Run race ((orienteering)) 1:33:27 [4] **** 9.7 km (9:38 / km)
spiked:19/23c
First foray into Nordic orienteering on this trip. Very tentative through the first couple which were a bit green, then got into a bit more of a technical rhythm, although really felt my lack of strength (something that has definitely gone downhill this year with interrupted training), in the often very soft ground. Eventually worked out that marshes were often the best running option here (they're often good for navigation, not so good for running). A nice, if tough, forest, and really enjoyable to be out there in it, especially in a race where the pressure wasn't really on.
Technically I made an annoying one-minuter in the circle at 4 after successfully executing 95% of a tricky long leg, with other minor losses at 10, 12 and 13 (probably about 3 minutes across the whole course), but for the most part I was navigating with a reasonable degree of confidence, which is more than can be said of my last visit to Norway where if I found a control it was by more or less stumbling across it by accident. Had people around for quite a bit of it in the form of those who started 1 and 2 minutes ahead and 1 minute behind, which was tangible evidence that my performance wasn't totally embarrassing. I'm not really competitive in international elite races any more (especially ones which feature a bronze medallist from yesterday), but ended up about 3/4 of the way down.
Not for the first time in this part of the world, I don't think my shoes will be going home; the metal is starting to come through the sole.
Unfortunately I don't think the logistics required are going to allow me to partake in all three of tomorrow's activities (the event, an IOF meeting and the WOC long qualifying), and the event looks like it will be the one to go by the wayside. Before today I thought that may not have been such a bad thing but the Achilles, which was very ordinary when I got up this morning, was fine on the run.
And, entirely predictably, the WOC song was running through my head for most of the run (it didn't help that they played it just before I went to the start). As noted yesterday it is as bad as previous examples of the genre. (One oddball member of the genre was the one from JWOC 2006 which everybody seemed to assume was a JWOC song - it was certainly bad enough - but was actually Lithuania's entry in that year's Eurovision Song Contest).
Update: just saw the splits. I thought I was fading away at the end, but in fact my best splits of the race (by some margin) were on 19 and 20, the two uphill legs on the final loop in the green. Obviously the others were tiring more :-)