Run race ((orienteering)) 35:02 [4] * 3.5 km (10:01 / km) +110m 8:39 / km
spiked:14/18c
10 days ago, I didn't expect to be starting today, and even yesterday I wasn't confident that I'd be able to do anything more than jog. I certainly didn't expect to emerge from the day as Oceania champion (and second in the race behind Mikko - although results from other classes on the course put my time in a bit more perspective). It was an area for brains rather than brawn, which was as well because I still didn't have a lot of brawn on offer - not much strength up the (many) dunes, but none of the muscular issues from my previous two runs (and no knee problems either).
Avoiding technical disaster was the order of the day today. Missed probably 2-3 minutes all up in small increments, the worst being about a minute at 11 - through others suffered much more badly there (judging by the number of places I gained there), most notably Ecmo whom I saw two-thirds of the way to 12 looking for 11. Didn't feel that fluent finishing through the forest patches but kept it together OK. We did enough to beat New Zealand in our class; not overall, although it was close enough (13-7, with three of NZ's wins being by less than a minute) to give us some hope for the remaining three races - would be a good one to win as no Challenge has been won by a visiting team since we won the relay in 1994.
(A Challenge quirk: Phil Wood and I have lined up against each other as juniors (M16, 1987), elites and now as masters. Not sure if any other pair has done this?).
A highly technical area where low speed was a plus was something which suited me very well today. The remaining days will be tougher, although I should pick up a bit of extra fitness with every run.