Just Because You Can, Doesn't Mean You Should

Last year I was at one of the QCDC Thursday night run-thrus and an important point was driven home for me.  Just because I can do something, doesn't mean I should do it.  On this particular  (AKC) course, I chose to send Belle to a tunnel instead of going there with her.  However, as it turned out going to the tunnel would  have put me on a better line for what followed.

This morning, Belle and I ran the South African course one more time.  I decided to wrap her right at jump #9, thinking although the path was about 7-8 feet longer, it produced a more logical and faster flow into 10-12.  My plan was to follow the red line after #10, but on the fly I decided to layer #8.  I realized the consequences of my decision in time to veer sharply left and avoid the off-course tunnel entrance.  However, in addition to having to veer sharply left, I also had to run closer to the #13 tunnel than I had intended, and this made getting back to 15/16 gap that much harder for me.

P.S. 04/14 - This morning, we ran the course from #5 through #13.  I set up the video camera so that I could find out if wrapping right at #9 was really a good option.