US Masters, Day 1, Bigelow State Park, CT. Brown x
A perfect day for orienteering in beautiful NE fall colors. I took a while to get my head into the game, not used to being in technical terrain. I walked right by the first control, had to relocate from rock walls.
Slow on the way to 2, still wasn't really reading the map, wandered a bit even when I noticed I had passed the major reentrant. found the other brown course control before I back tracked and found mine.
After that, I settled down. I was reading ahead and navigating pretty well, but still had to work to maintain focus. It's hard to concentrate that long when you're walking and out of shape. I stayed off the trails because I couldn't run, so going straight was faster for me.
Overall, I enjoyed the course and had fun in the woods.
On the way to 2, I tested running a few steps on the trail. My foot hurt right away, so that was a good reminder that I was walking the whole way today. There were times when it was pretty rough on both my feet: rocky ground, marshes with downed trees, etc. At one point I got something in my shoe on my "good" foot and I stepped right on it in my arch and screamed out loud. Had to stop and remove my shoe and dump it out. By the end, both of my feet were sore and hurting, The injured foot was pretty tired and achy when I finished.
Stood around and visited with old and new friends. So great to see Gail and Peter again. And I met Susan Dunklee! We had a good conversation before and after the race. She was surprised to find a biathlon fan from Kansas!