Orienteering (Belair NP NOL Race) 2:24:45 [4] *** 18.0 km (8:03 / km)
44c shoes: x-talon 190
Knew it was going to be fairly long, fairly steep, fairly hot and that I was feeling fairly average physically. Decided on running in shorts and singlet and carrying a drink bottle after the first map change. Nearly changed my mind when I saw no one else thinking similarly, but stuck with it anyway and am now fairly scratched to bits as a result.
First loop was the most orienteers I have ever seen running around in a small area, Quite good fun and I actually stuck to plan and ran super conservatively and did my own thing. A couple of very minor wobbles, but generally seemed to be keeping things fairly clean and was still surrounded by people as I finished the first loop in around 15 minutes.
Out onto the second loop and I missed the first one, was slow to the second, then misread the location of the spectator control and stood next to a tree looking confused when I was meant to be finding an earthbank. All those things were still only a coule of minutes down the tube, but it all unravelled shortly after.
Got to the 6th control on the loop, punched, then double-checked the code only to see it didn't match my descriptions. I was a little surprised, but knew there were lots of controls around, so tried to relocate. After relocating off two tennis courts and the road and coming back to the same spot each time, as well as a bit of random running in circles, I ended up frustratingly back in the same spot and looked at the code again. This time, it matched my descriptions. Couldn't figure out whether I had misread the description but carried on in a grump. Got distracted by Craig coming out of 8 and ran a crap line out of the control, then made a bit of a hash of the route choice to 9 also, but still felt like I was running OK.
A bit hesitant into 9, but got it OK. 10 I ignored the contours and relied solely on a track junction. Which would have been finr if I had seen the one under the control number, so ducked into the bush on the wrong side of a gully and took a while to get across. Then ran down onto the breakaway for 11, through a control that wasn't mine, but I knew the location of, and straight onto my control. Only the code didn't match again. This time I was absolutely certain that I was in the right place, so I stood around saying a few things that I probably shouldn't have while about 5 other people ran thru, punched the control and continued. I had another look at my map and finally figured out what I had done, both this time and earlier - I had been looking at the descriptions on the reverse side of my map - the ones for the third loop. Crap. Finished off the last 3 controls of the second map OK but was fairly alarmed when I saw what was left on the other side of the map.
Had a slight miss on the first control, despite having been there before, OK through the next two, then read the map as if I was running 4-5 instead of 3-4. The angles seemed wrong and none of the rock fitted, so I was pretty flummoxed. Was just bailing out to the top of the breakaway to try and figure it out when Craig and Graham came through and dropped straight onto a control, which I dutifully followed them into, found the code matched one on my map and ran out towards number 6. Only I had to run downhill into a large and distinct gully that I already should have been in the bottom of. With no rock around to addle my brain, there was no way I could make this fit. So I stopped! (Hooray for me) had a think, and figured that the only way I could have managed was to have come out from a different spot than what I expected. Re-checking the codes on my map it finally clicked that I had indeed just punched 4, not 5, which explained a lot about my earlier confusion. Ran back to get 5, then back out to 6 again. Got 6 well, a little offline on 7, but corrected well, 8 and 9 were easy, picked the critical path through the crap to get to 10, then didn't manage to hold a straight linr to 11 and wasted another good 5+ minutes first dropping to the bottom of the hill, then climbing to the top, before finally dropping back onto the control halfway down. I was caught by a pack of 3 runners here for about the 5th time and was getting pretty annoyed at myself. Next came the long route-choice leg. Apparently I picked a decent route choice, but not for me, as I was running out of legs by this time and couldn't cope with the hills. Finished the leg off fine, but then didn't go wide enough leaving the control and got stuck in blackberries before climbing back out and finding the right way down to the path through the tunnel. Cautious but clean enough through the last 5 controls to finish a very frustrating day.
Still pulled up better than I have after many other long races, despite not being 100% when I started, so maybe I am a little fitter than previously. Just need to remember how to navigate properly. Really need to spend that little bit longer to make sure I get everything I need from the map, then spend more time during the leg with my head up seeing more of what is around me. Hopefully point 2 will improve naturally as I get back into more regular running in terrain.
Overall, a disappointing weekend, but still a useful learning experience and first step towards 2014 nationals.
Was also 3rd WA finisher on this one, so counted for NOL points. We might even have beaten a couple of other states...
**Time and distance approx**