Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Saturday, September 27, 2003 First day at the U.S. ChampsTom sent me an email with some comments about the U.S. Champs. Today I'll write a bit about the legs Tom mentioned.Take a look at the first two legs. 
Before the U.S. Champs I hadn't really done any O' technique training since early June. The terrain at the model event didn't really prepare you for these two legs (though looking around the start area made it pretty clear that this sort of leg was possible). When I looked at the map I knew I'd have to go slow and easy. The first leg was difficult and even with a magnifier the map was hard for me to read. The first control wasn't as difficult as it looked at first glance. The hill gets much steeper just left of the line. You could easily see where it got steep and could use that as a handrail. I took it slowly anyway (keep in mind the alitude was about 6200 feet). The fifth control was a water stop and I spotted the cups and water which gave me a good attack point. I think the second leg is a lot more difficult. You don't have a handrail. I don't see any good attack points. A distinct reentrant sits a bit uphill from the control, but I wasn't confident about the contours after the model event. People who had more confidence in the map, used the reentrant without any trouble. Not seeing any particularly good approach I just headed in the right direction. If I'd been in better O' form, I'd have had no trouble. Just contour and drop a couple of lines, checking off a couple of point features. That would have worked. But, I hadn't orienteered in months. So, I felt unsure. As soon as I felt unsure, my pre-race plan kicked in. Before the race I'd decided that if I started hesitating and feeling unsure, I'd bail out to a clear point and attack the control. I didn't want to spend time wandering aimlessly or just standing around. I dropped down the hill so I could see what was going on in the field across the road. That gave me a clear location and I could attack the control. In retrospect, if I'd have kept going the direction I was going I'd have hit the control. As it was, I lost some time. Actually, I lost a lot of time. Looking at splits, I lost 3 minutes. That's a lot. I wish I knew how much of that 3 minutes was standing still. I'm sure I stood still once or twice before deciding to head down toward the clearing. I'm sure I stood still as I confirmed my location. I might have stood still as I approached the control. I'd guess at least 2 minutes of the time I lost was standing still. I lost time, but it wasn't a stressful way to lose time. Since I'd thought about what I'd do when I felt unsure and did what I planned, it didn't feel like a bad leg. Of course, I lost time -- and I knew I lost time -- but I didn't get mad at myself or lose concentration. Take a look at leg 11 below. 
Before getting to the leg, the 10th control is where some people lost a lot of time. The control was hidden behind a low boulder in a bunch of brush. As I came up the hill to 10, I came into the middle of the circle and didn't see the flag. I stopped and looked at my map. I couldn't figure out how I could be in the middle of the circle and not see the control. I also couldn't figure out where I could be if I wasn't in the circle. I took a few steps forward and saw the flag. (Mary had just found the control before I reached it. She stopped and watched me. She told me that I was within 15 feet of the flag but couldn't see it.) On to the 11th leg... I contoured. I figured I'd be able to see where the hill began bending to the left (which would stop me from going too far). I also figured there was a chance I'd see the rock features a line or two below the control. The challenge on this leg was to keep going. The forest was crap. How much would you lose by running back down the hill, running the trail, then walking up the hill to 11? Take a look at the 14th leg. 
I saw two options -- go straight or run trails to the right. For me the choice was easy. Straight is a bit shorter, but you'd have to pay more attention. Paying attention slows me down, especially near the end of the race. I think James Baker went straight. James was running a bit faster than me. He was five seconds slower than me on the leg. So, I think it is fair to say the two routes are essentially equal. If two routes are equal it is always better to run the trail route. You can see my entire map here. posted by Michael | 5:50 PM 
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