Training Log Archive: TGIF

Running 1:20:00 [2] 12.5 km (6:24 / km)
slept:9.0 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Stationary bike 30:00 [1]

Running warm up/down 35:00 [1] 6.0 km (5:50 / km)
slept:8.5 weight:75kg shoes: VJ Bold 2016

Orienteering (Nordic) 39:30 [5] *** 7.0 km (5:39 / km)
14c shoes: VJ Bold 2016

Relay training with OK Linné, at Hjortmossberget, but without the Big 3 (Albin, Oskar, Rassmus).

Fun to run again in snow free terrain in Sweden with rather fresh leg, even though this terrain is pretty slow with lot of branches or stones covering the ground.


My GPS collapsed after first control.

BBA 35:00 [1]
slept:9.0 weight:75.1kg

Cross Training 1:20:00 [1]

BBA 50:00 [1]
slept:9.0 weight:74.8kg

Cross Training 1:00:00 [1]

Stationary bike 1:00:00 [1]
slept:9.0 weight:74.6kg

Stationary bike 1:00:00 [1]
slept:9.5 weight:74.9kg

Running warm up/down 27:00 [1] 5.0 km (5:24 / km)
slept:7.5 shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Orienteering (Continental) 1:07:00 [4] *** 12.4 km (5:24 / km)
42c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

O´intervals in Les trois pignons.



5 times about 2km, with a long distance pace. Nice way to end a couple of intensive hours in Fontainebleau.

Stationary bike 45:00 [1]

BBA 30:00 [1] 3.5 km (8:34 / km)
slept:8.5 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Running warm up/down 30:00 [1] 6.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Orienteering (Continental) race 50:49 [5] *** 10.3 km (4:56 / km)
28c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

First competition of the year! The last time I competed in France was nearly 2 years ago. It was another very small competition like today.

Well, it is never a good sign when the first person you meet after the finish line is the course-setter who apologize for the map quality. But, right after, a great bunch of enthusiastic kids were kindly asking autograph. Always heart-warming.



There is not much to say about the race itself, really. Quickly, I got frustrated by the map and invested even less energy into the battle, which leads to minor and major mistakes. Had to stretch quite much my gps route with QuickRoute to reach all the controls and not always succeed, like for the 1st control...

At least, another good physical effort! ; ) The only thing which worked perfectly today, was my new SPORTident ActiveCard. Reliable, with an acoustical feedback signal, and faster than ever.

Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 3.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Orienteering (Continental) 1:16:33 [1] *** 9.8 km (7:49 / km)
128c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Control-picking, in Larchant. 128 controls. Really enjoyable. Should probably wait some months before using this map again though.




Not always easy to find the fastest route to pass thru those giant stones.




THE elephant´s rock.

Running warm up/down 10:00 [1] 2.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Night Orienteering 1:03:20 [1] ** 8.6 km (7:22 / km)
29c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

A short course in La mer de sable and La vallée des châtaigniers. Some really nice parts – could almost run barefoot there.

BBA 30:00 [1] 3.8 km (7:54 / km)
slept:8.75 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Running warm up/down 12:00 [1] 2.2 km (5:27 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Orienteering (Continental) 59:56 [1] *** 8.3 km (7:13 / km)
34c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

A compass training, as warm-up, in Larchant.


Another piece of art from Philippe.

Orienteering (Continental) 26:52 [5] **** 4.3 km (6:15 / km)
33c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

One more Philippe´s training. 6 short-intervals, including an uphill leg as starter, at 1/2.000°, at Le rocher de l´éléphant. Great fun, with everything coming so fast - full focus necessary.


Should probably think about starting a diet plan, as I couldn´t get thru the passage of the first control…Had to use the other one, slightly larger on the north-west side of the ring.

Börje, your control is still standing at the wrong place there. Should finally consider about moving it to the correct place ?! ; ) #privatejoke

Orienteering (Continental) 1:05:17 [2] *** 8.21 km (7:57 / km)
41c shoes: VJ Sarva

Orienteering (Continental) 7:12 [4] ** 1.53 km (4:42 / km)
15c shoes: VJ Sarva

A micro-sprint afterward.


Not always sure I had the map from this area in hand…

Night Orienteering 1:22:39 [1] *** 10.91 km (7:35 / km)
25c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Basics at night.

BBA 30:00 [1] 3.8 km (7:54 / km)
slept:8.5 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Orienteering (Continental) 36:19 [5] **** 6.7 km (5:25 / km)
19c shoes: VJ Sarva

Middle distance in Rocher Cailleau, at competition speed. Was happy to get an old course from Philippe, as it is quite challenging to organise a full training camp program in only 2 days. The map had changed a little and the runnability is not anymore as shown. Fun anyway.


Quite large new cuttings in the last parts of the course.

Orienteering (Continental) warm up/down 39:00 [1] 5.2 km (7:30 / km)
shoes: VJ Sarva

Orienteering (Continental) 36:00 [1] ** 6.2 km (5:48 / km)
14c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

A short course as warm-up and cool-down.

Orienteering (Continental) 26:09 [5] *** 5.8 km (4:31 / km)
50c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Some short intervals, at 1/2.500°, in one of the best area of Le rocher de l´éléphant (also named ”Larchant”). The map there is close-to-perfect and didn´t suffered the (super) large scale. It is one of the only place around with 2.5 meters contours interval.

Ran it at competition speed. It took between 3-5min per course, and I rested 2 minutes in-between. A perfect training to work on the “in and out” routine at over-speed. The technical challenge lowered after several passages in that small area, but the risk is always high when you tend to work by short-term memory instead of reading the map.


Another great training provided by Philippe.

Night Orienteering 1:04:42 [1] ***** 8.2 km (7:53 / km)
15c shoes: VJ Sarva

Foggy. Pure enjoyment.

Orienteering (Continental) 1:25:00 [1] *** 13.8 km (6:10 / km)
16c slept:9.0 shoes: VJ Irock 2016

A spontaneous and short training camp, in probably one of the closest snow-free and challenging orienteering area from home at the moment.

Less than 5 hours after leaving home, I was stepping into Fontainebleau forest (south of Paris). Almost forgot how awesome those forests are. Will try to get the best of it in the next 72 hours.




Snow-free, but not sand-free…


Fontainebleau always rocks!

Night Orienteering 52:52 [1] *** 6.7 km (7:53 / km)
23c shoes: VJ Irock 2016

Nice terrain, but poor map as too often here in Fontainebleau.


The last part was a lot greener than it has been earlier.

BBA 45:00 [1]
slept:9.0 weight:75.1kg

Cross-country skiing (Classic) 50:00 [2]

BBA 50:00 [1]
slept:9.5 weight:75.5kg

Cross-country skiing (Classic) 1:30:00 [3]

Running 1:20:00 [3] 16.0 km (5:00 / km)
slept:9.0 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Note
slept:9.5 weight:75kg

Finally, I find the time to watch The red Army documentary during the trip back from Alicante. An absolute must-see for all type of sport, politic or recent history freak. I haven't much knowledge about ice-hockey as it is a really small sport in France, but as I am now living in Sweden, I must get a lot better at understanding what´s behind the puck.

Stationary bike 1:00:00 [1]

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.5 km (7:09 / km)
slept:7.5 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Running warm up/down 10 [1] 1.9 km (5 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 1:20:15 [1] ** 12.2 km (6:35 / km)
24c

Last training here in Guardamar before travelling home and also probably last orienteering training for a while as we have quite much snow in Uppsala at the moment.


Training from O´travel package. I decline any responsibility for extreme geometry ; )

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.5 km (7:09 / km)
slept:8.0 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Running warm up/down 16:00 [1] 3.1 km (5:10 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Orienteering (Continental) 47:00 [3] *** 8.7 km (5:24 / km)
36c shoes: VJ Irock

Orienteering (Continental) 59:41 [1] ** 9.3 km (6:25 / km)
28c shoes: VJ Irock

Ran an old World ranking event (+ an extra loop set by Mrs Billstam herself) organized some years ago in Valle del Sol (north of Alicante).

Night Orienteering warm up/down 36:00 [1] ** 5.8 km (6:12 / km)
3c shoes: VJ Irock

Night Orienteering 24:23 [5] *** 6.1 km (4:00 / km)
19c shoes: VJ Irock

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.5 km (7:09 / km)
slept:8.0 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Running warm up/down 30:00 [1] 6.5 km (4:37 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 13:09 [5] ** 3.4 km (3:52 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Started with a sprint course in a super fast part of the terrain.

Orienteering (Continental) 44:22 [1] *** 7.8 km (5:41 / km)
88c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Control-picking in Guardamar Norte.



Control-picking... A lot to say but the days are only 24hours long. Well, this exercise is nothing new and has been use for years. But I do believe that you need the right approach when you attack this type of training.

You need to be pro-active during the process the whole time. As we are not using markers for those type of training, first, you need to spot the correct place from distance, look ahead in the exit direction (at best, already spot the next control), split lap at the exact place, and focus on your running technique as you should already know where you are heading to. On top of that, you should also put some energy on avoiding tent caterpillars...

Even at low speed like this morning, it is a high mental load all the time and you basically have no resting time. If you have to stop or slow down, it means you have failed at some point of the process. It is all about rhythm and keeping up with the flow of actions. Simply.

Orienteering (Continental) 20:50 [3] ***** 4.8 km (4:20 / km)
27c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Micro-sprints in Cap de l´Aljub. Individual start for the qualification and chase-start for the final.

Qualification:


Final:


REALLY enjoyed this one. Of course, this map is hard to understand sometimes and probably not over a scale of 1/4.000°, but still it is possible to use it and have fun.

I remember the first time I ran in this terrain some years ago, I was shouting at Philippe: "This mapmaker is a genius!" Well, to be fully honest, I am also wondering if he is not a little bit mad too, as I just can't imagine how long he spent in front of his computer drawing those shapes from the aerial picture...

The key with this map is to be flexible to understand the green shapes, but not too flexible because you can make match almost every bushes of the map with what you see in the terrain. A hard challenge.

Orienteering (Continental) warm up/down 30:00 [1] 4.5 km (6:40 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Running warm up/down 8:00 [1] 1.4 km (5:43 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Night Orienteering 56:32 [1] ***** 8.6 km (6:34 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Night corridor in Guardamar Norte.

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.5 km (7:09 / km)
slept:7.0 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Running 10:00 [1] 2.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 1:21:19 [1] 13.4 km (6:04 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Corridor with contours map, in Guardamar Norte.

I have already mentioned (a training sometime in November logged here) why I am using corridors to improve two important skills for an (elite) orienteer: compass and inner sense for distances. Also, I use it to keep a high mental load when the speed is low.

But another, at least equally important, issue is to develop the ability to handle uncertainties (i.e. vagueness) – can I keep running in the direction with the hope to relocate further on, or is it time to look back, or going back to the last point where the uncertainty was 0%?

In a corridor, you have to deal with those questions all the time, even though the speed is low. At night orienteering, you also have a lot of those questions in mind, as it is always a challenge to relocate when the visibility is as low as your light beam.



Today, I was quickly in struggle (ran the corridor in the opposite direction of the arrow). I had a good control of my doings, but never find the brown pit, when I thought I had 100% control and 0% uncertainty, the balance then reversed and I was not planning to leave this area without having lowered the doubts level. In fact, the pit had been clogged up and wasn´t very visible… which took me a while to realize. The remaining part of the corridor went a lot better.

Running warm up/down 40:00 [1] 8.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Orienteering (Continental) 19:40 [5] *** 4.95 km (3:58 / km)
12c

(One of) The highlight of our training camp, here in Guardamar – a hard-fought 2man-relay with World´s best oranges as prizes.

Three times about 1,5km in the rather challenging part of the (bushy) sand dunes. Everything was decided in the last control of the last loop for the three leading teams. The duo Santeri/Baptiste won, in front of Lauri/Aaro and we got the third place, with the great Ionut Zinca fighting hard for the last orange! The Niños Bomba exploded too early and ended fourth. As far as I know, Hannu is still looking for the last control. A fun afternoon.


The changeover zone, with the spectator control along the sea. Not a bad arena…


Baptiste on his way to rule the last leg and to take home the oranges…


World´s best orange as prizes…


More and more playing friends…

Running warm up/down 10:00 [1] 1.7 km (5:53 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Night Orienteering 29:44 [3] *** 5.6 km (5:19 / km)
17c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Night diamond in Guardamar Sur.

Hannu was shinning bright like a diamond, and I couldn´t play in his galaxy tonight.


Sad that the competition was canceled because of a misplaced control at 15th ; )

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.5 km (7:09 / km)
slept:8.0 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 1:57:00 [1] *** 16.6 km (7:03 / km)
25c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 45:00 [3] ** 8.9 km (5:03 / km)
15c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Test run of the sprint race of Trofeo Costa Cálida, which will take place in Caravaca de la cruz, another picturesque village made for a challenging course.

Faster speed than planned, because I had to show Hannu that it is not because you are (not) wearing a sprint kit (read : singlet) that you are (not) a sprinter... Pretty easy to eat for free in this World…


Manhole-cover art…


Hard to not love the sprint in this part of Europe…

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.0 km (8:20 / km)
slept:9.0 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Going now to the mountains around Murcia, for two days, to test run the courses of Lorca O´meeting and Trofeo Costa Cálida.


Not bad neither this morning…

Running warm up/down 30:00 [1] 6.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Sarva 2016

Orienteering (Continental) 30:15 [5] *** 6.7 km (4:31 / km)
25c shoes: VJ Sarva 2016

The organizer of Lorca O´Meeting, Raúl Ferra, gave us the great opportunity to run the courses on beforehand.

We started with the middle distance in an interesting terrain with a mix of different visibilities, but all in all a pretty fast terrain.


Nice scenery on the way to the middle distance terrain.


A fast and itchy terrain.


A good bunch of course tester...

Orienteering (Continental) 1:40:00 [2] *** 12.8 km (7:49 / km)
28c shoes: VJ Sarva 2016

Orienteering (Continental) 27:44 [1] ** 4.21 km (6:35 / km)
21c shoes: Hoka Challenger

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.0 km (8:20 / km)
slept:8.5 shoes: Hoka Challenger

A nice reward for early bird…


The Men in Black ready for core-strength.

Orienteering (Continental) warm up/down 30:00 [1] ** 5.0 km (6:00 / km)
4c shoes: VJ Irock

Orienteering (Continental) 42:10 [5] **** 7.8 km (5:24 / km)
22c shoes: VJ Irock

Running warm up/down 32:00 [1] 6.1 km (5:15 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 43:30 [2] *** 7.5 km (5:48 / km)
22c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

A multitechnique course in Guardamar Norte, featuring a little bit of everything and requiring also a bit of different O-skills. Surprisingly, my favourite part was the first one, when we had to follow a nice contour form.
Got really impressed by Hannu (started right after him)…until 20th control ; )


Why it is always when you have the best gps route of the week that you forget to start your watch at the start ?!

Running warm up/down 20:00 [1] 4.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Night Orienteering 36:08 [1] *** 5.6 km (6:27 / km)
13c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Some more contours as a dessert of a good training day. A little bit more focused as I was putting out controls.

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.0 km (8:20 / km)
slept:9.0 shoes: Hoka Challenger

Running warm up/down 40:00 [1] 8.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Orienteering (Continental) 31:21 [5] **** 6.53 km (4:48 / km)
19c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

This morning, we ran the WUOC middle distance from 2012, held in the famous bushes of Santa Pola.

This map is for sure special, and not following a lot of IOF mapping recommendations. But I have always enjoyed the challenge and in many places, you have to run like you would do it at night, with some extra care. All in all, it went quite well this morning, and ran the course about 1´30 faster than Martin. But the weather was probably a lot more enjoyable today than in the middle of the summer.


2Drerun


The green mess…


Baptiste putting some speed…


…and Santeri too.


Even the locals can be in troubles there…

Orienteering (Continental) 42:00 [2] **** 7.3 km (5:45 / km)
30c shoes: VJ Irock

Pure compass training,


followed by a microsprint.

Running warm up/down 40:00 [2] 8.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Running warm up/down 15:00 [1] 3.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Night Orienteering 32:53 [2] **** 5.9 km (5:34 / km)
15c shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

”Diamond, made of corridors” at night.


Most enjoyable training in 2016 so far! The corridor was large enough to put a little bit of speed and to allow some minor deviation. You don´t have to destroy all your O´confidence by doing unreachable tasks at every training!

BBA 25:00 [1] 3.0 km (8:20 / km)
slept:8.0 shoes: Hoka Challenger

To the beach to see the sunrise and do some planks.
Looks like another day in heaven.

Running warm up/down 30:00 [1] 5.5 km (5:27 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Orienteering (Continental) 43:57 [1] **** 7.65 km (5:45 / km)
5c shoes: VJ Irock

Corridor in Guardamar norte, forked with 7 different courses. Lot of runners in different directions, easy speed but a full focus effort – fun!



Delighted to see our Finnish mates, who landed at 2:30am, ready to attack the first training and torture their neurons with a narrow corridor right away.


"Rise up, Start fresh, See the bright opportunity in each NEW DAY"

Orienteering (Continental) 30:35 [2] *** 5.9 km (5:11 / km)
22c

Contours training in Guardamar. Easy speed, forked courses.



A man of wisdom, once said, "the contours lines are the element you will always find on a map – often the main element of the map. Contours give you continuity to orienteering – a rock or a knoll stays on its place but a slope goes on".


One of the slides of my presentation when I try to talk about technique and explain the Matrix concept.

The training ended with a micro-sprint. Fun as always.

Running warm up/down 35:00 [1] 7.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Night Orienteering 16:41 [5] *** 3.94 km (4:14 / km)
9c shoes: VJ Irock

Tonight was about the N-course, here in Guardamar.

Was pleased with the execution, but wasn´t feeling strong and a bit too defensive compare to last year.
Result: 29 seconds slower than my fastest time. Nothing to be too worried, but nothing to be happy neither. Next checkpoint is going to be POM! Until there, I know what need to be done.



My times since 2005 :
2016-16´41
2015-16’12
2014-16'32
2012-16'32
2011-17'07
2010-17'05
2009-18'19
2008-20'30
2005-19'15

2Drerun

2015 vs 2016 :

Running warm up/down 40:00 [1] 7.5 km (5:20 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Orienteering (Continental) 37:16 [1] *** 6.6 km (5:39 / km)
18c slept:7.5 shoes: VJ Irock

Start today. A multitechnique course with compass and contours as main focus. Great to be back here again with really nice weather as well.



Interesting fact. We are now using the new map from Indulis Peilans, Letonia, made in early 2015. I have been using many years the previous map made for the JWOC 2002 (from Valentin Pravilo - UKR), which was also very good. But it feels now like I am running in a new terrain and can barely relocate just by memory. I can come here again to train the next 10 years, nice…

Running 25:00 [1] 4.5 km (5:33 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Running 30:00 [1] 6.0 km (5:00 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Night Orienteering 21:58 [5] **** 4.83 km (4:33 / km)
14c

Night diamond in a contour map of Guardamar Sur.



My big toe was stressed the whole training as it was between the 10th and 11th control that I broke it last year. Went a lot better this year and I tried to push hard to open up my lungs before the 2016 attempt on the N-course tomorrow´s night.

2015 vs 2016 :

Cross-country Skiing (Skating) 1:15:00 [3]
slept:8.0

With one skiing day, I have already been skiing as much as last year...

Note

And yeah, it will be interesting to follow this:

Running 45:00 [2] 9.0 km (5:00 / km)
slept:8.0 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

A full day in St Etienne today, doing different stuffs. Visited my longest serving sponsor (more than 15 years of collaboration), BVSport, specialized in compression.



And had time thereafter to have a small run and running drills in Le jardin des plantes. Almost missed this unique smell of pine and urine... Still I would give quite much to get such hill (?) in Uppsala. It has probably been the place I have spent most time training, as I lived 32 years nearby...

Orienteering (Continental) 1:23:00 [2] ** 11.7 km (7:06 / km)
32c shoes: VJ Irock

Use the trip to St Etienne to train in an EOC2016 relevant terrain (at least one of the mapmakers is the same and the forest might have some similarities to Jeseník area too) and also to check the work of my friend and teammate, Adam Chromý*.

Forgot how much free time you have in this type of terrain compare to most of Scandinavian terrains. But the little you have to do, has to be done perfectly as it is a fight to just gain couple of seconds.


The route to the 13rd is probably a lot faster by the right, using the track, but I had to visit again one of my favourite barbecue place near the top of the hill...

* find a slope with the wrong steepness and angle, between 22nd and 23rd control. Luckily, it was not Adam's area... ; )

Orienteering (Continental) 30:00 [2] * 6.0 km (5:00 / km)
13c slept:8.5 shoes: VJ Irock

Had to go down to Aix-les-Bains for the trimestral blood test of French sport minister. Caught the opportunity to run one of the heat of the WOC 2011 sprint qualification. Not the best sprint course ever.

Running 1:12:00 [2] 12.4 km (5:48 / km)
shoes: VJ Irock

Running 1:50:00 [2] 17.0 km (6:28 / km)
slept:9.0 shoes: VJ Irock

Long run in the snow.
Snöpuls as they call it in Sweden. I usually call it tractor-pulling.
Loop around Nivolet and Orionde. Considerably slower but nice sceneries.








Go your own way…

Orienteering (savage) 1:05:00 [2] **** 9.5 km (6:51 / km)
14c slept:9.0 shoes: VJ Sarva 2016

Went out just before we got too much snow here. Best O' so far in 2016... if all the trainings are going to be like this one, it will be a fun year. Thought they should organize a WOC here one day...



No more training today. The 2nd January is a risky day, as I broke my big toe just one year ago, and also should think about reloading my battery before traveling to Alicante!

BBA 45:00 [3] 5.5 km (8:11 / km)
slept:7.0 shoes: Nike Pegasus 32

Running 50:00 [1] 11.0 km (4:33 / km)
shoes: Nike Pegasus 32