Orienteering 52:10 [4]
I skipped the morning sprint Course - mostly to save my legs. Right now, 3 courses in 3 days is sufficient. I did feel fresh in the afternoon Middle. People really enjoyed the Sprint Course.
After one of my best A-days on Friday, I shifted to one of my shakiest A-days. First, "That's orienteering". Second, Friday was very physical in terms of climb but "contour only" orienteering was nearly sufficient. Today was lots of trails to read and nastier vegetation in between - hence much more technical.
Start-7: They gave us pretty easy controls early near or through the large fields used for Sprint. I did well but did not take advantage of ease to plan rest of course. Also my pace may have affected me later.
7-14: Into the mountain bike trail maze. Only one error (3 minutes) but lots of hesitation and bobbles - stayed close but poor planning and execution - overall, sloppy. Several good recoveries though. Leaving 12 was weird - trail was 10m from control, but in 40m I still wasn't there. Only later did I realize I left control S, not SE. That should have been a quick fix. Hence took me awhile to make sense of 4 trails between 12-13.
14-16: 13-14 was a well-executed trail run, then short ugly climb around Green to control. But I lost contact with map and must have planned next leg as 15-16 (but leaving from 14) . Went SE (not SW). Trail maze made no sense; then fields made no sense, then park boundary. I eventually relocated to 16, but never imagined that I'd skipped 15 (I never have been able to use, "If I'm here, where was i 100m ago?"0. Also, I had had time to look ahead to 14-15 on route to 14 but hadn't done it - ouch! Tricky course and mentally tired - also just rusty.
16-F: Good pace, getting tired. Sloppy on three easier 'end of course' controls.
Good news. With less climb on course and more training in past 3 months, the 2nd half of course and post-course felt very good physically. Looking forward toward tomorrow. Sunday venue seems to be a blend of Days 1 & 2. Less climb than Day 1; fewer trails than Day 2. I like the sound! Ooops, rain moving in Sunday.