tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33902892009-12-19T07:42:19.431-06:00Daily thoughts about orienteeringMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.comBlogger2624125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-40503851909841990012009-12-18T20:16:00.002-06:002009-12-18T20:18:58.871-06:00

January 2010 will be time to try the 31 day challenge.Last year it was going ok until I turned my ankle at a race in Georgia. Though my feet were starting to feel a bit beat up from running in orienteering shoes. This year I look for things to go better.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-19557079646802417922009-12-15T20:01:00.005-06:002009-12-15T20:06:04.288-06:00

Mook had an interesting idea for sprint orienteering terrain. There's an "airplane graveyard" in Tucson. Check it out: It actually looks like it might be a bit fun.You can find some more info about the place here.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-69422630893912162352009-12-13T17:36:00.003-06:002009-12-13T17:45:06.004-06:00

I ran the "Possum Trot" today. The race format is a bit unsual. It is a longer course with a mass start and you could skip any two controls. Being able to skip controls gives you something else to think about. It also constrains the course setting a bit and there isn't usually much tempo change. But it is fun and tough, so I've got no complaints.I'm in lousy shape, so the event was tough and

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-56940633945874469512009-12-12T17:00:00.001-06:002009-12-12T17:01:20.674-06:00

Here's the sprint course from today's event on West Campus. Fritz set the course. I made the map.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-49647454804225180452009-12-11T18:35:00.002-06:002009-12-11T18:36:59.040-06:00

OK hosts our annual sprint race tomorrow. It will be on a new map that I've been working on since we moved into our new house (about 200 meters from the map). It is a new map, but not a new area. The area is where I first orienteered.I'll post the map tomorrow.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-44867314896492303602009-12-09T18:36:00.003-06:002009-12-09T18:40:48.914-06:00

So what would you change first if you were dictator of international orienteering?Good question. I started thinking about it. What would make the most sense? What change would - in my opinion - be best for the sport?Then I realized that I should think like a dictator. I should be arbitrary. I should pick something I'd like and impose it. The first two things that came to mind were:1. Add

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-68140168893016442162009-12-08T21:06:00.002-06:002009-12-08T21:11:06.717-06:00

From a story at OPN.NO on the occassion of Jorgen Martensson's 50th birthday:- Ikke minst har det blitt et altfor omfattende internasjonalt mesterskapsprogram. Det svekker i stedet for å styrke orienteringen. Jeg hadde sett det som en fordel for orienteringen om en hadde gått tilbake til to års sykluser for VM. Jeg vet at jeg har mange med meg i det synet, sier Mårtensson. Which is basically

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-87610850276841353442009-12-05T18:29:00.002-06:002009-12-05T18:32:11.544-06:00

Watching Men In Black II? Thinking, "Seleena's necklace is great, where can I get it?"My sister-in-law Annette designed it. You can find - and buy - her work at Ylang23. Here's a direct link to Serleena's necklace.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-8673993752486746292009-12-05T17:49:00.003-06:002009-12-05T18:14:16.315-06:00

Boris and Samantha have a bet. Whoever trains the most in a week earns $2. Interesting idea. As best I can tell, the 3rd week is nearly over and it looks like Samantha will win this week and be ahead 2-1 (and $2 richer).It is an interesting competition. Samantha hasn't really trained a lot in the past. She's averaged about 275 hours the last four years. Boris, on the other hand, trained

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-85941393855611848022009-12-02T20:25:00.003-06:002009-12-02T20:28:42.214-06:00

My sister-in-law is a Park Ranger in Palo Alto, California. She posted these photos of mountain lions in the park. Can't say I'd like to encounter a mountain lion when I was orienteering, but the photos are cool.I think mountain lions are relatively common in California, even if they aren't spotted all that frequently. There are mountain lions around Kansas, too.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-75825671333793510002009-11-30T20:54:00.002-06:002009-11-30T20:56:40.346-06:00

My brother in-law gave me a book about running technique. I Googled "Malcolm Balk" - one of the authors - and came across this video of Balk running on ice.Does his running style remind you of anyone?The video reminds me of Mikell Platt...except for the sliding on the ice part.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-31532786593800085992009-11-29T17:48:00.001-06:002009-11-29T17:51:28.838-06:00

Vote for the Orienteering Achievement of 2009.I think it is pretty hard to decide who to vote for. You can read about each nominee on the link above and make up you're own mind.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-18703934407427038052009-11-28T17:57:00.003-06:002009-11-28T17:59:26.132-06:00

Mary and I spent a bit of time working on a new mapping project. It isn't an orienteering map. Instead, the club is mapping trails in local parks for the Parks Department. It isn't a difficult mapping project and we won't use the maps for orienteering. But it is a good thing to do for the community.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-45423255902576529732009-11-27T20:02:00.002-06:002009-11-27T20:05:07.420-06:00

I could probably come up with some way to relate this short Bill Self interview to orienteering. But, I am having trouble coming up with a quick way to do that.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-22698474372233479652009-11-22T17:36:00.002-06:002009-11-22T17:47:00.524-06:00

Here is a map from yesterday's local race. In many ways this is a perfect example of Kansas orienteering. The area is largely old farm fields with wooded fields. The forest is a bit thick, a bit unpleasant. But you don't have to spend much time in the forest. The trail system largely reflects se by mountain bikers and horse back riders. The yellow includes some areas of deep grass. Deep

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-72451727818089001532009-11-18T20:24:00.002-06:002009-11-18T20:28:06.391-06:00

An indoor orienteering course from omaps.worldofo.com.I need to figure out a place to set up an indoor orienteering course in Lawrence. The obvious places are all on the KU Campus. I'm guessing I couldn't navigate the university bureaucracy to get permission. Maybe there is another location?Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-71356657011492444802009-11-16T18:37:00.003-06:002009-11-16T18:56:52.069-06:00

Via Dan Chissick's blog I discovered a tool for measuring time in the area immediately surrounding control locations based on GPS tracks and split times.In the past, I've played around a bit with measuring the time spent in the control circle using QR and creating splits by hand. But the GPS tool Dan links is a much better way to collect the data. The program creates an image file that includes

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-71358936567407161912009-11-15T09:01:00.002-06:002009-11-15T09:14:29.632-06:00

While I was mapping yesterday I had a few thoughts about characterizing orienteering terrain types. These aren't well thought out, but I thought I'd get them down as notes for the future.You can get a lot of information about the terrain from just looking at a map. If you were to categorize terrain types, most (maybe all) of the information you'd need could be pulled from a map. But, there are

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-68939150199457902452009-11-15T08:52:00.003-06:002009-11-15T09:01:22.396-06:00

I came across a report of the first Kentucky basketball game of the season and coach John Calipari's reaction to it. He wasn't upset about 26 turnovers and 15 missed three point shots. He was upset with not playing hard on every possession.I expect that as the season goes along, a college basketball coach becomes more concerned with outcome. But in developing the players, the focus begins with

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-54237211301811466982009-11-13T20:30:00.001-06:002009-11-13T20:31:40.820-06:00

I ran a night sprint training this evening.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-69068352534267642212009-11-11T20:22:00.002-06:002009-11-11T20:29:49.342-06:00

I've been meaning to write up a bunch of thoughts about making the most of technique training on familiar maps. This isn't that. But, I will touch on one of the ideas that would be on the list. I call it "behavior training."The idea is to pick a specific behavior that you do when you're orienteering well and use a technique session to focus on it. By "behavior" I mean things like always

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-34274410604390066372009-11-10T21:16:00.002-06:002009-11-10T21:30:07.321-06:00

I was looking at a map from the Urb-O cup and thinking that this would be a good sort of event to set up on some of the maps I've been working on around Lawrence. I think the format would work well with smaller areas, would be relatively easy to set up, and would be suited to a wide range of orienteering experience.If I understand the format correctly, they set up several short courses that

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-16842333184823498762009-11-08T18:11:00.002-06:002009-11-08T18:13:25.656-06:00

A rough translation of something Johan Ivarsson wrote:Both Pasi [Ikonen] and Jörgen [Rostrup] must have an amazing ability to read the map and to read the map at full speed in the forest. I think they can do that because they take many looks at the map each leg.At a training camp with the Norwegian team before the 1999 WOC, they did a simple study of the number of times each runner looked at a

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-61220655512999460942009-11-07T19:19:00.002-06:002009-11-07T19:44:07.423-06:00

I went to one of the nearer maps today - Clinton Overlook. Google maps shows it as a 12 minute drive. The nearest map, the West Campus sprint map, is a 1 minute drive.That got me reminiscing about Stockholm. I lived on a map. But, I frequented maps on Lidingo. It was a bit of a trip to get there. I walked from the University to the T-bana, maybe 10 minutes. I took the T-bana and then a bus

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3390289.post-38128099040485146292009-11-04T20:46:00.002-06:002009-11-04T20:48:46.670-06:00

Night cyclocross. Crazy. The video has a bit of a Tio Mila feel to it. It almost makes me want to put on my headlamp and go for a ride.Fifth Street Cross 2009 Week 2 from Dan K on Vimeo.I came across this on Stevetilford.com.Back to okansas.blogspot.com.

Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06129175522144032637noreply@blogger.com0