Training Log Archive: Nadim

ROC: Webster Park, NY. After interesting presentations on GIS mapping and ski-O mapping in the OUSA convention, I got out to do some sprints. As I've been most of the week, the orienteering was being held too close to meal times. I skipped the mass start traininigs because of this but was still a little full. I started out running slower and hitting #1 okay but I mispunched at #2. I must have mistaken a mass start race control that was nearby and visible for the one nearby behind a tree. My split for #3 didn't register but I was sure that I went there. I hit the next few pretty well. I had a hesitation and slight change of direction going to #9, and looked too low at #10 before moving off and coming back. I ran toward #11 and was pretty sure my map was showing a control next to the playground, and then in to the finish. I downloaded and was told that I'd missed #2 and #3. At the time, I was pretty sure of going to these so my time got corrected. While resting, I saw Tom Svobodny finish just as I had so I never thought anything was wrong with my last two controls until I saw Peggy finishing her Sprint A. I'd turned-in my map by this time (so others could use it), but I was pretty sure my course was showing the Go control to be at the playground where I had punched. After doing my Sprint B, I realized that I had mispunched at #2 so I went and had my status changed to mispunch. I really would have liked to have kept the map I ran with to verify all of this but it's gone now. The maps we ran on were all a bit off--the printer being used had run out of yellow ink so all the green appeared as blue and some other colors were off.

Webster Park, NY. I was getting ready to go out on Sprint B but I hadn't seen Max in a while and I jogged around looking for him. Tom Svobodny was looking for his daughter and Nicole was not around either. We figured they'd gone off w/o permission but it turned out that Tom's daughter had asked him if she could go when he was finishing and he had misunderstood her. Max should have asked me but didn't. While all of this was being figured out, I jogged around searching for them and in the process, I looped under a road bridge to the shores of Lake Ontario.

ROC: Webster Park, NY. I ran Sprint B not long before they were to pickup controls. It was rather similar to Sprint A. The mass start controls were mostly already picked-up. I spiked all of the controls even the few controls that I hadn't been to, and some that I came to from different angles. It was a decent way to finish-up though I wasn't all that fast.

Webster TDS #4 Sprint B - Splits

Letchworth State Park West Side (southern portion). Warm-up for ROC's sprint as part of the OUSA Convention. As I ran around the fields, I also cheered Max who was doing the super line-o course twice.

Letchworth State Park West Side (southern portion). ROC: Sprint A. I had trouble with this sprint. Perhaps I was trying to run faster than I should, though these days, I don't seem to be running all that fast at all. There were some slight problems with the trails not being very precise for a sprint. The map was probably made for normally running at a 1:10,000 scale but it was blown up to 1:5,000. I started out okay going left on the trail to #1, and cutting off at a good but indistinct place to spike it. Going to #2, I went through a trail intersection that I didn't recognize and went way past the control, just beyond #9. That lost me around 1:30 minutes. I spiked #3, then slowed a bit before continuing to #4. #5 seemed further away than I expected but I hit it. Going to #6, I rounded the first marsh on the left side, then went on to see a break in the second marsh--only one break was shown on the map so I thought I was on course but really I was over to the left, crossing the marsh on a small wooden walkway. Going to #7, I went to the wrong hilltop and had to move over to the right after fumbling around. Even now, I'm not sure about the mapping of the contours there but a fenced manmade object should have helped me figure it out quicker if only I had seen it sooner. I hit #8 well and since I had already been to #9, I got that easily. Going to #10, I was going to descend the grass in the first field, and then cut right. However, getting closer, I could see through the first tree line and cut over to shorten distance. I think I started counting tree lines instead of fields because I crossed the seccond tree line and stopped at the power lines before the trail. I finally found it then headed off to the finish only to have gotten the map disoriented. I ran through the super line-o to the start and couldn't find the finish punch amongst all the controls. I asked around (poor form), and then went to the other end of the building where the finish punch was. Not such a good race for me but I guess I got some mental practic and some exercise.

ROC: Super Line-O. I gave it a good effort but came-up slower than hoped. Early on, I was distracted by a Sprint runner finishing her course whom I almost colided with. I overshot a control and lost some a second or two. I started to get tired sooner than I thought I would have.

ROC: Super Line-O. I gave it another good effort but fumbled too many controls. It was fun but tiring too. If I hadn't fumbled so much, I would have beaten my first run at it.

Letchworth State Park West Side (southern portion). Unknown to me when I volunteered to pickup some controls, some training had been setup well west of the sprint controls. Some were in a very steep yet detailed area. As I got into the woods, I passed Ted Good who was also picking up controls. We both commented on how dark it was. Clouds and drizzle and hemlocks made it hard to read the map. I got a little above the first control before seeing it behind me. I would have expected the map to show an earth bank above the control since it was so steep but it didn't. I spiked the second control, just going on a bearing along the steep hillside. The third was a little easier since it was on a ridge but I hit it well just the same. I was happy about these controls seeming to come-up sooner than expected on the 1:10,000 map. The 4th was on a trail bend but I hit it perpendicular to the trail. I ran a trail most of the way to the 5th control. Going back, I wanted to avoid crossing a gorge in the still darkening woods. I ran south down a road which got pretty close to the river cliffs on the main park road. I cut across some woods at the end, hitting things well along the way. Though there was no pressure, I felt a bit redeemed by this exercise.

Letchworth TDS #3 Sprint A - Splits

ROC: Durand Eastman Park, NY. For the second day of the US Orienteering Convention, there was more course work followed by some sprints and a picnic. The sprints were fine though steep. I thought some of the map might have been better in places but it was probably printed at 1:5,000 and mapped at 1:10,000. I made an error right out of the start by having a poor bearing and missing a trail. That cost me about 1:19 according to AP. I moved okay afterward but I wasn't moving as fast as I would have liked. I had a few bobbles such as moving left at first on the leg to #10, then deciding that going right around the water was better.

ROC: Durand Eastman Park, NY. ROC setup a Super Line-O sprint that slalomed through the trees. I did it not long after finishing my sprint. It was rather tricky requiring speed and agility. I fumbled with one control but was okay with the others. After this, we ate a picnic dinner and then went to the Sea Breeze amusement park. The amusement park overlooked Lake Ontario and was nice. The cummulative effect of several fast rides added-up, making my stomach feel nauseous. I had lost a sense of equilibrium.

Durand TDS #2 Sprint A - Splits

US Orienteering Convention. After listening to some sessions on map making as well as a little practice field checking in a park in Rochester, NY, I took it easy. Peggy ran a sprint but it was hot enough and I'd run enough over the weekend that I didn't think it would help me much. I went out later for the mass start night orienteering that was put on by ROC and the US Juniors. Peggy took Max out and I crossed their path at a control. It was fun, though starting out for the first 15 minutes, I struggled with trying to digest a picnic dinner that was part of the convention. I didn't understand the point assignments in this score-o and ended-up missing an easy 50 point control, very near the start. Other controls were mostly easy at intersections or close to intersections. One group was in a very steep technical area. I got them all but had a hard time interpreting up and down. My lighting worked well. I had forgotten a longer cable so I rigged the battery to attach to my headstrap. It was a fun outing. I think I ended-up with the 6th place score. I also strained something around my right hip. It probably happened while running downhill on a wide trail and kicking a fist sized rock twice.

Event: 2011 OUSA Convention
 

At Happy Valley WMA, in NY, near Syracuse, I jogged over to the start of the 2011 CNYO US Classic Orienteering Championships.

CNYO: US Classic Championships Day 2 at Happy Valley WMA. I was out for a bit of redemption and mostly I got it. Unlike yesterday, I only had one ten minute error. I was off a bit on #1. Perhaps I should have taken a safer route following the wall from the road but I recovered quickly. I spiked #2, simplifying a lot by ignoring most of the contour detail. I knew enough to go to the top and I did read a Y-shaped valley to know that I was a bit to the right near the end. On #3, I did the same simplifying and stopped on the correct knoll, left of the control. However, I saw another control more to the left and checked it out because visibility was poor enough that I couldn't be sure from the clues. Going to #4, I'm not sure what happened. I though I was coming off a hill correctly before crossing a flat area but I missed. I wandered, then decided to bail out. In the process, I think I headed the wrong way and stopped at my 5th control. I was able to hit #4 after that, just after Greg Lennon had gotten there. Greg had started 4 minutes behind me. I chased and caught him at #5. I took a straight route to #6, crossing both marshes and losing Greg at one since he wanted to go around. I spiked it. Going to #7, I ended off to the right, while going slow on this short leg--others did too. I spiked #8 by going straight too. The control was knocked over when I got there. I tried to stand it up again but the peg of the stake was bent--it just rolled over again. I moved well going for #9. I used the walls and kept good track of where I was the whole way and spiked it. Going to #10, I got hung-up in the fallen branches that were hidden by ferns. I moved of my attack line to the left due to this and ended-up losing time by going around the marsh to the left. The actual location of this control was hard to verify. Going for #11, I paused at a control on an earlier wall intersection. Moving on, I spiked it. I moved pretty well in the open ground but my lack of interval training or even much running shows in my lack of speed.

To day was a much better day overall. I used a hand held magnifier as needed. The magnifier had a handle but it broke at the start when I had dropped it. I just held the lens. It helped a lot. I'll still need to practice with various magnifying options.

Day 2 - Green Y - Splits

Event: 2011 US Classic Championships
 

Warm-up at the Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area near Williamstown, NY. Jogging to the start with a bit of back and forth on a dirt road.

CNYO Day 1 US Championships at the Happy Valley Wildlife Management Area near Williamstown, NY. This was my debut day running a Green course as an M50+. I had some hopes of doing well but I was also realistic about the competition. I should have been more focused on interpreting the map. In many ways, my head wasn't in it. I gave it a real try some second thoughts about coming this weekend could have factored in. I started out wrong right away with a 180 degree error; this after already seeing JJ Cote head out. I lost about 7 minutes right away. I was fine getting to #2 which only encouraged faster running toward #3 and some sloppy technique. A lot of people had trouble with #3 probably because it was obscured by a bush but I should have been more capable. I must have went past the control at least 4 times. The 2.5m contours were a factor there along with a very tussocked ground that contours didn't capture. I overshot #5 but was okay with perhaps only 2 minutes lost gettting to it. Leaving #5, I managed to make a second 180 degree error and this one was worse than the first. I was following a ridge up on a longer leg and it was just enough parallel to what I was seeing in the woods that I ran the wrong way for 5 minutes and went off the map. I was able to return well enough and went ahead and punched-back in at #5. Tim Parsons was just getting there at the same time. We ran off correctly toward #6 this time with me staying a bit lower. I missed seeing the reentrant up higher and turned back once hitting a stone wall. Tim, who had been behind, was now ahead. I chased him to #7, catching him there. I went back in the lead following compass bearing and reading the bigger features as I got to #8. I left for #9, ahead of Tim but drifted too far to the right. I got somewhat confused by this and took some risks even after locating on stone wall. That lost more time and I was really getting tired at this point. The upper 80 F weather was taking a toll on me. I was okay getting to #10 but was rather confused by the mapping of the walls in this area. I didn't notice that one was mapped with the stony grojund symbol and thought I was making an error crossing another.

I finished okay and was glad that earlier runners had made a path through the field. This was a really poor race for me. I thought of taking a DNF and I almost never think of that. I came away wondering what went wrong. By listening to others and studying the map, I formed a plan for the next day that involved using a tight bearing and using the contours less.

Day 1 Green Y - Splits

After a bit of yard work and seeing how much Max had learned at swim camp, it was a driving day.