O-Meet

One of the reasons I raced on a Friday night was to keep Saturday open so that I could do a bit of Orienteering (map and compass race).  I had been to Nottingcook Forest in Bow, NH a few years ago to preview a course prior to a big meet.  I liked the area, it had some very interesting woods with lots of hills and not too much rocky ground.  I was a bit tired from racing the night before but usually I can run a lot faster than I can read a map which can get me in trouble.  In this meet I’d be moving slowly and hopefully paying attention to the map and the woods around me.

Finish tent in the sand pit

I headed out for a warm-up and it was already in the high 70’s and sunny.  I felt beat and I’d not even started.  I took it very slowly on the first couple of controls and found a bit of a rhythm.  I was working pretty hard but also making sure that I wasn’t going too fast.  I really don’t want to mess up an ankle or something like that, since my running is going pretty good right now.  I slowly made my way around the course and rarely saw anyone else out in the woods.  There was a great mix of run-able woods and even a decent trail network.  I will almost always take a longer route if I can get some trail and be very sure of where I am.  I spent 1:17 out in the woods and only made one BIG mistake.  It really wasn’t that big but it is a rookie mistake, I did a 180 coming out of one of the controls.  When I hit a trail that shouldn’t be there, I realized my mistake and had to back-track.  D’oh!

 

A lone Orienteer heading for a control