Orienteering race 41:21 [5] 5.2 km (7:57 / km) +225m 6:32 / km
shoes: 2006-2 VJ Falcons
This couldn't have gone worse. Felt ok at the start - not great, but ok. Started together with Thierry and Shep and started well, spiking the first two controls in the heather/open area that we were sent into right from the start. On the way to 3, twisted my ankle - not the worst twist ever, but enough to make me walk a few steps and lose focus. And once the focus was lost, everything went downhill. I blew #3 - lost about 2:30, my worst mistake at a WOC so far, then was ok on 4 and 5, but twisted the same ankle going to 6, followed by another mistake - climbed an extra hill and started to lose that fighting spirit you need to get yourself up the hills. Dragged myself around the rest of the course, but made more mistakes in not-very-technical areas. Before looking at the splits, i'd say i lost at least 6:30 altogether, making this an official disaster. To add insult to injury, i could hear the announcers reading off the list of finalists when i punched the second-to-last control. All in all, an awful day for me - my worst WOC race so far. The only positives I can take away from this is that it hopefully shook me up and maybe angry for the sprint that's coming up on Tuesday. But disappointment is the overwhelming feeling so far...
This wasn't a great day for North Americans as a whole, as none of us qualified, though Mike Smith had an excellent run, and Sandy was close despite being injured. I will probably take the next two days completely off to let the ankle heal a bit and then hope to run hard on Tuesday.