Training Log Archive: BorisGr

Badminton at Fyrisfjäder with Anna, Qi, and others from work. Really fun!

Tisdagsbana F. Super-cold marshes on Nåsten, but otherwise a nice night. Ran the short 9km course, mostly with Christoffer towards the end.

Rockgympa

Innebandy afrer gympa

A nice hangover run on Nåsten trails with Alli, Cristina, and Melissa. Beautiful sunny day, lots of sheep, and even a few cows. Feels so incredible to be done.

1) The world's greatest orienteer came to my PhD defense.

2) I successfully defended!!!

C • Congrats!!! 40

Back in Uppsala after a whirlwind trip to the US for NAOC. It was so amazing to go back and see everyone! The CSU cabin was the place to be, and I felt like I was just soaking in the experience the entire weekend. Getting to see my parents made it even more awesome.

DVOA made this event easily the best ever held on North American soil, and Clem, Dasha, Sandy, Doug, Vadim, Tom, Ed, Eddie, and many others deserve all the credit in the world!

Team USA - I am so proud and happy for my teammates! It was an awesome feeling to see us retain the cup and win all 6 individual races. In particular, I am really proud of Ross for coming back after a tough year with a broken elbow and no WOC, and kicking butt in style with two gold medals!

The juniors were inspiring too, led by Andrew's awesome sprint race, Isabel's lead-off leg in the relay, and the Breton twins' premiere on a big stage. Erin really seems to have a good thing going, and I am excited to see where this goes!

As for my own races, well, I did not expect too much coming in with pretty sporadic training this fall, overshadowed by trying to finish my thesis. I did, however, hope for my first NAOC medal. I fell just short in the middle (25 seconds) and sprint (6 seconds), and was further out in the long (3:11). I am disappointed by my races, especially the middle. I had high hopes and thought the terrain suited me, but I started the course too stressed out and made mistakes early on that killed my chances. The sprint was a really good race for me, and there is little I could have done better. The long - I am happy I survived and finished strong, but there were too many mistakes along the way (in particular, 1:30 on 8 and at least 2 minutes on the route choice on 13) to call it a good race.

If I have to take away something positive from my own performance, it's the fact that I managed to score points for the BK Cup team in all four races. I am happy with being able to help out the team and contribute to Team USA's win.

On to 2014 in Ottawa! Team Canada is young and hungry and getting better, so this will be a great challenge. I hope we are up to it!

C • congrats! 7

Warm-ups

NAOC Sprint.

A solid race from start to finish, though I apparently lost a bit of time on 11 and 15. It was encouraging to catch Damian going to 4, but running with him for most of the rest of the way was a bit of a distraction, as he kept running super-fast, but in slightly wrong directions. Knew I'd had a good race when I finished, was happy to see Ross come in ahead of me and Giacomo match my time, but had to admit that I was devastated when Andrew Childs knocked us off the podium, even if it's so awesome to see him running well.

NAOC Relay

I was spent before the start of the relay, and my race reflected that. I wasn't making good decisions and did not have good focus from start to finish.

Blue - Sprint - Splits

Warming up and then cooling down very slowly with Kenny and Giacomo

NAOC Long

Lost a little too much time on routes, especially to 13. Another mistake on 8, but otherwise a good effort, helped by battling it out with Mike Smith for the second half of the course. Really didn't have anything more in the tank when I finished, but it was amazing to hear the crowd during the last loop of the course. Ended up 7th North American, 3rd US, so scoring for the BK Cup again. So happy to see Ross take home the North American title!!

Blue Long - Splits

NAOC Middle

Lost the race already at #1, just like a few others did. More bobbles at 2,3, and 4, then finally got into it and had several good controls. Didn't understand rock mapping at 11, and so lost some more time in the circle there. Good otherwise, but just too many mistakes. Really hoped for a NAOC medal here, but ended up about 30 seconds out, 4th North American. Great job by Eric keeping it together better than the rest of us.

Warmup / cooldown

Middle - Blue - Splits

Event: 2012 North American Orienteering Championships
 

NAOC model event. Green and prickly at times, wide open and fast at others. Surprisingly rocky underfoot. Nice to be out orienteering in the warm sunshine. Really enjoyed everything, except for my painful toe.

Made it to the US after chasing after some lost luggage at EWR. Drove to New Haven and spent the night at Rob and Becky's, surrounded by devil cats, who were better behaved than usual. Then a giant American breakfast with Becky and Rob and Will and Claire. So nice to see them all! Now: off to NAOC!

Elliptical intervals at F&S Väderkvarn with Lina and Lisa R. We did 3x6x90"-30". A good last workout before heading to the States.

To and from Flogsta

Sprint training in Flogsta set by Johan. A fun course in the cold rain. I was pretty clean and did not feel powerless in my legs like I had been on most runs recently.

Rockgympa: two sets

Event: North American Open Training Camp
 

Raid Uppsala Adventure Race, with Alli: Team Sheep on Bicycles

My first adventure race of any kind, and it was a blast. Aside from figuring out that we don't know how to canoe, we did well and had a lot of fun slogging through the mud. Keeping our canoe straight was a bit of a struggle, as we kept zig-zagging across the river and hitting other boats and trees. After the canoe section we were 35th out of 38 teams in the mixed short class.

We then did mountain bike orienteering, which was surprisingly fun. We used Lisa's and Mats' bikes which made life a lot easier. We tended to take pretty wide route choices, using bigger roads and trails, and I think this helped a lot as all the small trails in the woods were super-muddy and impossible (for us) to ride.

After the first MTBO section, we moved up from 38th to 20th place and pretty much stayed there for the rest of the race, despite the silly navigational mistakes I made during the regular orienteering section.

The last part of the race was another MTBO bit, during which we were racing head-to-head with another team in a hailstorm. The other team had a bike towing device, which seemed like a very smart thing to have.

We raced well, had fun, and were pretty shattered afterwards. Some time in the Fyrishov hot tubs helped a lot.

Race website with results, splits, photos: http://www.raiduppsala.nu/

C • adventure race 4

Gympa at Väderkvarn with Alli, Lisa x 2, and Lina.

Elliptical intervals at Blåsenhus before rushing off for a meeting in Stockholm.

Spinning at Blåsenhus with Alli. Nice session, good music.

Pre-gympa run with Lisa, Lisa, Sam, Elin, Cat, and Johan. To Polacksbacken, then the track to say hi to Ross, Henrik, and Albin who were running a 3km, then back across Stadsskogen to Blodan.

Rock gympa! Two sets this time.

Event: Hudson Highlander XVII
 

25manna training on Vedyxa. Wet and muddy, but lots of fun. I was sloppy from the start and ended up behind a lot of people on the middle course. Ran better in the middle, but took a stupid route choice running on muddy, heavy paths and lots more time.
Am excited for 25-manna this weekend!

Running to and from the gym, with Alli and wearing her backpack on the way back

Spinning with Alli at Blåsenhus. A nice class with a nice instructor (Julianna, for future reference.)

Intervals with the club at Stadsskogen. So many people at training today!! Felt sore and achy and out of shape and only did 2x(3'-2'-1').

Rockgympa! Just 1.25 sets, but plenty to leave me sore for the rest of the week. A record number of people there tonight, which is great. I got in trouble for wearing dirty shoes indoors, rightfully so. Really need to acquire new shoes (probably two pairs) when I am back in the States.
Alli came to rockgympa for the first time. I think she enjoyed it.

Lots of people playing tonight, which is great to see, but also means less playing time. Nice dinner with Mats at our place afterwards.