Training Log Archive: Bashman

Morning miles
With Ralph onto the canal, towards Craiglockhart, got a bit lost, and back through Morningside, Meadows and George Square. Nice weather and good chat the whole way round, comfortable pace.
.

Circuits
Thoracic Mobility with push ups, 4 x 5+5
Inch work to hip drop x 5
Jumps
3 x 5 pull ups with 5kg Med Ball Slams
Back Squats with Jumps (40, 60, 65, 67.5kg)
Dead Lifts (40, 45, 50kg)
Curl and Press with 8kg dumbbells - 3 x 10
Plank Circuit 6mins
Stretching and Rolling

Something very cheeky.

To/from King's to hand in 3 assignments... Freedom!
.

WU
With Beth down through Grassmarket to Dean Village. Pushing the pace a bit excessively at times. Feeling goood!
.

FWTN Dean Village

A bit risky doing this on my first sesh back running again but thought it would be fun (awesome area) and also I would take it easy. Posted a 6min/km through the tricky village and then increased the pace gradually feeling nice. Nailed the routes and only a few tiny slips, nothing to worry about at this time of year though. Posted a 90s 500m sprint finish because it felt like the right thing to do.
.

WD
After waiting for Beth for a while being the finish control we were off home. Hamstrings ridiculously tight but loosened off eventually. Back to normal by the end, except very hungry!
.

C • how kind of you to wait for... 1

Stressing over a few assignments, training begins again tomorrow!

C • Or does it? 2

Circuit Gym

WU spinning
Needle threading - 3 x 5+5
10 Push ups, 20 Crunches
3 x 5 pull ups and 10 on the 4th set
SL glute bridge and hamstring bridge, 10+10+10+10
10 DL sitting box jumps
10+10 SL sitting box jumps
10 sets of 6 hurdle jumps, DL
Sideways DL hurdle jumps - 5 sets each side
SL jumps, only 2 this time, 5 sets each leg

Performance Gym

WU with wooden bar
3 x 5 back squats (40kg WU, 60, 65, 67.5) - crumbling by the end
3 x 10 DB lift and press, (9kg, 7kg, 8kg)
3 x 8 DL, form focus (40, 50, 50)
3 sets of plank circuit, front, side, other side, 40s each = 6 mins

Stretching. Dead.

In/out King's
.

Showing face once again at the Haries Intervals
WU to DVC
WU with Haries
WD home with Jacob

Easy
Got up at 6:45 only to get there and realise it wasn't open until 7:30. Had some breakfast and went back again. Eventually got in and just did 1 Breast stroke + 2 Front crawl for half an hour. Felt tough and my arms were a bit knackered.
.

Solo Circuits
5 mins WU on bike
Needle threading

Then not in the right order:

Push ups/Crunches x 2
3 x 10 proper Pull ups
20 DL and 20 SL jumps
2 x 10 TRX
3 x 10 FS Standing Bench Press - 20kg
3 x 10 Barbell Sit ups - 15kg
2 x 5 Wide Pull-ups
10 + 10 SL squats
4 x 10 SL Bridges
3 x 5 Pull ups
3 x 10 Push ups with SA row - only 3kg today thank you very much
3 x 10 Lunge jumps
Almost collapsing by now so called it a day after some stretching

C • Sewing? 4

Easy Trails
My one allowed run this week. With Oleg from his house into Vogrie and up the valley to Crichton Castle (spooky). Went on up a very scenic trail to the new railway line, turned round, and went back along roads. Feeling good and comfortable the whole way. Legs a bit achy afterwards as expected. Looking forward to Friday where I can start building it up again.
.

Double rest day, anything goes in transition phase.

WU - various needle threading
4 x 5 manly pull ups - easy today
10 real push ups/ 20 crunches/ 10+10+10+10 SL bridges
OH Press with 20kg, 3 x 10
3 x 10 Barbell sit ups with 15kg
3 x 10 push ups with single arm row
10 DL and 10 SL box jumps - Andrew finally broke the tension and completely bailed on his initial SL, thank god I wasn't the first one. Looked quite sore though.
4 x 5 BS (40kg WU, 50, 55, 60, 60kg)
3 x 5+5 Bulgarian squats, 3 x 5 push ups with 10kg plate, 3 x 10 pull ups on the TRX, plank circuit 2 x 3 x 40s
WD stretching/rolling

To and from King's.
.

WU to DVC
WU with Haries
Drills
WD

Showing face and no more this week and next.
.

The transition begins

WU
Short one.
.

SHI Relays - 1st Leg - 5th

A tough one, and probably the most XC-like orienteering event I've ever run. Began navigating at about half way when it had spread out a bit. Little wobbles to check controls even though I knew they weren't mine and was 99% I was left/right of my one. Ran with Halden for most of the first half and then dropped him when he completely messed one up. Maybe breathing to hard (he was taking about 2 breaths/step. Anyway good nav on the spot and a better physical shape than I expected after two days of racing already resulted in a pretty decent result. Got my own back on Aidan and beat him by a good 2 minutes. Won the SHIs Relay, 3rd in the event, and Scotland won. Job done and season officially over.
.

WD
With Alex and Chris.
.

WU
Good one at the start next to the Queen's hoos.
.

SHI Individual / Balmoral SOL - 2nd, 5min behind Aidan

And he definitely deserved it today. I was drained on the hills from the start and O was good, but not good enough. Caught quite a few guys including 2 Welsh and 2 Irish in the first loop, Adam, Irish 3 and Josh <- who stuck to me till the end which was good fun. Was 10th last starter and 3rd finisher :) . Lots of work to be done to narrow that gap known as Delta-Aidan in the Long discipline.
.

WD
Start and back after a long gap.
.

Event: JOK Chasing Sprint
 

"WU"
2km walk up the hill to assembly was all I really needed. Ran out of time so just did some strides.
.

JOK Chasing Sprint - Prologue - 19th, 5.5mins of D.Hubmann

Was always going to be a bit of a steady WU before tomorrow, but I ended up blasting it out the start. Slipped picking up my map which Tam thought was hilarious and then swerved too far left to 1. No biggie, quick adjustment and then off towards 2. Seemed to take ages but got it after only a small hesitation. Contoured over to 3 but then I realised it was actually 20 lower than 2, -20s.... Good to 4 though, avoiding the worst bracken and finding it easily.
Out to the path at 5 and had a bit of a break. Hesitated before the control and then missed it too, as lots of people did. Died going up to 6, killer of a leg but hit it well. Then over to 7, a slight banana in the wrong direction. Nice to 8 and 9 but then huge banana to 10. Pushed quite hard to 11 and 12, finishing fast.

Time losses on the first few were bigger than expected but I still ended up in a nice group of people on the results. GG and Jegor 4 and 6s behind, James 9s in front, Andrew and Murray 30s in front, and Oleg and Ralph about a minute ahead. The chase was going to be fun.

http://www.jok.org.uk/system/files/prologuesplits.... - splits
.

WU
To the toilet and back which was a bit of a trek. Running a bit late so had to push it up the hill. A little bit more tired than I would have liked on the start line. Gave Ralph, or should I say Jonny (took his entry), some trash talk which seemed to work.
.

JOK Chasing Sprint - Final Chase - 14th overall, 13th on course - 4 mins down on M.Hubmann

Oleg and Ralph 1 min ahead, Murray and Andrew 30s ahead, Jegor 6s behind, Raffael Hubber 20s behind.

Very quick of the start line with 3 tasks in mind. 1, catch Andrew, 2, Beat Andrew, 3, Beat Oleg if possible. So I rushed off after Andrew pretty much full pace. Almost messed up 1 as I wasn't guided in as I expected but quickly relocated and pulled a good race face as GG took some pictures. Didn't even see Jegor just behind me and smashed it up the hill. Surprised to suddenly see Ralph just ahead (apparently went over his ankle) but he was getting away. On the plus side he was pushing me on to slowly catch Andrew and Murray. Noticed the three of them swerve left entering the circle so I took a nicer line and punched the control just behind them both and ahead of Ralph. Also just behind Oleg who messed this up pretty badly. The train had formed.

Murray pulled away and the 4 of us were left to chase. Small hesitation before 3 looking at 8 without realising but corrected soon enough. Nice to 4, just behind Oleg still. At this point saw Raffael, Swiss elite and he joined the train to 5. Let Oleg and Ralph do most of the nav but I did notice were were too far right to 6. They went off too far right to 7 as well and I got a small gap by taking my own line, very proud of that. This allowed me and Ralph to pull away up the mental climb to 8. Ran just on Ralph's tail to 8 before pipping in front of him into the control. Side by side most of the way to 9. But then we both hesitated when we both realised we weren't sure what spur we were on. Saw Raffael and chased him, think Ralph went the wrong way here, then eased off anyway.

Murray had missed 9 badly so me and Raffael pulled away. Took a very bad line up a crag with lots of water running down it and Raffael pulled away a little bit. Oleg also caught up a bit. But gunned it to 11 and opened up a gap. Raffael beat me, then Oleg not far behind, Andrew, Ralph and Murray behind him.

Proud of that although it's a shame that most elites probably weren't going all out. Would hope that Ralph was going full pace for at least the middle section, and reckon most of the others in our train were going quite hard too. Very pleased to have beaten Oleg. Always a win although he's still a bit ill and coming back from a few weeks of rest. Awesome experience in with some rapid elites, great relay/middle simulation, and brilliant fun. Be ashamed if you missed this, an opportunity like this doesn't come round very often at all.

http://www.jok.org.uk/chasing_sprint/2014/results/ - overall
http://www.jok.org.uk/system/files/chasesplits.htm... - splits, beat Daniel.H to number 2, claim to fame

Straight into it today
Forgot the order but:
Threading the needle
Inch worm to hip drop
Push ups
Pull ups 4x5
SL Bridge - 2x6+6 working glutes then hams
Seated Jumps - 2x6+6 then another 6 double
Measured my max jump with a jump plate - 21.8 inches
4 x 5 DL - (40, 50, 55, 60kg) technique crumbling on 60
4 x 5 BP - (40, 40, 42.5, 45kg) had to get mark to save me on 45
Bulgarian squats
Press ups
Core circuit
Stretching
Dead. But getting noticeably stronger.

WU
Down to the meadows. Feeling good and running well, ready to pump out a mini sesh.
.

Drills
.

Solo Intervals - 1km [90s] 0.5km [60s] (5, 10, 15, 15, 10, 5)s, 1 every ~40s

Just a quick sesh to set me up for the weekend. It worked for JEC so was hoping it would work again. Did the 1km relatively hard, hams were burning from this morning and yesterday. Then had a reduced recovery from 2 mins just to test myself. 500m again, relatively hard at pretty much the same pace as the 1km. Sprints were good, felt very strong. Bring in the upcoming 4 races in 3 days with some tough competition (JOK chasing sprint tomorrow with some world class stars, then SHIs).

Splits - 3:09, 1:33 - much faster than pre JEC at what felt like a similar, comfortably hard intensity :)
.

WD
Still pretty fresh, not much warming down involved, but felt easy.

"7 Hills of Holyrood"
A little bit dead this morning and this took quite some effort. Did the 7 in height order so Dunsapie, Crags, Whinnie x 2 and then the 3 at the top. Some good steep climbs in there and really feeling them by the end. Beautiful weather and scenery, took a few minutes at the very top to observe. That's all for today I think.
.

C • Holyrood 2

A few hours of tennis this PM and nothing else. Easing down to the final comp of the season anyway so no worries. Big Mosque Curry to cheer me up.

WU - drills and bike
Core
Seated jumps and lunge jumps
3 x 8 OH squats on 10kg, find these really tough but apparently technique is bang on
4 x 5 BS getting into 55, should be higher but apparently, again, good technique
Lots or rolling and stretching to finish.
.

WU
Big loop of Pathhead. Heels both very sore probably from standing up for so long painting a fence and lungs got very cold. Eased off once I started the o.
.

Sprint-O/Intervals - (Tempo/Strides/Tempo)

Great session thought up by Oleg. First, a 2km sprint loop starting at his house and ending at a field, taking it steady. Then 10 x football pitch strides with minimal recovery, usually 20s stride with 10s recovery. Not all out just to get the lactate up, which definitely happened. Then final sprint loop after a very short recovery with the aim of keeping my head under anaerobic conditions.
First loop went well except for one point where I thought I went OOB by jumping a fence, turned out to be fine. Final loop felt unsurprisingly tougher and only lost my head once by running past a control, lost in thought of how well I was doing. Also missed route choice at the end. Really good session, enjoyed it a lot, and also a nice new sprint map.
.

WD
Perhaps a bit quick but felt alright.
.

Full Rest, not feeling tired but not wanting to hit the wall at any point this week either.

WU
Quite a short one again, running a little bit late, round and up to the castle plus drills.
.

Race the Castles - Stirling Castle - WRE Men's Elite - 4.3km opt. - 140m climb - 20th, 2:46 down

Brilliant start scene. Just outside Stirling Castle front entrance which had broken through the early morning mist. Hazy sunshine and awesome views of the clouds below and hills in the distance. Unfortunately I wasn't feeling anywhere near as good as the weather was after 4 hours of sleep and a 6:20 get up. Sort of assumed a bad race was coming up and relaxed a bit because of this.

Headed of the start line after slipping a good metre backwards trying to take my first step. Into the castle and I could hardly make out the map, eyes couldn't focus on it. So I headed up through the first two gates, looked left, ah first control - nice surprise. Nailed it and knew exactly where to go for 2. Unfortunately didn't see the cheeky ride the wall to three and instead blew 35s nearly running directly into a dead end, as many others did. Back round and I was raging, but cheered up a bit as I hit 4 well and saw Hector, obviously more than a minute behind (he started 1 min behind) going to 3 as I was heading to 5. Had seen the tunnel already so knew where I was going. Quick dip into 6, knowing that Ross was probably giving us such an easy leg just to prepare for the hardest control of the course: 7. The thing that threw most was the non-obvious multi level mayhem that wasn't too clear on the map. I was expecting a straightforward in and out but quickly realised when I saw the upper level. So ended up nailing it.

Out of the castle slipping about everywhere and through 2 easy controls, again, expecting something mean coming up. 11 was the result and I feel like I only did well on it because I planned ahead and was confident on my route. Even though I didn't take the quicker high way, I hardly lost any time by running along the bottom and up. Good to 12 and 13 and I was clearly catching my 1 and 2 minute men. Latvia and Ireland. Second long leg and again, confident with my route, even though it wasn't the fastest. Caught the two guys as we were heading into the graveyard and only 15s off the best on a 3.5minute running leg. Battled the two guys down to 15 but we all made the mistake of not seeing the multi levels again. Lost 15s fannying. Down to spectator, pretty much ice-skating and 17, racing the Irish. Began to drop them on the final few cool in-out controls and finally the run in. Small hesitation thinking the Si air hadn't registered the last control but made for it by diving across the line since there wasn't any punch and instead some sort of Si-Air gate.

Much happier with my performance today compared to yesterday. This is weird though since I felt much less focussed, very tired and a lot less physically prepared than yesterday. Another race which shows the direct relationship of relaxation and performance. Something to work on over winter I think, and think about a lot. Ended up beating a few good names including last year's WOC champ and Oleg by multiple minutes (don't think the night before was as nice on him as it was for me). It's a very tempting thought to think where I could have been if the ~minute of mistakes-I-don't-normally-make was taken off....

http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...

.

Sunset Run
Was planning on a light match of tennis with a friend but that didn't happen. Got tempted by the crags when I saw the sunset slowly climbing them and ended up "racing" the sunset edge to the top with my phone as a camera. Spent a few minutes watching/taking photos and then headed down and back along Pleasance. Not too tired but think all I'll do tomorrow is some tennis.

C • we saw you 4

Event: Race the Castles
 

WU
Short one - to the start a drills. Running a bit late. Unfocused.
.

Race the Castles - Edinburgh Castle - WRE Men's Elite - 4.5km optimum - 34th - 3.5 mins down

Off the start completely unfocused and excited at the same time. Bagpipes playing me out. Already a small hesitation at 1, certain that we can't possibly be going down that alley... Quickly realised we could, punched (it was actually SI air but I only started using the advantages of it at the end.....) and shot off in the wrong direction to 2. Binned a few hours searching for two and at this point, I knew I had cocked up. Annoyed, I trudged round 3 and 4, going the crap way to 4, and on to 5, 6 and 7 quite cleanly but slowly.

Already dead by 8, and we hadn't even climbed the vertical km of steps up from Grassmarket. Legs jellidified and I slid slowly down the slope to 9. Went round 10, 11 and 12 at an ok pace but I was feeling so spent. Back down the slope once again and began to catch Calum. Into spectator and a sudden moment of shear rage caused me to backslap the control firmly flat on the ground.https://picasaweb.google.com/108744356399445848928...

Overtook Calum and actually did some OK orienteering towards the end. Caught up with Andrew which I found hilarious and completely tanked the finish to beat him to the line. Was winning out of 6 when I finished so I had a nice seat in the winner's chair as the last 15 starters lined up in front of me for a presentation. Soon kicked off though and I spent the next 4 hours doing a spot of control setting, watching and collecting. Saw a few friends though and that cheered me up. Thank god it was a nice day.

I guess I should be a bit more positive though. I got a good workout from all the stairs and hills. It was nice having such a big event on home soil. And I made a few good decisions.

http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...
.

WD/RageDown
Round the seat with Paul. We both wanted to get a bit more in today, the only difference is that he had already done a 60 mile cycle! Chatting the whole way, really easy run to get the speed up somehow. Felt better by the end.

C • After short races 3

WU
With Will and Mikey to the fun.
.

Multi Level Mayhem - Edinburgh Edition - i.e Race the Castles Prologue - MOPEN - 2.1km - 14th

Was always going to be quite a relaxed race (physically). Out the start quite cleanly and was rewarded by taking Will and Jack by 1 and 2 mins by number 3. It was mayhem. A few easy legs, one messed up, and then Will caught up as his torch went out. He stuck to me like glue after this. We went pretty well until 18 where we binned 2 minutes by finding 2 dead ends and swearing a lot. Eventually nailed it back and he got me on the run in, ensuring me a 1s victory over Mikey. Lots of fun and a brilliant new little area. Respect to Purkylurky for beating multiple world class athletes.

http://obasen.orientering.se/winsplits/online/en/d...
http://www.soa.routegadget.co.uk/rg2/#41 - Course 1
.

WD
Crawl back with Will and Mikey. Followed by a demon curry.
.

Circuits
Quick WU: SL Squats, Agility Ladder and some jumps
3x8 DL - 45kg max
3x5 PU - using right arm more than left....
4x8 BS - 50kg max, building it up slowly, aim is body weight in 3 weeks which should be easy.
Plate Circuit - 4 sets of a circuit with a 15kg disc for row, squat, press and lunge and a 10kg disc for round the world, hip to hip, plank and lateral jumps. 30s work, 15 rest, 1:20 between sets, upping the work next week.
Then rolling and stretching WD.

I seem to be losing weight quite rapidly, from the 73kg I was before uni to the 69.2 now.... Should probably start eating more....

C • Food 3

C • Body weight squatting 3

Long
Out to braids to meet up with Matt for the first time in 5(!) months so out through the meadows and morningside. Took bus money assuming I'd probably get too tired to run home after a lap of Braids. Found him at the golf club and chatted the whole way on a big loop of the golf course. Talked the whole way and had a break at the top on the bench with a very romantic view. Back down to the club and decided I was fine to run back so did so. Had the cold sweats by the end but still felt pretty good. Popped into tesco to spend my bus money on curry ingredients and a congratulatory bag of donuts. Walked into the flat, lay on the floor, slept for 30mins, and felt fine again.
Was it a silly distance before RtC? Probably Yes
Will I be tired tomorrow? Probably Yes, but my estimate is I'll feel great on Saturday and Sunday.

Big write up of JEC long done.

Hilly Morning
Usual late morning training on Wednesday. Wanted to hit the hills this time, as I haven't done so for a while, so headed towards AS. Radical road from the north and then round the road to Dunsapie. Up to the top, and then cut through to the saddle. Up the crags the easy way from the south and then back through the parliament. Feeling a bit dead on the climbs, as expected.
.

Flat Steady
Lap of the seat, but not the one most people probably think I mean. Down to the Innocent Railway, good speed down to the road. North past Duddingston and basically kept turning left on big roads until I hit Meadowbank. Back through parliament. Feeling fast so upped the pace to near tempo at times. Not looking forward to seeing how my legs feel during circuits tomorrow though....

Circuits
WU, Plyo, DL, small UB circuit, Stretching.
Harries later.

WU
Nice long one with Beth down to lower round-a-bout, up to the high one, and then to meadows with a lap of it with Haries. Freezing to begin with but warmed up soon enough.
.

Strides
With the group.
.

Haries Intervals - 3 x 1km, 5min recovery
Session was actually 5 but I just did 1, 3 and 5. In group A with Andrew, Paul and Hector. First one was surprisingly comfortable at 3:04 with some dangerous cornering + dodging and I was recovered pretty quickly. Just jogged round waiting for them to do rep 2. Next one was faster, and probably also my first sub-3min 1km rep, which is long overdue but also, again, on a dodgy loop. Last one was nice, Hector died a bit with a poor stomach and I ended up smashing the finish feeling great! Nice session except none of us actually did all 5 consecutively due to 3 sets of weird stomachs and me not doing the whole sesh... strange.... Happy with the splits nevertheless.

3:04, 2:59, 3:00
.

WD
Back with Paul.

Could have gone out but decided to just have a rest instead. No pain coming from muscles but quite a few cuts and bruises from a dodgy water park yesterday.

The usual
.

JEC RELAY - Men's Leg 3 - 6.6km - 28th - Very, very far down

Unsurprisingly, I felt tired this morning and was not looking forward to racing M20s for 6.6km at full pace whilst trying to make sense of a map. I'll keep things short since I would not mind it if I forgot this race ever happened.

Fast mass start, smashed number 1 right at the front but it was a long gaffle so was quickly far down. Paced it through the first few with an excellent solo route choice to 4 that was the 2nd best highlight of my race (wait for it...). I continued to struggle to cope with a pace which would normally be completely natural and my feet were killing me. So it's hardly surprising that by number 9, I was looking ridiculous running between two controls, neither of them mine, that just about everybody seemed to have. I checked and double checked descriptions, began to panic, everybody left, I relocated, and I was screwed. Tried my best to catch up but losing circa 3:30 was a deadly blow to my race, there was no recovering allowed. I tempo'd on and made a few more mistakes allowing Andrew to catch me. We both shared our woes of having a bad time but perked up a bit when we caught Riccardo. We raced him through spec and the last loop, catching a Czech and Arnaud P too. I began to feel a bit better when I led the train (after Arnaud completely blew the penultimate). Me and Andrew lead into the finish, I drop kicked my map at the map exchange and it flew several metres high and landed perfectly in the collectors hands (the highlight, even Toon was impressed and tried to announce it), sprint finished for no particular reason and raged through download.

Seeing Riccardo and Arnaud, both medalists from the last two days, doing very badly cheered me up a bit. A learning experience, and not too bothered by it. Only slightly annoyed to have let Adam and Mark down with a shitty first leg. Work to be done there.

WU - Perfect - everything in it, not too much but enough.
WD - Lovely one, barefoot on concrete with Dane, cheesing!
.

JEC 2014 Long - Weijervlakte, Belgium - 12.06km - Silver by 1:08 to Joey Hardon

Yesterday's WD was a good shout, and after having a good 10 hour sleep I was feeling completely fresh, even with a hard and somewhat disappointing sprint race behind me. Daniel and I spent the morning getting pumped up in various ways whether it being punching stuff, commenting on how fresh we feel, our perfect start times (Daniel was 6th last and I was 3rd last), and of course doing the important stuff like having breakfast and packing. Managed to sneak to the shops after the sprint to buy some porridge which I really appreciated for breakfast the following day. Stole some milk from breakfast and had a perfect pre-race meal.

Topped this off as we arrived into quarantine when I had a banana; a crucial banana. Who knows how I might have crashed or ended up without this banana. Also had a few bites of jelly just before warming up. The quarantine was awesome, an army base - completely flat with plenty of space for drills. Ran a perfect warm up including a few jogging laps with Dan, although we both felt awesome and ramped this up, lots of drills and a nice number of strides. Into the start box with Meg, managed to not let a fellow GB team mate put me off. Sprinted to the -3 box as a last stride and I was in a perfect state of mind. Stared at my German 2 minute target but couldn't see any sneaky routes, I guess I had to wait.

Part 1: Vague contours with big open areas in this section. Comfortably off with a vague bearing to 1 knowing I would be caught by the open. A bit twisty routewise but thankful to hit the control bang on, knowing that this was key to a good race today (especially number 1). Massive leg to 2 but I knew the general approach to every singly control today - straight is great, round is frowned. Saw my German as I popped into the open, he was definitely losing ground to me but I think I focused too much on him as I completely face planted in what was one out of many times for this course (lots of hidden holes). Hit two bang on again due to a trail of distinctive trees and was out towards 3 on the scent of a tiring bratwurst. It was a dodgy approach and I knew I had to nail my entry into the forest. Did so and flowed through very nicely. Noticed I may have started too quick though as I began to feel it towards 4, eased off a little bit knowing there was a lot to come. Hit the control bang on although 20s down on Dobnik (who seemed to crash completely by 10). Remembered the approximate location of 5 when I was going to 2 and this paid off. Not only did I hit the control perfectly but I had caught my german too. He was a key motivator for the next section of the course. Apparently also passed Daniel here, but didn't see him. Would have been fun having him push me - although we had different butterfly loop gaffles.

6 looked tricky and it was. A vast semi-open area with some very vague contours and not much else (although this pretty much summed up the whole north area). Made sure I entered where I knew and took a good bearing. Slowed right down just before the control and it took me a second to see it. Would have owned this split if I had seen it sooner. Good to 7, german was still hot on my tail and I was getting slightly annoyed/distracted by it. As long as I dropped him eventually I would be happy. Straight to 8 but it took a while, so possibly a slight banana. Tiring a bit to 9, probably due to the german really pushing me on. A good split but Joey took 24s out of almost everyone! I guess I was looking at 10 and possibly slowing a bit but not that much.

Transition leg - 10. A break from reading the map. Onto the road as straight as possible and then switch off time. Made good use of this as I dropped my follower, took a quick drink and splash from a station and planned the next few just as I switched on again.

Part 2 of the area. Slightly more detailed and tricky. I took the approach to 10 cautiously and was rewarded since as I punched, my French 4 minute man appeared behind. Probably worth noting that there were 6 of us in the overall lead here, within half a minute of each other, 30mins into the course. Shook the French guy off instantly and took a mental note of were 11 was for later. Here is where the gaffle and monstrous butterfly began. Slightly unfocused into 12, mind was trying to decide how well I was doing. Thankfully caught myself and spiked it, somehow. Really good splits to 11 and 12 ( 4 people drew first to 11 including me, :O, unheard of orienteering..). A bit of a break going to 13 and 14 both easy open legs. Slightly dodgy to 15 as it wasn't clear where the semi-open ended. Found a russian M20 going to 16 which was a nice motivator. We also raced to 17 but he sort of blew it and I whistled him into the control as a sort of thanks for pushing me on, plus I knew him (sue me!). 18 was slightly dodgy as I couldn't remember what the control (butterfly) control looked like so hesitated but found it soon enough.

Pushed to 19 feeling good and positive that I was doing well by now. 20 was crap as I ran to the top of a hill rather than the bottom, short leg though so only -15s. Good to 21 just making sure I hit it bang on, best split here by 4s on a short leg. Up to 22 which was the second butterfly. Remembered it's location and nailed it. UPDATE - leading by 4s to french guy and 1:20 to overall winner. Interesting..... Gaffle was now over and it was onto the spectator. Feeling a little bit tired now and almost wanting to just collapse, needed a drink, fast. Took things steadily towards 23 and spectator. Saw the assembly which gave me a big boost but it was tough running on the loose sand. Took a quick drink, pushed on by Jackie. She told me I was up there and just as I was leaving the field, the commentator announced me to be leading. Apparently he also said by 5s but I didn't hear this, I was numb with fear/excitement.

Part 3: This final section was greener and simpler than part 2. It's hardly surprising that I messed up 25 by 30s, my head wasn't screwed on and I was almost panicking. Ran straight past the control which was behind some bushes.... Quickly relocated and I decided to take the safe route - after finding 25 - to 26. This was a good choice and a good split. 27 looked fine but I was worried about 28. Control on a knoll in some green, very dodgy indeed. Took it very slowly and hit it, but 13s down. At this point I was in 3rd. Lost a further 15s to 30 as I took it very safe round a path, just knowing I was still in with a shout but could still blow it. Tanked it to an easy 31st control and overtook 2nd overall by 1s. Continued on a first split streak to the last control, opening up a 6s gap to 3rd (first was a minute ahead). Then was ready to have a relaxing run in, sure that I was probably safe but a german opponent and a wild crowd told me to speed up. Glad I had, as the 3rd French man caught 3s up on me on the run in and could have easily caught 3 more! Ridiculously close for a 63 minute course!

Well it's fair to say I was delighted at the finish. Took the commentator a while to announce my result and I knew it would stick since I didn't recognise the two names behind me, super chuffed. Andrew informed me that Daniel might still beat me and it took me a minute to realise that he had started 6 minutes before me and Andrew had got it wrong... Shocked to hear he had just passed spectator as I finished, thought he would have smashed it as we were both feeling similar in the morning... I guess I'm a bit annoyed since I was leading at spectator but I think I need to live with it and know that I am perfectly capable of delivering when it matters now. It was nice holding a union jack on the podium for once, even if my face didn't really express sheer joy. Me and Joey were on different gaffles so can only compare for the beginning and the end. Makes you think though - is it actually completely fair? Definitely not. The "break" in the open came sooner on my course and I think I would have liked it later. Perhaps a good nopesport feed. Anyway, things finally clicked, a near perfect race, and a good way to end the year. Lots more analysis will be done.

http://helga-o.com/webres/index.php?lauf=964 - Looking at the strangth of the field, Oringen H18E overall positions 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14 and 24 were all in the JEC field. Plus a few fast JWOC faces.

http://helga-o.com/webres/splits/splitsbrowser.php... - Courses (Gaffles) 21 and 22, 21 for me.

C • tank 11

C • * 1

Event: JEC 2014 + spectatorraces
 

JEC SPRINT - M18 - 8th
4th at spec and then hit the wall due to chest on fire from recent cold. Don't really care, 8s off podium, tomorrow is my focus.

*time actually 1:30 quicker on results but think it's wrong*

Morning canter
Down to the bottom of the seat feeling amazing and running well. Then hit the crags and died a bit but that was because of yesterday's squats... Fine though as Belgium is flat. Then back along pleasance feeling goood again

5 minute WU
5 minute drills
1km in 3:13
90s
500m in 1:35
Then stride pyramid of 5, 10, 15, 15, 10, 5s
Then WD

Just sharpening up really and not bombing it. Nice in the meadows sunset.