Training Log Archive: Kat

EVENT: Uppland District Relay Champs
COURSE: 1st leg of D21 relay, 6.4 km, course BA, 13 controls
MAP: Sigtuna, 1:10,000, 2.5m contours
TERRAIN: Lovely runnable forest with some intricate sections, hillier than the typical Uppland terrain. Overall, fast and enjoyable woods.
MY RUN: This was a learning experience. I've never run first leg before at a relatively big relay and I made a few mistakes today. The only one I will describe in detail here is the mistake to the first control, because it set the stage for the rest of the race, so to speak.

We picked up our maps and I quickly figured out my route to the first control and the control number. Meanwhile, the pack of girls was moving at a speed more appropriate for racing 1500 meters on the track rather than running 6.4 km through the woods. The first control was a rock off a trail, so all I had to do was take the right trails and not get confused. This was harder than it seemed. There were girls in front of me, so I couldn't see what was up ahead. There were girls behind me, so I couldn't really stop or slow down unless I moved off to the side. At one trail junction, I hesitated, looked at my map, and decided I needed to go right. This turned out to be the wrong trail, as I quickly realized. I cut through the woods and managed to relocate once on the right path and find my control, but I'd lost about 1.5 minutes, enough to lose the faster girls. If I had just followed the others instead of navigating on my own, this wouldn't have happened. But I've gotten to the point where I am no longer interested in following other people. I made a lot of mistakes today, but at least they were my mistakes, and not somebody else's. But running first leg requires paying attention to other people. I think that if I had to do it over again, I would think harder before breaking away from the other girls to take my own route to the first control.

Despite my extremely poor result, I enjoyed myself out there. And I think that with some practice running first leg, I can become quite good at it. I like running with other people and I like running fast.

Started to do a cool-down with Boris, but both of us were pretty tired.

Running to the start, reasonably quickly because it was raining and I was cold.

EVENT: Uppland District Champs, middle distance.
COURSE: D21, 4.0 km, 17 controls
MAP: Eksunda, 1:10,000, 2.5m contours
TERRAIN: Typical technical Swedish forest. The course went through mostly white woods, with lots of small dot knolls and rocks.
MY RACE: I started off very tentatively, since I haven't seen Swedish terrain since mid-May. Despite trying to be careful, I lost time on three out of the four first controls.(Not that this is an excuse, but a lot of people lost time on these controls. They were tricky.) After that I started getting into the map and doing well. I saw a few Swedes out there, including Becka, and at first I thought I'd end up just running in a pack the rest of the way. But then, just like in Latvia, I started to gain confidence after running with others for a couple of controls and then took off on my own. My best split on the course was to #14, where I navigated entirely on my own and actually had Swedes following me! By the end of the race I was flying. I wish there were a few more km to go. I might have picked up a few more places.
MISTAKES: 6.5 minutes lost on #1, #3, #4
RESULTS: 13th out of 36 in D21. Winner was Annika Billstam, 30:41.

Jogging after the finish, before quickly changing to dry clothes. It was raining all morning!

Still feel a bit jetlagged and also on the verge of a cold. Stayed home with Boris, Thai food, and a movie.

A long line-O on trails in Nåsten, with a few stops to drop off/pick up some stuff (water, gloves, keys) and look at the map. At least 2/3 of the run was on gravel or wide horse trails, but I also put in a few sections on narrow, partly indistinct paths. There were a few unmapped trails in these areas, so I got lost a few times and even had to cut through the woods twice, but I always got back on the right trail eventually. I went up the hill on the east edge of Nåsten three times, but it felt very short. After this summer, I am never going to look at a hill in the same way again. I did start feeling sort of tired at the end, but after I had some water for the second time, after 2hrs, I was feeling good and the last ten minutes were at a very nice pace. Gorgeous weather, too. Didn't need the gloves.

I went to bed somewhere around 11-12 last night. This morning, by the time I finally decided to open my eyes and get out of bed, it was 12:22, early afternoon!!! I don't remember the last time I woke up this late. Just goes to show how completely messed up my body is right now....Hopefully a few more days will fix the jetlag and I can have a regular sleep cycle again.

C • Nice sleep 1

Easy run in Stadsskogen with Patrick. Nice weather, although chilly enough for me to wear my thermal gloves. I am still very jet-lagged, but I felt good running. I am ready to start being fast again!

Core and some leg strength after the run.

OK Linne sprint championships. I was extremely hesitant in the beginning, stopping several times and taking a few wrong turns after misreading the map. It's been a long time since I've had to decide on route choice around buildings/fences instead of just going straight and I was extremely out of practice. But after the fifth control I got it together and started racing. I have some very nice splits from the second half of the course and Boris said I looked fast. This was sort of unexpected because I skipped a night of sleep entirely and was therefore jetlagged all day, doing all I could just to keep my eyes open. But once I was up and running, I felt great!

Running home, with Patrick.

Flight to Sweden.

Since I am a student, my year begins in the fall. So, strange as it may seem, I am now thinking about the past year and making new year's resolutions for the next one. My general thoughts are as follows:

1. My orienteering improved dramatically this past year and I have gained a ton of experience, but of course my results were highly inconsistent. I had some great runs - winning W21L at a British national event, coming in 34/40 in D21E in a very competitive Swedish field, finishing 17/21 in D21E in Latvia. I also had some terrible runs - the Varsity Match, BUSA, JK Middle, Swedish Rehn BK middle, Latvia middle. Yes, there's a pattern. The races I did well in were classics, the ones I did poorly in tended to be middles.
2. My strength and endurance increased this past year and my hill-running abilities can now be described as "average" (whereas before this summer, they would have been "poor" or more likely "pathetic.") My speed, however, has remained about the same. This is because I did basically no intervals this past year. It was hard to race 1-2 times each weekend and recover quickly enough to be able to do quality intervals during the week, so I cut them out of my schedule. I hope this year will be different.
3. I did some wonderful base training this summer. It was the first time I attempted to do base training (by which I mean long, easy sessions, with the focus being endurance and strength) and it was one of my most successful training periods so far. It's made me tougher, mentally and physically. I feel a lot calmer now. And excited to be orienteering again!!

So, focus this year will be:
1. Get as much practice with sprints and middles as possible
2. Look at as many long legs as possible (route choice)
3. Improve speed and hill-running
4. Try to run each orienteering race as cleanly as possible (consistency!!)

C • welcome back to Uppsala! funny... 1