Orienteering race 1:29:28 [3] *** 5.7 km (15:42 / km) +95m 14:29 / km
Day 1. US Champs @ Happy Valley WMA, Williamstown, NY
6.6 km on Forerunner
This could have been a very bad day, but luckily I listened to Don...for once! His best guess for this terrain was that pacing and compass would work best, so I kept that in the back of my mind for the race, and I pulled it back out after #1. I got out to the road okay towards #1, but then bobbled my way all of the way in to the control. After that, I decided to try pace & compass, and that worked like a charm, so I stuck with it for the rest of the course. I ticked off the big features as I saw them, but did not try to interpret all of the contours. The only other control I had some issues with was #5. I couldn't picture in my head what it was going to look like, so when I got in the vicinity, it took a little bit to figure it all out.
I didn't see many people out there at all until I saw Kathleen at #6 and we bounced off each other for the rest of the course. And I saw Mom at #5. I also lucked out and hit the mismapped #9 right on, so I guess that means I was really off! I was sick of the shoe-sucking marshes by the end of the course.
The good news, too, was that my knees held up pretty well. I was able to move at a good pace, sometimes fast walking, sometimes slow shuffling, but fast enough to get first in my category and 5th on the course. My knees were swollen after I got in, and for most of the evening.
The bad news was that my course ended up being thrown out because of the mismapped feature. I'll withhold my comment on that, but the people around me at the dinner knew how I felt about it.