Training Log Archive: Craney

Nice leisurely day making our way to Devonport to get the boat back to the mainland. Stopped at St Colombus and Ralphs Falls on the way and had a couple of very enjoyable short walks.

C • St Columbus 3

At St Helens, came 25th. Reasonably satisfied with that - no major mistakes and probably got as much out of myself physically as I could have on the day. A bit annoying to only be 1min from the top 20 but that's just the way it turned out I suppose. So I never did get back in the top 20 after 2005!

The course was characterised by a chonking great 3.8km leg (the longest leg I've ever done?) from #2 to #3. My race was characterised by getting the route choice right on this leg (I connected up paths to the left and got the 14th fastest split) but every other route choice wrong! For example, #1 I climbed an extra hill to avoid contouring along the rocky slope, but clearly dropped 30secs. Spent most of that leg looking at the route choice to #3 and coming to no conclusions before realising I'd really better not cock up what was a tricky first control. Contoured into #2 fine jogging the final section while making my decision for the long leg. Felt strong through the next section including the short legs in the mining and was in 16th place at #6. Then made another (1min?) route choice error to #7 by taking the path - really regret this now with hindsight - and was a little scrappy through #8 and #9. Into the arena in 22nd place, in a bit of a pack including Jules and Simon by the looks of things.

Unfortunately my terrain running tank was starting to run low at this point (no surprise really given my training) and instead of taking the opportunity to pounce on a top result (like Jules did) I slipped away into mediocrity. Still some decent splits on hill legs but poor in the rough stuff. #16 was a cool control underneath an 8m boulder! Gernot went through me (3mins) on the way to #18 where I dropped 30secs. Took the straight option on the last long leg to #21, which would've been fine for the terrain fit guys at the top of the results board, but was definitely slower (1min?) for me. Also was very slow on the next leg for no obvious reason - must've got a poor line. Finished with very little left in the tank and took a while into the evening to feel myself again, which was pleasing really.

A great way to end the week though with such a good course in such great terrain, and nice not to have that dirty feeling that comes with stupid mistakes for once.

C • nice one old man 4

Long model - nice terrain, able to run a bit more easily than Coles Bay.

At Coles Bay. Came 28th after a promising but ultimately frustrating and disappointing run. Ah that age old feeling that so often comes after big orienteering races in tricky terrain! Started conservatively and got into a good groove through the first 8 controls. #9 was a short one through boulders and I must've misinterpreted the map right at the start of the leg as it all fitted up to a rock, but no control. I was so sure of myself that I thought the control must be misplaced. But it was me. Dropped 1.5mins there. Didn't recover well and lost another 30secs or so on both of the next 2 legs. 2nd half of the course was tough in the green and I really struggled with the humidity. Still, was pretty clean through most of it. Then binned another 1.5mins at #20 in the vague stuff despite having a clear attackpoint. Oh well. 37 was doable and would've been a decent top 20 place. Not sure what I'd do different on the legs I buggered up.

A really fun middle course though - quite tricky, quite tough, but quite pleasant and well mapped. Also got to enjoy a view of the Hazards on the way to #6 which was very cool. An amazing part of the world.

World Cup Middle model at Coles Bay. Surprisingly nice runnable forest but I wasn't going to fall for that.

Oceania non-elite practice race at Rajah Rock. Came 11th about 6.5mins behind the winner. Beautiful tricky granite terrain and surprisingly open and fast running for Tassie. Tried to focus on being clean and push as much as my technique would allow. Did well up to #8 but then made a big parallel error of 2mins at #9 backed up with another one of 1.5mins at #10. Oops. Ran well after that though. Fairly pleased overall as it was my first race in terrain in a while and some sections felt smooth. Just a case of piecing together the good bits for Thursday's race and taking that extra moment to make sure at big features mid-leg.

Grace planned me a course on Trevallyn on the edge of Launie. Quite nice bush with some very vague features. Was quite uncertain in the circle a few times.