Training Log Archive: BrandNewMe

When I got back last night I dug out my running kit thinking I'd got running this morning. Haha. No way. Not only was I a bit fatigued, but my knee is pretty bad, and I need a to take a good but if time off letting it recover.

WOC 2014 was the most fun yet. The organisation was great. The best thing was that the areas were not at all compromised - fabulous orienteering. The long was beautiful, the middle and relay was tough, tricky and rocky, the sprint relay was a little easy but exciting, and Venice must have made an awesome sprint location.

I had no particular expectations going into the races. I just wanted to get the best performances out of myself as possible. The long again left me frustrated, but I am satusfied with the relay and middle performance.

Post-WOC selection races this year i set myself four goals to work on for the rest of the year. So how am I getting on?

1: Enjoy orienteering more. Feel good about my performances in big races.

I definitely found this week the most fun of all of my WOCs so far. The team was fun, the accomodation was great, it wasn't too hot, it was well organised, the terrain and maps were perfect, and I felt given the time off work I had allocated and the injuries I have has in the past year, I could not have prepared better. My long performance was disappointing - it could have been so much better - bit I managed to take positives from it, and not let the negatives get me too down. And I was thrilled with the other two races, even if I didn't always seem it - give me a break - I was knackered!!!

2: Move physical training on from being injured.

The training that I wanted to do was still in many ways compromised by my injuries, but to a lesser extent. I managed pain free intervals in the months between Easter and now, and pain free hill reps. Exciting!

I felt awesome physically in all of these races. More work to be done, but I didn't expect to feel so good at this stage!

3: Get a technical coach.

This was probably the most urgent goal, and key to getting the others right. I wanted to find the right person. When Nick's name came up in conversation at the selection races, I knew he would be excellent, so I persuaded him to give me tips for EOC and it went from there. I've learnt so much in such a short space of time. I went into this weeks races feeling so well prepared, and that made such a difference. For the first time it felt like I had the confidence to give myself the time to read the map properly.

4: get happier generally.

I think I'll give myself a big tick for this one too. A combination of all of the above really. When the long disappointment started to get to me, I managed to shake it off with some of the best MC advice (sleep & chocolate). It's been a great week. Looking forward to Slovenia and beyond.

WOC relay

Hard to sleep last night as I was so nervous / excited.

I had real problems last night with a knee bash, that was aggravating an already irritated knee joint. I went for a morning 2 min jog in the terrain by the hotel to check it out. With a reserve as classy as Hollie, if I couldn't give 100% I would have to seriously think about pulling out. My legs didn't feel great, but it was first thing in the morning after an energetic middle race, and my knee was ok so I was good to go.

Kim tried out some strapping. Warning up it felt terrible, and I was panicking a bit (no dropping out this late) but she took the strapping off and it was much better. Phew!

Tessa went off in the pack on first leg. First leg is an awkward mix of people wanting to keep up, nervous energy. Tessa did well, keeping her head on the long gaffles, and pulling past teams later on. I set off in a position that I was really comfortable with. Finland a bit ahead, and some of the smaller nations chasing me. I was v v nervous, but experience tells me that when the race starts, and you get the map, it's just orienteering, and you calm down. The strategy was for a clean run. Calm, confident, compass, contours, and plan.

To 1, up slightly left of number 15 from yesterday. Orientated the map to try to judge how far around the hill to go. Up near the top, but not as high as the big boulders. Saw it. Good.

To 2, bearing, checking the features on the top slightly to double check direction. Saw the Fin going in here. She'd had a shorter number 1.

To 3, bearing, track, off track bend onto the crags and follow them along, above the crags. Saw the reentrant, didn't see the control. There it is - phew!

I don't have the map yet, so the leg to 4 is tricky to recall as I was reading the map the whole way. Bearing, off a path bend at a pit (?) then careful on a bearing. The clearings were fitting. I was looking for a knoll, but the only knoll I could see was a bit too far right and had a cameraman on it. Usually the cameras are set back from the control a bit so this was odd. Double checked. Control was a depression actually. Got it immediately.

5 was a bearing over a reent with a path in it. Lots of path like things going on, but I kept cool and kept reading the contours. Got it. Phew.

6 - nothing for it but run to the track bend, then an accurate bearing through bushy stuff to a boulder in a small niche. Good bearing. Dropped over the first line of crags where there was a u shaped crag. Knew where I was, so nailed the control nicely. Phew.

7 and the run through was easy. I had chatted with Liz beforehand and we agreed to concentrate on pushing hard through 7 and pick somewhere at the end of the run through to start navigating again. Took a bearing from the open reentrant at the end of the run through, and made sure it wasa good one. Nailed 8. 9 was another bearing, contouring a bit to hit the open, which I knew from this bit of the middle was visible. Nailed it. Great.

To 10 across the field. This could be really tricky. Bearing from a path / road junction. Hit the craggy bits, and the clearing was obvious from here. Easy.

to 11 I went high. The day before I had contoured and it had been shitty. Esp at the bit where the trench made a B shape. Really hard running. But today I think my route was too much hill to take. Up, over, down the track, off after the trench. There was some open above the control that made it easy, though I was preparing for it to be tricky.

12 again looked tricky. Careful bearing. When I got to the area the rock was quite clear, nailed it, going for the lowest crag.

13 down the reentrant on a bearing, off the track bend at the stones on a bearing. V tricky in this bit. Bushy. After the right distance, I could see some rocky bits. I was a bit low and a bit too far in so relocated quickly.

To 14 I was on a rough bearing out of the control. Came to a sort if cross roads where the rides, some apparently with tracks in, some with paths, met. Vaguely. Picked the one that looked most right. It was wrong. Near the end and I could see I was around the back if the first aid post. Hmm. Ducked back into the forest. Popped out at the start of the run in tapes. Back to number 14 and on to the finish. Not the fastest of runs but a nice solo, technically fairly solid race where many were making costly mistakes. I felt fit and strong again throughout the race (well coming out of 10 was still a slog...). Didn't notice the knee at all.

Hand over to Cat, who has a fun tussle with Ukraine and Latvia, coming out on top to take us to 6th - the best GB girls result in the post-Heather and Yvette era. Fabulous!

Then we have the entertainment of some excellent men's sprint finishes, the best if which was GG, proving just how awesome he is, holding off Austria by the smallest of margins to take 7th. A great result from them.

I don't go in for morning jogs, but had an aggravated knee so wanted to check it out. And I was a bit bored. I'd slept for ages yesterday afternoon, waking for some food and to Skype Nick before sleeping again. So I was wide awake at 6. Asphalt. Made a nice change.

WOC middle.

Really nervous. Feeling physically sick. Stomach cramps. I didn't do much of a warm up, as there was quite a way to go from pre-start to the start line. Once I had got the map though, the nerves soon settled.

Start to 1 bearing, along the open, and down the open reentrant to the boulder. Turned in here, and knew I needed to be up a bit.

2was a bearing. Then I was on a ridge with no big features. I hesitated quite a bit before spotting it. Dropped a bit of time here.

To 3, down to the track and along and off the bend. There was not much climb from the track, but straight was quicker.

4 I was going to go due north east and hit the track half way along but I found a good unmarked path so joined it later. I show have stayed high though as there was considerable climb from the track. Tough here. All the uphill a felt tough on my lungs. Everyone had the same problem so I think it was the influence of the altitude.

To 5 was a bearing and I was slightly left. Corrected and saw Heidi B punching it. Damn. She had caught me 90secs already, and I had made no major mistakes. I found out later she was massive faster here than others.

6 was off on a bearing after Heidi. Checked off the clearing with the crags at half way. She hesitated at the spur beforehand here, and I went on and got it. Met Hollie here.

7 bearing. To 8 was a bearing, passing the boys control on the way. Heidi hesitated so i got ahead.

9 the trench looked like a good option, but this route was hilly, and v stoney. Easy enough when I'd got on the right slope. Heidi and I were still together. Bearing to 10. Easy. I skidded past the punch, and had to crawl back up, and she got ahead and out of sight.

11 was a bearing. Off the significant tree in the open. Fine. 12 was really tough. Up the hill was brutal. Once it had flattened out I was on a bearing past 2 boulders and in. Didn't see a pit but there was a control in the forest, with my code on it. Punched and ran on.

13 was a bearing, past a boulder, then a rocky boulder, then in. Met Heidi again. She was coming in from the opposite direction.

14 Heidi went high, but I didn't fancy the rocky ground so went low. I saw Amelie Chaitang and Emily Kemp coming out of it in the clearing, but the control itself was tucked away, and there was a decoy crag not mapped. I dropped about 20 secs here, and Heidi caught me back up.

15 I was a bit high, but not as high as Heidi, but she had the legs for the run in, and I didn't.

12th. Pleased with that. Not as smooth as I'd have liked, but 12th is still an excellent result, and I am ecstatic.

http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/doma/show_map...

Guessing time and distance.

I wax a bit down from yesterday's race. The familiar post-adrenaline slump got me. I'm getting better at handling this though, so would have been ok had I not had such a truly frustrating time yesterday.

We went to run the course from the 3 trenches races which were on the british long weekend. The forest was wonderful, I was navigating well, and again felt amazing physically, though obviously holding back quite a bit.

Good fun. Back for lunch, and team photos, and supporters picnic which left me all a bit exhausted, so I went to bed at 5 for some lovely sleep. I managed to sleep through dinner, which is good. We had six courses last night (salad, mussels, tagliatelle, steak and chips, tiramisu, then fruit)! My body really can't handle so much food...

http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/doma/show_map...

WOC long Italy

At the start I was feeling v nervous. What's new? The difference was that this time, for the first time in ages, I felt happy, well prepared, pleased to be there and racing. There was a bunch of WOC 2015 folk wandering around in the bit between -10 and -4. I didn't let it distract me, but it is a bit odd to see people you know wandering around just before the start.

Calm at the start. Got to the start kite, and came up with a confident route to number 1. Executed it well. Number 2 went badly wrong. I ran over a track without realising it. This meant I got disorienteated. Relocated off a ski slope, Not quite sure where I had been. Punched 2 at the same time as Emily Kemp. I had already agreed with Nick that I was not going to let anyone distract me. So stuck to my route to 3. 50/50. Got ahead to 4, then had already planned my route to 5. I didn't feel too bad on the hill, and running down the ridge at the top of the hill was cool, but Emily did a route with much less climb and it was quicker.

6 fine. To 7 I went straight to the track. Emily went straight through the forest. I didn't see her again. 8 fine. This was quite dark forest though, with pine needle paths everywhere which were quite hard to spot. To nine I was steady and picked off the contours, which you had to do. 10 seemed an odd direction but stuck with it - fine. 11 fine. To 12 I was going to pick my way through the paths to the hill. I didn't see the track route. I set off going to 9 though, instead of due south, and spent ages trying to keep on line. A lot of time dropped in the first section, but I think I would have dropped lots more here prior to working with Nick, who has encouraged me to stop and check calmly rather than just panic. Spiked the control well. 13 easy, 14 I made sure I had turned correctly coming out of 13 and slowed into the control. Good. 15 I went straight over the ridge. I think I should have gone to the right of the line a bit, and had more running on a gradual slope, rather than flat followed by exceptionally steep.

Coming out of 15 was tough. Trying to do urban o on a 1:15 was tricky. The line I chose had be running through someones rhubarb, which can't be right, can it? Check, double check, I have GPS on so have to be careful with the OOB. It is right. Veg patch it is. I came to 16 a bit flustered, and set off not the best way. I couldn't work out how the run through worked particularly. So to 17 I will have dropped time. Billstam was catching me - I could hear the commentary. Dave was shouting 'Plan and Compass' at me, as we had agreed, at the coaching zone. It kept me focused.

So Billstam was closing me down, and I let her. Took a tow to 18, got ahead to 19, then to 20 I was ahead a little, took a tow on 21 and 22. To the last one I would have gone left of the hill if the grass was not so long. Weird that it hadn't tracked up more. Billstam is so steady in the forest. Really not hard to follow at all. I got ahead at 19 and 20 as she was hesitating so much. I didn't necessarily want to get ahead, but just felt so fresh that it would be silly not to.

So, 29th, though I sincerely hope to end up 30th, as Hollie punched the last control (the further away SI box as Judith was punching the near one) and it didn't register. Was the box asleep? There is TV footage of her punching. She didn't rush it. She may not have heard the beep, but didn't expect to due to the people and commentary roaring Judith on. Frustrating for her. Serious for the GB team in the future, with regard to maintaining our top 8 status. Appeals are in - two of which have been rejected so far. It is not looking good.

Bad things:

The mistake at 2 and not seeing the best route or executing well out of 11. These two together cost me 8mins. Ouch!

Good things:

Physically I felt amazing. I could have run that again at the finish. Not at all tired. No niggles during the race. If I ran any faster I would have made more mistakes.
I didn't let myself get distracted, and did my own thing - except for a few at the end...
Despite the mistakes I kept going.
I reached calmly to the mistakes. I have moved on from my usual style of adrenaline filled panic.
I enjoyed it. The forest was great, the planning was interesting. I am a happy bunny.

So a similar result to the other two WOC long's that I have run but a better performance I think, and I am feeling positive and inspired now, rather than the negative thoughts that have come from my previous experiences.

http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/doma/show_map...

On to the middle!

C • Go Claire 4

Run with Kim. Guessing time and distance. Forest track and forest. Undulating. The rain was biblical during this run. Thoroughly soaked.

Long training. A bit of a control picky bit from the October men's long from last year. Really nice forest. I was going a steady-ish pace and going v cleanly. V runnable and not nearly as rocky as the middle area.

http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/doma/show_map...

C • Good luck 2

Long model. Jogging around looking at features.

http://www.scottish-orienteering.org/doma/show_map...