Training Log Archive: AC

Event: Jukola 2012
 

Jukola, 5th leg, 341/1501. Been looking forward to this event for some months and it didn't disappoint. Ran with the Australian Bushrangers team and it was great to be able to "fly the colours" in Finland. The team finished up in 278th place which was a good effort from my perspective - in the top 16% of the teams that had entered. Evan got us off to a good start by surviving the mass stampeded of the start and bringing us to the first changeover in 278th place, only 18 minutes down on the leaders is a great effort. Murray then dragged us up 103 places to 174th place, losing only another 13 minutes on the leader. This is a tough leg as there are huge trains in the forest and it is hard to overtake, so great effort by Muz to move past so many teams. Ian then took over on the long night leg and further improved the team's position to 141st, which is a very high standard in this event IMHO.

Then the old guys took over. Nick went out on the 4th leg and had to use his headlamp for the first half of the course as the first three runners had been so quick. He had a bit of trouble on the flatter and greener last half of the course and we dropped some places down to 315th, but still well within the top third of the teams. I went out and lost another couple of places to 317th with a steady but uninspiring run (more below). Jim, fresh off the plane from Australia on the Saturday morning, dropped another place to 318th. THen the younger brigade came to our rescue and Kas tackled the last and longest leg in fine style to take us back to where we were after the first leg - 278th. A great effort by the team overall.

My own run on the 5th leg went fine but lacked the speed and strength required to really do a good time in this terrain. Despite trying quite hard, I had no sleep overnight, but did rest in the tent for a few hours with my eyes shut. It was a longer than expected wait in the transition area and so I was a bit jaded when I actually started. The 1.2km run to the start triangle seemed to take forever and I just used it as a second warmup. (The opening leg had covered the first km in 3.10 according to the announcer!) Took it steady for the first couple of controls and didn't make any mistakes. In fact, I made no mistakes for the whole course, which was gratifying. A couple of times I found myself running in terrain where ether was no tracking from previous runners and that made me a bit nervous, but was vindicated each time. After about a third of the course, I really started to get into the navigation. The map was fantastic and I was able to read all the detail and made good route choices. The running side was another thing though and never really had the strength to maintain a good pace in the lumpy forest. I ran the easy last few controls quite hard and was pleased to have clocked 3.24 min/km from the last control to the changeover (downhill, but still :-)). Overall a very pleasing run, but could have probably done 5 minutes faster if I had been a bit fresher and stringer in the forest.

There was also an Australian Venla team that did very well in finishing 93rd - fantastic job to break into the top 100 at Jukola. Two of the Venla team then backed up with the toughest legs (1st and 7th) on a random Jukola team - super effort!

This is a great event. The organization and infrastructure is amazing. the atmosphere is wonderful and fun. Will definitely try and do it again, and hope there is another go at getting an Australian team together. Good weather for the event this time, but the rain arrived just as we were heading to the airport and I am so glad it held off because it really bucketed down - would have been no fun doing the event in that downpour.

C • great weekend 5

Training at Jukola. Did an easy run around the Jukola model area with Jim, included a lot of standing around and discussing the mapping and tactics for the race. Nice little area and great mapping - very easy to read and interpret the terrain. Hard work to run in the terrain but that is expected in Finland. Looking forward to teh race in teh wee small hours of tomorrow morning.

Off to Jukola this evening! Looking forward to it. Last time I went (2004 i think) it was a blast - ran a night leg and managed to do reasonably well (ie got misplaced a few times but didn't run off the map) and really enjoyed the challenge. This time I am running one of the shorter day legs as I am in a much younger and fitter team of Aussies over here for the summer. Will be interesting to see how we all go. There is an Aussie Venla team as well that looks like it will hold their own.

Jukola this year is close to the airport so plan to catch a cab to the event from the airport - how cool is that. Weather looks great for Saturday, but clouding over and a bit of rain on Sunday. Hopefully it will hold off until the event is over. They are expecting 17000 runners and the same number of spectators!

C • good luck! 1

Strange run. Felt pretty good going out, warmed up nicely and then started into a set of 1-2-3-2-1-2-3-2-1 minute intervals with 1 minute rest. First couple felt great, then on teh first 3 min interval, really started to suffer with lactic arms and legs. Probably did first couple too hard (4 min/km). So hung in there for 4.12 for the 3 min one, then really suffered and struggled on the next few (at around 4.25-4.30), but kept the effort up even if teh result was pretty ordinary. Had a bit of a erst before the last couple and got the 2-1 minute ones back to 4min/km to finish up respectably. Jogged abck home. Quite warm for a change and a good day for running. Hope teh weekend is better running-wise than this!

Very good run with Jésus in the Bois. Started off with a couple fo easy km and then cranked it up for 6km of good solid pace (4.20-4.25/km). Felt like I was running strongly and easily and pushed the pace nicely. Left knee a bit sore afterwards.