Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Wednesday, June 11, 2003 Running on trails instead of through the forestwhy do you, being a weaker runner (I am weak myself) choose the trail running so much?This isn't a very carefully thought out response, it is more like a collection of thoughts related to the question of why I run trails a lot.... 1. I feel like I'm slow on trails or in the forest. But, I feel like I'm more slow in the woods than I am on the trails. I can keep closer to a strong runner on a trail than I can in the forest. These numbers are just made up, but they might not be that far from the truth. When I was at my fastest, I could run 10,000 meters on a road in about 35 minutes. So, over half an hour, I'd lose about 5 minutes to the best orienteers if I was on a road. But, when I ran in the forest I'd lose more time in 30 minutes -- let's say I'd take me 38 minutes to cover the same amount of forest as it would take a top orienteer in 30 minutes. If Jorgen Marstensson passed me in the forest, I could barely keep him in sight. But, if he passed me on a trail I could keep him in sight for a while. I think (but I don't have any hard data to prove this) that strong runners lose less time running off-road than weak runners do. 2. I also feel that it is easier to run the right effort on a road or trail than in the forest. When I'm on a trail and I run a little bit too fast, I can ease off the pace just a bit and recover. But, if I run a little bit too hard in the forest I have to slow a lot (even walk) to recover. I guess the margin of error (in terms of picking the right effort) is bigger on a trail than in the forest. 3. I suspect it is easier to run too slow in the forest than it is on a trail. On a trail if you're jogging along well below the pace you ought to be going, you notice it. But, in the forest you might "justify" a lower effort by telling yourself the terrain is rough and you've got to take it a bit easy. 4. Especially when I'm not doing a lot of training in the terrain, I get worn out quickly when I run in the forest. This is especially true in rougher terrain. In rocky areas -- like Harriman in NY -- I can get tired very quickly. When I'm really tired, I find that I can jog on a road or trail. But, when I'm really tired, I end up walking a lot if I'm in the forest. 5. I think a lot of course setters make mistakes -- they set legs with trail routes that are very close to as good as the straight routes (this particular course setting mistake seems more common in the U.S. than in other places I've run). A good example was at the TJOC last week. Take a look at let 1-2. I ran the road that goes right of the straight line, through the open area with the buildings, and then attacked the control from south of the control (near the area surrounded by the uncrossable fence just south of the control). The other route was to go straight. Runners who were faster than me and went straight took 30 seconds longer. I showed my route to a number of people who thought it was clearly slower. But, the split times showed it was clearly faster. I think a lot of people -- orienteers and course setters -- underestimate the difference between running on a trail and in the forest. 6. Finally, a lot of orienteers have the exact opposite opinion. Lots of people feel that slow runners should go straight; that they'll lose more time to the best if they take trail routes. At some pace that is probably true. An orienteer walking the whole way might be better off trying to go the shortest route. posted by Michael | 8:53 PM 
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