Wednesday 20 August 2014

WUOC 2014- Final Thoughts

     WUOC 2014 was one of my main goals for this season and was a competition that I thought I would be able to perform well at. I was in good shape physically and my orienteering was not even comparable to my orienteering when I arrived in Europe over two months ago. I was very well prepared for the races and new if I could orienteering at my own level and do my own race I would see some good results.

Sprint:
     The sprint started out very well for me as I was running fast but under control. Going to the 7th control I planned on going to the left as soon as I saw the leg but as I was running down the path the right option looked shorter so I changed my mind and went to the right. I did double check the map to see if I could get through and thought I could. It ended up that it was a trap. Looking at the map now I think I just saw the contour line under the black wall and the little tiny dot of white which made it look like I could get through when running at a high speed. That cost me way too much time and I was so rattled that I chose the worst route choice to the 8th control with 45m climb and didn't even see the other option. It wasn't my day and my result (44th) did not show what I was really capable of. 
Looking at #7- can't believe I didn't see I couldn't get through
Photo:Robert Svoboda
Sprint Finish
Photo: Robert Svoboda
WUOC Sprint Route (right click and open in new tab for better quality)
Middle:
     I started out quite conservative in the middle running at around 70%, basically letting the orienteering dictate the speed and making sure I didn't lose time on the first few controls. I had a few smaller mistakes up until the 19th control where I lost control.  As I left the 18th control I thought I was drifting off my compass going through the green and when I hit the trail I was confused and thought I could be at the trail junction to the NE. I continued to run down the trail until I was sure where I was and then attacked the control from there. I had another big miss at the 21st  control after losing some confidence from the mistake at #19. I ended up with a result that I was happy with (53rd) but I know I have the potential to do much better that I did. My orienteering is slowly starting to become more equal with my running speed but I didn't feel like I pushed hard enough at any point during the race.
Middle Finish
Photo: Robert Svoboda
WUOC Middle Route (right click and open in new tab for better quality)
 Relay:
     The relay was really exiting and the most enjoyable race I have ever run. I had a really great race in general but again it could have been a whole lot better. It was pretty chaotic at the start of the mass start and I was happy that I was able to do my own race so that I went to all the right forkings and not just run like an idiot and follow whoever. I was running very well up until right before the spectator control where I got a bit ahead of myself in planning the final loop after the spectator control and skipped the 16th control. Something just didn't seem right as I was running to the spectator control and then I realized I had skipped #16 and had to start running back to it, most likely swearing the whole time as I crashed through the green as fast as I could. It is a terrible feeling running by so many teams that you were ahead of just because you unintentionally missed a control. I was running in 12th up until that point but dropped to 20th and maintained that position to the changeover and tagged off to Eric who was running second. Eric had a good run and tagged off to Graeme who also had a decent run. We ended up finishing in 18th which is the best result Canada has ever had if I am not wrong.
WUOC Relay Route (right click and open in new tab for better quality)
    Thanks to coach Toni who gave us encouragement, advice and confidence when we needed it for each race and to team leader Jared who let us know everything that went on in the team leader meetings and who kept things organized. Also thanks to my teammates who made WUOC 2014 a memorable experience.

     Next up is the US individual Championships in New York followed by the North American Orienteering Championships in Ontario in early October on back to back weekends. I will now take a bit of time off from orienteering and let the body and mind recover after a long two months of orienteering away from home. It will be nice to get back on a more consistent training plan after racing in Europe which requires a lot of resting to be added into the training plan before the major competitions.

Train on,
Damian

Wednesday 13 August 2014

WUOC Sprint Mixed Relay

     Yesterday was the sprint mixed relay in the town of Kromeriz. The course was mostly in park with a little loop in the town at the end. I thought the forkings were way better than the WOC sprint mixed relay in that there was decisive forkings all throughout the course. Emily ran the first leg and came into the finish in 5th place and tagged off to me.
Emily tagging off to me in a solid 5th place
     After seeing Emily near the finish in 5th place I new I would have a good race because there were so many strong teams just behind me that would force me to push hard and stay focused so I could stay ahead of them. I somehow moved into 4th by the first radio control which was surprising. I was running right on the edge from the start which caused me to make a few little mistakes where I left a few controls in slightly the wrong direction and had to correct it which eats up valuable time in a sprint. I also think I picked the wrong routechoice to #7 and should have gone to the right. I would have avoided running through the grass/stinging nettles which I think was at least 10 seconds slower than going to the right which was almost all on the trail and 20m shorter. The biggest lake on the map by #6 did not actual have any water in it which was a little confusing when I was running by the edge of it to #7 and only saw grass and a bit of water.
Sprint relay route (open in new tab for better quality)
     I was running alone until the Czechs, French, Finns and Norwegians caught and passed me just before the final loop in the town. I came into the finish about 20 seconds back of that group and in 8th place. I was happy with my race even though I could have done a bit better. The Canadian team ended up finishing in 17th place which is not bad but also could have been much better.
Leg 2 splits
The Team
Spectator control
Finish
Finish punch
     Today was the long distance which I chose to skip to rest up for the sprint tomorrow. I did another easy run on the sprint model map and just took it easy to be in top shape for the sprint tomorrow afternoon.

Train on,
Damian

Saturday 9 August 2014

Silesia Grand Prix/WUOC

     Last weekend I raced in the Silesia Grand Prix which was a 5 stage competition over 4 days in the North of Czech Republic. The terrain was very enjoyable and generally fast with some slower green areas. It was very good preparation for WUOC which should be held on somewhat similar terrain. The last race of the competition was very tough because I was pretty tired after racing 4 times back to back which was really taxing on the body. I managed to have five good races where I was able to fine tune some of my orienteering techniques in preparation for WUOC. The terrain was very enjoyable which was slightly more tricky than I expected especially in the green areas and on the steep side hills.

     This is my route from stage 2 which turned out to be my best race technically and my best result (6th) of the event even though I lost some time where I shouldn't have.
Stage 2 of Silesia
     Today was the WUOC middle/relay model event. The forest was very open with great visibility and generally very flat and fast. There were also some green areas where the visibility was reduced which made it tricky and also slowed the running speed down a bit. Being colour blind the open areas in the green parts were very hard for me to see while running which added an extra challenge to reading the map and seeing what was green and what was open. The middle and relay will be harder for me as a result because the same printing will be used for the actual competitions which is a bit frustrating.
WUOC Middle/Relay Model (route)
     WUOC will start next Tuesday with the mixed sprint relay. I will run the mixed sprint relay, sprint, middle and relay. I have chosen to skip the long distance and focus on the sprint and middle instead where my chances at a better result are more promising.

Train on,
Damian