Training Log Archive: MonaIn the 7 days ending Oct 25, 2009:
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Sunday Oct 25, 2009 #
Note
I finally made it home Sunday night after the US Champs, so I celebrated by grilling a perfect steak (fillet mignon wrapped in bacon, medium rare... some luck in the process) with a Malbec on the side (Pascual Toso, 2008, good year :), and one of those Belgian chocolate covered apples from Cedarburg. OK, yes, it was a great dinner ;), as this whole weekend I ate mostly bananas and granola bars, and when it came to dinner I was too stressed about the event to be able to eat anything.
Btw, all that follows does not qualify for logging for training (I have been specifically told that), but here it is anyway:
Friday marked the end of one of the most stressful weeks at work (pure coincidence??), the last bit being my work laptop crashing and loosing most data => sign I needed to leave work and head out to Greenbush. So I got there pretty late and got the Friday summary from Kevin, and first smile came on my face when I found out soon enough things were on the right track. So, we finished up the operating mechanisms for Saturday, and went to bed for a restless sleep at Baymont.
Saturday got to the start early (as I was in charge of that) and my worries that volunteers will maybe forget to show up dissolved very quickly, as help simply poured in, we got all the equipment set up up the hill. MNOC team had the tents setup and most of the equipment under control, and I had such great help with calling out names from Rick, Ian and Mike, as I knew my voice would not make it to those people that love to be late and need that one last second reminder. Honest, that is lesson for me, as guilty for being late or last minute on several occasions. Also, the rest of the team (Dawn, Chris, Doug, Bob, Paul and very possibly others that I can't put names to faces) were a tremendous support, and did not hesitate to help with any task at hand. No words to thank enough! The start went pretty smooth, couple complaints, nothing major, most people were pretty cheerful going through the start. The weather held up really good and we actually had sunshine in the afternoon, which I'm sure helped with the cheerful attitude.
As soon as start was done, I ran to Kevin to see how things were going on courses and ... oh, was I happy to hear everything was going good. Only Vladimir had a "close encounter" with our WI boulders, but nothing else (that i heard of). It does come with the sport that if you don't fall at least once, or don't get a good number of scratches on your arms to show off next day at work, pretty much it means you did a road race not an O race :)
During control pickup I went in the woods to clean the water stops. It was just so nice to enjoy the sunny afternoon in the woods. By now I was so tired from the standing, or not sleeping or whatever, I got to the hotel and took a quick half hour nap.
I really wanted to sleep, but I knew I had the awards ceremony coming up. So I headed to banquet hall, and Susie did an amazing job decorating, and Kevin picking the place. I was in awe when I walked in, really felt like I was supposed to wear something nicer :) The time flew talking to people and we decided to start awards earlier, so as to not miss people getting sleepy. I was a bit emotional at the beginning to talk in front of all these great orienteers (no-one noticed :) , but after I spoke the first sentence, everyone was cheering and I relaxed instantly. Kevin got a standing ovation and he deserved it as he spent pretty much the last half a year planning this event. As I was reading the names, I peeked once in a while in the back to see all the people lining up and it looked awesome. Once I was just about to read a page again due to that :) It went good, I only missed calling out one name, and went personally to apologize, present the awards and hang the medal around his neck. Just as soon as that was over, it was so great to see most of us (volunteers) relax a bit, as the 'worst' was over, and it was so amazing to hear all the good feedback about the terrain and courses. We had some constructive feedback as well, regarding courses, so maybe next time we may ask those people for help as well.
Sunday morning came, and now we had the start setup down to a science so everyone knew what they were supposed to do, and the starts were more spaced out (not sure why on Sunday and not on Saturday), and also the competitors knew what to expect, so everything went very smooth, got time to take pictures, and enjoy the great weather.
Quick awards ceremony, (by the end I learned the ribbon colors ;), and all was done and over.
So, in summary, it turned out to be a great event, definitely could not have done it without the tremendous help of volunteers, both local and from clubs all over the country. Then people just poured in from all over US and overseas, and their feedback made it all worth it for us. Great help from above with such a nice weather, and safe return from the woods of everyone.
A BIG THANK YOU, ALL!
Btw, all that follows does not qualify for logging for training (I have been specifically told that), but here it is anyway:
Friday marked the end of one of the most stressful weeks at work (pure coincidence??), the last bit being my work laptop crashing and loosing most data => sign I needed to leave work and head out to Greenbush. So I got there pretty late and got the Friday summary from Kevin, and first smile came on my face when I found out soon enough things were on the right track. So, we finished up the operating mechanisms for Saturday, and went to bed for a restless sleep at Baymont.
Saturday got to the start early (as I was in charge of that) and my worries that volunteers will maybe forget to show up dissolved very quickly, as help simply poured in, we got all the equipment set up up the hill. MNOC team had the tents setup and most of the equipment under control, and I had such great help with calling out names from Rick, Ian and Mike, as I knew my voice would not make it to those people that love to be late and need that one last second reminder. Honest, that is lesson for me, as guilty for being late or last minute on several occasions. Also, the rest of the team (Dawn, Chris, Doug, Bob, Paul and very possibly others that I can't put names to faces) were a tremendous support, and did not hesitate to help with any task at hand. No words to thank enough! The start went pretty smooth, couple complaints, nothing major, most people were pretty cheerful going through the start. The weather held up really good and we actually had sunshine in the afternoon, which I'm sure helped with the cheerful attitude.
As soon as start was done, I ran to Kevin to see how things were going on courses and ... oh, was I happy to hear everything was going good. Only Vladimir had a "close encounter" with our WI boulders, but nothing else (that i heard of). It does come with the sport that if you don't fall at least once, or don't get a good number of scratches on your arms to show off next day at work, pretty much it means you did a road race not an O race :)
During control pickup I went in the woods to clean the water stops. It was just so nice to enjoy the sunny afternoon in the woods. By now I was so tired from the standing, or not sleeping or whatever, I got to the hotel and took a quick half hour nap.
I really wanted to sleep, but I knew I had the awards ceremony coming up. So I headed to banquet hall, and Susie did an amazing job decorating, and Kevin picking the place. I was in awe when I walked in, really felt like I was supposed to wear something nicer :) The time flew talking to people and we decided to start awards earlier, so as to not miss people getting sleepy. I was a bit emotional at the beginning to talk in front of all these great orienteers (no-one noticed :) , but after I spoke the first sentence, everyone was cheering and I relaxed instantly. Kevin got a standing ovation and he deserved it as he spent pretty much the last half a year planning this event. As I was reading the names, I peeked once in a while in the back to see all the people lining up and it looked awesome. Once I was just about to read a page again due to that :) It went good, I only missed calling out one name, and went personally to apologize, present the awards and hang the medal around his neck. Just as soon as that was over, it was so great to see most of us (volunteers) relax a bit, as the 'worst' was over, and it was so amazing to hear all the good feedback about the terrain and courses. We had some constructive feedback as well, regarding courses, so maybe next time we may ask those people for help as well.
Sunday morning came, and now we had the start setup down to a science so everyone knew what they were supposed to do, and the starts were more spaced out (not sure why on Sunday and not on Saturday), and also the competitors knew what to expect, so everything went very smooth, got time to take pictures, and enjoy the great weather.
Quick awards ceremony, (by the end I learned the ribbon colors ;), and all was done and over.
So, in summary, it turned out to be a great event, definitely could not have done it without the tremendous help of volunteers, both local and from clubs all over the country. Then people just poured in from all over US and overseas, and their feedback made it all worth it for us. Great help from above with such a nice weather, and safe return from the woods of everyone.
A BIG THANK YOU, ALL!
Monday Oct 19, 2009 #
Rollerblade 30:00 [1]
Up north. Enjoying the indian summer.