Training Log Archive: carolineheloise

Travel day

Travel day

Easy leg stretch. Lake was so pretty!

JWOC Relay
3rd leg for Aus 2
Another fun run, was in a good mood because relay day and was just having lots of fun out there.
After having been on my own for every other race, I was wanting to run a leg with others so that I could push a bit more and test out how fast I could run and would’ve loved to be running first, but wasn’t. Went out with a bit of space and didn’t really see anyone the whole time. Struggled to push because of this, but was just out there to have fun because last race and all.
Goal was to have good compass the whole time, especially on exits. I think I achieved this mostly.
In contrast to yesterday, by the time I went out today, there was so much tracking. Basically pick the track heading in the right direction and it would lead you straight to the control. Tried to ignore these as best I could and focus on doing my own orienteering properly.
This wasn’t particularly clean because I was a bit distracted at times. Struggling to concentrate from being tired I think. Was in the gully below #2 and ran past it and ended up at the small track just past and had to go back. Going to #5, I went on a bit of a scenic detour. I think that I thought that I had gone further but because I was going slowly and thinking faster than I was running I went along the hill on the right one hill earlier than planned. Was confused because the map did not match what I was running on but luckily recognised the hillside from the end of the long yesterday and was fine from there on. Came into #6 from the south which I didn’t really want to do but was fine. Needed to concentrate and check compass more to make #8, #9 and #10 cleaner. And definitely for #11 - my exit direction was okay but then was pushed off by a track. Luckily saw the bare rock on the left and overcorrected a bit but then was fine.
Really fun course and a nice way to end a fantastic week.

JWOC Long
I was really happy with this run. I had been looking forward to it for ageesss and was even more keen after being told I was first starter because then I would be more alone in the forest and without tracking to distract me from taking the routes that I wanted to take. Didn't get quite enough warm up that I wanted because of being first starter, but that was okay because it meant I took the first control nice and slow, giving me better opportunity to get into the map. This was good, because I was a bit off on my compass but realised and was able to correct. Probably would’ve been better to go along the track to the south, but I didn’t see that route at the time. Was still slow and careful to #2 and #3. Was thinking aloud to keep my concentration as this was where the next girl caught me. Hesitated for a while when I got to the road because my original plan was to go right and straightish, but then noticed the track option and eventually decided this would be a good opportunity to conserve brainpower and look ahead so went left all the way around. Happy with next few (#4-#10), I was thinking well and noticing what I needed and wanted to.
On the long leg to #11, I went through the middle. I had looked for the right option but just saw the paddocks and oob and didn’t see that there was a special gap that was there to take. So through the middle it was. I was running well for the first part. Things started to get a bit dodgy when I had to leave the ride/veg boundary I was on. I just got really confused and started second guessing myself. Was relying a lot on my compass, which is not one of my strengths but I was very unsure of where I was on the map so was trying to use it as best I could. Came along the edge of the oob and the dark green and got confused yet again because my map and compass weren’t aligning how I was thinking they should. I should’ve taken the extra second to double check what I was doing and make sense of it all. Then I would’ve known to go up and out of the green quicker and not waste so much time trying to get through. As soon as I got out on to the track I was pretty okay again and regained my confidence, though I did make the effort to double check I was on the right track. Because I was so low on the track though, I was coming in from a risky angle to the control and told myself to be careful, but still managed to stuff it up in the circle. I remember thinking that my compass wasn’t going right but went hunting anyway. There was another control there which probably threw me off. Went out again then came back in and found it. So overall this leg was okayish but not great. I was the only one of the Aussie girls to go straight for that leg, and though it cost me time and energy, I’m glad I went that way because I learnt a lot from it. I wasn't all that far behind them for #11, but when I lost time in the circle it got worse. Then the last part was slow because I was more tired from the forest and pushing through it on the long leg. So, if I had taken the extra few seconds to see and choice the track leg, I would've saved a lot of time and energy by running along it and then had more energy to run faster in the last loop which would have saved even more time. Total time losses caused by this leg would be around ten mins, not ideal. Rest of the course was slow but clean.
This was definitely an experience! And a good one, I really enjoyed it, so keen for next time!

JWOC Sprint
I thought this was fun, but I just wasn’t fast enough for this one.
I think I should’ve gone out for a jog this morning to loosen up the legs, because they were like lead and had very limited speed.
It wasn't really what I expected and everything seemed to happen more quickly than I was prepared for, something to learn from for next time! The run out of the forest from the start was confusing and I was already behind by that point because I hadn't yet found the triangle when I got out of the forest. Wasn’t reading ahead enough either so there were quite a few hesitation moments throughout. Had gone past the stairs up by this point so hesitated there but kept going which meant my flow wasn’t great, but also think no stairs was faster, so hard to tell which route was better. I think that probably applies to most of the controls. I tried to pick good routes but I know that there were definitely a few sub par routes, though some of them were just me being safe and avoid any possibility of going in oob. I was definitely struggling physically by the end and my legs were getting pretty lactic. I think my shoes which were quite slippy also took some toll on my legs, and I also need to get better at accelerations and quick direction changes. I also think my punching technique was not ideal and in total would’ve cost me about 30 seconds. Lots of things to improve on!
Was good fun though, and I think I was orienteering better than the two sprints in the weeks preceding so yay!

JWOC Middle B Final
Another fun race, though not as good as yesterday’s.
Was a bit distracted starting because of a discussion in quarantine just before I had to go, so my head was never really properly in the race. When I did manage to concentrate well though, there were come good things happening.
A little wobble on #1 because the run to the start triangle had me a bit confused and then there was a huge fallen tree which also confused me. #2 was slow and careful, good. I had a good exit direction from #2, I was very careful with my compass. But then for some reason I started second guessing myself and thought that I had run too far and also gone in the wrong direction, so just changed and went left and started making the map fit with what was on the ground. Hit a vegetation boundary and then ran up a bit of a hill where I could see the other veg boundaries and was able to relocate from the hillside that #6 was on. Was fine from there. To have avoided this, I needed to be more particular with keeping contact. I should’ve also realised the distance I had gone and taken an extra 2 seconds to think about the distance of the leg. My original plan was fine, I just needed to stick to it and use my head. At least I was able to relocate and go fine from there. The next 5 were fine, I made a plan and stuck to it and concentrated and kept contact and kept in touch with my compass as well. I was a little bit too far S at the start of the leg to #8 which got me caught in the green but I pushed through and this wasn’t much of a problem. I lost time on #9 by going through the semi-open under the power lines. I should’ve stayed outside it and then crossed over when it opened up to the white on the other side, as it was impossible to run underneath the powerlines. I almost went in too early but luckily realised pretty quickly and kept on going up some more before going in. Was also a bit confused by how vague it was at the top and should’ve had better contact with my compass to avoid the wobble a bit south. Route to #10 was a bit all over the place because of the lack of a plan and was lucky to come out near the boulder and be able to relocate from there. I need to work on holding a compass bearing as my exit from this leg was fine but I was pushed around by the green. My exit direction from #11 was a bit off but was caught by the vegetation boundary. Running down that slope was super risky due to the majorly uneven ground so was being quite careful not to do an ankle.
Overall a fun race, though nowhere near as clean as I would’ve liked but I guess that is what to expect when your head's not in the game.

Very short and rushed because bus got there 20 mins late.

JWOC Middle Qual
I really liked this. I struggled a bit to keep my head at the start but by the 2nd ish control I was okay.
A little detour on #1 to avoid going diagonally up the hill but was fine because I knew where I was the whole time. Another little one going into #2 because I had misread my descriptions but luckily saw the flag so was all good. Was very careful with #3 and #4 because I didn’t want to lose myself in the detail. #5 was fine, though possibly should’ve come in from the right, but the green wasn’t too bad so I think its okay. #6 was fine too because I kept good contact the whole time and knew exactly where I was coming off the track. Checked another flag which was super close and that almost threw me off a bit but was fine. Got confused by the tracks coming out of #8, probably because I was trying to just get away asap because of the photographers there. I should’ve checked my compass better on exit. Took a few moments to figure it out then was fine. Another small wobble because I missed the ride on the way to #9 and almost went into the oob but realised pretty quick and corrected. A little bit confused by the detail and rubbish at #10 so I slowed down and got it. Found the hill on the way to #12 pretty unclear but luckily there were tracks through the long grass. I hadn’t looked at this part enough yet to figure it out properly but figured if I crossed the hill I’d see it anyway.
So basically there was quite a few small wobbles and hesitations but I was able to correct them quickly and it was fine. So time loss would come from those but also from taking it slowly in general. I just wanted to keep it together and have a clean run and set myself up well for the rest of the week. I was pretty happy to have made the B final, though I have no idea what I was expecting of myself for that, as I hadn’t even thought about the results at all, I was just wanting a decent run for my first ever JWOC race.
I really liked this, nice forest and course and just fun in general.

Event: Fin5 and JWOC
 

Model map for the middle at Viitavuori
This was not great. I think I just got a bit overwhelmed by everything and everyone and was super stressed out and tense through all of this. Was not in a good headspace and everything was going to shit a bit. Was going fine to most of them but then would see someone/something and get distracted and lose it. And then lose any confidence I had. Met up with Rach at the second control then ran the next two legs together which was nice because we went slow and talked through it which got my head together a bit. Then we did the next loop in opposite ways. Took the next bit slow still and it was mostly okay, I just wasn’t thinking straight and was constantly second guessing myself and then getting worked up about it. Bailed after that loop because I had had enough and wanted out.
Not the confidence builder I wanted but learnt a lot from it so was a good experience.