About orienteering… A sport that can be discovered only by who has the curiosity to go in the middle of the forest with a map and a compass in his hand.
Todaywas helda smallcompetitionin the Bargau forest.Icompleted atOpenTechnic a pleasanttrail, which a few years agoI would not beable torunitwithoutleggings. But nowlow vegetation has grow andforestbecame very‘runnable’. It may be thatI rantoo fast, becausenosatellitesfound meuntil control 5Sobelowis a mapandsome pictures.
After a few years, I’ve been happy that I had a chanceto runagaininthisopen areawith arichmicro-relief. The weather wassuitablefor running,neither hotnor cold. I startedwith confidencetocontrol 1, towards control 2I hesitatedandfor controls 3, 4and5had no problems. At control 6 I have seriouslydeviatedto the right. The nextmistake wastocontrol 13,where Iwent againa little to theright.I have reachedeasilynext 4 stationsand again at control 18, I wentbacka little to…(guess where?) right!
Conclusion:I liked it as muchas I did thefirst time,Iran moresmoothlyas inTarguMures, and I had aconstant tendencyto deviateto the right
Last time Iran inTargu Mureswasover 15 yearsago, a long course ofon the PlateauCornestiand I was verycurioushow it will bethis timeinthe new area. Unfortunatelywe did notgoon Fridayand Imissed the firststage of the competition.Inatimelikespring, warmandsunny, Iwent tostart in the secondstage. I received a lateminute(by 70 minutes) and after a longwaiting, I venturedto the firstcontrol. Directionwas not exactlyhow Iwanted it to be andforitem 2I planned to run with more attention. It did notcome out as expected andI gotabout 30meterslower thanthe control. On 3rdand4th control weresmallhesitations, thenthe rest of thecontrol went smoothly.The hill washardto climbbetweencontrol 11and12 butI managedBelowareroutes.
Also on Saturday, price giving ceremony was held for the firsttwostages as part of the NationalVeteransChampionshipsand Icongratulatethem for competing. At their ageIhopeto be able togo through, like them, enjoyingthissportastheyhavedone itthese days.
Stage2wasacitystageand I wentperfect.Ona muchmore beautiful day thanthe day before, and I have not done any mistake.
I’ve never ran before a city stage in Cluj and I looked forward to this competition. Because I was in town since Wednesday, I took a taxi up to the competition, and in the conversation until the arrival, I explained to the driver what orienteering is. Once there, I found out that the bridge from Dej was having some reparation done, which led to delay of the MM teams, so the start was postponed for all competitors to arrive. Unfortunately, marking to the start was stolen and I did not reached start easily, but the problem was rectified as soon as we announced the organizers. I started on the trail and rushed towards Item 1, therefore I was wrong, coming a little to the left. With attention I got all the other controls and I have not made any other mistakes. At Item 9 am went just over the rocks, Item 11 was placed to the second ladder instead of the first one, and from control15 to 16 I felt that I got tired. The trail was beautiful and I was sorry that I could not participate in the other two stages.
Also, I must admit that I looked forward to take part in a ski-orienteering competition, especially as I gave up the idea to participate in the National Championship.
Fine weather, lots of snow and Skore type competition. I chose from the start to get down to control 36, I continued the track with controls 35 and 43, and at control 32 I have been more careful as the others and took the right track, avoiding a detour and a considerable climbing. I was wrong to control 42, when I thought it will be easier on the road, but climbing was difficult and the option taken proved to be disadvantaged. Some nice downhill were followed by missing control 33, and another super downhill to 37, ended with several other controls on the right road.
I really enjoyed the competition, although I came home with a pain at my arms (read: muscle soreness), and I will try to take advantage of snow as much as possible to go out several times at ski sessions, even if they are not combined with orienteering