orienteering at tokai and lebanon north

The South African orienteering championships in Sabie, are only about a month away. It's going to be three days of racing in a row. This past weekend I had the opportunity to do two days of racing, and I decided to push a little harder than usual, as a little "test" for the champs.

The short 4.6km event at Tokai on saturday was easy. I felt a little tired at the start, didn't make any mistakes really, but still not 100% accurate at control locations. Battled a little to find the river crossing going from no 8 to 9. The champs event will probably be a lot tougher than this race.

The 8km (310m climb) race at Lebanon North on Sunday was also good. No major mistakes, the usual tired legs going up the hills. I could have gone straighter to some of the controls, but my direction is always a little off when I exit a control. I battled to find the first control, and was out by about 50m on no 13, but didn't waste too much time. I also pushed really hard going through the green between no 9 and 10, and managed to drop one of the younger / fitter runners there :-)

I love Lebanon forest, it's probably one of the best places to race. The hills aren't too big, and the forest has lots of variety. It's a very interesting area.

I'm fairly happy with the weekend's racing, I think I could have gone a little faster, pushed a little more, but I'm feeling a little better about my orienteering, after the last few "less than perfect" races...