Occassional thoughts about orienteering
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| okansas.blogspot.com Occassional thoughts about orienteering |
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Tuesday, December 05, 2006 My skipsAt The Trot, I skipped controls 2 and 25 (maps are below). Let me try to explain my thinking.First loop - skip 2 Before the race I spent a few minutes thinking about a skip strategy. I thought about past Trots (where I hadn't made very good decisions) and decided to make decisions quickly and not "over think" the choice. I'd just trust my instinct. I took the road (left of the straight line) to 1. That gave me time to glance at the map and space to run without having to worry about the crowds or icy trails (though the road was very icy). I glanced at the map and saw 2 as a skip option right away. Tom was also running the same route as I was and he was looking for skips. We exchanged a few words, both of us mentioning 2 as a possible skip. I took another more careful look at the map and decided that getting up to 2 and then from 2 to 3 looked tough. Two was my skip. I'd settled on that by the time I'd gone about half way to 1. The pack, with Mikell at the lead, left 1 and started toward 3. I saw that and it reinforced my decision to skip 2. If the pack had gone to 2, I think I'd have stuck with my plan. But, I can't be sure. Second loop - skip 25 I looked at the map as I drank a Gatorade at the map change and then on the road to 14. I looked at several options: 19, 20, 22, 23, 24 and 25. I don't remember my exact thinking, but I settled on 25 as a good skip and then took a more careful look at the legs I'd avoid (24 to 25 and 25 to 26). Those two legs looked rough - hilly and lots of forest. I ran a lot of the second loop in a little pack with Jerritt, Randy and Dave. It was an interesting group because all three had clear strengths and weaknesses. Randy was navigating well and moving through the forest well. But, you could see his looked a bit worn (and I knew he hadn't been training well recently). Dave looked fine, but he was running slower than usual. From past experience, I knew Dave could make some mistakes, but he's a reasonably steady orienteer. Jerritt was the least known, to me. He was clearly the strongest. But, every time he got in the lead, he'd slow down as he looked at the map and made decisions. I wasn't sure what to make of my quick analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the pack. I figured Randy would drop off the pace first. He did. I also figured that my best chance to beat Dave and Jerritt was to get away from them - to force them to orienteer on their own. I didn't notice Dave and Jerritt had disappeared (they both skipped 23) until I was on my way to 24. But when I realized I was alone, I figured I had my best chance. I thought skipping 25 might be a better decision and I was sure that my best chance was to have Dave and Jerritt orienteering on their own. I ate a gel on the way out of 24 and figured I'd try to push the pace on the road to 26. I worked hard, but didn't really move very fast. The road to 26 was a good choice, but it was also cold and windy. Still, I was motivated, concentrated and feeling good about my chances. As I dropped down the hillside toward 26, I spotted the top of the reentrant, but not the control. Then, just to my left I spotted Dave and Jerritt. I hadn't gotten a gap. I was a little disappointed, but figured I still had a chance to pick up a little in the last few controls. And then it all fell apart. Leaving 26, my right hamstring cramped. I had to walk most of the leg. I then couldn't run full speed until after control 29. By that time, Dave and Jerritt were long gone. I lost something like 2:30 to them over the last kilometer or so. Lots of visitors to Okansas I looked at the site stats and saw over 700 visits today. That's a lot more than normal. Most of the visits seem to have come from OPN, the Norwegian O' news page, and a Swiss O' discussion. The Swiss O' discussion page is all in German (a language I don't understand), but I saw an earlier post with a link to a Youtube video. Thinking I might have come across the latest from Chopper Reid, I clicked. It turned out to be an introduction to orienteering video, made by a young kid. Worth a look. posted by Michael | 8:42 PM 
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