Orienteering race (Thomass course) 26:42 [5] *** 3.75 km (7:07 / km) +68m 6:32 / km
spiked:13/15c shoes: Integrators Orange
Pt. Pinole "Thomass Course". 13 control, 2.9km, mass start course with a twist: between #4 and #5, you had to get a certain number of controls on a 10-control score-O course. That number of controls was sex/age dependent. For me it was only 2; for the M21's it was all 10. Francois Leonard, who turns 40 this month, needed only 8. Penny DeMoss, F60, needed only 2, like me.
Just followed the crowd for the first 4. As I came in to #4, saw that Penny was maybe 50m ahead. Caught her at the first score-O control by going through the woods while she went around. Got ahead of her immediately after, stayed in the lead to the end of the score-O; as I anticipated, I now was in front of the entire pack! This was great: navigated under pressure, staying ahead of Penny for the next 5 controls. As we headed uphill for #11, I was starting to feel weary (my awful night's sleep might have had something to do with that); got locked in heading for the wrong bush. Realized that near the end, but that allowed Penny to catch up and punch in right in front of me. Too much of a hurry towards #12; we were stumped and side by side for a few secs. Both headed east; I spotted a hill, looked for it on the map (should have seen it earlier but didn't - would've saved the :20 error), found it, but meanwhile Penny was headed for the control, so she opened up a 7 sec lead. Could see she was headed for #13 via the trail, so figured my best chance was to take a straighter route. Beat her by a sec, but it wasn't enough to make up the difference, so then coasted in to the finish. A bit surprised when Francois finished only 9 secs later; he must've made up a lot of ground over the last couple of controls.
This was really fun, and I got what I hoped out of it: practice navigating at high speed and under pressure. Mostly pleased with what I did, though lack of conditioning got me at the end.
Running warm up/down 16:00 [2] 1.15 mi (13:55 / mi)
shoes: Integrators Orange
Warm up: .75mi, 10 mins. Mostly going in circles while Steve Gregg explained the rules. Not a great warm up.
Cool down: .4 mi, 6 mins.