Training Log Archive: gas_turbine

Event: ROC - Mendon Ponds Regular Meet
 

E side of Mendon Ponds - to avoid stumbling across any O controls - probably too early anyway. Start at S of green trail, but after we hit the blue trail, J made it become random. Cool but humid. Luckily, that combo didn't cause J to lie down for rests at all.

Some type of race (duathlon?) was to start at 8:30. Last think I wanted was to get tangled up with a bunch of bikers while driving home. We made it out just in time.

Low trippy type vines are coming out. ....What to wear for O?

Bad usage of GPS:
-Time & does not match GPS because of accidental bumps that turned on watch somewhere after the run
-Only managed to mark one control


Red course - 6.3K
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Well, first time doing this for real in 3 years. Some good, some bad, some ugly. But none were an "I give up" ugly. Helps that I have a general understanding of the park layout.

Did not run more than a jog anywhere because of hammy. Hammy only yelled once, and that was when my right leg caught a log, which made me step funny. Other than that, the ham was not terrible, other than being not in shape, and weak. Very happy that it survived the whole trek.

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Controls:
Long run to 1 - Guess the only way was to stay high & not be tempted to go down towards devil's bathtub. Took a decent AP and found it rather easily. I did go slowly, as I needed to get distance judgement down.
2 - happy with how almost-straignt I went to the road. Once in the woods, I didn't spot it well, so I had to learn the contours. lost 1 min
3 - probably the best in terms of a straight line, aided by the fact that a path took me 1/2 way there.
4 - happy with this one. Figured I should pop onto the other side of the darker green early and run behind it. Nailed it
5 - oops. Probably had gotten too confident. Came out and ran along path-ish, but felt I had gotten on wrong side of the bushes. I then intentionally over-ran where it was to re-orient. I should have looked at the clue before starting. Once I saw the clue (big deciduous tree), I looked in the general direction of where it should be, and there it was. Good lesson to learn. (lost 2 min)
6 - Ugly one: Cut across the big field, but didn't think about where I should aim for. Should have turned right once I got to the other side of the row of trees that run east-west so that I wasn't running blind. Probably cost me multiple minutes. Once I got close, I think I did pretty well. splits say I lost 1 min.
7 - I thought I was being smart taking a contour rather than going up a hill. I probably cost me, as I went in a biggish loop.
8 - Not pretty - an unmapped path got me a little confused, and then I hit the remnants of the stone wall further east. Looking at it now, I see those boulders are mapped, but are hidden by the pink lines. I figured I could head west, and try a different AP starting from the path in that direction. However, as I was going that way, I saw the wall portion that the control was on, and the control itself as well. Lost 2 min
9 - get onto trails. Question was when do you get off for your AP. I might have gotten off too soon which made slow going along the slope, but I didn't have trouble finding the control.
10 - Kept going along the slope to find the path. May have saved distance, probably not time. I then misread a big intersection of paths, and ended up looking west of the hill which was west of the swamp I wanted. Looks like it cost 7 minutes (split says 5). This is the one that bothers me the most.
11 - Took the high road, Linda took the low road. If she was looking for the same control, then somehow she found it without me seeing her. I was very happy with this one. Nice to have a good one after an awful one. Of course my legs had nothing more than a slow jog left in them by this point. (1:11 into it)
12 - Caught up to Linda. She was standing on a minor hill looking puzzled - turns out a small tree must have been blocking her view of the control. I went along the base of the hill, and saw it when I turned the corner.
13 - longish trek through woods without a handrail. My GPS shows I did 'OK' but not stellar. Passed Linda in finding the control, as it was hidden from her direction, and I was using the woods to the west as a handrail. 7th overall on this leg.
14 - Lots of decisions. I played it safe by heading straight south (so I thought) to aim for the scout campground rather than going towards thicker stuff. Turns out that I went slightly more SW, which was more direct, but included portion the boggy area that caught Jonesy last week. Had a long run along the camp area. Decent enough AP to go from there - didn't hurt that the two orienteers I'd been in contact with over last few controls were in the general area.
15 - take the path, head up hill to R where other path intersects from left. Near face-plant on way down hill with all the dry-slippy leaves.
16 - Bad one - took the too-slow long way around. Good paths, but at that point, I'd grown suspicious of having to make the right turn at a multi-intersection. Brain too tired, I suppose. Lost 30 sec.
End - took several breaths before punching 16, so that the end would be decent enough.

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GPS Comparisons:
How come my tracks are all jiggly, whereas arthurd's are smooth and straight?

Good thing I can't claim my splits...
http://www.attackpoint.org/racesplits.jsp/race_116...
Best split was 7th. Yikes. Most of time was in the 11th range, which is where I ended up. No leg speed, low skills. Yes, that is where I should be.

J insisted on bringing his bone. Never has before. very funny to see him walk along with it sticking out the front like a cigar. Then, he decides it is time to go home.

Red - Splits