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Course Review:
Start-1: Cut off the corner too soon (marsh was very wet), control was obvious once I left the big trail
1-2: was in contact the whole way - perfect
2-3: went left to avoid green, but then was confused by the features (didn't look exactly like what I'd thought), so I went in the general right direction and eventually figured things out. Not good.
3-4: downhill leg, saw the hill with the rock next to it and ran right to it
4-5: hill was greener and rockier than expected - control seemed a long way down
5-6: passed the big rocks, then tried to go down the slope on a compass bearing, but was too scared of blindly following the compass, so I proceeded downhill slowly (knowing I was right of the line), and then matched up a cliff and a rock and went to the control. Diagonal legs across a slope are hard, but even harder when it's so rocky and slippery
6-7: perfect, kept in contact the whole way, planned route to #8
7-8: had planned on going around to the left on the trail, but the hill didn't look too bad, so I decided to climb it. But it was really steep and slow going up, and then really steep and slow going down. I should have stuck to my original plan.
8-9: went straight, past the twin rocks, but then instead of seeing two rocks, I just saw one big one, and it didn't seem to be resting on a contour line either, so I went back a bit to see if I had somehow gone too far, and then looked back and saw the control. (The map is a bit weird there! Definitely only one rock that should be mapped.)
9-10: I went through the stony wide reentrant, and then just to the right of a steep contour with some rocks, but then I felt unsure of my location (things didn't quite look as I'd expected) so I went on a general bearing and tried to match things up until I could see the big rock northeast of the control. It was straightforward from there.
10-11: Saw the two obvious route choices, and decided to go around to the left (along the marsh, then up the reentrant), but it was pretty steep, crappy running along the edge in the beginning (not what it looks like from the map), so I changed my mind and went straight up instead. It was really steep and really slow, and then it was really slow going through the green (which had expanded over more of the hilltop than is shown), and really slow climbing down. At least the control was right there.
11-12: Took the trail, crossed the big trail, climbed up the hill, then went on a general bearing (wasn't reading every up and down) and was surprised to see the reentrant coming in from the right. Immediately corrected, and identified the hilltop north of the control easily. Getting tired.
12-13. Decided to go straight through the marsh, but it was really wet and rocky, so I rock-skipped to the side and almost wound up going the wrong way because I hadn't been looking at my compass (too busy trying not to fall). After that, it was fine.
13-14: Perfect.
14-15: Decided to go straight, but then decided trail would be faster. This was true, but I should have chosen this route right from the beginning.

Very nice forest, but not the best course. I would have liked to have more controls in the technical sections!

#1 - Considered a slightly straighter route, but decided to go around on the trail so that I could (a) have a proper warm-up, (b) read ahead on the map. Only problem was I was running and looking at #2 and #3, without following along where I was on the trail, so that caused a bit of worry, but I started looking around after that and it was fine.

#2 - I had previously decided to go around the green on the left, but from the hilltop I could see all the way across the green and it didn't look too bad, so I went straight. I could see the control from 100 meters away, but still made sure to check features around it before heading over to it.

#3 - Control itself was fine, but I hurt my foot slightly, so slowed down afterward.

#4 - Fine. Was surprised the cliff facing northwest before the control was not bigger, but otherwise it was good.

#5 - Thought of going around on the trail, but decided it was too far out of the way and straight didn't look so bad. But I was so intent on first climbing down the hill and not hurting my foot, and then climbing up the hill through the cut-down branches that I wound up too far right of the line. Then I used really bad judgment when I got to the reentrant between two hilltops, stopped to try and figure out where it was on the map, didn't find it, and decided to go forward anyway. Realized it after this hilltop and corrected, but it was a bad mistake to make in this area because it was steep, rocky, and junky forest.

#6 - Still not sure if I chose the best route, but I executed most of it well. Up until the last part of actually finding the control. I knew I was in the right area, but was having some trouble matching up the features to reality. Stood there until I figured it out.

#7 - Not great with the bearing, which I realized when I saw the earthbanks, but then I corrected and the control was easy.

#8-9 - Easy

#10 - This was the first hill that I did not have the energy to run up, but I kept a good bearing and spiked the control.

#11 - Had a good idea of what this control would look like. Spike.

#12 - Easy.

Training (walking/jogging/running). Foot hurt sometimes, so I was only half focused on the orienteering. Also, despite serious effort, I had trouble relating this map to the terrain. The unmapped marshes, the vegetation, and the rocks (some mapped, some not) were all confusing. The weather was gorgeous, though!

#1 - Knew I had to go straight on a bearing, then to the top of the hill and over. Nose with cliff felt like it was lower than it should be, so I stopped right after I passed it and was about to go back up when I saw the control just behind me.

#2 - Decided to go just left of the line and through the yellow marsh to avoid the rocky stuff that was on the line. But there was snow in those uniform white/yellow bits of forest, so following tracks led me in the wrong direction. Then I didn't know where I crossed the yellow marsh, and even though I saw a control on a rock I couldn't identify it on the map. But eventually I realized I needed to keep going further along the hillside, and then identified the cliffs.

#3 - the vegetation here was really confusing - yellow grass everywhere and very open. Also, the hilltops with snow on them made me think they were yellow, which is why I checked out several of them before I got to the one next to my control.

#4 - Must have gone off the proper bearing, so thought I was on the line but wasn't. Was surprised to see the big cliff north of #4, but realized where I must be and corrected.

#5 - The white area was actually a dense green marsh, but I was sure I had to be on the line, so I moved forward. Was surprised when I didn't see the control in the marsh, but quickly realized it was on the rock.

#6 - Passed right through the yellow right on the line (halfway), and then saw a control on the cliff southeast of #6 and knew I should go down into the green reentrant for my control. Problem was I didn't see it. The rock had moss growing on it, so blended in very well. I was completely confused about what to do, since I was 99% sure I was in the right reentrant, but didn't see a rock. Checked the next reentrant over, then stood around until some other girl came and actually found the rock. It was right there!

# 7 - there was a huge marsh to the left of #7 (unmapped), so I was really hesitant and confused. Was about to turn back even, thinking it must be the marsh to the north of #7, but found the control.

#8 - Was careful with this one, stopped to make a plan, read everything, and it was good.

#9 - Was going to go around the yellow marsh on the right, but then saw that it was frozen solid and really good running, so went right across it. This leg was good.

#10 - Thought I had gone down the reentrant right on the line, but was too far right instead. Corrected quickly.

#11 - Saw the yellow marsh, then passed by both reentrants so that I knew where I was, but then the terrain got a bit confusing and Sara ran by and asked if I was looking for this control, so we both ran too far. At least I was the first to realize this and relocate correctly.

#12 - easy

A satisfactory run, much better than last year. Time was 58:40 for 6km.

#1 - not sure about route choice at first, but think it was the right one. Had a good image of what to expect and things went well in the control circle.
#2 - read features as I saw them, went ok.
#3 - Stupid. Left the control without having a proper idea of what the control circle should look like, then stopped to figure things out but I didn't know which hill was which on the map. I knew I was close, but wasn't sure which direction to go in, so checked out all the nearby hilltops.
#4 - A scary control because of all the small, flat features, but I read the details along the way and it was fine.
#5 - Planned route and executed it, but decided at the end to go around the steep-looking short hilltop and approach the reentrant from the bottom instead of climbing over and down into the reentrant. Should have gone straighter, but this is a minor point.
#6 - Legs like this are so difficult! It's a long leg, but the concentration level must be high all the time because it is so technical. I read details along the way, but got really tired of falling through the marshes and climbing up short, but steep hills (big rocks, really) so I wasn't doing a good job of it. In the second half of the leg, I stopped every 30-50 meters to check the map and try to determine exactly where I was. It didn't work, but at least I kept in general contact with the map (within a 50-meter radius) and knew to look for the yellow marsh southeast of the control. Once I saw that, I identified features precisely and found the control just fine. The best route choice was to go right of the line along the white flattish section and then curve around the hills and straight for the control.
#7 - had a plan and executed it perfectly.
#8 - followed some tracks down out of the control, but knew from the compass that I should cut north, so I did that at the first opportunity and came to the wrong hill. Realized immediately and corrected.
#9 - I was tired of fighting the forest, so hesitated a bit and then cut out to the field. The route looks stupid with that sharp turn into the forest, but the woods really didn't look nice there, so I don't think I lost much time (if any). And I spiked the control from there. :)
#10 - Very smart plan and execution went great except for slight hesitation at the end.
#11 - A bit too far to the right of the line, but ok.
#12 - Lots of muddy tracks and people leading to the last control.

Lots of snow on the ground and I was the first starter, so small trails were impossible to distinguish and big trails required a bit of checking (usually looking both ways and seeing a line of treeless forest was sufficient).

Comments:
4 - A chain of events led to 3+ minutes of confusion. First, I didn't realize those "cliffs" on the way to #4 are actually rocks! Second, I must have not had a clear picture in my mind what the terrain would look like, even though I thought I did. I should have realized that I needed to go up to the control.
6 - I had a good route planned, but realized too late that the train tracks weren't crossable and had to slog up the hill (which was REALLY slow). Unhappy with myself, but also somewhat annoyed at the mapper for not putting purple X's on the tracks to make it more obvious. Then, 3/4 of the way, the trails seemed strange (the footprints in the snow were the only indication of the eastern trail and the direction seemed off), so I cut through the forest and then realized what must have happened. Went back to the trail, then straight for the control.
8 - The snow was really deep after the green, so tough and slow running.
9 - The control was lower than I expected it to be - I should have realized that I would have to go slightly downhill, but instead stopped to look around on the half-contour hill.
10 - Decided to go straight instead of around on the big trail (which would have been faster). Woods were trashy most of the way and small trails indistinct (as shown by me not following them!).
12, finish: resisted the urge to speed up now that I was finally on solid footing. No point in sprinting at the end of a training, especially as I have to run again tomorrow!

Going to the blue controls, counterclockwise- got lost on the ninth one. Not sure what happened - terrain very vague, and snow didn't help. Really, it was a chain of uncertainties:
1. I wasn't completely sure I'd found #8, because the cliff was small, but there wasn't anything else around that looked like a cliff.
2. I wasn't 100% sure where I crossed the trail, although I was pretty certain it was on the line, where the one-contour hill was. There was a dog barking at me on the trail, so I didn't want to stop there to check for sure, but I didn't see the trail bend so it makes sense that I was a bit to the right of the line.
3. I headed onward using my compass, but the stuff in the terrain was vague and I couldn't relate anything to the map. This worried me, but I thought it would be ok. It wasn't.

I wasn't sure I found #9, but there was something that resembled a cliff and I assumed I must be in the right general area, so I moved on to #10. I thought I found it, but obviously not. I was very confused when I hit the powerline, but relocated successfully and moved on.