Running 14:30 [1] 2.59 km (5:36 / km) +62m 5:00 / km
shoes: 201304 Inov-8 Oroc 280s
Warmup at Ansonia; trying to wake up.
Orienteering 47:02 [3] 6.34 km (7:25 / km) +159m 6:35 / km
16c shoes: 201304 Inov-8 Oroc 280s
For my Thanksgiving weekend, I decided to go on an O-expedition to Connecticut and New York. The barely organized chaos that is my life postponed my expedition a few hours, and I didn't get to Ansonia on Friday until nightfall. I had planned to Night-O, but a combination of the cold, fatigue, and a poor Night-O configuration frustrated my plans. Instead, I went for an easy run in West Rock; a poor substitute for Ansonia.
This morning, after a sluggish start, I set off to rerun the Blue Middle from the Mad Hatter's Revenge 2010 A-meet. Running or rerunning courses isn't quite ideal, but I decided this was much better than doing nothing at all.
My focus for this course was on precise - not necessarily fast - orienteering. I wanted to intelligently use my compass, check off features, and solidly execute all my plans. I vaguely recalled a few errors from my run in 2010, but I didn't refresh my memory of the splits because I figured that would be an unnecessary distraction. Somewhat detrimentally, I had drawn my route on the map I was running with.
Controls 1-4 were fine and a good way to get back into the terrain. I have no idea if I was on the correct boulder for 3, but I was definitely close (also a little uncertain about 4). I decided to throw caution to the wind and take a different route choice to 6. I was right the first time. On 7, my zone of uncertainty grew larger than I had planned halfway through the leg, but that was sort of ok given my plan.
I was pleased with 8-11, though I started to get a bit tired on my approach to 11. I completely botched 12 when I didn't understand the orientation of the cliffs, even though given my exit from 11 and the surrounding terrain, I was fairly confident I was in the circle. Maybe if I there had been a flag, I wouldn't have hesitated so much. I couldn't find the knoll at 15. Dunno.
On maps like Ansonia and Harriman, one of the challenges with matching the map to the terrain is deciphering the orientation of small cliffy guys, e.g. in the circle at 12. At 12 (map to come), two cliffs are stacked above each other facing NW; I thought there were two cliffs facing each other with a narrow corridor. This is a good skill to practice in rocky New England terrain with subtle contour features.
Running 5:00 [3] 0.8 km (6:15 / km)
shoes: 201304 Inov-8 Oroc 280s
Quick cool down before devouring some recovery pizza.