4th orienteering race completed! An easy one, 11 km, 280 m elevation gain. It paid off that I’d trained in the area twice beforehand. I got a good sense of the terrain, identified some interesting routes, and got used to reading smaller-scale maps. Unfortunately, a dumbbell fell on my toe 48 hours earlier. The dumbbell was fine, though...

#Orienteering #Trailrunning #RunnersOfMastodon

Friday the 13th.

What kind of enchanted castle could this be? (Wrong answers only)

#WindowFriday #FensterFreitag #Wien #Vienna #Austria #Hundertwasser

3rd orienteering race completed! 13 checkpoints, 16 km, 420 m EG. If you're used to psychedelic O maps with a luxurious scale of 1:10,000, then switching to military maps with a scale of 1:25,000 is difficult: there isn't much information, and I constantly underestimated the distances. But I mastered the challenging terrain all by myself! Rumor has it that it was some kind of record time – maybe that's why there was no one else in the finish area?

#Orienteering #Trailrunning #RunnersOfMastodon

I spent 3h helping a friend buy her first modern bike, a #GravelBike. As a runner who’s prone to injuries, she was looking for a good alternative. She only had a vague idea and zero knowledge about bikes. I predicted a steep learning curve and advised her to get one that could grow with her. At first, she wanted a cheap bike in red. But I was able to persuade her to go for a better bike: “You need to shine, not the bike. And black goes with more outfits.”

#Cannondale #RunnersOfMastodon

Insights from my 2nd orienteering race:
- 13 checkpoints are easy. 20 are a mental challenge!
- Sometimes a compass is not very helpful; it's better to count every blade of grass.
- After 50 minutes, it's easy to lose focus.
- Old runners make less mistakes. But sometimes even they can't see the forest for the trees.
- If you have the impression that you’ve visited 2 checkpoints in the wrong order, listen to the pros: “Don't always be so honest!”

#Orienteering #Trailrunning #RunnersOfMastodon

Today, I went snowshoeing on the Rax, at an altitude of about 1,700 m, with a super-cool lady. We had 40 cm of wonderful fresh snow. In the many snowdrifts, we sometimes sank 70 cm deep. Because of the avalanche warning and for more wind protection, we stayed mainly in the hilly forest. Not a soul in sight, no tracks in front of us in the snow. It was absolutely beautiful!

#Rax #Snowshoes #Snowshoeing #SchneeschuhWanderung #Mountains #Nature #RunnersOfMastodon #Trailrunning #Schnee #Snow

Today we went on a long, fast snowshoe hike in 25-50 cm of fresh snow! In the hills right on the outskirts of #Vienna. Unreal and beautiful!

#Wien #Snowshoes #Snowshoeing #SchneeschuhWanderung #Mountains #Nature #RunnersOfMastodon #Trailrunning #Schnee #Snow #Austria #Österreich

Premiere: My very first orienteering race was great fun! It was a long-distance race on a military training ground. For the first kilometer, I was very focused on mastering the start phase and finding the first control point. You only get the map at the start, which makes it particularly exciting. But I quickly got used to always thinking one step ahead. Still, I have a lot of experience to gain!

#Orienteering #Orientierungslauf #Trailrunning #RunnersOfMastodon #Running

I've been invited to take part in my very first orienteering race! Will this be fun? What can go wrong? What could you teach me about gear, preparation, tactics?

#Orienteering #Orientierungslauf #Running #Trailrunning #RunnersOfMastodon