Training Log Archive: Ollie

M21A, OO Cup Day 4, Slovenia. Two areas of excellent karst, with a steep drop and a small loop on easier terrain between them. A near perfect run, felt great. Two minute mistake on way to the first control. Also a nasty fall contouring on a steep slope after leaving the eighth control. My best classification of the week (16th).

Mistake analysis:
To 1: Poor map-reading (2m)
To 12: Tired (20s)
To 13: Tired (20s)
To 14: Distraction (20s)
To 16: Poor map-reading (45s)

M21A, OO Cup Day 3, Slovenia. Fantastic intense karst-hopping, with controls thick and fast. Very hot air temperature (33C) but cooler in the shaded forest. One four minute mistake (poor navigation due to a parallel-ish error, ended up at No. 7 before No. 6) cost me many places. However, this was my second best placing of the week, and my favourite area. A real middle-distance race.

Mistake analysis:
To 6: Poor navigation (4m)
To 9: Distraction (15s)
To 10: Poor map-reading (15s)
To 11: Poor route choice (30s)
To 14: Poor route choie (1m)

M21A, OO Cup Day 2, Slovenia. Fast running over open alpine meadows and in to deep karst holes. I made around 9 minutes of mistakes, especially in the "spectator" loop near the end. It was difficult running in the heat, with little or no shade on the course, and I tired a lot later, making mistake after mistake on very short legs.

Mistake analysis:
To 1: Poor map-reading (1m 30)
To 2: Poor pacing (30s)
To 4: Poor map-reading (1m)
To 6: Poor navigation (30s)
To 11: Tired (30s)
To 12: Tired (1m)
To 14: Poor route choice (30s)
To 15: Poor map-reading (30s)
To 17: Poor map-reading (2m)
To 18: Poor map-reading (30s)
To 19: Poor map-reading (30s)

Event: OO Cup 5-Days
 

M21A, OO Cup Day 1, Slovenia. Intense! 22 minutes of mistakes. This was a relentlessly hilly course on the alpine plain of the Velika Planina - the map, Tiha Dolina, consisted of a very highly and technical northern part, with a somewhat flatter and faster open hillside to the south. Despite being 1:7500, it was tough to read in places, the sheer detail being overwhelming.

Getting to the start was part of the challenge - after negotiating a series of hairpin bends on alpine roads to the car park, it was a steep 250m climb onto the plateau, and then another 30 minutes walk to the start proper.

After a couple of easy legs, we were plunged straight into the tricky stuff and I immediately started making mistakes. My most spectacular was running NE instead of ENE for Leg 3-4, and ending up on a road well past No 5, let along No 4. I compounded the error by failing to realise this and running even further away, before finally managing to make my compass and map fit with the road direction. This was a six minute mistake and my biggest of the week.

Several other more minor mistakes and "unplanned route choice alterations" later and I was starting to tire in the heat. From 13 to 14, I misread the map and thought the leg was a down-and-up, so swung left to go around without losing height. But it was a down-and-down, so I ended up a long way from the control and much too high. My pace slowed somewhat and I was just glad to finish in the end.

This was by far my slowest pace of the week, but surprisingly it was my third best placing of the week. The winner ran in 68 minutes - very impressive, and still over 10 min/km, indicating the tough nature of the course. Truly an epic. My classification was 32nd place out of 75 finishers, and 5m 39s behind Alan E.

Mistake analysis:
To 3: Poor route choice (4m)
To 4: Poor navigation (6m)
To 5: Poor map-reading (1m)
To 10: Poor map-reading (1m)
To 11: Poor map-reading (1m)
To 13: Poor route choice (1m)
To 14: Poor map-reading (4m)
To 18: Poor route choice (1m 30)
To 19: Poor map-reading (30s)
To 20: Poor map-reading (1m 30)
To 21: Poor map-reading (30s)

39.0 kph coming out of Bank.

Going carefully - very wet indeed on the roads, and gloomy skies.