Training Log Archive: OJ

Easy with Mike up Rivelin, giving the weekend a postmortem.

JK relay at Erridge Park. Thought the weather might have eased off when I woke up this morning but the best was saved for last - heavy snow storms all day. This was always going to be a tough relay to win, but we had a good chance for the podium. Neil on 1st ran well and clung on to the second pack despite severe post-classic race gut-rot. Rob ran a good race after an early mistake to pull up into 3rd. I had a good battle against Jostein Anderson all the way around. I threw away my advantage with a small mistake on a short gaffle, then got done by a long gaffle on the penultimate control to come in 30 secs or so after, still in 3rd. Craney didn't realise that Edinburgh were so close on his heels and ran a safe race, only to find that Scott had passed him in stealth mode. 4th place, not bad but I'm sure we can do better!

C • Stealth mode 2

Lots of warm-up needed after yesterday, and had to keep jogging around for a long time afterwards just to stay warm.

JK Long on Ashdown. It was snowing all the way to the race today, and I was getting quite nervous that the organisers would cancel, leaving me with 34= place. It turned out they did a great job of dealing with the weather and making sure things went ahead with no problems. I started early after yesterday's debacle and knew that I would have to work hard to salvage some pride. Started very hard and hoped that I would be able to sustain it until the finish. Only a few small mistakes, all mid-leg when I mis-executed my planned route, but the orienteering was simple and I never had to slow down. Held the pace until the last 2km, when I started to suffer across the tussocky moorland. I looked up and caught sight of the finish at the top of a huge hill, and the last few legs were horrible. Really happy with my race and couldn't have hoped for much more off such an early start. 3rd today and pulled up to 7th overall.
Routegadget

C • That was a brilliant run, a... 3

Decent warm up in the snow and sleet. I couldn't be bothered with much of a warm down until Helen P encouraged me to run to the start and back with her.

M21E - Splits

JK middle distance on Leith Hill. Not my finest hour. Started in a heavy hail storm, but that did nothing to dampen my spirits - it was actually quite exciting to blast off into the forest with hailstones ricocheting everywhere. I felt in good control through the easy first part then simplified my way into no. 4 by attacking from a large depression just before the control. Ran in, looked left, looked right, no control. Checked my map, everything looked right. Bailed out to the attack point, checked compass, headed in again, exactly the same place. Then I started hunting aimlessly, eventually found the control quite far from where I expected to see it. Ran off with the red mist in front of my eyes and a couple of legs later I managed to set off on the wrong leg for 500m. I only realised what I had done when I was half way down the scarp slope. Very disappointed with this race, but some good lessons to be learned - however big a mistake is, it needs to be put out of your mind until the finish. Dwelling on it will only compound things.
Routegadget

Warm up and a long warm down to deal with my frustration.

Middle M21E - Splits

Event: JK 2008
 

JK sprint at Guildford campus. 11th. Started pretty well with only a few small (acceptable) mistakes before the spectator control. Got a bit carried away with the running through this easy part of the course and then made a string of 3 15 second mistakes, all adding up to far too much. One of these came when I ran down a passageway that was mapped as passable but ended as a dead-end in the side of an overpass. Some sneaky controlling and ambiguous green areas. Overall though a very enjoyable sprint race with non-stop route choice challenges.
Routegadget

C • Photos 2

Long warm up and a warm down around the course with Rob to check out some of the routes.

Nice and easy in the wind and rain. Acclimatising for the weekend...

C • SYO top... 2

2x sprints in Upperthorpe. Bumped into Gaz and Liz doing the same thing.

Out to Ponderosa and back.