Training Log Archive: Duncan

First intervals in a bit too long. 4 faster ones up the gentler side followed by 6 short and steep ones facing the road with ample recovery. Felt much better than expected.

Got dropped off on the hill above Beckwithshaw, freewheeled to North Rigby then pedalled along and up to Roundhay via Harewood and Wike. Feeling a bit weak after yesterday but did a few accelerations to get in the mood.

Second attempt and knew what I was doing a bit more. Planned to focus on the longer races, tuning my warm up and eating around them, taking the short ones easy as I just don't have the power.

Race 1: 6-lap Handicap - Same group as last time which was fair. Tucked in at the back of my little pack until the fast guys caught us and started following them. Not sure if we got a gap but stayed with them even while they tried to get away a few times until the last half-lap where they did. 3rd. I know I never did any work on the front so I felt a little bad but I know I couldn't have gone any faster :-/

Race 2: 1-lap scratch heat - Wasn't too bothered how well I did but was pretty happy to get third in the heat out of about 6.

Race 3: Devil - Got my tactics sorted this week. Hung around in the middle early on then after the group slimmed down moved up to third wheel in the outside stream to stay out of trouble. Made sure I sprinted each time we got to the line to avoid elimination and was in the last five, then the last three, finishing 3rd. Very pleased with how that went, tactically perfect.

Race 4: 500m handicap - off 130m. Very well handicapped this one and we finished as a big bunch. Beaten by an Israeli womens mountain bike champion who started 10m ahead.

Race 5: Unknown Distance - Was feeling pretty tired but was up for giving it a good go. Seemed a lot more of a consistently fast pace this week which probably helps me as it stops others trying to break away. When it was my turn on the front I think I got a bit of a gap but then three guys came on the last bend past me leaving me fourth.

Was pleased to get two 3rds but a little disappointed with the 4th compared to last week. Think I've got my tactics sorted when aiming for third place but if I want to do better definitely some more training is needed. Or maybe I try and break away a lap or two before the end giving some breathing room before the final sprint, not sure they'd have that though.

Ride out with Sam. Good weather, slow on the roads, rode down the reservoir overspill, dead at the end.

Dallowgill, Stope Bridge, Fountains Earth Moor, 309, Triangle East, Arnagill, 323, Ilton, Druid's Plantation, Leighton, Leighton Reservoir, Pot Moor High Road, Agill Bridge, Cattle Grid, MS, Triangle West, 309 and back to Dallowgill.

Stayed over at Rob's and drove over to Gisburn forest via JDs to do the red loop. Found it a bit disappointing really - the downs are full of annoying rocks which aren't really that technical but slow you down while the ups are mainly dull fire-road climbs. Also the rear brake on the bike completely stopped working which didn't help. Won't be rushing back there again.

Drove over to Rydal got parked and entered the show for free which was a nice bonus. Met up with Lewis and we went for a short jog up & run down the lowest part of the course to check things out and practised the little downhill fence jump, it was pretty wet underfoot and quite slippy but there weren't many rocks around so it was fairly safe most of the way down. Had a quick chat with Lewis' boss (Chris Edis) beforehand so we knew roughly what to be expecting. Saw a few big names around though so was waiting for a bit of a battering.

We set off out the field at a fast but not too fast pace with Rob Jebb at the front. Despite yesterday I felt good early on on the climb and was surpised that it took so long (not that long) for Nixon to overtake me. Stayed behind him, Alistair Dunn and Ted Mason until a short steeper section just as we left the lowest field.

Todd Oates came past before the next bit of climbing on a narrow path though the bracken and paced me up the next bit (a bit like Wednesday night). Chris then came bashing though the bracken on my right trying to overtake both of us and as I was feeling good I hopped on to that train instead and got some distance on Todd as we came onto the flatter bit.

Stayed behind Chris pretty much all the way to the top while the guys in front who had already turned came towards us. He seemed to slow down as it steepened up to the scrambly summit crag so I turned ahead of him and started the descent.

Got down the rocks okay while dodging people still coming up and passed a Halifax guy into 6th. As we crossed the flatter bit I could see Ian and Alastair infront but could hear Halifax coming up behind so I tried to keep the pace up until it steepened again where I could relax about being caught.

Don't think I gained that much time on Ian/Alastair on the descent but did trip on a root as we neared the bottom (& cut my right knee over the tendon :) losing a good few seconds so could maybe have got closer to Ian if he wasn't expecting me. Got over the fence fine and finished across the show field with a comfortable gap behind. Lewis came down a little while after for a good result off no running. 6th +1m24.

I think this is my best senior BOFRA result against a strong field so was happy with my position (no prize money though!). It was also the closest I've been to the big guns on the ascent which is promising for the rest of the season and is what has always held me back in the shorter races. Should have probably pushed harder though on the less steep bit after we passed Todd and maybe been closer to the two in front for the descent. It's def the very steepest parts where I lose most time which maybe isn't so promising for races like Burnsall and Grasmere but it's something to work on over the next few weeks.

Nice little WCOC evening event. Had checked the area out on routegadget and assumed it was all thick heather so thought it was going to be a bit of a trial. Walked/jogged up the hill to the start together and set of a min in front of of Lewis. The mist was down so it was actually quite tricky and it turned out to be nice and grassy - a good little area.

The first leg was a long one diagonally up and round the hill at the same time, I was high on a band above the knoll I was aiming for as an attackpoint so had to drop down and was about 45s behind Lewis on a 5min leg - should have been more focused on exactly where (and how high) I was all the way in the mist. The next few looped round the small hills at the 'peak' of the area and across some flat bits where you had to trust your compass as visibility was really bad. From #5 we started dropping and zig-zagging down the area to the finish which was really good fun. Number 10 was arguably on the wrong boulder, I went to what I though was the right one (via 2 others) and then looked round a few more after and didn't see it so went on to 11. Some others found it (including Lewis) but there was a bit of chat at the finish about the dodgy map and at least one other guy didn't punch it.

Wasn't trying mega-hard just wanted to keep it enjoyable which it was :)

Long ride out the fell race from Chop Gate over from Clay Bank. Have been averaging about 30kph on short road rides recently so was pretty pleased to do 60k in 2.15 with a steep climb at the end. Thought the dual carriageway was going to be hell but once I got going it was alright.

Set off to ride there a bit later than I would have liked but had 25mins once I got there which I thought would be okay but had to faff around a bit entering and getting changed so only had time for a very short and uncomfortable post-cycling jog round the car-park.

Set off with a lap of the car park to spread people out then started to climb the hill. The route was steep then gradual up to Cock Howe then a gradual down, gradual up and flat-ish loop round the fell top before dropping off the way we came up.

Was near the front from the start but didn't want to rush off seeing as I didn't know the course but got a bit tired of holding back so upped the pace and hoped some faster guys would follow. One guy did and we pulled out a gap on the rest of the field, he was in front, going a little faster than I wanted and at one point he got a way a little but I held the gap to the top. He didn't know the route either so maybe could have pushed on a bit more.

Got ahead on the next down but not by much and he passed me pretty soon after we crossed the stream from down to up and onto a hard north york moors track. Totally didn't feel I could run fast and he steamed ahead while I had a few lazy walks. Wanted to try and catch up on the flat part along ridge so I could be in-touch for the descent but he'd probably got a good 4-500m on me and all I could do was maintain the distance. Never saw him on the descent. 2nd +2.47.

Wasn't an amazing run but I was pleased how I'd follow him on the first climb at a faster pace than I'd have gone at on my own (good for Thursday). Definitely would have been faster with some strides/sprint in the warm-up and some intervals at the weekend but I did have a cold.

C • sorry I wasn't there 2

Non-orienteering event of the summer No. 1 - track racing on a grass velodrome round the cricket pitch in Roundhay Park. Did one of these last year so I knew what to expect this time - hard/scary/fun racing against some fast juniors, fast seniors and slow old men.

Race 1: 6 lap Handicap - Given my handicap putting me in group 2 a quarter of a lap in front of the finish line with the fastest guys chasing us down. Was just aiming not to be last in the group. Set off and got clipped in alright but was a bit nervous and was riding outside the guy infront's wheel seeing as I never ride in a pack. Got shouted at for taking up too much room and had the fast guys passing on both sides which was a bit hairy. Eventually got settled after about three laps and started pushing it on the next two laps and overtook some people (probably in the worst handicap), died on the last lap but I don't think anyone took me back.
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Race 2: A simple 1-lap scratch heat - Had someone to hold me up and give me a push off the start on the outside. Got away okay and just tucked in somewhere near the back of the 6 and finished probably 5th. I was borrowing a bike and never seemed able to put much extra pace on when I stood up so I think a larger chainring might have helped in the 'sprint' races.
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Race 3: Mass start 'Devil' where the last two riders over the line each lap get eliminated - Got off okay in the rolling start and hung about on the outside so I didn't get too boxed in. Decided I had had enough off worrying about being near the back so I made an effort to get up to the front and snuck into third-wheel of the outside stream so in 5/6th effectively.

Was feeling good about the position, I could see the track ahead and had some room to maneuver out as we got towards the finish line if I needed to. Stayed there for 2-3 laps but then the pack got scarily small and I was looking over my shoulder a lot (and bumping into people) to check I wasn't last, except this time I'd dropped back a bit and mis-counted so was eliminated :( I felt like I had quite a bit left to give so was a bit annoyed that I hadn't defended my Line 2 Third Wheel position more aggressively.
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Race 4: 500m handicap heat - My handicap was about 2/3rd back though the field and probably a bit stingy as I was last in the heat.
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Race 5: Unknown Distance endurance race - I hadn't really been listening to the tannoy and saw the lap-board didn't have a 'laps-to-go' number so was expecting just one lap which did seem a bit weird. Naturally I went off quite fast, getting into second place, and was quite surprised that no-one was coming past. I thought maybe they were tired but after the first lap when the guy in front kept didn't slow down I knew something was up and remembered I'd read in the program earlier something about an endurance race - the opposite of what I'd thought it was! Luckily I think we had a bit of a gap so had a rest while I got caught by a little group going at a decent pace.

One of the youngsters who had been fast all evening decided to go off the front and seeing as it was the last race of the night I followed him just to see if I could. We passed the leader while I got a free tow. After a lap or so he pulled off so I could lead(!) for a bit and we kept swapping for a few laps. He then put on some pace and I thought I'd snapped but he hit the back of a group we were lapping and slowed down so I caught him back up - if he'd passed them quickly I'd have given up.

It felt like like it was getting towards the end when one of his mates came up to us who had maybe been taking it easy. Those two stood up and made a move which I couldn't respond to but then they appeared to back off and on the back straight of the last lap I passed his mate into second. There was no way I was ever going to get past him when he stood up again but I did hold on my 2nd place to the finish. I'm not sure the second guy really contested me for it so I think I was gifted it somewhat but it was a good way to end the night.

C • This sounds awesome! 1

Cheesy post TdF ride round the usual lap with a loop round Burton Leonard for some extra hills. Cold almost gone (would have done Cracoe otherwise).

Up and over the Downs to post some maps to the Dyers. Hid the bike in the gully and tried the club champs course. Back via Clifton.

My attempt to clear them all.

Started with the NW two 101, 125, then headed into the gully early as 115 is best taken as you slide down the slope. Up the other side to 114 and then down to 113 via 103. My tactic was to minimise climbing so went to 124 before 116 and roughly contoured to 123 and along to 111. Up to 122 to start picking off the ones on the flat. 112, 108, 128, then into the woods for 126 and 121. Out to 105, 102, 110 (wasn't concentrating here and turned right after the first thicket across the road so lost c20s). 117, 127, 120, 104, thought the road was a good link to 119, 106, 109 and 118 to finish.

Definitely could have gone comfortably sub 31 without mistakes/hesitations and sub 30 might be possible on whatever the optimum route is..?

C • Thanks 3

Feeling dehydrated a lot of the time and a cold is coming on.

Event: BOK Club Champs
 

Started with the south end and worked our way north. Did all the ones on the slopes while Richard did the flat.

Messed around finding logs to gripple controls to, forgot to flag 111 so had to go back to it, very happy with 115 - definitely using it as a control site again, the maps pretty good for the most part, had to run out and do 109 at the end.

Only one feature wasn't actually there :)

BOK Champs on the new downs map. 40 minute score.

Planned from Slovakia but I knew most control sites and just tried to keep them as far apart (and hidden!) as possible. Wasn't sure if it would be do-able in the time or what the optimum route would be so just let people get on with it.

At home when printed at 1:5000 it was very legible but unfortunately between the proofs it changed size somehow (OCAD 11 files don't open in Condes) and ended up being printed at a smaller scale (by ruler I think it was about 1:7142!) Because the contours were so close together and thinner than the spec it was a bit hard to read which was a shame. Don't think we'd have had many comments if was printed right.

Thanks very much to everyone who collected some in and Phil for the lift to the bottom!

Fast ride to Army Fitness on dad's road bike.

The rest of the family have been doing them for a while but I've always been a little scared of injuring myself doing a stupid exercise. Jogging with a few random drills thrown in then onto the main session which was circuits. We got paired up and did the exercises while another group rolled a heavy tyre round the edge which was a bit random. Was fine with most of them but was definitely worse on the upper body ones.

Wasn't as hard as I was expecting but my glutes did ache a little afterwards. People don't seem to put all that much effort in but will probably go again if there's nothing else on.

Wanted an enjoyable post-JWOC so drove out to Brimham Rocks overlooking Nidderdale.

Perfect cool and still evening with a little drizzle. Headed south from the car-park then right down the stoney track into Smelthouses, up the valley along a nice path wiggling alongside the river. Bit slow up the track back towards Brimham and cut into the rock formations near the 'smartie tube' re-entrant. Weaved through and up the the trig point behind the house then did a moor-top loop of the rest of the area at a proper pace.

Just what I needed.

JWOC Review

This was my first and last Junior World Champs and coming into it I didn't really have too many expectations.

My training beforehand had been rushed but I knew I was in my best shape for a couple of years. Orienteering wise I had packed in a lot of controls and had a mixed season with a few performances (British Middle Distance Champs, Jukola and Tallinn Middle) where I had briefly attained the sort of flow I'm capable of with my current skills. I just needed to reproduce these when it mattered.

I was disappointed with my Sprint result against the best in the world although against the British boys I compared a lot better than earlier in the season (from 16th up to 9th up to 4th Brit at JWOC). I definitely felt unfit in the latter part of the course, some of which my be attributed to the heat, but my navigation was a bit suspect on a fairly easy course. I would have liked to have done more sprint training leading up to the competition on the Bristol Urban Series maps - as I feel sprint performance is closely related to specific training - but my knee injury put a stop to that.

My Long performance was poor and I'm not sure what I can take from it. Again I seemed to struggle with fitness, especially under the sun in the open areas but managed to get some sort of pace for the last few kilometres. Navigationally I made a few mistakes but sort of was expecting there to be a few on a 12k course in a new type of terrain for me, although number 9 was a very schoolboy error. I never seemed to get into a race mindset.

The Middle distance races feel like a missed opportunity but they were very encouraging. There were periods of really great orienteering but they were mixed with bits of stupid orienteering giving just average if you look at the final results. Looking at the splits though I can see I could be competitive with the top guys in the world if I cut out the mistakes. When it was good it was really good and I got the same 'making-progress' feeling going I had at the races I mentioned earlier, probably even better. My pressure did get to me though and I started taking risks which didn't pay off.

I think what I've gained most from those middle race is the confidence to slow down even more to hold on to a podium position. Even with little sacrifices in running here and there I was still near the top and with a bit more patience to continue that throughout the full race I don't see why I can't be right up there. Thinking of it like a relay and imagining other runners falling off the pack as they make mistakes may be a useful way to keep the faith in running a controlled race.

I do have a feeling though that a fast-but-hesitant race strategy might put a limit on my orienteering speed. Maybe like a pre-2001 Thierry Gueorgiou. From running alongside some Estonian elites in Tallinn I can see I need to improve my map reading at speed so I don't need to hesitate so much and I would like to master this type of orienteering before I try to change my general technique. Thinking now I need to do more running training with a map, more orienteering training at race pace and more S&C work to make reading the map on the run an easy exercise.

Before I came was scared of having a good run but getting a bad result and leaving with a feeling that I couldn't mix it up with the guys at the top. In the end I got an average result with a bad run and so now I feel that with a good run I could get a top result. Result!

Now what.

Leading up to this season I know I've been wanting to have a little break from orienteering after JWOC.

I declined selection for August's Austria tour as I didn't want any more time (at least for now) with expectations from people (other than myself) about how hard I should run and where. I'm sure other sports have it a lot worse but I'd prefer to pick and choose which races (and which sports) to peak for, instead of being expected to perform from March-August in all the major orienteering races.

Orienteering is not my only sport and I fancy my chances in fellrunning and cyclocross as well. Until the OMM in October I want to have a bit of orienteering-free time. There are a few short summer show fell races I'd like to tick of before I go for an assault on the BOFRA series sometime in the future and I need to get some long runs in as training. A few bike races would spice things up too.

In 2014 it's the World University Orienteering Championships in the Czech Republic which coincides with my final year at Bristol (providing I pass my resits :-p) and seems like a good aim. I'm sure I'll learn more about what else I'm capable of in the meantime and we'll see what happens after that...

2nd Team, 3rd Leg.

Was a bit messed up before the race with Jonny's injury; going from 2nd to 1st to 2nd to 1st to 2nd team. I was definitely more comfortable with the lower pressure on the second team but probably would have got a race strategy sorted out for a first team run in time for the start.

Aidan and Tom had awesome runs finishing in 16th then 15th and ahead of the 1st team. My home relays haven't been great this year due to fitness but they are good fun so was thinking I'd do alright!

Set out a little behind a Dane and some-one else. Caught up quite quickly on the first controls in the woods. Crossed the field towards three taking a straight route, was a little uncertain in the middle part of the leg but relocated not too bad to find the control. 4 was a nice leg - good descent a bit of flat then a short tough climb at the end. Was a bit low and lost about 10s into the control.

With my mistakes I hadn't managed to get rid of the Dane and he lead me though 5 and towards 6. Got lucky with a short gaffle on #6 and entered #'7 with a couple of guys in front. The Polish guy was very strong and I manged to stay with him 'til nine. Lost a bit of distance on 11 due to running and then on 12 I saw the control but it seemed to far away to be ours so held back and ended up not catching a Hungarian and staying with a Latvian and maybe a Swiss though to 15.

Didn't follow well enough to 16 and finished in 13th 20s behind the Latvian after passing two on the leg (the Pole finished in 9th).


Wasn't taking the race massively seriously but wanted to make sure the team got a solid result. If I'd have been fitter maybe I'd have got us top 10 but who knows.

JWOC Middle Final

Map: http://www.jwoc2012.sk/files/middle-f/Middle_Final...
Results: http://www.jwoc2012.sk/files/middle-f/M20A.HTM

My fluky qualification meant I was fifth starter in the A-final block meaning my start was later in the day but the forest was 'cleared' of the earlier runners.

I didn't want to over-think it too much, just keep the same tactics as yesterday but slow the pace a little, so it being a brand new area with no map available probably helped. All we knew was that it would be a bit hillier than yesterday and a bit faster underfoot.

The drive up the pre-start was pretty cool winding up on a narrow road though the woods which were fairly open but very steep. It was a bit misty as well making it quite atmospheric which I thought added to the occasion!

People made a big fuss of the warm-up map being over a big hill but it wasn't too bad really and was a good chance to get used to running through the terrain. It was rocky underfoot with mud and leaves and with the poor light the contrast was really low between them so it could have been a little dangerous if you weren't careful.

Round the warm-up map I felt good and the orienteering was okay, again didn't want to read too much into it.

The run out from the start was downhill and winding so didn't really get much chance to read ahead until I forced myself to slow down near the start-kite. A left route below the top of the hill and above the fallen trees seemed the best with a little climb up and over to the control. Contouring was pretty tricky underfoot as was crossing the deep re-entrants. Coming over the hill before the control I knew I didn't want to be too high but banked on looking down to see it from above it worked fine so not knowing exactly where I was didn't matter (thinking back picking and chosing these places is very important).

2 I should have got on with a bit more as you didn't really need to know exactly the first part of the leg but maybe that was just my plan in action. Passed the ponds and paths okay and hit the ridge directly above the control which was good but shocked me a little as I could have easily missed it. Number three felt like a short leg but was actually quite long. I got pushed by the hill to much in the first part and my distance judgement was off in the last part - I kept stopping too early behind each knoll, not sure what else I could have done though in the situation, maybe looking for the contour behind the control but that probably wasn't too obvious either.

4 was short but I was happy to ignore the compass and stop when I was unsure. There were two fallen trees very close together on the map which to me looked like a thicket so when I couldn't see one in the terrain I was put off and did stop for a while to convince myself that the contours were right enough to carry on. I probably lost almost 10s and was a bit annoyed when I realised afterwards but I hit it okay in the end.

Number 5 was a good control. Me and Jonny went left which gave a nice route in between two hills.

I started to lose it on the way to 6. At first I thought it was a leg like 12 from yesterday with a path route way round to the left so headed north-east out of the control along the marsh to the path by the lake. I had only really read the first half of the leg though and saw that really the second half was fine on the straight line so changed my plans and nipped back into the woods via the small path network. Crossing the next block of wood I wanted to run to the left of the green but ran right into it while looking at my map. The green turned out to be fine until I hit the high fence at the far side. I saw it was broken in places but the gaps were too far back to be worth it so I started climbing it instead. Luckly it was pretty old and as I went up it it came down - score. Paused on the path to get on to the large hill leading towards the control, off the spur and very (too) hesitant across the flat between the knolls. Rounded the final hill okay just looking out for some likely looking boulders. Really should have looked at the whole leg before I set off on a radical round route choice and lost an easy 25s plus another 10 on the rest of the leg.

#7 was short on a compass but I was a little too the right. +5s.

If 6 was where I started to lose it 8 was where definitely lost it. The original mistake was on leaving the control where I didn't check my compass strongly enough and was significantly to the right of the line. I was aiming to be to the left of the small index-contour depression but actually passed below it and carried on in that same direction. I knew I didn't know where I was but kept going anyway trusting my mis-read compass and never knew where I was for the rest of the leg. I crossed the gully where I really should have double checked my position - whether or not the last part of the leg had gone well. I kept going and passed no. 11 although I didn't know it at the time and then just wiggled along and up the hill very 'headless chicken'-y hoping I would get lucky and find it without having to relocate. I gave up when I was somewhere between 8 and 9 and headed back to the path alongside the gully, I saw the highest wiggle in the path and headed back towards it up the re-entrant point at the control from below. Really poor. Same mistake as #13 the day before.+65s Definitly blown it this time. Motivation gone really.

Did nine on a bearing and hit it bang on if a little sooner than expected. Got a nice route to 10 just to the right of the top of the flat hill. Mis-read the exact location withing the circle and was heading right for it until I turned into the re-entrant to the left and had to cut back +7s.

11 was another shocker. Can't have exited the control very well and let my self get pushed around by the fallen trees. Went too high and thought I was too low so went even higher. Eventually assumed I was in fact too high and headed to the path and down - dropping about 150m :/ - and into the control. +95s

From there I just wanted to get to the finish without further attrition. To twelve I played it safe going a little high and funneled in the Norwegian who started 2 minutes behind me. I was feeling very tired and was totally happy with following him towards the finish. He was too strong though and gradually powered away from me. The forest was quite open and although I wasn't right behind him I could still see where he was going so didn't have to do that much navigation around the final loop which was a relief. Thankful to get the race over with once I'd finished. 38th +4.14.


JWOC individual races done and I 'saved' my best result 'til last. The early part of the race was very very good - exactly how I wanted to orienteer - fast but with hesitations. I was 5th at the second control but was still seventh at number 5, about a quater of the way in. After then though I began to stop hesitating and was just running fast (not orienteering fast). Number 8 was stupid not stopping even when I knew things weren't fitting and hoping it would all work out. 11 was a bit more ambiguous, I knew something wasn't quite right but was confident I was heading in the right direction - perhaps unwilling to admit I'd made another mistake. Similar feeling to the day before - that with out mistakes I could have been well up there.

Herlany.

Map: http://www.jwoc2012.sk/files/middle-q/MiddleQfinal...
Results: http://www.jwoc2012.sk/files/middle-q/M20C.HTM

Had done lots of geeking with Tom the night before regarding tactics but would liked to have done more work in trying to memorize the map if I'd given myself more time. See the previous day's training. Jamie and Jonny had just saying how you had to push hard just to qualify so I treated it like all the rest of the week's races.

Did the warm up controls at race pace which was too fast as I was usually a little off in the circle so felt needed to slow down a little in the race.

Was feeling good after the jog to the start and was cool with having another couple of guys starting at the same time.

Set off well to #1 letting the others go left, crossing the stream okay and aiming for the marsh on the far side of the open which was the last attackpoint I'd chosen before the control. The marsh turned out to be more like a pond and I got stuck in it for an easy 10s.
This was about 200m before the control and from there I knew it was very vague and I was attempting to aim-off along a subtle sloping ridge. I think I climbed too high from the marsh and hit the ridge to the right of the control and may have even seen it but the main thing I was thinking was that I knew I already didn't have a clue where I was and I'd messed up the very first control. In the rush I turned right and relocated higher up on the small elongated knoll and dropped down into the control. 3.51 +1.42 (though +1.18 on the second fastest).

I think I saw my 2 minute man on the way up the hill to 2 so he must have messed it by as well but he was too far ahead to catch or gain anyting from.

#2 was a good uphill leg where my straight/map-reading technique worked well with a 4th on the leg although it didn't feel special :)

Three was a bit poor and I drifted right out of the control (not sure why) and got stuck in the middle of another marsh. Going round was too far so I had to tip-toe along log across to the other side and was just a bit pissed of really with being unlucky a second time. Got back on track okay and found it okay.

#s 4 and 5 were good solid legs and I was with one of my fellow starters but it was a surprisingly quiet otherwise. 5 was at the top of the course so I knew most of the climb was over and I should be able to catch up some of my time.

I dropped down to 6 making sure I slowed at the brow of the hill to look and see the features ahead getting first on the leg. It started to get busier as I came down the hill and there were a group of people looking for controls near seven but I focused on my orienteering and got it fine.

To #8 I played it safe going right round the all the green but got on the wrong hill near the control along with a few other people. Should have adjusted my plan more for the green. +22s.

On the way to number 8 I seemed to get in a little group but didn't have a clue whether they were in the same course as me but wasn't too bothered. #9 looked pretty simple on a bearing just clipping the bottom of the rough open. From the open to the control I kept a bit high trying to avoid some rough stuff but went onto the larger hill behind so had to drop back behind me losing some time on the other guys: don't be scared of vegetation inside the circle.

Similar to 8 I wanted to avoid the veg to 10 so looped the long way round to the right, across the path, between the hills and then curved east then south into the control. I'd lost the pack a little so was a bit unsure as I came though the open and it took me a little while to confidently attack the control. On this leg I didn't follow my plan strictly enough - I found a simple route but didn't stop at the beggining of the leg to double check - if I had I would have spotted the indistinct path through the open saving about 35s.

Out of 10 I could see the little group again. I was very pleased but surprised that at a good pace I picked off the features on the way to stay on my bearing and dipped into the control perfectly. Jamie mentioned it was really rough out of the control but I don't seem to remember :) Fastest on leg.

Knew I didn't want to have to read too much late on in the course when I was getting tired so opted for the eastern path route to #12. It did feel a long way out especially at first, but the track was good once I'd figured out how they'd mapped the open. Was definitely starting to feel tired so took it a bit more as a rest than an opportunity to read ahead. Climbing up to the control was a bit tough but was the same as from other directions. Just at the control got in a group of people I'd not seen before so I think my route must have been good even though I wasn't pushing it.

#13 was into the really vague area me and Tom had talked about last night. He was definitely going to play it safe but I was confident the few features would be just obvious enough to pay off going straight. For the first part of the leg I was a bit reckless and worked my way though the pack instead of reading my map. It worked okay though and I got back in contact by the knoll-marsh-slope feature we had identified from the night before. I crossed the re-entrant fine and went along the top of the slope under the line. I crossed the stream though a bit too fast, and not sure at what height, and then the small re-entrant after the control before slowing down to look around. There did seem to be a lot of root stocks, albeit small ones, but non had my control. I saw the path below so turned back up and saw some people running across higher up so went after them. On my way though I saw the east-west track and knew I had overshot. I didn't look at my compass properly or double check exactly where I was so when I turned back I was too high and had to drop down to finally punch the control. +90s At this point, after my second big mistake, I was pretty sure any chance of qualificationhad gone.

Thinking that 14 and 15 were steady with no problems. Heading to sixteen I thought I should put in a strong finish and jumped down the bank quite quick. The run-in was a nice one but tbh I didn't push as hard as I could have and as +5s on Jonny.

At the finish I was pretty angry with myself. This was the one race I thought I could (and should) do best in and after a disappointing Sprint and awful Long was annoyed that I'd thrown it away by recklessly running too fast. I thought I'd easily lost about 3 1/2 minutes leaving loads of room for people to slip in in front of me.

Out of a field of 60 the top 20 qualified and when I left the finish field I was 6th out of 18 - so in the top third - I just hoped luck was on my side and the probabilities would work out in my favour despite better runners probably starting later.

The two major mistakes were from running too fast and the other big one (#10) from rushing on and not double checking my route. All should be cut out by having the confidence to take a little more time over things which I did get after see where a mistake-free run would have placed me.

When Jamie told me back at the accomodation I'd jointly qualified in 19th and that if I'd been two seconds slower I'd have been out I was very very relieved and glad to get a second chance to prove myself.

Knowing how much time I thought I'd lost I was surprised to see that if I cut out only the major mistakes I would have comfortably qualified in the top 10 and with a clean run would have been competing to win the heat.

Looking at the splits later I could see I'd got a couple of fastest splits with a couple of top tens and the rest good enough (apart from the mistakes) for a good result. Overnight I decided that aiming for a top 10 would be a realistic (and pretty cool) aim for the final and maybe even a podium with a perfect run. I didn't want to add any more things to think about come the race and only told myself to slow down a little.

Downs map version 1 finished.

Zeleny Dvor.

Jogged up to the start and managed not to get lost by the tapes. Had planned one leg into a line into a control pick into a few race pace legs.

Didn't start well and was off to the right of the first control which was a bit frustrating. Found it then started the line. Find lines really good to learn features but probably even more so for forcing you to look at your map to stay on course. That went pretty well and wiggled down towards the complex landslide area where the controls were.

The map was really good and it was quite easy to pick out features when you read the map but because it was so runnable and visible you wasted a lot of time slowing down to look at it. On the short legs there almost wasn't much point even looking at it as you could just run on a compass and be confident that you would see the control. I found myself easily over shooting on the complex controls then undershooting on the legs though the simpler areas.

After our geeking in the evening I decided that most legs would be a combination of compass and map-reading but was a wary of being too inflexible which had caught me out in in the long training.

The general tactics; Short legs would just be a bearing. On the flat legs I decided to do the first half of the leg on the compass giving time to plan ahead for the more important end of the leg. For uphill legs shortening the distance is probably most important and you are going slower so you have more time to read the map and take a more complex straight line route. On the downhill legs though I knew I could make up good time so decided that I would get a full simplified route decided before I set off and then running at full speed.

Not a good performance.

Map: http://www.jwoc2012.sk/files/long/Long_final.M20-2...
Splits: http://www.jwoc2012.sk/files/long/M20.HTM

After Saturday's training I had learned a lot about the terrain and the tactics I wanted to use so was feeling pretty good my orienteering and the running felt good too.

At the pre-start though I wasn't really with it. Went to the loo a bit too much and started my warm up late so had to skip the practice controls. Also kept forgetting whether I started at 10.06 or 10.09 and Sarah had to get me go though on time. On the jog up to the start box I knew it was going to be a slow or a tough battle to keep any sort of pace up.

To the first control I played it pretty safe coming a bit off line to go round the green and get an early confidence attackpoint ticked off. Dropped down , around and across the depression alright. #2 (75m+ climb) should have been my sort of leg on a good day. Was a little unsteady coming out of the control and turning up the hill but once I got on it I was fine and thought I attacked it alright, a little miss at the end as I couldn't see over the brow of the hill to the depressions behind and was a little left. Had caught my 2 minute man but was 82nd on that leg.

Before 4 I was happy to spend good time at the drinks point planning the epic leg. Was keen on the idea of a following a path through the green so went for a southern route and liked the idea of the less committing navigation over the first half.
Exited onto the first ridge okay but let myself slide less steeply down the hill than I needed to so hit the track further south than my originally planned. Hadn't really realised though and thought I was still on my route although the track wasn't as sloping as it should have been :/ Went up, down and over the depression okay thinking I was still okay even though the ride wasn't like I though and the mini re-entrant wasn't there. Eventually realised something was properly wrong when I hit the long depression with #20 in and had to climb back up the five-way path junction to get back on my planned route. Was feeling a bit annoyed and then almost got on the wrong path before I checked my compass
Along the path weaving towards the control should have been fast but I just couldn't push it and I should have been reading ahead but didn't have the energy/focus. Stupidly started leaving the path too early and had to back track. When I left it for the second time I saw the Czech 6mins behind had cut the corner and caught me so put some effort so I could follow him which I managed to do to the control. The 2 minute american had took a different route and we saw him at #5 there but he didn't try to follow.

I just knew that making an effort to follow was my only chance to get a slightly good result so was happy to push as hard as was needed until I broke. Managed to stay in contact through to 7 and along the way had swept up an Australian. We lost on the way out of 7 but saw him back in the open and followed to 8.

8>16 were in the phi-loop where I was expecting to be on my own. Took my own route to 9 thinking the other two were on the alternative gaffle but probably should have stayed to see where they went first. Messed 9 up really bad and curved off line dropping too early into the northern depression. Exited towards the control but was focusing on the terrain too much and not my compass and got pulled in by the 'gravity' of the depression and ended up looping round in a semi-circle and back into the same one but on the opposite side, looking at the same bush I had just come from! Absolutely appalling orienteering. Eventually made it and was third last on the leg /159.

The next few were alright but spent a long time at the drinks point each time as the open with the sun was baking. I had picked an early start to try and avoid this but it back fired and the middle starters got some nice cloud but that was out of my control. A couple more 'wrong depression' mistakes on 12 and 17.

#18 was my favourite leg and executed pretty perfectly finding a nice route though the green and popping out in the white forest exactly where I wanted to. 19 was short and simple.

Once I'd got back out of the sun I felt really good and had loads of energy left to push to the finish which was good and bad.

20 was another leg which should have been an good top-25 along then down a fast ridge. Exited on line between the depressions but was very scared of making the stupid mistake of ending up on the ridge to the west
so was super hesitant and stopped dead three times for a good while each time which probably would have added up to the lost time on the bad route! Once I got going I was alright but should perhaps have got on with it and been more confident.

Next two were downhill so got some good times and finished nothing special.

99th +33.25. I had 5 top-25 splits out of 24 legs with two of then when I was following and another two on downhill legs.

Not a JWOC standard run at all. Never felt like I was racing until number 19 the rest of it was just 'getting round'.

Should have planned my pre race chill/warm up better. I had picked an early start to give me maximum rest for the middle races so maybe I was being a bit defeatist about it already. Hadn't really done too many long long runs beforehand and the British Longs aren't really long enough.

Orienteering wise my tiredness (predictably) meant I didn't look at the map enough which for the most part I actually got away with as I was going so slow but I didn't get away with not looking at my compass which lead to too many stupid mistakes. Disappointed with my poor relocation on the way to 4 which I didn't pick up on for about 500m even though I knew in the back of my mind things weren't fitting quite enough - should think more closely about how I would map an area and fit that image with the map in my hand.

Did get some extra rest for the middle

Been looking after my knee and haven't done as much urban/sprint training as I was planning on doing so this was my only practice since May. There's no point taking it easy as it's only short and at a slow pace it's not like the real thing. Set of hard and just wanted to practice looking at the map enough and changing direction. Felt good and glad I did it.

Hung about in quarantine, went and did the model controls then hung about a bit more. Warm up then a long jog from pre-start to start.

Though I should do okay after my fast running on Friday and the morning. Was happy with my usual sprint race fast-slower-fast tactic.

Surprised when I picked up the map to see we were all in the town and not in the park which we'd done some geeking about so knew it would all be pretty (too) easy. Got my route planned to #1 fine but didn't manage to find the alleyway to take me too the control so ended up going in from the side +10s. #2 was across the main street and took a straight line across though one of the gardens which I guess not many others did, went though some fountains and slipped on the wet paving which put me off a little.

#3 & #4 were were a bit more interesting. The thin map bag was really annoying and didn't fold very well so I pulled it off but ripped the map at the same time but thankfully non of the course.

Was never confident of my routechoice on the longer legs like #5 and messed up the entrance to the control site going through an extra gateway +5s. #6 was simple but I checked one 'building inside corner' too soon +2s. Spent too long looking at #7 and went north without much conviction, Jonny reckoned it was was best so it was okay.

Started getting tired round 8, 9, 10 which were a bit bit dull, #11 was more interesting but still no routechoice. Was struggling on the way round to 12 but got the fasted split to 14 (it was an 8s leg). Didn't matter to 15 then just had to get the right alley to 16. #17 was another non-commital routechoice which this time was the wrong one +12s. Then not especially fast though 19 and 20 to the finish.

Disappointed to be only 4th brit but it was my best sprint result against the guys this year continuing the uphill trend. Definitely struggled in the heat but even then was slower then I was expecting and was almost 2m down which is pretty poor.

Event: JWOC 2012 Kosice SLOVAKIA
 

Had been feeling insecure in my orienteering seeing as we were straight into a big competition with little time in similar terrain so wanted to make the most of the training opportunities we had.

Got a lift out to the Long model with Aidan and some of the girls. Started off with a line just to see what the forest was like then into some of the hung controls building up to race pace which felt quite good.

Things to think about;
Pretty runnable in the white if a little stoney
Well mapped white/light-green boundaries.
Platforms not that visible w/out controls.
Not so well mapped green/darker-green boundaries.
Green dotted yellow is okay, green not really.
You actually move quite a distance crawling under thickets with your head down so when you next look at your map you probably wont be near where you went in.
Then went into some of the greener stuff with holes in
Think fast orienteering not fast running in the nice bits.
Good compass in the vague parts looking for platforms/rootstocks.
Rock features on the edge of holes are lumpy, sometimes mapped as cliffs, sometimes boulders - maybe difficult for relocation.
Holes are often mapped with form-lines as well so appear deeper than they acutally are.
It's difficult to gauge where in the hole (bottom, side, top) the checkpoint it would be easy to waste time being at the wrong height so slow down to check.
You can run fast down the sides but you will cross the bottom quite fast too so you need to be ready to read your map quickly if the control is on the opposite side.

Travelling to Kosice, Slovakia.

Did a walking/jogging tour of nice places on the way back from mapping the Downs with a few proper max efforts thrown in; Bridge Valley Road to the Observatory, Brandon Hill from Jacobs Wells Road and Park St effort from the bridge. Feeling very very good - looking forward to testing it at JWOC.

Also found the Matthew wooden sailing ship moored up in the docks with no-one on it and couldn't resist having a nosy. Had to squeeze between the ropes to get on but it was very very cool. Was wanting to climb the rigging to the crows nest but didn't have the balls...maybe if someone else had been with me.

Wanted to squeeze in a few more hills before JWOC and have never been on the hills near Bath so took the train to Keynsham and agreed to meet Abi at the viewpoint by the racecourse. Also needed to keep up with latest heat training fashions so went for with long sleeved cotton top, thermal, fleece and jacket combo accessorised with a buff and hat. Pretty sweaty.

Found my way to the Avon and followed it upstream to Swineford which is a lot like following the Ure back home. Then started the climb. We agreed to meet at 1.30 but I didn't have a map and thought I was near the top when I was actually only half way up. A bit of time faffing and then found myself on my Plan B route which was going well until I tried to cut a corner and got stuck in loads of shitty brambles. Ended up only typically late.

Nice run round the plateau taking in the old fort, Grenville's monument and the racecourse before dropping along the spur to Kelston Round Hill and down to Bath.

Was a bit longer than I really wanted but wasn't pushing hard (apart from when I realised I was going to be late) so it was okay.

2*40s, 2*90s, 2*3m, 1*2m, 2*90s, 2*40s off c.90s rest, unsure how far I ran each time but not far off a full lap of the field on the 90s ones.

Really wet and boggy so wasn't as fast as I would have liked. Cut short the top of the pyramid as not to do too much. Did put in some good effort though.

Enjoyable run round to watch the Blaise Blazer race. Nice and rainy and muddy and tough - so wished I had been racing!

Wiggly hilly route around the grass of Ashton Court. Best paced long run probably ever, feeling good.