Training Log Archive: JanetT

Rocky Mountain National Park, Wild Basin area on the SE side of the park. We got there around 9:00 am or so on the advice of Virginia L. who said the parking area could fill up quickly. It was mostly full but still had a number of open spots. We changed and were hiking before 10am.

Walked to Copeland Falls, Calypso Cascade, and Ouzel Falls. The area had suffered a fire in 1978, and flooded trails more recently than that (about 5 years ago). First part of the trail looked "recently" redone. Rooty and rocky in places, but nothing too too hard for me (no poles). Rocks had been hiked on enough that most were rounded off. Stopped a couple times to have a snack and turned watch off during those periods, so time is mostly time on the move (with stops to take photos).

Nice hike before we head home tomorrow. We also drove up to Lily Lake and walked along the SE side a bit, admiring the ducks and other wildlife (muskrat, perhaps?) and dragonflies, before the wind kicked up and got cooler as a T-storm got closer than it had been. Now warming up with coffee at Starbucks in Estes Park.

Scared up a female turkey while out on my course today. I was surprised to see a turkey in Medicine Bow NF, but Wyoming does have turkeys, so that must have been what it was.

RMOF day 6, Classic stage 3
Brown 4.1 km/ 160 m
Mostly cloudy and upper 60s, breezy

Nice finish to the week, although I didn't have a perfectly clean run. Bobbled 5 when I didn't take the "expected" route across the bare rock to the cliff but instead circled around the bare rock expecting to see the cliff on the far side...but I missed it and kept looking until I climbed up by some other rocks and had to scramble down rock faces when I finally did find it.

Otherwise, happy with my run. #1 and 2 were pretty straightforward. Took the first suggested/streamered crossing of Supefly Marsh then stayed low to get to the correct reentrant before climbing. Then out to the road, skirting a group of campers near the top of the reentrant. Road to field, where I could see the rocky knoll (with a flag) 150m or so before the control which was visible when I got to the knoll.

To 5 I headed toward the fence corner, and crossed under it and followed it down to the reentrant E of the rocky spur to use the suggested marsh crossing below it. Decided I didn't need to climb right away to the rock face (which actually would have been a good route) and that circling under would be okay, but I missed seeing it and climbed too high. D'oh.

Since #6 was at the NW foot of the spur, going around to the left seemed a better idea than climbing up and over...and it was. Climbed the last spur before the aspens and stayed below all the rock until the hill curved around enough and I could see the cliff. #7 was easy..through the aspens and over the spur. Just had to check my descriptions to figure out what side of the cliff it was on. Nancy Lindeman was there. Across the aspens to the tree and then up up up along the long fence handrail where I saw Lex (F60) several hundred meters ahead. I didn't have enough oomph left to catch her before she finished (I was still approaching 9 as she punched and headed in), but knew she had started 12 minutes before me and I had closed up most of the gap.

When I finished Virginia still wasn't in so I knew I had won the day and thus 2/3. I was 6 minutes ahead of Leslie, who was 2nd overall in F65 and 1st Western States; Virginia had had trouble and took 80 minutes today.

Western States Day 3 Brown - Splits

Throw away day?? (Results based on best 2 / 3)

Classic stage 2, Twin Boulders map (1:10000), Brown 4.2 150m climb. Temp around 60 (cooler start to the day today, even with our later starts) and sunny.

Lost at least 5 minutes and probably a bit more heading to 3 as I mistakenly thought the water cup symbol was my control when it was actually beyond, on the hillside. I might have tried to stay low, and found the cowpath that others said they followed along the marshy stream. But as I crossed the first stream (after finding a place narrow enough that I could jump) I saw another Brown runner, Belgian Linda V, heading up to the open spots and I went that way too. It was a long night time before I realized I was heading the wrong direction, and that my control really *wasn't* in that reentrant where the cup was. I then corrected and found the huge rocky spur to use as my Attackpoint. Got to the top of a reentrant but it was in the next one SE, for another few seconds lost (beyond the wide detour). Dave Yee was there; Soupbone passed me along the way out toward 4.

Fine to 4. Planned to go to the right side of the aspens and then pick my way N along various boulders and hills, crossing two roads before the control (forest corner???). Managed to catch a toe on a sage bush and fall forward jarring my already sore shoulder and right knee...ouch. Felt sorry for myself until I got up, then slowly continued. By the time I got to 5 I barely noticed anything. Nancy L. was coming into it from my right.

Ser bearing to the next one and promptly headed off in the wrong direction! until I noticed the N arrow on my compass was pointed wrong and the hill was dropping off. Turned around and went past 5 again, then headed off in the correct direction. Slowly picked my way through the boulders to find the 6m one at the edge of the yellow.

To 7 a tall thin fellow in white caught up, but checked various other rock features along the way while I continued confidently to my hill/cliff. Then it was down the hil, cross another stream (managed to just get a muddy shoe rather than a wet one), and slog up 5 contours. Fellow in white was going my speed so a bit of a distraction. Got a bit off line and confused by a rocky area that didn't seem to be mapped, so wandered above and beyond #9 for awhile before correcting and finding the correct bare rock and rocky ridge.

Then it was just find a tree on a shallow spur (flag was hung on wrong tree), and a "reentrant junction"/ foot of spur before slogging up,the hill to finish. I saw no need t run since I'd made so many mistakes already.

The F65s whose times were posted when I finished were both faster (73 min for Virginia, 80 for Leslie M). I wasn't slowest on the course, but only about four or five times were slower.

5-7 min error on #3, 8-9 on #9.

Western States Day 2 Brown - Splits

To start.

Classic on Pelican East map, across the road from where we were yesterday. 1:10000 maps today. 4.0 km, which may have been a bit short because there were winning times in the low 30s. Still, I was happy to be finished in less than 50 minutes.

From the start location we could kinda see the first control, common to all courses, along a barbed wire fence. They had added narrow insulation /pool noodles so we could just slip right through without worrying about the barbs.

Caught Lex who started two minutes ahead by 3, but was passed along the way there by Clare, and Sue K. and Sverre who all helped pinpoint the hill at #4. Not sure at first which side of the hill our cliff (#5) was on so I stayed on the right side of the ridge but climbed at the right time to the correct hill-with-cliff. A bit off to the left to #7 but I hit the next spur left and corrected from there.

I was literally sucking wind today as I tried to run heading into the wind on the first few controls until we turned.

1st F65, about 10 min ahead of Virginia Lehman. More F55s beat me today.

Western States Day 1 Brown - Splits

To today's start, down the dirt road from where we all parked (and the finish).

Middle course on a new map called Granite Planite, 1:7500 / 5m contours. Mikell P. mapped the area, and also designed the courses. Another sunny day in the upper 60s; quite breezy, too, which I could feel when I had to head into it.

#1 was a common control for everyone, then we headed separate ways. #2 continued that line, then #3 turned left. I folded my map and almost headed off on course for #12 (longer line parallel to the 2-3 leg), but caught myself quickly.

#4 was the center of our only butterfly on the course; I saw Leslie M coming out of it as I approached. I stayed left of the line, in the open area, to #5 before cutting in when I saw the flag tucked into the woods.

#6 was between cliffs above a gigantic pile of rock. I thought it would be tricky but as I got closer and approached the NW side of it I could see where I needed to head up to find it. 7 and 8 were also straightforward; #9 was between a large boulder and a bare rock area with cliffy sides. I picked the wrong side of the boulder but looped around okay and punched at the same time Eric Bone and PeggyD were coming in from opposite directions to punch, so a bit of a traffic jam (like an in and out corridor on a sprint). A few seconds lost rounding the boulder.

#10, #11 (a return to #4) were good. I caught up to Sue Kuestner here--she had started 2 minutes ahead. She was just a bit ahead, but we were pretty much together until 15, though she stopped to check a few intermediate flags, and went farther to the right to #13 than I did. [Mikell was heading perpendicular to my line of travel as I headed to 13 and I told him how much I enjoyed the map and course. ;-) ]

Sue and I were both a bit left to 14 but I saw the flag which looked to be in a shallow reentrant so went to check. After 15 Sue took off and sprinted to 16 and the finish, but I have her by almost a minute overall.

First of three in F65. Three F55s beat me, plus Sharon, and about 7 M65-75s, putting me about 12th on Brown.

I love middle courses. This was well done.

Middle Brown - Splits

Temps yesterday when we ran were in the low 70s; this morning, in the upper 60s. Dry, dry, dry (yay!!). :-)

One cowboy relay on Rattlesnake Hill 1:10000 map. We were delayed arriving because of a crash on I 80 E which shut it down for awhile. It finally opened up about 10 minutes before original start time. They delayed the start a half hour; I got there with 5 minutes to spare.

After having a lot of trouble (looking on the wrong spur) to my fourth control, missing on the 5th, and feeling my blister again (I taped it up wrong), by the time I returned to the map exchange I was uninterested in doing two more similar loops, so did the short two-control loop then the final one. C-(B-A)-D-last loop. That was plenty. :-)

Event: 2018 Rocky Mountain Orienteering Festival
 

Mass start race on Lights of Cheyenne map in Medicine Bow Natl Forest east of Laramie. I had no intention of doing this as a race, and decided at #6 that I'd get the next close one (#13) and head back in and get 14 and 15 as well.

I took this as an acclimation excursion and O training rather than a race. Indeed, I could not run up *any* hills. And I started getting a blister after 13, so good idea to head in from there so I'm not miserable (and know what to cover/tape) all week.

Stopped to check my foot (blister) and remove an extra layer of sock, then started watch on walk back to the cars.

Interesting variety of folks at this event. ;-)