I was expecting to find it).

For #7, I took the eastern route along the trail east of the broad hilltop, cutting through the strip of white to the trail, reading the vegetation around the trail while running north, and then taking a heading into the control once I saw the clearing to the west of the trail. To #8, I more or less went straight, north of the vehicle track junctions and past the ride into the clump of bushes. I contoured into #9 without much of a plan and was lucky to see it after missing both the boulder and the ride on my approach angle. To #10, I followed the line and literally walked straight into a tree while climbing the hill and studying the next leg's route choice.

Excited at my newfound ability to finely read vegetation, I left #10 northwards with a plan that basically amounted to "go north!" Pretty soon, I had absolutely no idea where on the hillside I was. This was one of the few cases at Boggs where this was perfectly OK. I was bound to hit either the road at the edge of the map or one of the east-west rocky ridgelines. As it was, I came upon something even more significant: a Grand Canyon gully next to a small hilltop that I could unmistakably identify. From that point, I crossed the east-west re-entrant west of the huge gully, passed through the small saddle on the ridge, and followed the road and re-entrant into the control. I had narrowly avoided disaster on this leg, and I knew it.

To #12, I followed the re-entrant down to the spur/hilltop, which I crossed to hit the control. I followed the ride and path in the direction of #13, cutting off to find the first isolated boulder before going farther north and finding the one with the control. #14... was proof that we were still in the Bay Area...

On the brutal uphill trail slog to #14, I had not been doing any serious map reading. I had already mentally chosen a route choice to #15, so I saw no need to further look at the map. In fact, it was just barely after committing to my route choice that I noticed a much more attractive option: climbing all the way to the major road, taking the first fork on the right, following the vehicle track to just above the control, and attacking it from above. Instead of doing something smart like this (or just running down to the road that I had just passed), I climbed up to the winding, narrow footpath, then promptly lost all of the elevation I had gained, then climbed nine contours into the control. All because I had already "planned" this leg on the way to the first control... Ouch.

I knew it was a bad route choice almost as soon as I had made the critical decision, and it left me mentally rattled for the next control. I senselessly contoured along the hillside on the way to #16 and ended up confused in the medium green with the control beautifully visible on a hilltop fifteen meters below...

To #17, I took the upper route along the small footpath, taking a careful heading into the control itself. Taking no chances, I followed the rides out of the control and towards the GO, where I recorded a finish sprint of 13 seconds. An improvement, sure, but not compared to Gavin's 10 seconds and Katie's 12 seconds. As on Friday, I resolved to do better on the next day (because as we all know, it's the finish sprint that truly matters).

This was a fun course, and I felt more confident reading vegetation and finding technical controls than ever before. That said, my major failures came in route choice planning, something I don't usually struggle with. Having a definite plan on all legs and pre-reading some of them during trail runs would have definitely helped...

Red Long - Splits

Event: Boggs '14
 

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A forest-sprint at Boggs Mountain, on Day 1 of the A-meet. My plan was to take the first few controls at a moderate pace, get a feel for the terrain and the map, and then speed up from there. That plan lasted for about two seconds after I turned my map over...

#1 was a short trail run, which I used to plan my approach to #2. I skirted to the left of the green through the clearing with the first boulder and took a compass heading due west, hitting the control straight on. On the way to #3, I attempted to cut through the thin strip of green and immediately regretted it; my route involved belly-crawling under manzanita, and I kind of frightened the wits out of a White course competitor when I emerged onto the trail. Lesson learned: bad things happen when I try to cross medium green. (-;

At this point, I was basically running at max speed, so I was somewhat surprised I didn't make any mistakes on the next few controls. I hit #4 with a compass heading, ran around the thick green to #5, took the northern trail to #6, and hit #7 from the northwest trail junction. The thicket south of #8 was a little bigger than mapped, but I quickly saw the control from the southeast.

To #9, I took the straight route through the spur/saddle and along the line of medium green thickets. I then bailed southwest to the trail and hit #10, which was visible from the trail. #11 was my only mistake of the day; I ran almost due south from #10 and attacked the rocks in the light green. It took me about 10-15 seconds to realize my mistake and correct it. I contoured to #12, fortunately coming up above it.

#13 was a painful uphill jog, and I again used the spur/saddle and line of thickets to "triangulate" the location of the control. I took the left route choice around the thicket to #14, which I found after looking behind a few rocks on the steep hillside. To #15, I took the lower trail, which was safe but sacrificed 2.5 contours of climb. #16 was visible from the ride, and I again took the more roundabout but safer route to #17, following the second ride down to the trail. I attacked #18 off of the medium green/white forest transition, and just about died on my pathetic excuse for a finish sprint (15 seconds)... (though I would improve in this regard on the subsequent days)

Overall I enjoyed this course; it presented a multitude of opportunities for sprint-type decision making. It was also somewhat technical in places, and a lot of the controls were stuck very close behind the features they were on; I almost ran past a few "correct" boulders before stopping myself.

Blue/Red Sprint - Splits

Final easy run before Boggs...