Training Log Archive: bcsocal

Not my worst race, but far from my best. The result was worse than last week's middle, in more technical terrain. My fears turned out to be largely unfounded; I was able to recognize features (with hesitation).

In a reversal from last weekend, the last 6 controls (all very short legs) were the worst. I coughed up 8 places in the standings. I was leaving trails early, getting stuck in the undergrowth (encountering one raspberry vine which drew blood), missing knolls, etc. I missed the trail option on 14->15, and again on 15->16.

The powerline corridor, mapped mostly as open yellow, proved to be anything but open. It cost me significant time both times I had to cross it.

Middle - Course 7b - Splits

Event: NAOC2014 (North American Champs/Ottawa O-Fest)
 

I went back out to the EcoCenter model area, this time much earlier in the day. I tried to follow the model course (21 controls) and had better success. This time I made it to #10 before running into trouble. I was able to determine that some of the markers were missing and at least one was misplaced. Eventually I reached 17 of the 21 controls.

So I'm reading the map better but not moving fast through the terrain. The latter is a part of my orienteering that I still need to develop. The older more experienced guys can move faster through the terrain even though I have faster raw running speed.

I then spent an hour on the Barrens map just to see why it's mapped the way it is. There is much more exposed rock (thus the "barren" terrain). I'm glad I did that; this type of terrain appeared on the competition maps.

Overall a more encouraging day.

The NAOC opening ceremony was held on Arnprior's hockey rink. They made it a bit like the Olympic opening ceremony - many of the athletes marched in wearing their club uniforms and carrying signs indicating their club; there was a "cultural" display with local youth hockey players stick-handling around obstacles to visit "controls" on the ice, speeches by the mayor and other dignitaries, even the lighting of a torch just like the Olympics.

After dinner the local band "The Orienteers" played a set, including the NAOC theme song "Take Control" that they composed.

Finally the Arnprior junior hockey team played a game (and lost, 4-1).

Well, that was discouraging.

I had to wait until noon when the information desk for NAOC opened, and I could swap one of my sprint model maps for the EcoCenter model map. After setting up at the curling center, I then drove out to the area, made a wrong turn, and went about 30 extra miles before finally finding the entrance to the parking lot.

The model course controls were marked with surveyor's tape. Out of 21 controls, I think I reached 7 of them in 3 hours. The most distant ones were about a mile away. The terrain is far more intricate than I expected - so much for the wide open runnable woods I was expecting. Rock features, lots of little knolls indistinguishable from each other, areas of thick undergrowth, marshes, deadfall, lots of stuff you don't see in the West. Even the mapped trails are covered in maple leaves and were easy to miss if you were crossing them. I'll have to pay closer attention to the map than I'm used to.

Drove to Arnprior today. After relatively good weather in Cooperstown (certainly nicer than Rochester!), I got dumped on while passing through Watertown, NY. What a Godforsaken town that is!

After crossing the border, I stuck to the main highways and went straight to the Quality Inn. It was still drizzling in the late afternoon when I pulled in.

The Quality Inn is a dump compared to the Holiday Inn Express in Cooperstown, which was quite nice. Even the Wi-Fi was poor - I wanted to upload the Cooperstown pictures but it took over 5 minutes to upload one picture, and I had 56. Oh, well...

Tomorrow's objective is to visit the Carp Ridge model areas.

Visited the baseball Hall of Fame. I spent 6 hours there and didn't see everything.

Interestingly, I don't recall seeing the words "steroid" or "PED" at all. OTOH, there was a major exhibit for Henry Aaron yet not a thing for Barry Bonds (except his name on the all-time home run list). The feats of other "tainted" performers were similarly noted with simple stats.

Most of my pictures (not posted yet) were of the plaques and artifacts of Dodgers and Angels, plus this year's inductees (Torre, Cox, LaRussa, Thomas, Glavine, Maddux).

I had purchased a combo ticket (HOF and Fenimore Art Museum), so I went over to the Fenimore so as not to waste it. I got only an hour there. I had to skip the native American, Dorothea Lange, and Madame Butterfly exhibits. My main interest was in depictions of life in Cooperstown and of the Leatherstocking Tales, and I was disappointed that there wasn't more.

As my mother would put it, Cooperstown "rolls up the sidewalks" quite early. Nothing is open after 5:00PM except a couple of restaurants. They tell me that it's more lively during the summer. I had a turkey and mashed potatoes dinner at the Cooperstown Diner, which looked like it would fit on a railroad car (long and skinny).

Drove from Rochester to Cooperstown. I used highway 20 which took about 4 hours. I intentionally stayed off the NYS thruway because I'm a Californian and dislike toll roads (even though more of them are showing up in CA).

Walked around downtown Cooperstown this afternoon and got a few pics.

Tomorrow I tour the Hall of Fame (and the Fenimore museum too!).

Not much is open in Cooperstown for dinner. I ended up at a cheesy Chinese restaurant (its name was "Foo Kin"), the only one in town. I walked in, nobody was there, and I was greeted by two small children. They shooed me to a table and ran to the back to get their father, the owner. Eventually I was eating a plate of broccoli beef, pork fried rice and egg rolls, with hot tea. Not bad, but not worth a second visit. I briefly chatted with the wife as I paid; she seemed bored out of her mind to be in a small town like Cooperstown but said repeatedly "it was best for the children". She said New York City was too expensive and too busy for her.

Middle at U.S. Nationals at Letchworth.
Controls 1 and 3 killed me. I did better during the last few controls, but my lack of training and uncertain navigating hurt even during a couple of these legs. Wanted to finish under an hour, but the early legs killed that.

Cooler day; I ran with 3 tech shirts on and was fine once I got going.

Not many pics today.

Spent the afternoon swapping rental cars, after the one I had began issuing an oil-change warning. 2nd time this has happened to me early during an orienteering road trip.

Middle Green Y - Splits