Training Log Archive: GraceE

Travelling back to Bristol.

WOC Relay, Le Creux Froid.
Jas - Vanessa - me.
This terrain was really intense, the trickiest WOC relay I have run. Quite like the middle distance terrain but also with some depressions in varying vegetation early on in the course.
I set off on 3rd leg in a good frame of mind, not in a battle for the gold so no pressure, but with a few teams to try and reel in. It was a race of two halves for me. I was alone for the first 5 controls and found these quite tricky but took my time to read the map and found them all ok. I caught Amber to c6 and Hollie to c7 and we had a good race from there to the finish, with a Romanian as well I think. The last loop was a great head-to-head race and we swapped leads but I got to the second-last control first and held it from there. Pleased to finish the week with a stong run. My team finished 14th. Really fun!

WOC Middle Final, Montagne de Lachat.
Awesome area, heaps of rock and contour detail with quite good runability and visibility. It was a great chance for a top 20, but it was not to be.
I read everything to the first two controls, every single little feature. Leaving c2 I found Liis running into it after a big mistake. My 100% concentration fell to about 90% but I still got the next three controls ok. Still going slow and reading everything but in 9th position at this point. To c6 I got part way there but then came across a big gully which I couldn't find on my map. After a good think I went back to a track recently crossed and followed that up to a junction and found the control easily from there. I should have just done that in the first place!! I really can't believe I lost 2mins here but apparently I did. c8 I dropped unnecessarily low, I think I just ran out quickly trying to drop Liis and was keen to have a break from the detail. Definitely should have contoured more, there was no reason to drop so much. I was 2mins down on this leg but probably could have saved 1 minute here. I met Liis again coming into c8! At c9 the French girl joined us. I made a STUPID mistake on the way to c10 - throwing away 1.30mins just by not concentrating. This was really maddening. We then ran through the arena. I had a good last loop and beat the Frenchie and Liis to the finish. If I hadn't lost ~2.30mins on c8 and c10 I would have been satisfied with my race. Finished 27th.

On the Relay model map, Les Quatres Chemins. Pretty green with no rock at all.

Straight from the Relay model map I went back to the Middle model map (Lachat Nord/Le Creux Qui Sonne) to find a few more controls.

Watching the Long Final. Hot day!

Sprint qualification, Heat B, Aix-les-Bains.
Dropped 45secs to the winner on the first leg... there was a lot of climb on the way to this first control and I also missed some indistinct paths through some green. I searched for the paths and in the end bashed part way through the green. Nearing the control I slipped over on some wet grass and hurt my knee. I got there in the end!
The rest of the race was pretty controlled with some smooth orienteering and good decisions. I made one mistake on c7 - I exited c6 the way I'd planned but then forgot mid-leg which alley I'd come down and had trouble finding the next alley. Lost ~10secs.
It was a really fun course! Although having taken 19 minutes I was a little worried for a while before some results were posted. It turned out all the heats took longer than planned and I qualified in 9th - my highest sprint qual position.

WOC Sprint Final, Chambery.
I was feeling pretty good on the jog to the start and really looking forward to a fun race. It was just that! A great town for the event with plenty of narrow alleyways to zig-zag through. The course was good although it was a pretty flat-out sprint with no particularly difficult route choice decisions to be made. It went as well as I could have expected and I finished 24th which is a Sprint PB for me.
I lost some small bits of time: deciding on a route to c6 (I only really saw left as an option but still wasted time thinking), reading my descriptions to c10 as was worried it might be on the other side of the massive wall, not reading ahead to c11 because of this and so exiting c10 badly, then I wasted a few seconds at the map change at c11. The last loop was solid and I maintained good concentration through the last few controls. Great crowd and atmosphere :)

Jogging around the Sprint model map, 'La Calamine'.