Training Log Archive: PG

Forgot one other thing about today's outing.

I wear one contact for orienteering. I need it for distance vision. I can read the map pretty well with no correction at all.

My existing contacts were getting pretty ratty, so I called up the place I got them and said I needed new ones, and the guy said I'd need a new eye exam first from my eye doctor.

So I called up my eye doctor, and it turned out my last exam was 11 months ago, recent enough. And then the woman there said that if I could get the specs on my contacts, then I could order them online and it would be cheaper.

So I call up the contact guy again. Can I get the specs? And he tells me! Such and such a size, such and such a curvature.

Call back to the eye doctor's, give her the specs, she says she can order me some samples, they are free, shipping is 10 bucks. Sounds like a deal to me.

That was Tuesday. Friday the samples are in. I have 6 lenses at my prescription, and 6 more a quarter diopter different just in case. All for 10 bucks. And maybe some people use them just once, but I'm told that using them a few times each should be OK.

Use one for the Speedy Goat, vision was good. Use it again for the Billygoat. Vision still good. Use it again today. Vision still good.

Go to take it off. Not really paying attention, taking them out is never a problem, I reach in a second time and there's nothing there. Huh? It feels like it's hiding in some corner of my eye, but I'm damned if I can find it. I give up after a couple of minutes, and by now I'm no longer feeling like it's hiding somewhere, time to go catch the train.

Get to Grand Central. Look up on the big display board to see what track my train is on. My vision is off. The contact has reappeared, now nicely centered. WTF. After I get on the train I take it out, no problem.

But I have a little more sympathy for Charlie and Phil who i think have struggled with "losing" contacts when they were still in their eyes, and I was thinking they were just losing their minds....

O' practice in Central Park. Course had 15 controls, but I sailed right by one without stopping so I guess that doesn't count (unless I'd been using the new ski-O touch-free punching).

Quite good fun. I had Chris Cassone's "The Great Central Park Treasure Hunt" map (a legitimate O' map, 1:7,500, though a bit out of date). For each control there was a question, sometimes not easy to answer. I'll post more about it in a bit, but got to get some dinner after a long day trip to New York and back, primarily for dealing with mom's affairs.

717/1000 (283 to go, a little less than 3 months left).

Here's my route, starting in the lower left, going to #10 first.

More info about Chris's operation is here. Lots of interesting stuff going on. He gave me a copy of the map a few years ago and this is the first chance I've had to try it. At each point the map had a question to answer, sometimes easy, sometimes not. Or maybe they were all easy and it was just me having problems or being in too much of a hurry.

10 -- couldn't find a sewer grate.
15 -- Got what I thought was the right answer, but it's 5 letters, not the required 6.
7 -- ran right by this one, focused on getting to 5.
5 -- no sign to be seen, either below the arch or on top.
14 -- no topiary animals that I could see.
11 -- I could see a big red sign off in the general direction of Columbus Circle, but with the fog and light rain and my so-so vision, I couldn't read it.

Understand now, I have been to 6 controls, and I have not yet gotten a correct answer. But I am having a great time. :-)

Onward. Remember that part of the challenge is that planning ahead not only involves what your route is, but also reading and remembering the question that you're trying to answer at the next control. And, though not shown on the map, the great majority of the terrain off the paths is fenced off and out of bounds. But not all of it. So the route selection is more interesting/challenging than it might appear.

2 -- Found the statue after a slight detour, question was what was the first word. First word was the wrong length. Ran around to the other side of the statue. More wording. First word fit! I got one!
3 -- Nice route over through the maze of trails, spotted the creature, a mythical thing, just not sure what it's called, though I might be right.
12 -- Got another one.
6 -- And another, I think.
4 -- And another. Realize that, lacking a pen, I have to remember my answers too, no trivial matter.
1 -- Got it.
9 -- And got it too.
3 -- And another one. And a bunch of these are quite interesting, things in Central Park I would have never known existed.
13 -- Last control, took a moment to find it, then nothing made sense until I looked on the other side and there was the answer.

And then quick as I could down the finish chute.... :-)

Saw lots of people out there, none of them orienteering. I doubt that any of them knew I was orienteering.

Take a look at Chris's site. Lots of cool things. Makes me think (1) I wonder how many people are employed in orienteering in this country, using FTE's (full-time equivalents) as a measure for part-time efforts, and (2) maybe a goal of OUSA ought to be to do what we could to increase that number. Because if that's all we did -- imagine if there were 10 people in the USA who had jobs in orienteering -- there would be a lot more going on than there is now.

C • central park 2

From the apartment over to Central Park, and back.

A day off today, first since December 8 of last year. Seemed about time. Still hoofed it around the golf course in somewhat damp conditions, but that's different.

Catching up, here are my routes for the Speedy Goat sprint relay on Saturday -- leg 1, leg 2.

Tomorrow, with any luck, a little O' training in Central Park.

C • OOB 4

Event: Billygoat Run
 

33rd Billygoat, I think my 20th finish. JJ was wondering afterwards if he had finished more than half of the Billygoats he ever would. I'm pretty sure I have. Can't imagine I'll be doing this for another 20 years, and finishing under 3.5 hours at age 86? No way. So best enjoy it while I can.

Real nice course. I had a pretty good run, did a lot of good orienteering, just a couple little mistakes, certainly less than what AP is saying I made, as it doesn't account for the fact that sometimes I just slow down. Knew where I was all the time. Just the usual problem -- getting there. I got real tired the last 30 minutes, a bit depressing to end up in a group the last couple of controls and know they are all going to beat you in (with the exception of Angelica, as it turned out, who had a meltdown at the last control).

Thanks, Joe, great course. And proof, not that any was needed, that Huntington is so much nicer a place to orienteer than Harriman. :-)

I think I'll add a few leg comments in the splits.

703/1000

Here's my route.

C • half 2

Billygoat - Splits

Event: Speedy Goat Sprint Relay
 

A little warm-up.

Speedy Goat relay with Joe. Course B1 (butterfly, going east first). What can I say, everyone is just a lot faster.

Second leg, course A2. Again, perfectly respectable effort, just moving slowly. But a very fun course, neat area up on there hill (controls 3-6).

668/1000

A-2 - Splits

B-1 - Splits

On Pocumtuck ridge after a round of golf. I think I should go running first when my legs are a little fresher. This run was hard to get started. But after a while it was fine, and the last little hill was no problem at all.

Got in a lot of golf this week, first time this year. Enjoying it more than ever.

South Sugarloaf, three times up and down the steep trail, faster the second ascent and then eased up on the third. Early evening, just before dinner, lots of people out, not all walkers. Dave and Donna were also doing repeats, and I chatted up a couple of bikers who were similarly engaged. All it takes is a couple of others doing the same thing and you suddenly feel quite normal instead of quite crazy.

Splits: 7:33, 3:24, 7:03, 3:20, 7:50, 3:16.

Took a bit of willpower to get out, as I was heading home from a hilly 18 (here, a surprisingly nice course, very active topography, and very interesting greens) and the legs had no zip. But felt better for doing it.

Event: Cemetery Hill Inaugural Sprint
 

A little warm-up, should have done more.

Cemetery Hill long sprint, maybe ultralong sprint? Map and course by Phil. A lot of fun, even if the course got the better of me several times. Generally my technique seemed pretty good, reading head just enough, but on several points I was having trouble right at the end. Of course we were using just streamers, not controls.

Mistakes on about 6 or 8 controls, worst was going to ten and finding out that I was not at the crossing point between the ponds. One of those where it's thick going in, and then you find out you're in the wrong place, so it's thick going out.

Scraped my map reading eye at #22, vision was a little blurry thereafter, but didn't seem enough to get a full-blown corneal abrasion, for which I am very grateful.

Got Alex, thank goodness. Ali made enough mistakes that I could have gotten her, but I wasn't nearly clean enough.

The orienteering was followed by a feast at Phil's, so another late night (i.e. 10 pm) dining out in Northampton. Not a bad way to live.

The course: part 1, part 2.

My route: part 1, part 2.

650/1000

C • Sounds like a lot of fun 12

- Splits