Training Log Archive: GlenT

COC Long/Classic distance on Maple Grove map in Fundy NP - Course 7. Another day of challenging orienteering in technical terrain with thick vegetation (although today had some nice white woods and more trail options than the middle distance). Did a 180 out of the start triangle (100m from where we got maps), and then two more on later controls. For the first of the later 180's I was headed for #13 instead of #3 but caught it quickly and lost less than a minute. The second 180 I also caught quickly, but that triggered a 13 minute error on #6 which was a short (200m) but technical leg. I settled down after that and ran the rest of the course fairly cleanly. Total errors were about 17 minutes but I still managed 2nd in M55-64 (5 minutes back) and 6th overall on Course 7. A fourth consecutive day with great weather and overall an excellent event put on by the New Brunswick club.

Long Course 7 - Splits

COC Middle Distance on Maple Grove Map in Fundy NP, Course 7. The woods and terrain were challenging, but this course was quite enjoyable. Took it slow and had a decent run, at least until the road crossing. I lost a couple of minutes total on controls 4 and 5 and then lost about 6 minutes on what looked to be a relatively easy control just after the road crossing (#11). The vegetation in this area was not mapped well at all, and I relied on it too heavily, stopping short of the control and spending way too long searching a small area when the control was further along. Still ended up 3rd in M55-64 but would've been quite close to first without the big error. I was 6th among all those on Course 7, with the fastest time 33:35. The weather was again perfect and the finish was on the lawn of the Fundy Highlands Inn and Chalets, where we were staying. It doesn't get much better than that!

Middle Course 7 - Splits

COC Sprint event in Fundy NP on McLaren Pond map - Course 3 (4 and 5 were W and M WRE courses). Mostly a park sprint with three controls in the woods near the end. Seven of the controls were in an area about 100m x 150m with about 30 small cabins. Had about 1:30 in errors, the biggest being on a short leg in the cabins. Also lost about 20 seconds on a less than optimum route choice on the longest leg. Was 1st in the M55-64 class by 11 seconds. Another perfect weather day.

COC Model Event in Fundy NP. Walked and jogged (and ran on trails) to get a look at the terrain. Unfortunately the model map was printed at 1:5000 while the competition maps were at 1:10000. Learned that the vegetation mapping did not resemble reality and that there was lots of thick stuff out there. The contours seemed to be pretty good with some complex areas. Slow and precise would be key.

Event: Canadian Orienteering Championships 2008
 

Sprint at Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park, New Brunswick. On the ocean floor at low tide! This area ranks as one of the coolest orienteering venues ever. Huge rock pillars, cliffs and a few caves. Plus some pretty gooey mud and rockweed covered rocks. I didn't orienteer very well (about 5 minutes worth of errors, mostly due to overrunning controls and losing map contact) but it was still a lot of fun. And the weather was perfect - sunny and 50's.

After finishing, we walked around on the beach for a couple of hours to check out the formations at a more leisurely pace.

Road run to test the ankle with a little speed stuff thrown in. 2 x 0.5 mi at 7:00 pace with about 2:30 recovery in between. Splits 3:31, 3:26. Cooler and drier than it's been, so even the "warm up/cool down" stuff was a bit faster. Rt. 66S and back.