First Aid Level 1 up-to-date

My first aid certificate expired about a year ago and, as I am often responsible for people outdoors, I have needed to get my certification up-to-date. The last course I did was with Pulse Point and so I turned to them again. They offer regular courses at a variety of venues in Gauteng.

This time around, they were offering a blended course with the theory component online (approx 10hrs) and then only one half-day with them to practice CPR and scenarios.

I thoroughly enjoyed the online content, which was well presented and it used images and videos effectively. There were questions to answer at the end of each section. In class, we practiced CPR on the dummies and various scenarios with each other. We were assessed on a theory paper, doing CPR and how we dealt with a scenario.

All-in-all it was a good experience and I can highly recommend doing your next first aid course this way, especially if you have done first aid courses multiple times over the years.

I am in-line to do a Wilderness First Aid Level 3 in November-ish, which I'm looking forward to. I haven't done a Level 3 since the early 2000s!

Navigation training for the military skills guys

I had a blast last week Wednesday when I hosted a navigation training session for the five guys (four competitors plus coach) going over to the Military Skills competition abroad - they leave this week.

As I've been out of the local orienteering scene since I moved to Parys, I've kept myself busy with mapping the Forest Run area, the local primary school, a section of the Vaal River (for paddle-O) and assisting with the annual rogaining event, which was held out here last year and will be out here again this year. I've had a break for a while and so I was delighted to be recruited by the reservists to plan a training session for them.

I set them a 13km as-the-crow-flies course. Not too difficult, not too easy. The idea behind it was for them to get some practice reading contours and to get into the scale. The terrain can be challenging enough. During the event they compete in teams of three; the competitive trio covered 18 kilometres - they made one big error which cost them distance and time.

The other pair took it steady and had excellent navigation - bar a bad decision that saw them bashing through vegetation and totally missing the lovely path to their right.

I thoroughly enjoyed planning the event for them and also being out there looking for them. A really good day in the office is one where your desk isn't behind a computer.

Navigation coaching dates for August

Hi Navigators-to-be,

Thank you for being so patient while I find my feet in my new home. I've been busy with creating a map to use for navigation training - and it is looking fabulous.

I had a most wonderful day yesterday teaching navigation skills to a group from the outdoor-based post-matric 'school', Warriors. I had a group last year, in Jo'burg, and so I was delighted to receive a call from them again a few weeks ago asking me to teach their new group how to navigate. With a fixed date, this was the kick I needed to explore the area more - looking for checkpoints - and to tweak my map.

I did skills and activities with them in the morning and later in the afternoon we headed out for a bushy practical session. This area, being highveld bush terrain, is far more challenging than Delta Park and so I was super-super-super impressed with this group of 19/20 year olds yesterday afternoon. As far as challenging, precise navigation goes, this ticks all the boxes. And they got it! I felt like a proud mother hen watching them in action.

I have TWO DATES for you (minimum 6 people, max 12):

·         TUESDAY, 9 AUGUST 2016 (public holiday, Women's Day)

·         SATURDAY, 20 AUGUST 2016 (plus Sunday morning GPS activity)

VENUE: Thabela Thabeng, in the Vredefort Dome (near Parys). It takes me 25-30 minutes in my VW Polo to get to Thabela from my home in Parys. Parys is less than 90-mins from Jo'burg. Thabela has lovely chalets and also a Youth Hostel (my group yesterday stayed in the hostel - it's around R100pppn). www.thabelathabeng.co.za

TIME: 09h00 to 16h00. It is very chilly in the early morning at the moment but by 9am it is much-much improved.

COST: R350 for the full day. For the additional GPS morning, plus R100.

COURSE CONTENT

In the morning we'll cover the fundamental skills: map orientation by features, thumbing, scale-proportion-relationships, pacing, contour lines, compass use (map orientation plus direction of travel).

After lunch, we'll head into the bush for a technical activity where all of these skills will need to come into play.

I know there are a bunch of people looking for GPS assistance. I assume you'll want to know things like following a track, putting in co-ordinates and using the 'Go To' function?

Let me know:

·         what kind of GPS you have

·         what event you want to do, and

·         if you know, what GPS content the event provides i.e. gpx file with a track, a file with waypoints or coordinates

ACCOMMODATION

Thabela Thabeng is a great place to stay - and it is our host venue too. They have a variety of chalet options both on their property and the one next door. Their chalets range from 2-sleepers to 4, 6 and even a 10-sleeper house. Depending on the size of the chalet and number of people, rates would range from R270 to R495 per person per night. These are all self-catering chalets.

If you're not planning a romatic getaway with your partner/family, I'll be happy to coordinate participants to share a chalet.

NOTE:

If you're keen to come through for the Tuesday, 9 August, I'd recommend staying over on the Monday night. Usually bookings are two nights minimum but as it is a public holiday in the week, they're fine for us to book just the Monday night.

If you plan to come through on Saturday, 20 August, this will fall under the 2-nights minimum so you'll stay the Fri and Sat nights. That's why I suggest the Sunday morning for GPS skills. We'll be done by noon.

CATERING

The chalets are all self-catering. There is also a great spot 4km down the road in the historic village of Venterskroon. I used the Venterskroon Inn as my start/finish venue for my Forest Run. They make delicious food. Nice for Saturday night dinner and Sunday lunch.

For lunch during the nav course, pack in some sammies and snacks and we will have a quick 30-minute picnic.

CLOTHING

Dress appropriately for activity and the weather… Hat, shades, water bottle, backpack (for putting in your layers of clothing as you strip them off). Of course, takkies. You won't be running - the focus is on navigation, not exercise.

OTHER THINGS TO BRING

• A pen and a clipboard.
• If you have your own compass, bring it. I do have compasses for you to use if you don't have one. Please don't go out and buy one for the course. Rather buy later once you know what to look for in a compass.
• Lots of enthusiasm and energy :)

RSVP

Please let me know by noon on Thursday, 3 August if you're in for the 9th.

Please let me know by noon on Tuesday, 16 August if you're in for the 20th.

Payment confirms your place.

Email me at lisa@ar.co.za

The value of attending Trail Magazine's trail running clinic

This afternoon I had the pleasure of attending TRAIL Magazine's trail running clinic as a presenter.

I had the most superb topic 'Small things that make the biggest difference'. Oh, I know! Soooo many things! It was a challenge putting together the content and distilling 16 years of experiences and learnings into the most critical 'small things'. For days, and even still now, more and more keep popping into my head. It's those little things that you don't know starting out but that you learn with time and experiences and mistakes.

Big small things, for me, include (from the head down:

• navigation skills (useful even on marked trails - observation, 'feeling' where you have to go)
• a well-fitting backpack
• emergency items (space blanket, personal first aid kit)
• how you pack your stuff (I'm a creature of habit in what and how I pack - I know what I have and I can find my stuff in the dark; ziploc bags rule)
• supportive sports bras (important for the less endowed; well endowed ladies should consider wearing two! Girls, look after the girls)
• not trying anything new on race day - not even a tee (sounds so simple but yet soooo many people go against this fundamental 'rule')
• trekking poles (all conditions! and also useful in emergencies to create a shelter or splint a broken limb)
• Ahhh... most, most, most important - good foot care (preparation and prevention is the goal; thereafter it is knowing what you're prone to, how your blisters are caused and how to deal with them before they become a big, big problem)

I really think I need to do a whole foot care session at a clinic. I touched on a bunch of elements and yet this just so critical to running pleasure and success. There are fundamentals - like cutting and filing your toenails - that runners err on. Again and again and again.

I got to participate in Peri Zourides' strength session. It was an excellent reminder of all the things I neglect to do! 

While I missed Ryno Griesel's session earlier in the day, it was great to catch up with him and to find out what he covered in his hill-busting session. I missed out on his presentation where he spoke about how he juggles his commitments (work, family) and high-level training. This is something I've been really struggling with and will continue to do so as I move away from Jo'burg and have to let go of many things. 

One thing that Ryno said that really resonated was that there will always be things you don't get to or can't give your full attention. You just have to make peace with these. He's so right.  

Lovely to meet Heloise in person after a year of email comms (she works at TRAIL mag) and to see Chris Crewdson, Craig Gornall, Derek Smythe, Elsali Gehm and a lovely group of enthusiastic participants. Tomorrow Anca Wessels (biokineticist) and Neville Beeton (coaching and training) are presenting. 

Chris and I were chatting afterwards and we both agreed that there is so much value in attending clinics like this when you're starting out. The presenters have all learned from their experiences and they pass this on to the participants - some with little experience and others with more. We all develop our own ways of doing things - from what gear we rely on most to how we care for our feet. These are learned from experience and trial and error. Many errors. At clinics you learn from the mistakes that others have made and get guidance on how to get the basics right from the beginning. This will pave the way for a lifetime of wonderful running and participation - without the same mistakes that I made, for example, 16 years ago. As Chris says, "Why reinvent the wheel?".

This is the second clinic that Deon (publisher and editor of Trail Magazine) has organised (the first was in Durban).

Keep an eye on trailclinics.co.za for others. There's a mailing list you can sign up to for direct notification of planned clinics. 

I've been on orienteering clinics and all have been so beneficial.  It is well worth trading participation in a race to attend clinics on offer. You come out of it far richer for learning from and sharing in the experiences of others.

First orienteering coaching conference

On Saturday we had our very first orienteering coaching conference and it was held here in Jo'burg. We've got a bunch of British Orienteering Federation Level 1 and Level 2 qualified coaches in SA (myself included for Level 2) and we've been aligning our coaching content to the British Orienteering Federation to deliver a range of coaching courses locally.

We had a good spread at our conference with our coaches from Jo'burg and Cape Town as well as our one from Polokwane. And then two teachers. The one from my schools league came with one of his students; a keen participant for a few years in the schools league. The second teacher is new to orienteering and he comes from a school in the older league; he's taking over his school's orienteering activities next year. A good bunch of people assembled.

We did a bunch of stuff during the day.

Tania (our head coach for the Federation) and coordinator of this conference, arranged for her biokineticist to talk to us about running form and injuries and what to look for in our athletes. He was really interesting.

And then a bunch of us shared training games, which we all tried. We often use games - using cones and cards and such - to teach specific skills in a controlled environment before sending our athletes into the wild yonder. They're great for warm-up activities too.

For the activity session I invented a new cone grid. I especially love cone grids for teach map orientation skills - where features in the environment are used to orientate the map. Also for thumbing - it sounds arb but it is critically important to keep your thumb on where you are. And, in this particular game, for using attackpoints (those that have been through coaching with me... these are your purple circles) to guide you into the control.

I created a circular cone grid and I was delighted to challenge myself - and all the participants - with this grid. I think this is the highest echelon in cone grids. And it is also really easy to set up.

Here is the coaching card. Enjoy!

The final session was a practical activity where we learned a great technique for bringing in challenging navigation to a small, familiar area - like a school property where the students know their school inside-and-out. This was a fabulous activity where I made a 180° error at one point. What fun!

We'll hold these gatherings every second year and I look forward to even more coaches talking and playing and learning at the next one in 2017.