This morning (Saturday) I was contemplating going to my gym's basic step class in the morning and go from there to the orienteering event. I'm still trying to figure out if my habit is going to the gym every day to work out or is the habit just to work out in any form or location. I do want to try doing both the gym and the orienteering on the same day. I was planning for that day to be today and had gotten up and ready in time to go, but in the end decided not to which was a good move. I need to hit the grocery store (which I did on my way home today) and I got an eye infection last night, ugh. Which translates to, I'm not in top form since all I had for breakfast was an egg and toast (usually I have a ton of cooked veggies, several eggs and sometimes some meat - a nice hardy meal) and my body was fighting off the infection I had gotten.
I did get to the event ten minutes early, and they had opened up early too. It was only two towns over so nice and close and man, is it peak New England foliage time right now. It was so gorgeous, a warm but not too hot but also not too cold, your nose gets red, kind of day. I figured the fresh air would do my body good. And not a cloud or drop of rain in sight.
As I started off, I started jogging but wasn't feeling in peak form. Plus a lot of the course was through the woods (versus on trails) and I try to be extra careful so no injuries occur. Twisted ankles are not uncommon. I did find that I was getting winded faster and couldn't really run long stretches much (although it does make a difference running down a slow incline versus pounding up the incline).
It was strange too, as I was heading to the first marker, things felt off and I realized I had swapped what hand had my thumb compass and what hand had my epunch. How many times have I done this and I didn't remember this right? It was like I put my watch on the wrong wrist. One sign my body is not in optimum form. I also found my legs were a bit draggy. This is not uncommon at each meet, but usually near the end after they are worn out and tired. This time, even in the beginning they were groggy.
But I was determined to try to keep my role of placing on track. And kept jogging than walking than jogging than walking. And bam, control 2 tripped me up. It was at the top of a cliff and I approached it at the right place I thought, but then couldn't find it. Back and forth I went, I had my catch basins (features that triangulate your area). I finally found it, literally feet from where I climbed down the first cliff. I had read the map wrong and thought it was on a lower cliff. Lesson learned, but I thought, man I need to up my game on the rest of the course after killing 15 minutes on marker 2.
I hit some markers spot on which was a nice confirmation my bearing skill is getting better. But I also was off a few times, but recouped quickly and found the marker. Over all I didn't feel like I messed up too much but it wasn't spot on and I walked a lot of it. I was tired the whole time, yet envigurored by the fresh air and mental stimulation if that makes sense. My body was just groggy.
Fast forward an hour and I finished. We are high tech now and there is a screen set up where you download your results and you can see right away where you placed within the different levels. And guess what - I was first! Crazy, right? Well, actually, because I got there early and did alright, I was just the first person to finish the course. I was first out of one person competing.
I had thought, since I had gotten there early, I might try doing two courses. Some people do that and it's something I want to try out, especially as I am becoming more fit. And although I'm spoiled living where I do and we have a ton of orienteering events, there still aren't as many as I wish there were. I want to get out there and do more.
But today was not the day. I mean it was a perfect fall day so it was the right day, but my body just wasn't up for it. I swung by the grocery store (the parking lot was packed) and picked up food and the pet store for food for the cats and then home. I had leftover chili in the fridge ready to go. I'm learning to know my weaknesses and I knew I'd be hungry when I got back and not want to make anything. So I had taken the chili out of the freezer so it was ready to go. Although frankly I was still hungry after eating a big bowl of it and ended up finishing off my almond meal and coconut cookies. So good. And then...
And then I found two hours had gone by and I had accidently taken a nap on the couch. I was still tired so moved to my bed and slept another two hours. I was wiped out, so clearly this pink eye infection is stronger than I'm giving it credit and I need to let my body do its job and fight the infection off. It's looking better now. It was like I was getting a cold, but through my eye - same mucus snot coming out of the eye. I had used a mascara last night that I hadn't used for awhile which I think might have gone bad. I therew it out. I've been drinking a lot of water and am going to go to bed early.
But even with a "cold" and being sick - I placed! I noticed Jim was running the computer and he's good at getting the results posted quickly (i.e. Same day). Usually it takes a few days. I went to the website and there were the results, and I scrolled down to my class, and there I was, no longer first, which I didn't think would last, but only down a few spots to third out of 19 people. 11 minutes behind first place and 38 seconds ahead of fourth place. My roll is still rolling!
A rare occurrence, there is another meet tomorrow. Two in one weekend. As I was driving home today, wiped out I was thinking I'd not go, partly because I was so tired and realized I should take it easy, but also because I thought it was at a location I had been to last month that was not my favorite and super steep hills. But now, after napping and seeing how well I did and seeing that the event tomorrow is actually at a place I haven't been to yet, I'm wanting to go.
I'll make a big breakfast tomorrow - my favorite go to - sweet potato hash with peppers and spinach and eggs and homemade sausage patties. And play it by ear. Weather looks good and I really want to go. I'm going to go make myself drink some more water and flush this thing out of my system.
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