okansas.blogspot.com

okansas.blogspot.com
Occassional thoughts about orienteering

Monday, October 18, 2004

Some notes from the U.S. Champs

You can check out a report from the champs (with M21 courses from both days) over at Mapsurfer.com. You'll see some very nice terrain.

I spent some time exploring the model event area and thinking about the race on Friday. I wrote a few notes after the model that helped me decide how to orienteer during the races:

1. Tape my heel to protect from blister [I almost got a blister from my new-ish O' shoes at the model].
2. Talk out loud [Talking to myself helps me concentrate and work through unusual terrain. When I tell myself to talk out loud, I don't usually do it, but I focus better].
3. Remember TG's idea of orienteering 100 meters in the future.
4. Don't "over think" [A reminder that you can't think your way to a good result, you've got to run hard and concentrate].
5. Think about running "smooth." [The forest was a bit rough, the runnability varied, the wet leaves were slippery. Running smoothly would probably be most efficient].
6. The contours are rounded. [It'd be easy to drift off line when running over the top of a hill or around the edge of a depression].

I didn't write anything especially insightful but I think the process of writing notes and thinking about a plan is good. I also had a nice conversation at dinner on Friday with some others who'd spent some time on the model event.

How did it work?

So-so. I had a mistake on the third leg on Saturday then ran cleanly the rest of the weekend. But, I didn't run fast enough to win M40. The first day's course involved a lot of trail running, which doesn't really suit me. Or I should say it doesn't suit my current level of fitness. I wasn't running fast enough. That became clear when I compared split times with other M40s. I was working hard, though. My heart rate data showed a steady average of 167. That's where my average heart rate ought to be during an hour race.

posted by Michael | 8:31 PM

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