Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Wednesday, September 17, 2003 Model eventsRandy wrote about the U.S. Champs and wrote a few words about the model event (See his September 16th entry). It got me thinking about model events. So, here are a few thoughts.I got something useful from the model event at the U.S. Champs. After the model, I jotted a few notes to myself. Here is the gist of what I noted: The forest is rough -- lots of dead stuff to get over -- it is hard to keep a straight line and tiring to run in the forest. Look for routes to save energy. The green point features (green X's and O's) are nearly impossible for me to see on the run. If I stop and really look, I can see the features, but I don't notice them as I run by. Don't rely on them for navigation. The contours are a bit rough. Relocating by the contours won't be easy. You can't see very far in the forest. You can't count on navigating by features that are a ways away. You can't relocate easily. I feel the altitude. Going up hills is difficult. Be careful to avoid going too hard up the hills. Reading the 1:15,000 model was hard. I use a magnifier when I orienteer, so I was ready for a hard to see map. I talked with Eric Weyman at the model and he was struggling with being able to see the map (probably a combination of scale, printing and old eyes). I showed him my magnifier. Eric said he wouldn't want to try something new. I guess that's ok. But, I'd rather try something new than struggle with a hard to see map. When I'm at model events I try to remind myself that the model will always be different from the event. Across any map you'll get different types of terrain (the U.S. Champs maps had several different types of terrain on the same map), the model will never capture all of the differences. Model events are a good chance to chat with people; pick their brains to get some ideas. I spent some time listening to Mary and Dan talk about the terrain. I also got a few thoughts from Eric Weyman. I suppose you have to be careful about what people have to say, but if you know the people and know something about how they orienteer, you can pick up some good ideas. I should spend some time and write down "instructions" for how to use a model event. I bet I could come up with a little form that would help me get the most out of a model event. Mary pointed out to me that as we drove to the model I said that you never learn anything at a model event. But, then during the weekend I said things like, "I'm sure glad I went to the model, I learned a lot." Interesting. I like to think I'm usually pretty consistent, but Mary points out that I wasn't. I wonder if what I was doing was lowering my expectations -- essentially playing a mental game with myself. If you expect to learn 10 things at the model, but learn only 5 you'll be disappointed. But, if you expect to learn nothing at the model and you learn 5 things, you'll feel confident. Maybe that's it. I wrote a bit about model events way back in August 2001. Check it out here. posted by Michael | 7:10 PM 
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