Training Log: hamlet

Event: Sprint Storrs - US WOC Team Trials
 

really disappointed in myself overall. Seeing the climb I knew it was going to be hard, but I just had trouble pushing. I wasn't sure where the right level of push was so I erred on the low side. I think I let the hills get to my head. Also navigationally I was a mess. I kept hesitating and almost taking the wrong turns. Overran 8. 13 I didn't read the multilevel correctly, so I thought I wouldn't be able to go through that so I took a longer route to be safer. For 17 it was a similar thought process, but the route I took ended up being shorter anyways. For 12 to 15 I was "following" this girl from Kamenice who started a minute after me (we genuinely just kept taking the same routes and ran at practically the same speed). For 17 she crossed at the multilevel, I went the other way, so I ended up in front of her for the last few controls. I finished about 10 seconds ahead of her (she still beat me overall, though).

I'm not sure if I just had a bad race or if this is the level I'm at. It feels like I've been having bad races a lot more often lately. Is it because I'm more critical of myself? Or because I have higher expectations? Or did I really just get worse? My navigation feels really sloppy now, and I wonder if it's because I'm faster. But I don't feel faster. I just feel dumber. I really hope I'm a better orienteer than I was today.

https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Cesky-pohar-WRE-zeb...

finally the walk to the start was nice and flat and perfect for a warmup

raced my cousin. he beat me by 5 mins :( (he's really fast). I was also SO close to being under 10min/km straight line (I was at 10:08/km). At least I was sub-9 true pace, which I'm pretty satisfied with.

My mistakes: (there's a lot of them sadly)
3: I drifted a bit to the left, lost maybe 5s
6: oof. planned to go left and use the S side of the fenced area but ended up finding a nice-ish track through the green so I took that. ended up at the hunting stand in the yellow+slash, which was more south than I planned. Ran the trail, saw the hunting stand on the beg boundary so I cut over to it, and ended up cutting the corner in the white too much and ended up east of the control. I lost at least 1min. probably closer to 90s.
7: Stayed on the ride a bit too long. Lost <5s. (i am nitpicky)
9: took a bearing, drifted right, hit the distinct tree on the clearing by the hunting stand, overcorrected, and almost hit the end of the ride N of the control before cutting over to it. Lost 10s.
10: drifted way left, hit the rootstock by the ride and then used the ride and cut straight into the woods after the junction. Lost 10s.
12: got distracted by another runner from my course on the attack. took a rough bearing off the clearing on the trail bend, but drifted right of the hilltop like the other guy. I was directly south of 12 when I saw it. Lost 10s.
14: SO hesitant around the fenced areas. Wanted to follow the westernmost side, but was worried about the slash, so I didn't commit to it until the last moment, and yeah it was green but still best imo. Slow after the hilltop because I didn't have a bearing and was hesitant. Lost 30s.
16: followed the fence NE to the trail instead of cutting the corner, which would've been shorter and less green. I was tired so I was desperate for trail. Lost 15s.
17: shouldn't have gone to the trail, should've just taken a bearing. this trail was nothing but mud, it was awful. Although I had no way of knowing that beforehand, all the trails up to this one were great. Lost 5s.
18: slow going up the hill, and drifted north. Not sure if I really lost time here from anything but speed.
19: I tried to cut trough the green because I thought I saw an elephant trail through it. it wasn't there. I got stuck. Lost 15s.
20: I couldn't decide on a route choice so there was a bit of there n back before committing to the field. Lost 5s.
21: another oof. decided to stay high, and while preparing my bearing for 22, I lost my rough bearing to the ride junction, so I didn't know where I was along the hillside. I think I ended up attacking 21 directly from the east. Lost 45s.
22: there was a lot of people so I drifted right and found a control on the N part of the stream. Lost 15s.

Total estimated time lost: 3 min 20s

overall my speed was pretty solid at the beginning, I just had trouble with flow since I didn't have much time to plan ahead, but I think it was worth it. at 13 I hit a wall and started having a rough time lifting my legs enough, so any off-trail running either took a lot of effort or I kept tripping on EVERYTHING. By the end I was really hurting. Also uphill finish was pain. I have a feeling the fatigue is from yesterday's training being so late in the evening and being longer and a bit more intense than originally planned. But I also might be making excuses.

https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/OZ-Voznice-Kratka-t...

I can explain.

cooldown back to the event center was slightly uphill (which, in post-race terms, means very uphill). When I checked my phone I saw my uncle messaging me that he's at the finish waiting for Máťa and that Nik was on his way to the start. I needed to lend him my clue sheet holder, since he didn't have one, and there were no descriptions on the map. So I ran to the start and made it with maybe 1 minute to spare. So, um... fast cooldown?

getting all the mistakes out today for a clean race tomorrow (hopefully). brain didn't work because I didn't bring my compass (I figured I wouldn't need it) and there was a bit of construction (not really enough to justify my mistakes tho). had to ferry myself over to an island for #10 using a raft thing which was pretty fun. Also barely finished before my map disintegrated.

owie