On another thread, Fritz wrote:

I then ran the blue course of Rockcrusher '90, practicing going to an attack point then slowing down into the control. I found that I have quite some difficulty looking at the map whilst running as it seems that whenever I do this, the trees conspire against me and small branches whip into my face (often eliciting an oath of defiance). Also, I noticed that I have a hard time keeping up a good pace in the woods, especially when the route choice had lead me into a 'slow run' area.

Does anyone have tips to help (1) reading the map while running and (2) keeping up a good pace in the woods?

-- Michael (meglin@juno.com), February 13, 2000

Answers

I don't know what practice Fritz does for reading the map on the run, but if there are a great deal of branches hitting his face, maybe his glances at the map are too long. I think that by taking a few quick glances at the map and looking up in the direction of running between glances, the branches can be avoided and the map can be thoroughly read.

You can practice reading the map while running in open environments, even on streets. If you practice taking only quick glances at the map, then you presumably would get better at "seeing" the map with those short glances. To quickly relocate the place on the map that you last looked at (so you start thinking about and adding to what you last glanced at), use the position of your thumb for a reference point.

In a 'slow run' area one ought to expect to run more slowly than otherwise. It might be worthwhile expending more effort running through the green if the tendency is to come to a stop when confronted with thick bushes. It would be sort of like a hill. If you tried to keep the same heartrate and effort going up a hill as during other parts of the course, your pace could get too slow. Fritz's stride, as I saw it in the past, has markedly little knee lift. Maybe that's not best for running over ground cover and on soft ground.

I suppose a good orienteer must be physiologically prepared to make changes in effort and pace as the situation dictates. Running in the terrain is a way to prepare for this. If you run aggresively through tough terrain in practice, it should become easier during a real race. Maybe running short intervals through the woods would make one good at being aggressive?

-- Mook (everett@psi.edu), February 13, 2000.

I think Mook pretty much covered the basics. Practice will make perfect.

I also think that armchair map reading will help you read a map on the run (and avoid getting smacked in the face by sapplings). When I first started doing a lot of armchair map reading, my ability to get info from the map with just a short glance improved markedly.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), February 13, 2000.

The next day, I did a workout a running treadmill at the local gym (with Bobbi jogging on the one next to me) where I set a watch timer and looked at a map while running every 30 seconds. I tried to look at 1) the control circle and visualize it 2) the next look, find an attack point or catching feature and 3) the next look, plan the route. A couple of things I noticed -- the 'glances' got progressively longer and when I switched from the map of the St Louis area (bar SF ranch, I think) to the map of New York at about 25 minutes, I just couldn't even see the details on the New York map while running. Maybe it would be a good idea to work on this in an armchair, or walking and to bring the time of the 'glance' down before becoming more mobile.

-- Fritz Menninger (fpmenninger@hotmail.com), February 14, 2000.

I think the real key to map reading on the run is being able to get the information you need in a very short time. It helps (a lot) if you can glance at the map and get a good "picture" of the overall form of a leg. For example, look at the first half of this leg:

http://www.fi.uib.no/~jankoc/htbin/routechoice.cgi?a=showroute&nr=24

In a very quick glance you ought to be able to get enough information that all you need to do is head slightly west of south and up hill until you come out in a big field. That much info might take just a second or two to get.

-- Michael (mike_eglinski@kcmo.org), February 14, 2000.