Training Log Archive: simmo

Easter Day 3 at Cherry Farm, featuring a very long route choice leg to no. 1. Got the route choice right, but disaster at the end. I had decided to run way right down a broad gully and then along a track next to a major creek, avoiding a series of 4 gullies and spurs with substantial sandstone cliffs. About half-way down the gully I tripped on a low fence (which was on the map but I hadn't noticed it) and did a very hard face-plant. Took about a minute to get up and recover physically. Didn't recover concentration however because I went only another 100m before deciding (irrationally) to go over the first spur, which was 6 contours high (walking!) followed by some rough and slow downhill before hitting the track and creek. This decision probably cost 2 minutes, but wait - there's more. Running fast along the track to make up time I wasn't looking at minor detail, only counting the spurs to the 4th one where the control was on a boulder high up. Up the 4th spur, found features that looked roughly correct, but no flag. Floundered around for several minutes before finally realising that - no it can't be - I've gone one spur too far, having forgotten that I went over the first one so only needed to count off 3 of them. Had I looked at smaller details such as bends and pools in the creek, and a termite mound right on one bend, it would have saved my bacon.

Finally arrived at the control just as T Radford turned up - he'd started 16 minutes behind. Between us we blitzed the rest of the course, taking different routes but always coming back together. I got maybe 150m ahead on 3-4, but then lost the advantage in the circle at 5. On a long leg from 7-8 I went right while he went straighter, but we came together at a saddle above the control.

TR did 44 minutes to hang on for 1st overall. Kjell did 42 but took a slower route to the 1st and he climbed back into 2nd overall. The next best time was 48. I ended up 10th overall, but at least 4th and possibly 3rd was up for grabs without the trip over the fence. Enjoyable 4 days though!

Day 3 12 A Hard - Splits

Easter Day 2 at Prosser's Reef, 2nd but nearly 3 minutes behind S Flick. Kjell lost 15 minutes with a parallel error. 1 to 4 was through pretty steep and thick bush, before faster running including a 1.5km leg to 6. Lost 30 secs at both 2 and 4 when in the circle, and then 1.5 mins on the long leg. Flick told me he had had a very similar leg on this map at the World Masters in '09, and he did it 2 minutes quicker than me. After two days I was 4th, just ahead of Kjell and just behind H Moore, but 4 mins down on Flick and T Radford.

Day 2 Course 12A - Splits

Day 1 of Easter, Carwell's Labyrinth. 19 controls - maybe the setter thought because it was middle distance for elites then all the courses should have lots of short legs and tight turns? 8th place 8.5 minutes behind Kjell who ran a blinder and didn't walk any hills. Silly mistake on the shortest leg 6-7 where I went up the wrong gully which was very obviously (in retrospect) much bigger than the correct one - 3.5 minutes down and should have been 4th. Maybe 2nd or 3rd with a couple of other small half- to 1 min errors at 8 and 10.

Course 12 A day1 - Splits

Event: Easter 2014
 

Easter Public Prologue race at Rylstone Common - 20th place, 1st M65. Lost maybe 1 minute at 4 because the green around the control looked like grey on the map so I went to two nearby rock surfaces.