Training Log Archive: Giac

WOC 2014 Relay:


@Campomulo, Italy


Was the race I was training for all year, so lots at stake. After all, it ended up being great. We beat Canada and ended up 28th, only one place behind last year's result. I started hard, too hard maybe, keeping up with the first teams up the first big hill. Then, on the first downhill slope, my ankle cracks the first time during this race, despite all the taping, all the medicine, and the nights putting special Arnica muds on it. I lose track of the mass of runners quickly, while I accept the pain and also while I fail to be completely clean to the first control. Thinking that healthier team-mates could have taken care of the leg better than I already was doing made me a little depressed, but had to take my responsibilities from there and endure the next 40 min. It was quite and epic course, up and down the slopes around the arena, woods filled with rocks, trenches, holes and caves. I reevaluated my pace and accepted my precarious situation. My dream of running hard today was quickly out of my mind, and sincerely also my physical abilities are not where they should be to keep up with the field even without the complication of my ankle. But I endured, made it through the course after an average performance, having trouble on the technical areas of the map and failing to move quickly where I could have tried to with a better ankle. Passed the ball to Ethan with Canada up 4min, so we still had some hopes to catch up. And then it happened, Ethan was perfect, superclean and determined, switching for Eric right with Team Canada and some other teams which I had fallen behind early on. Then EricBone did the rest, putting his experience and good shape to use. Seeing him coming confident at the spectator control and asking where Canada was, was a great moment. Surely enough he came back from the woods ahead, completing an epic come-back. It was a good result for us, but we are all well aware where the other teams are setting the bar, and it's quite a lot higher than where we stand right now.

C • Relay 5

WOC 2014 Relay Terrain Training:
@Campomulo

Went out on the Middle Model with Ethan, who came up with a course for us to do. We ran together but taking different, sometimes very different, routes to compare how runnability changes in differently mapped areas.

Some notes:

1. As expected, running hard will be complex in this terrain. Rocks are slippery, lots of tree-roots, even the open fields are really uneven and can can cause challenges to running smoothly.

2. Navigation using rock features: generally necessary to find the control within the circle. Keeping good contact with the map and memorizing ahead of time how the terrain in the circle will look like seems like the best way to have success here.

3. Running uphill: there will be plenty of that.

4. Two things I could rely on: compass bearings and contours. Will need the help of both.

WOC 2014 Relay Selection Race for Team USA - Men:

@ Lavarone Sud (Ovest)

The race chosen for our selection race was the Open Long course of the Five Days of Italy, spectator races to WOC 2014. A 4.1 km course, same as W18. Frankly, a course way too easy to be an M E selection race, and pretty much irrelevant compared to the really challenging forests which will stage the Middle and the Relay. But we made due and the only option we had really. Large parts were on trails and only sporadically we were challenged with more technical controls in the forest. I started confident and under control, pushing on the gas on the trails and slowing down around controls to keep at bay my known habit to run too fast and have my brain overheat and make silly mistakes. I still failed to keep focus the whole race and lost 1 full minute to Ethan on a route choice late in the race. I realized it right away and felt like I would lose my spot on the relay because of it. But I still finished ok, won the selection just some 20s ahead of Ethan and 3+ minutes ahead of Wyatt and Ross.

This year, running the relay was my season-goal, not loving sprints too much and not being there enough forest spots for the Team on the Middle and Long. So, yes, I was happy this race went well, and also to see that my last year of training payed off at least a little bit.

Training session on the Lavarone Sud (Est) map here at WOC 2014. Ran mostly on trails to get my legs in shape for tomorrow's Selection Race, and only once in a while explored parts of the forest. In some areas the map seemed clearly not up to date any more, but it's not a map they will use at WOC, so whatever. The vegetation grew wild this year with all the rain in the spring, and the visibility was generally worse than I expected reading the map.

In any case, good training, my legs felt good and my mood was better after a disappointing weekend.

Rest Day today, at least for those of us not running the WOC Mixed Relay. We still went down to Trento to watch, and it was fun up until the thunderstorm dispersed everyone towards the cars.

Relay Training on the Turcio Map.

I ran all of the Men-Elite course, though slowed down considerably on the steepest uphills not to waste too much energy.

Few comments:
1. Navigation in the midst of boulders and rocks can be confusing without knowing your exact location. Seems like I should choose solid attackpoints to find the control feature between many similar ones. A solid compass bearing is not enough, since you can just run 2 meters away from rocks or rocky pits and not see the hidden flag.

2. White forest: some good running where there are no black-dotted areas. Otherwise, trails were a faster option in general, if you can find them.

2. Terrain is very physically demanding: uphill and rocks everywhere make it difficult to move. I was constantly concentrating on where to step in order to make it through in the right direction without hurting myself. Seems like this map might be worse than the WOC Relay map, but the conditions make me worry about my ankle.