Recently Fritz submitted a question responding to Spike's 'Welcome to the Discussion Board'-type posting. He was trying to figure out ways of training during the 'green' season, and specifically to get better about relating what's on the map to what's in the forest. This is always a tough thing for someone in the homeland. It is hot and the woods are thick, so dressing up in a full o-suit and heading out for an hour's run at Bromelsick is not always a pleasant option! Presumably travelling is not an option either ( although it sounds like the best way to improve during the summer). Fritz suggests running down trails (or fields?) carrying a USGS map. Sounds like a good thing, but sometimes those maps are pretty awful, so it may be more frustrating than useful. What I would suggest (which is pretty bold considering I won't be around to do any of the work) is that OK attempt to hold some meets in the woods during the summer! I would set courses on trails and open areas, perhaps some controls that require a little bit of distance in the woods. I bet that courses can be planned so that one has to do a bit of map-reading while on the trail. I'm sort of thinking of short courses perhaps.... Ooops!!! I just remembered the spider webs... Forget everything I just said! Concentrate of physical training, concentrating on some random map while you do it and get in the habit of checking your compass quite regularly. Running over tough terrain would be good too. I bet that can be done in shorts, singlet, and perhaps some gaitors.

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), August 16, 1999

Answers

I agree with Mook. The woods are just too dense to do much real orienteering practice. But, there are a few things that might be worth trying.

1. Making a small map of an open area (maybe a city park). Map making is one of the best ways to improve map reading. If the park has a few hills, it will give lots of chances for you to work with the contours.

2. Do trail runs (with an O' map) at some local parks. The bike trails at Clinton State Park are -- at least some times -- not too overgrown for running. There are also some bike trails at Shawnee Mission Park. The spider webs are not fun, but they are not all that much trouble (you just gotta get used to it).

3. Do lots of "armchair" map reading.

4. Travel to some place where the orienteering is nice in the summer. I've had some nice runs on maps in the middle of the summer in Colorado, Wyoming, and New York.

5. Practice reading maps during your regular runs. A lot of people carry maps with them when they go for road runs. They look at the map as they go along. In my own experience, carrying a map during a road run is not very useful (I think it would be better to just go for a run, then spend 15 minutes doing armchair map reading).

I'm sure there are lots of other things to try. Any one have any ideas?

-- Michael Eglinski (meglin@juno.com), August 16, 1999.

Training with USGS maps isn't the best -- the maps are not as good as most O' maps. But, once you get used to most USGS maps you can get some good training.

The internet makes it a lot easier to get USGS maps. You can get all of the 1:24K maps of Kansas on-line for free. The web site is: http://gisdasc.kgs.ukans.edu/dasc.html. You need software to view the maps (which are called Digital Raster Graphics, or DRGs). There is a free viewer available from the USGS (you can get it from http://mcmcweb.er.usgs.gov). The DRG files are large and it takes a while to download a quad over a modem.

Back to Fritz's question...one way to train is to use USGS maps on most runs.

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), August 17, 1999.

OK, so armchair map reading, or reading a map while doing a road run, but what exactly am I reading for? Once I had the thought of taking a comic book on long runs to practice literally 'reading' while I was running. Of course, as the run progressed, I became more tired and less interested in practicing the art of reading on the run. But taking a map with me, of terrain that is different, what are suggestions for what I might practice. I can maybe look for different route choices or think of what I might see while running a certain route (say a line-o along a trail, or just following a straight line), but I constantly find that as much as I 'read' the map, I struggle then with 'seeing' the terrain as mapped. I am trying the computer programs Lost in the Forest and WinOL and these seem to offer some help. Aside from Mike's suggestion to map a small city park, any other ideas on how to practice getting a better picture of the terrain from the map?

-- Fritz Menninger (fpmenninger@hotmail.com), August 26, 1999.

I think the way to begin to get a better "picture" of the terrain is to carry a map of an area you are familiar with. If you have a map of a course you ran, carry that. Then as you look at the route you took try to remember what you saw.

For example, if I went for a run tonight and wanted to carry a map, I'd carry the map from the Crystal Relays (I ran on the map last Sunday). Then I would look at the first leg. The first thing I might do is remember how steep the hill was on the way to the control. I'd look at how broad the contours are for the hill that I remember running up. Then I might look at the map and note that it is about a thumb-width from when I went by the tree line to when I arrived at the control. I'd try to remember how far it seemed that I ran that distance. In other words, I'd try to look carefully at the map and then ask myself a specific question (e.g. how steep was that hill?) that I could answer by remembering the actual run.

If you have a map you've never run on, try this. Look at a leg and pick a route. Take as much time as you need. Then, fold up the map and try to describe the route you picked. Then look at the map and see if your description fit. This can be good to do when you run with another orienteer. (In fact, I remember doing this excercise while running with Dave Linthicum along the levee in Lawrence).

I'm sure there are other things you can try. Just about any thing you do that involves looking at a map can be helpful.

-- Michael Eglinski (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), August 26, 1999.