Skip to main content

....And we are back

2 February 2020
WITS Campus


The season opener for the Urban Series Orienteering was held at Wits on Sunday 2 February.
This season seems to have started quite late this year and with no time to find our bearings (no pun intended), we went straight into the complexity that is buildings...

I only participated in one Bush event in 2019, so for me its been more than 6 months not being behind an orienteering map, so I was feeling a little rusty. Unfortunately the calf injury I had most of last year has come back, which meant I had to take this event a lot slower than what I would normally.

So, on to the event. I got a nice early start at 09:04 - I saw Sarah Wimberley's name down and wanted to be sure I had enough gap for her not to catch me.
Everyone seemed to set off in the same direction, down the stairs, which makes the start a little less nerve wrecking knowing where I'm going. I was very slow to find the start control on the map and control 1, and when I did find them I was a little hesitant thinking the first control can't be this easy.

The course flowed nicely I found, because I was running slower I had time to read ahead to the next control. I also found that there were no nasty tricky legs that required more concentration.
Only 2 controls where I might have lost time:
#2-#3: I wasn't sure if there was an open gate on the other side, so I continued on the path, running the long way. I didnt chat to anyone afterwards so not sure if people took another route.

#5-#6: The gate at the end of the tunnel was locked. I ran there incase the stairs were before the gate, but no luck. Had to run down to the next tunnel and back up the other side. I heard some competitors were told about this on route, which I personally find a bit of an unfair advantage...

Going in to the last few controls I think I slowed down a bit, not sure if I was starting to lose concentration or I was just waiting for a surprise or twist.





Overall I had a pretty clean run, I think I was expecting the control placings to be a bit more difficult but honestly first event of the year so no complaints. It would have been interesting to see if it would have been more difficult if I could run faster, but at this stage being pain free is more important.

I finished 4th overall, 5 minutes down from Sarah Wimberley. I am happy about this, considering last year at the first event where I was 7th and thought I had a terrible performance. Small improvements.
I will unfortunately be missing the first night event at Ruimsig this Saturday due to Randburg Harriers awards but I will be at the next event on 23 February.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Grain free Date Bread

A few weeks ago one of my dad's clients baked what we think was a date bread. Although I am mostly low carb and didnt know the ingredients of this bread, there was so much of it and I didnt want it to go to waste. Toasted, it was amazing, almost like a caramel taste. In all honesty, I found my running for the few days I ate the bread actually improved - I felt more energetic and had more endurance. I searched for a low carb or gluten free version that I can make myself. Carb wise you looking at about 15g on average per date, making it basically your enemy if you are low carb. Rather opt for cranberries - 13g per cup. As an athlete though, dates are so good for you - in moderation of course as 90% of the carbs in a date is sugar. Medjool Dates are high in Potassium (higher than oranges, bananas and spinach), which is great for heart health and to build muscle and proteins in the body. They are also high in fibre, meaning you stay fuller for longer. You also get an energy ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Orienteering Relays

Sunday, 10 March 2019 De Vos Farm, Midrand Relays are something that I have mixed feelings about. It's hard to be in a team, with the pressure that you might let the team down or if you have a 'weak' member that could have done better. It's great if you win though, the sense of sharing a victory. Once a year the Gauteng club and school relays are held. They are sprint type relays, allowing for more competition. This year ROC hosted it at De Vos Farm in Midrand. I felt a bit disadvantaged having not orienteered here before but luckily my dad had a map from before which I could use to try visualize the area. I got to run the first leg, which I was happy about. I had just come from a 5km Time Trial, so I needed the motivation of the other orienteers to keep me running hard. I also enjoy the mass start. 1. In the mass start I battled to get into the map and find #1. Once I found it I followed the path, but got side tracked by a control before mine (it wasn't ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Running Solo

In this day and age, with work schedules and family commitments it becomes difficult to train with a group or partner. Some people only have the early morning, others have lunch breaks to train and then there are the afternoon or evening runs after work. I personally prefer to train after work at about 4pm as I can't seem to get up early enough in the mornings to train. With everyone's schedule being so vast, it means that we are left to train on our own. This is hard when you feel unmotivated - there is no one depending on you if you skip a session and often every excuse in the book is used as to why you 'can't' train - its too hot, you feel sore, you had a big lunch etc. There is also the factor that you can't find anyone on the same program as you, if you using a 'virtual' coach. Training in groups can be fun and motivating. You meet new people and if you miss sessions people will often ask where you were, making you very much accountable. Trainin...
Post a Comment
Read more