Training Log Archive: maprunner

Smooth travels back home. Except luggage didn't make it again (we had a very tight connection in Newark). Much easier to be missing luggage when you arrive home.

NAOC Sprint. I was nervous about screwing up today. I really wanted one clean race for the weekend. I had an early start, so I warmed up and arrived at the start about 10 minutes ahead of schedule. Only to find out that there would be a 30 minute delay. So I hung out, waited, and then warmed up again.

Got the map at the start, and it was huge (11X17). This was a long sprint course (too long; winning time was 18 min) so I knew I couldn't run all out for this distance. Settled in to a comfortable pace, and was able to hold that (for the times I was running)

Big mistake at 2, when I didn't see the gray wall and thought that the center of the circle was on the inside corner of the fence (which would have been a way cooler, and trickier, control location). When I missed it, it took me too long to decide how to relocate; need to practice that for sprints.

Huge mistake at 7. I saw the trail option to the control but once again I decide a straight line route would be OK. Not. Did not figure out which trail I hit first, kept thinking I was looking for a rootstock at the end of a thicket (instead, the whole green blob was the rootstock, which they had mentioned in meet notes).Wandered around and finally found a rootstock that was my 86. Punched and left. Hit a trail way too soon, and then the trail forked. Whoa, something is really wrong here! Go back and check that control code. It was 89 !!! Whew, I dodged a bullet here (yes, I know, I should have caught it the first time....) Ran back and finally found a few other folks who led me into 7. Total disaster, once again.

Rest of the course was fine. Pleased that I was able to run a steady pace, and pain free. But again, super mad at myself for such a huge, preventable mistake.

Enjoyed hanging out and chatting with everyone after the race. Spectating as the elites finished was also cool. Too bad we had to leave early, so we missed the team relays.

Thanks to Ottowa for a fine weekend.
My route

C • The photos 2

Sprint - Course 3 - Splits

Update: Mike's bag showed up at 9:00 pm. Discovered this morning that everything was wet. I slept for 11 hours. Let's hit the long course!

Congrats to Kissy on her bronze medal!

Long course, NAOC

Slept a long time, but not restfully. I was anxious and nervous before the start today, and I had to work hard to get myself relaxed and focused. And I did a pretty good job at that.

Had a bit too much adrenaline at the start and did not see the trail past the marker, so I stupidly went through the woods and missed. Hit the trail and relocated just fine.

After that,I was more conservative with route choices, and took trails most of the way. I had a good run to 3, even though some of it was through the woods.

I worked hard to keep track of the trails as I left 5. Had some trouble with the small trails around 7, and then couldn't keep a straight line to 8.

But I was moving well and felt good and focused. I was shocked as I got near the finish and saw my time; this was fast! (It helped that this was a very short "long" course. The winning time was off)

I came in, quite pleased with my run. Then downloaded and saw "MP": I had skipped 6 !!!!

The last time I skipped a control was 2001. Why now???
I was so mad at myself. And disappointed. How hard is it to keep track of which number you're on? I know I planned a route from 5 to 6. My best guess is that I was using my magnifier to keep track of all the trails after 5, and since I wear it on my left hand, it probably was centered around 7. The attackpoint for 6 would also work for 7, so that's what I did.

Looking at Kissy's splits, I estimate that my time would have been 58 minutes on the full course, which would have been a good result. Oh well.
My route

Long - Course 6 - Splits

No luggage. Have compass, no dipstick. Wearing jeans and sneakers. Should be interesting without my magnifying glasses

Luggage update: Mike and I went shopping this morning and got some clothes and shoes. I was styling. :). Peter lent me a WCOC o top and I rented a dipstick. Came back to hotel a 2:00 to find my suitcase (yeah !) but not Mike's (boo)

C • Yeah! 3

Middle course, NAOC. After shopping for clothes and getting a rental e-punch, I had to get my head into the game. I figured this would be good practice, to see how I could deal with strange circumstances. They had a long walk to the start, plus a great warm-up area with small map. Both of those helped me get focused for this race.

I took it really slow and easy to the first 3 controls, because it was hard for me to read this map (kept seeing things that were just under 2.5 meters, and therefore, not mapped). But I was clean.

From 3 to 4 I got cocky, and thought I could just wing it through the woods (instead of taking the safe route around on the trails). I wandered, slowly, crossed a trail (but didn't stop to consider) and finally stopped when I hit a hill. Stood still and began to guess where I was. Confirmed when I went around the hill and found my marker for 5. Duh! At least I could now follow the elephant trail back to 4, and then back to 5.

As a result of this huge mistake, I was too cautious later, and took the trail to 12 on purpose, to attack 11. Probably unnecessary.
Way down on the results today. Need to focus better tomorrow.

Since my Garmin had not yet arrived, I had to do the old-fashioned system: draw my course with a red pen. Not entirely sure where I went from 3 to 5, so that's a dotted line

Middle - Course 6a - Splits

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

Up early to travel to Ottawa. So excited for these races. 35+ women in F45! Again, my goal is three clean races. And have lots of fun!

Travel woes continue. Unexpected long security lines. Was told to stay in line, all was fine with our flight. Not. Seats were given away. Rebooked on much later flight, arriving in YOW at 11:30 pm. Ugh.

Survived our long layover in Newark. Will board for Ottawa soon, be in Arnprior about 1AM. Key question: will our luggage be waiting for us? (It left KC on original flight)

C • I sure hope so! 1

Legs were tired and sore from the weekend, so I got a massage tonight. Ahhh!

Weekend entries have now been updated with maps and notes. Had to post from google. Anyone else having problems connecting to Doma?

C • DOMA 1