unforum

[iantimothy]

[TRAINING] Singapore 16 May 2008 - The Aftermath

[unagi]

Great! So your human labyrinth was the first in Asia!

[DavFlamerock]

1. Easily fixable. (or not, depending on your finances)

2. We have a fancy-schmancy rope-protractor, but you'll have to ask Ariock about that.

3. It takes practice. Have your walls set a standard hum so that one side isn't blaringly louder than the other--that can be disorienting.

4. Muscle memory is key--at least to me. If you can get at least basic muscle memory in place then you know the general time in which you SHOULD be turning, so that you can hurry up to that spot without forgetting a turn. Getting the turns just right is hard (trust me, I've tried) so that's where the walls come in handy. It's not even necessarily a muscle memory thing--it's a mental thing: if you can keep yourself oriented on the center of the labyrinth it makes the whole thing a LOT easier.

Actually, that orientation on the center is what makes the outer ring so difficult to me (as we discovered at the last SF run). I have yet to master judging distance from the center on the outermost ring (the inside ones are easy because they're right there). That and the timing and sharpness of the turns is what I'm working on. That's another thing your runner should master (or at least work on): make sure they turn really sharply. Wide turns slow you down. Don't let them happen, even if it feels like your turn is too sharp, it's probably right.

[mr.judkins]

Thanks for sharing the video iantimothy! I've been wondering how your training went after reading your post about it on the Facebook group (and I've just seen you've added the video there too). What an amazing location to train in!

I think Dav has covered most of the bases there, but I can add a couple things:

2. You'll find a unfiction thread all about drawing labyrinths HERE. We've stuck to drawing with chalk on tiles/pavement, and haven't tried doing string labyrinths on grass yet...

3. We've found that it really works for our runners if the walls begin humming as they approach, and stop humming as soon as they've passed by. This way if they always walk towards the gap between the two hums they're going in the right direction. It's easy to describe and much harder to remember to do - but it really helps us! Also, we've been having the member of a wall on the pivot point of the hairpin bends hum in a slightly different fashion to all the others - signaling a hard turn. With experienced walls, even an inexperienced runner can do really well.

And other than that, as much practice as you can muster. I'm not sure if you had a look at the video of NZ's first training session, but we've come a long way through having a dedicated core of people who've attended more than one session and can help new people get up to speed. I imagine it's been the same for the 3-circuit world record holders San Francisco(?)...

Oh, and we find it helps to provide refreshments (in our case tea, coffee and cookies) upon arrival.

[iantimothy]

Thanks for sharing guys. My friends and I are training again today. Posted the event on Upcoming. So far haven't managed to get anyone beyond my friends.