UC Barriers (07.12.2024)

Leg Analysis.

S-1.
Focus out of the triangle was not precise enough. Slight misdirection meant a small (5s) mistake to go back around the olive green. Identified the barrier fast and made my route choice decision based on flow to 2 (both options seemed similar distance at first judgement.

1-2.
Mostly planned to 1st control. Got sucked around too far left because of the stone wall. Minimal time loss.

2-3.
Went through the wrong building gap. Was not sure how far the barrier extended. Had to jump a small wall. Inefficient but the detail was very hard to read with the barrier there. 5s lost at most.

3-4.
The short 2-3 had left me with minimal planning ahead time for this leg. The large barrier east of the start persuaded me to begin heading east out of the control instead of south, which I realized and changed my route choice to the correct one. Some extra distance at the start of the leg but at least I eventually found the right route. Tricky.

4-5.
Second half of 3-4 was very straightforward, so had plenty of time to plan ahead and was confident with my decision/execution.

5-6.
Construction east of 5 meant I had to back out and go around the south side of the building at the start of the leg. Not a big deal, as the technical part of the leg was the control entrance. Happy with my route, was flowing through the course nicely at this point and was holding strong map contact.

6-7.
Executed well, had mostly planned this leg, but there was still uncertainty at the beginning whether it was shortest. I had my plan and committed, so no real time loss.

7-8.
Spent too long deliberating on this leg on the way to 7. Eventually went with my gut, zig-zagging left at the start before the open running all the way to the 8th control. Again good map contact, apart from going through a small patch of olive green which was unreadable on the map.

8-9.
Really shitty leg. Had bucketloads of time to plan this and still was uncertain when I started it. 7 barriers on this leg alone, I chose the northern option but missed my cue to turn left for the second last barrier. (5s time loss)

9-10.
Had not planned ahead for this leg. Decided very quickly I wasn't turning back the way I had come (too many barriers), opted for some open running and planning time. Straightforward leg and I think still the best route option.

10-11.
Took the familiar route past the water features over towards the bridge. Had to jump up a barely passable wall. Fell, damaged my pride, kept going. Again had quite a while to plan this leg beforehand so execution was on point.

11-12.
No real notes here. Found it very hard to judge distances between the two options, because of all the zig-zags. Chose flow/simplicity over possibly a shorter route (still can't tell)

12-13.
Ran through the barrier by the library. Last long leg of the course/oxygen debt kicking my ass and was too focused on taking the small stairs which I had used twice already and forget to check my map for about 50m (where the barrier was). If I had turned before the barrier and gone down the ramp, it was around the same distance and still the shortest option. I was looking too far ahead to spot traps around the control and was not focused on where I was at that time.

13-14.
Plenty of planning time. Just a big left/right route choice. Left seemed shorter

14-F.
Pre-planned. Run fast.