Training Log Archive: Leakie

Etappe 6 - Gibel (again!!) I think I was 9th but then a control got taken right at the very very end so they dsq the race :( WHAAT! I was doing so well. Pretty gutted cos I would have ended up much better overall but had to settle for a poor 14th cos I couldn't drop yesterdays result. Bumms.

Tired at the start so must have lost some time on the hilly path bit. Also some poor direction on 5 & 8 (whoops compass again!). I don't know what the best route to 6 would have been - Any thoughts?? Mine was horrid & I ended up on my hands and kness for about 100m through the green skank & lost a lot of time. Also some shoddly mapped sections. Mahussive crags not mapped again?? So yea must have lost a good 4mins. Got into it in the last part & really enjoyed it racing all the other people round 8 - finish. Actually so fun :D
I just don't know how the top girls do it so much faster. They must be incredibly confident in the terrain cos I get quite hesistant & slow over the rocks. Gonna work on my terrain running a lot next year cos it is poor. About the only stuff I can do well is the run in. Boy I looovvveee to sprint :D

C • Map 3

Saw Julia Gross warming up & figured she is amazing so I copied her sprinty drills things!! haha. Was knackered afters :)

Etappe 5 - Gibel 23rd

No. 8!!!! Gah! I loved this area sooo much. Everyone else hated it but I adore this kind of thing. Technical & completely unrunnable! Perfect for me with my injured foot from yesterday. I walked almost all of it but was doing incredibly well considering until 8. Again I was within a few metres of it. Thinking back I can remember people dropping down to it, but I found some unmapped crags & confused myself & ran around in circles on the hill just above it. I know exactly why it went wrong. I'd just thought to myself how everything was going great & now the easy last part was so much more straight forward & I'd avoided the mistakes. Then I tried to speed up to keep with some other runners...compass went out of the window & it was another vague hillside type leg. And there you go - 15mins for a 100m leg :( I am also quite bad at relocating. I panic too much instead of calmly working out where I am - need to work on that one.

C • Map 1

Etappe 4 (should have been 6) - Chinzig-Seenalp 28th (I was in 8th until disaster!)

Was my worst day & it is a shame becaus it was actually a stunning area. Starting over the brow of a hill & then the whole course was downhill out of the bowl & down the valley. Was having a beasty run & doing really well, very confident :D so I am pleased with that. Then no. 5 - gah! 18mins & I was within about 2metres off the control after only 5mins. I got really confused because I knew I was on the right spur & couldn't see it, so I found some ponds & made a big parallel error. Well annoyed that I didn't believe in myself because I was right.
Then I couldn't motivate myself to get going again & then my whole foot fell off (well I got a gihusive blister) & I had to hobble the last half of the course in agony till I made it to the first aid tent. I would have retired it was that bad but the course was the shortest route back :( Also there was SOOO much descent on this course that did not help.

Bummer

C • Map part 1 1

C • Map part 2 1

Some drills/stretches before & nothing after cos I sat & felt sorry for myself!

Went on a chair lift to the top of a mountain & did a bit of walking around

Etappe 3 - Glattalp 6th

I loved this day :D Probably because it was my only run of the week that wasn't a disaster!! Was a very me area with some super fast running bits & some super technical limestone that everyone got lost in. Was such fun. My only downside was hesitation which could have knocked a few mins off. I tended to get very very close & then stop to consult the map rather than just being confident. Used compass lots too which is good for me.

C • Map 1

Was an absolute beast of a walk to the start - took 1 & half hours right from the valley up to the very top of glattalp. I think it was about 700m+ of climb. I wish we could have gone up in the cable-car!! Then had to walk back again after the run! crazy stuff :)

Etappe 2 - Schwialppass 14th

Would have been quite a good race but I lost a bit of time hesitating in the rocky section because it was hard to run & I was scared of getting lost. No. 8 was confusing ( coming off the top of a hill with other people - same conditions as most mistakes of mine!! ) & I went down the wrong veg boundary much too low down the hill. I need to be more aware of the heights I am at. Was quite annoyed with myself cos I'd identified this leg from the start as the one I was most likely to mess up! whooops.

Also very physically hard work.

C • Map 1

Long uphill walk to the start nearlly killed me!