Training Log Archive: PG

Day 2 at Mt. Tom, Blue course (M21).

Another good run, no mistakes to speak of and a decent effort. One regular scalp for the weekend (Jon Campbell) and one semi-scalp -- Balter on Saturday, he's not on the Standing Team but a win over The One is not trivial. Most likely would have been a second semi-scalp today but The One retreated to the Red course to lick his wounds.... :-)

Falls today: PG 8, including a couple of whams, hit pretty hard; mom not reported (and for mom, not reported really means 0 because I would get a phone call if mom went down).

A few comments on my routes --

1 and 2 were easy because I was going so slow up the hill.

5 was tricky, the woods were a little trashy, but I did it just right, despite the fact that my mind was flipping back to 30 years ago when I was making the original map and someplace right in here I went to step over a log and at the last moment saw a quite large snake coiled up on the other side, and it had markings that could have been a rattler (there are a few of them on Mt. Tom, or at least there were 30 years ago), but in all honesty I wasn't sure because before I knew it I had backed up at least 50 yards, and I have avoided the area ever since, never been in there, never set a course there, never never, until today. Glad to report that no snakes were sighted.

8 and 9, both a little nervy on the approach, but nailed both. On 9 especially, there was enough variation in the contours as you got near the control that I knew I was right on even before I saw the marker.

10 through 15, Little Mt. Tom, in control all the way, even though I took several falls in the vicinity of 13, and even though whoever made the map sure didn't get the contours right for the reentrant just SW of 15. I got there, things didn't look right at all, actually stopped and asked myself if there was anywhere else I could possibly be. Decided there wasn't, so I went up and over and there was the control. I guess mappers must have bad moments just like everyone else.

17. Sad to notice that a huge old oak about 150 meters SW of 17 has gone horizontal. It was a glorious tree, grew up when everything around it was field, big lower branches stretching way out. But no more.

19. Last real control and made me nervous. Stopped short, then saw it ahead of me, very relieved, as the mountain laurel comes and goes, not the distinct edge shown on the map.

Another fun course. Thanks to Jeff and Phil for a great weekend and also for arranging the usual fine Western Mass. weather. :-)

My routes.

C • Scalps... 18

Warm-up, just enough to get the heart pumping.

Picked up 1-8 and 12 on the Orange course, felt good to be at least a little useful. Walked all the way to 5, then ran some coming back, though I had to be careful with a full pack (including a bunch of stuff from the water stop at 4) and several control posts sticking out a foot or so above my head, kept forgetting not to go under any low branches. and every so often I'd get yanked backward. But a nice outing at a slow pace.

Spent a little time with Carl Underwood, a very promising junior, now in 10th grade I think, talking about what he might do to move his orienteering to the next level. I think my two main suggestions for now were (1) to do as much orienteering as possible over the next year, running two or three courses at meets if possible, helping to pick up controls, whatever, and (2) to learn to read maps much more precisely than he is doing now.

I think he ran about 65 minutes on Red today, 6.8 km, he has potential. Yesterday he ran 17:50 for 5K at the CT XC champs.

Also need to report that Gail made it around both days. :-)

C • Carl 3

Blue Day 2 - Splits