Fred Veler's Training Camp
Morning - Short Course
Tempo.
There were 2 loops,
4 controls each, and a bit less than a mile long, in the same
area - a light green hilltop with some rock features on an open
face. The idea was that you ran each loop flat out, forwards then
backwards - with about 10 mins rest inbetween. Clearly, your backwards
loop should be quicker than your forwards, cos you knew exactly
where the controls were. Also the second pair should be quicker
than the first, as you know the general area better. The interesting
question is "how much faster?" - as this shows how much
time you "waste" thinking and hesitating. Also interesting
is whether you can run the backwards loop without your map (!)
or maybe just without your compass. This was really good fun -
blazing fast, quite tricky and by the fourth run, very hard work.
Seems like thinking time is at least 20% of your total.
Afternoon - Short
Course Relay.
3 loops, about 2.5km
each, with 7 controls on easy features in lovely white forest.
Teams picked for approx equality. Despite some large gaps developing,
the order switched constantly and it is amazing how much extra
pressure you feel when running for a team - however arbitrarily
picked. Exhilarating. evening - My Favorite Mistake and Map Memory
exercise. Round the room discussions of dreadful mistakes, tall
stories, and a neat exercise where you were shown a small piece
of map for 10 seconds, and then had to describe
everything you could remember.
Morning - 2k flat
out.
A 2km loop with 4 controls
in really fast white forest, and (in principle) controls you could
simply aim straight at and run flat out. To be run twice, with
about 10 mins rest - again showing how much thinking time you
take, and this time showing just how fast you can run through
forest when you know exactly where you're going (and there's pride
at stake).
Afternoon - Control
Punching relay.
Silly but social, with
10 controls hung about 10m apart round a circle, to be punched
in a given, almost-random order. Harder than you think, to blast
round without getting dizzy while trying to plan a bit ahead.
Afternoon - Norwegian
Course.
About 3km, with 6 controls,
again in nice white forest. At the start, and each control, there's
a small map fragment, showing just enough to get you to the next
control. You have to memorize it, and run between controls on
memory alone (though you can set a compass bearing and carry that
with you). Some legs were quite challenging. We took splits on
our thinking time - I averaged about 25 secs emorizing each fragment.
Evening - Memory Exercise.
>A really neat idea
- there's a master map with about 80 controls drawn on it. You
form teams of 3, about 25m from the master map, and each team
starts with a blank map. One member runs to the master map, memorizes
a bunch of controls, and scampers back. While he copies his bunch
onto the team map, the next member is memorizing another bunch,
etc. First team to think they've got everything says so - other
teams then pay one point for every extra minute they take. All
teams get a point for each control copied correctly. Requires
teamwork, organization, and above all, good memories! About 6
controls per visit seemed to be all we could
manage accurately.
Morning - "Starburst"
Race.
About 4km in tricky
mostly-white forest. A sort of Pursuit race for groups of 4 or
so. At the Start, each person is given a control flag and a map
with 4 control sites marked. You first have to race to "your"
control site, and hang the flag (accurately and visibly); then
you race round all the other controls, and finally, you return
to yours, and finish when you've carried it back to the Start.
The idea is to try to remove "your" control before other
people have reached it. Hanging controls accurately is not easy,
and especially not when in a hurry. Yet another excellent combination
of fun, pressure and PACE.
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