Training Log Archive: BorisGrIn the 7 days ending May 16, 2016:
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Sunday May 15, 2016 #
Event: QOC Combat Village
Note
I was the course setter for QOC's local event at Combat Village together with Chris Gross, and Alli was the meet director.
This event was originally scheduled for January 24th, but was postponed due to some logistical difficulties and to the 2+ feet of snow that fell that weekend.
The biggest complication for me in course setting this event was that it took place on Marine Corps territory, meaning that we could only gain access to it on particular Sundays, and usually with the presence of a range safety officer. It is possible to take an exam to become a qualified range safety officer, but it would require a full day spent at Quantico during the week, and I never got around to doing it. Luckily, John Baker was a superstar and was willing to act as the safety officer each time we went out to scout and hang flags.
As a result of this limitation, I spent less time in the terrain than I normally would for an event I was setting courses for.
Still, I think in general the meet was successful (about 200 starts and 250 total people!) and the courses were well-received. It helped that the terrain is just beautiful in places and also technically difficult, with very subtle contours, which is abnormal for QOC-land.
Things that went well:
1) The terrain is great. Some of the best here in QOC-land. The fact that it's off-limits to the public means that it's much wilder than other areas. Really cool.
2) Alli and I had an amazing team of helpers. From John Baker, who did everything imaginable, to Valerie, Amy, Greg L, Ian, Misha, Kevin, Hannah, Jon C, Jon T, Tori, Vido, Petya, Charles C, Daniel H, Amber, the volunteers were amazing and made our job way easier. What a pleasure to work with QOC's finest!
3) The beginner and orange courses were good. I think we got the right levels of difficulty, and the DNF rates reflect that.
4) All the controls were in the right place, even if a couple of the features were on the vague side (see further in this post). We had, as far as I could tell, enough water.
5) A lot of people seem to have had a good time. In the end, that's what matters, and I think that was mostly successful.
The biggest problems were as follows:
1) The map is old. Jon Torrance made some corrections, but the vegetation mapping really needs a complete overhaul.
2) The map printing turned out very strange. The green color was printed very dark, obscuring contours in the areas where they were most important. It's strange, because I had no problems when printing maps at Kinko's for terrain scouting. I feel bad about this. I am sure it contributed to some DNF's on the advanced courses.
3) Control 104. It was in a "re-entrant" that was extremely vague and much less prominent than shown on the map. On Friday, Ian hanged it. I made sure to go visit it and check that it made sense. Ian attacked from the south when hanging, and I attacked from the north (the tank trail bend) when vetting. I came to the exact spot that Ian hanged it. That convinced me to keep it.
I should have moved it, perhaps even putting it on the ridiculously large rootstock that Valerie added to the map for me the night before the event, for the sole purpose of making that control a bit fairer.
I apologize to those who were affected by it! It didn't help that it was the first control for a couple of courses, probably discouraging a few people...
I will be happy to set courses for QOC again, but it will be nice to use a map that I can get onto whenever I want to.
This event was originally scheduled for January 24th, but was postponed due to some logistical difficulties and to the 2+ feet of snow that fell that weekend.
The biggest complication for me in course setting this event was that it took place on Marine Corps territory, meaning that we could only gain access to it on particular Sundays, and usually with the presence of a range safety officer. It is possible to take an exam to become a qualified range safety officer, but it would require a full day spent at Quantico during the week, and I never got around to doing it. Luckily, John Baker was a superstar and was willing to act as the safety officer each time we went out to scout and hang flags.
As a result of this limitation, I spent less time in the terrain than I normally would for an event I was setting courses for.
Still, I think in general the meet was successful (about 200 starts and 250 total people!) and the courses were well-received. It helped that the terrain is just beautiful in places and also technically difficult, with very subtle contours, which is abnormal for QOC-land.
Things that went well:
1) The terrain is great. Some of the best here in QOC-land. The fact that it's off-limits to the public means that it's much wilder than other areas. Really cool.
2) Alli and I had an amazing team of helpers. From John Baker, who did everything imaginable, to Valerie, Amy, Greg L, Ian, Misha, Kevin, Hannah, Jon C, Jon T, Tori, Vido, Petya, Charles C, Daniel H, Amber, the volunteers were amazing and made our job way easier. What a pleasure to work with QOC's finest!
3) The beginner and orange courses were good. I think we got the right levels of difficulty, and the DNF rates reflect that.
4) All the controls were in the right place, even if a couple of the features were on the vague side (see further in this post). We had, as far as I could tell, enough water.
5) A lot of people seem to have had a good time. In the end, that's what matters, and I think that was mostly successful.
The biggest problems were as follows:
1) The map is old. Jon Torrance made some corrections, but the vegetation mapping really needs a complete overhaul.
2) The map printing turned out very strange. The green color was printed very dark, obscuring contours in the areas where they were most important. It's strange, because I had no problems when printing maps at Kinko's for terrain scouting. I feel bad about this. I am sure it contributed to some DNF's on the advanced courses.
3) Control 104. It was in a "re-entrant" that was extremely vague and much less prominent than shown on the map. On Friday, Ian hanged it. I made sure to go visit it and check that it made sense. Ian attacked from the south when hanging, and I attacked from the north (the tank trail bend) when vetting. I came to the exact spot that Ian hanged it. That convinced me to keep it.
I should have moved it, perhaps even putting it on the ridiculously large rootstock that Valerie added to the map for me the night before the event, for the sole purpose of making that control a bit fairer.
I apologize to those who were affected by it! It didn't help that it was the first control for a couple of courses, probably discouraging a few people...
I will be happy to set courses for QOC again, but it will be nice to use a map that I can get onto whenever I want to.
Saturday May 14, 2016 #
Note
Watching Tiomila all day. Not a good night for the Linne boys for the second year in a row. :( Revenge at Jukola?
Friday May 13, 2016 #
Orienteering 2:00:00 [1]
Hanging flags at Combat Village. The rain stopped just as we got there, and the afternoon was absolutely delightful. I really enjoyed being out in the woods, walking and jogging, and finding the streamers Chris had put out back in December, before this meet got moved from January to May. The streamers were all there. The map is certainly old, but I didn't have any problems using the contours and compass to find the locations. Back and hip were sore, so I was happy that Ian and John Baker joined Chris and me to make our job a lot easier. We managed to put out all the controls and water in about three hours.
Thursday May 12, 2016 #
Cross-Training 1:00:00
Elliptical intervals 1'-2'-3'-4'-4'-3'-2'-1'
Wednesday May 11, 2016 #
Cross-Training 50:00 [1]