Training Log Archive: roar

A nice sunny Sunday in Sweden. -8 when we left. Cycled with Regina down to Flottsbro. It was cold and my feet got pretty chilly, though not as cold as hers.

Warm up jog over to the start with Gina, not that I needed a warm up before this style of session. Got warmed up though. Gina had left her compass in her bag and I offered to run without. Was glad later she refused!!

222 controls in Lunsen, ~10% of year goal!



Milos had planned this last week but I was injured. Hilda decided to do it this week so I said I'd tag along. Since we arrived late, did manage to get a full map but started after everyone else so was solo for all of it. Mostly pretty solid, Lunsen lends itself well to control pick style orienteering. What I did learn was rocks are great, dot knolls are the worst. Even worse is control circles with only form line hills. The course was planned nicely in such a way that every 5 or so there was a nice big control feature so you could ensure you were actually where you though you were. A few mistakes, mostly caused by not being certain about the previous controls position. A few things worth mentioning:
64: I hadn't really found 64 and thought I was higher by 65.
75: Lack of confidence leading up to this and then I really didn't understand the map. When I worked it out I went back and tried it again.
110 ish: Took my hat off as I was too warm. Felt weird to run with no hat.
119: Saw a massive bird in this green part and it flew away very impressively. I think it was a Western Capercallie.
121: This march was amazingly fun to run through. Flat ice with frost to make it grippy.
122: ?! Was not happy with the map leaving 121. Thought I might have been at the other rock and tried going from there. It was not dark green. Put my buff on instead of my hat as my ears were getting cold during my wanderings. My hair was kinda frozen where I had sweated.
140: Started counting down around here somewhere
160: Started counting down again...
170: Fell through some ice for the first and only time to get wet shoes.
189: Interrupted some people having a kiss on one of the superhighway paths through the marsh.
190: First time I really noticed my legs feeling tired. Nice to get this far even if it wasn't that fast.
200: Wasn't not nearly as much of a milestone control as I wanted it to be.
222: My thoughts were something like "Oh no, I think I've missed the last one, aaagh, no wait, over there. Woooo!"

Will be a while before I do more controls than that. Dissappointed to not break the 200 spikes. Very possible possible I counted incorrectly.

Very slow jog back to my bike eating midget gems. Man they were tasty. This was followed by chocolate and a banana upon reaching my bag.

Cycled home. Dropped my bike on my head trying to take it out of the depression I had hidden it in. Luckily I had a helmet on. Slower than the way there for obvious enough reasons and had lots of clothes on. Needed them though. Again feet were chilly by the end but otherwise not too bad.

On the way passed by a guy who seems to be from a Deliveroo style company with bright pink outfits. I've seen them like 5 or 6 times now, thing is i've only actually seen the same guy each time.

Took off my shoes when I got home, yikes I have a big blood blister.

Jogged from KG to Ultuna with Ross for backbana. Wearing o-shoes not ideal for the roads but could mostly run in the gravel so it wasn't too bad. Good chats. Did a little more warming up when I got there but had stopped my watch.

TdL 4 - Backbana (Hill course)

The first guys started in their chasing start times. The rest of us (Ross, Me, Hilda, Sam, Moa, Stina) started in a group after. Myself and Ross got a gap early but by the second climb I was already suffering. Haven't been doing enough hills work. I didn't know the course so Ross was showing me the way and it did mean he had to wait for me 2 or 3 times but mostly I was hanging on to his dangly hat strings as much as I could. Felt good on the flats and downs and legs were recovering well but were just not strong enough for the steep stuff. By the end the ladies were catching back up and I had to work pretty hard on the last hill to stay ahead of Sam. Left it at 1 while some did 2. In the end a solid enjoyable tempo effort.

We were getting cold so did a bit of an easy jog along the top of the hill with Sam. Wanted to see where people were and cheered David coming up the super steep hill a bit before turning back.

Jog back to KG with a decent group (David, Love, Olle, Sam, Ross, Gustaf) that peeled off at various points. Legs tired but overall feeling ok.

Easy leg loosener in the evening. Went with Gina as she did her warm up before intervals and then continued via the shop.

Signed up for Sunday's 222 control epic. Should be some fun.

Jog with Gina over to the car park to where everyone had driven to and then to the top of Tunåsen. Bit icy in spots and cold up on top of the hill.

TdL3 - Hilly sprint on Tunåsen


Random start order, every 30s. I started 30s behind Ross. Took a different route to 1 which was a little slower and my route to 3 wasn't great either. Should have gone straighter to 5 and I saw Ross when I popped out of the forest. Olle was 30s behind me and saw him coming down the track after me. Felt decent up here and was surprised to pass Gina for the second time. Icy down the path to 8 and Olle caught me by going straight. Was behind then up to 10 and lost a little ground. He went straight over the fence so I followed assuming he had picked up any intricacies of the Swedish instructions before hand. This was worth a 1 min penalty in the end! It meant I caught right up to Ross though. Worked through the loop on the mounds but Olle ran away before the first time up the wall. What a hill. I stayed close to Ross for 17 & 18. He stayed low on 19 snf I caught a little but was still about 5s down before the climb. Tried pretty hard but there was no catching him and the sprint on top was pretty slow.

Good fun.

Jog back to the cars with the women and then with Gina back home. Cold by the end.

Easy jog to the start with a decent group doing the training. Not as cold as last night but still beautifully clear.

TdL 2 - Onsdagsnatt

Simulated chasing start as usual so the focus today was on competition techniques. Mainly head-to-head racing and reading relay descriptions. Points only for finishing position so last leg of relay style.

Started last on the short course with Ross. I let him lead up the hill and tried to read ahead a bit. We had Annika and Johanna 30s ahead so it was easy orienteering and we caught them by number 1. I took the lead of our little group on the way to 2 but veered through the open part. Hit a different path than I thought and went the wrong way. Ross figured it out. Johanna was first to the control and Ross was like "Stone!, nice" but Johanna was like "not my stone". There was gaffling. For 3 again I tried to run away from the group but messed it up. Thought I was on the path to the north but was on nothing. Found the rock to the south and back to the control. Johanna and Annika got ahead but we caught Kate. 4 was better. I slowed a little and read the map and navigated into it but the confidence was too much for my little brain. Ran after Milos out of the control, trying to go right on the path but never found the junction. At some point I realised I had screwed up big time and decided the only option was to go straight. Had no clue where I was but reckoned it didn't matter as I just had to count marsh crossings. Found the long hill before the control and got it perfectly. Hilarious route though.
6 marked a change of concentration levels. I got my act together and read the map. There were quite a few torches around but not going to my control. On 7 when I entered the circle I could see the feature, and another crag to the north with a control. I went to the one with the control and it had the right code so I continued. Control was in the wrong place for sure. There was big gaffling on 8 and I seemed very alone suddenly but I was on point. Thought about going around for 9 but wanted more green practice. Stopped a bit short at a small crag but pushed myself on and got it while Johanna was coming in the opposite direction.
I led over the hill to 10 and the track made the control easier. I hadn't looked at the leg to 11 so Johanna went ahead and to the path. She exclaimed when when she realised there was a route choice but it was way too late so I told her to just run. Worked quite hard across Hågadalen and up into 11. Got stuck in a tree then going to 12 and was a little behind. Knew she is faster than me up the particular hill to 13 so tried to get back on terms but only managed because she fell on some ice over the crest. My line was slightly better into the control and I got there first but didn't see the kite, so she touched it in front and it stayed like that until entering the forest for 14. I went in slightly earlier again and got to the control about 1m in front. It was pretty tight down the track here and then Johanna jumped in earlier than me. She ended up with an extra ditch to jump so I got a small bit more ahead. Pushed hard early on the finish to try and build a solid gap. I didn't look back so I don't know if it worked but I got to the finish ahead anyway.

The start was pretty dire but I got my act together. Slowed down just a little to keep map contact and was happy with the finish race as that is something I have messed up a few times before. Very fun to have a bit of motivation.

Small cool down loop with Johanna and Annika. Went on a path I hadn't been on before.

Tisdagsbana Beta.

Started in the group and felt really good. Ground was really nice for running in most places. Firm and frosty but with enough give to be pleasant. Stayed right near the front until the road where I waited a bit for Ross who I had agreed to do the 8k with. He never came so I did it solo. It went super well until the timed 1k as part of the TdL. I messed up seriously badly after thinking I had gone through the green badly, when actually it was quite ok. Was lucky the finish was so soon when I worked out where I was and started doing it backwards.

Fun. Back felt good. I like orienteering.

Back to the forest this week. Coincides with Tour de Linne which is a 4 stage competition. Plenty of hills which is good.

Monday: an hour easy then some testing of core exercises. I have every confidence
Tuesday: Tisdagsbana TdL 1. Will keep it short enough
Wednesday: Night-o short course TdL 2
Thursday: Hill sprint-o TdL 3
Friday: rest
Saturday: Hill laps am, easy pm
Sunday: o-training

Back was quite stiff this evening. Poor sitting technique and probably some lingering effects from yesterday are the suspects. Left the exercise for the evening but did do some mobility work and that seemed to improve things.