i felt the same way. hardly any running training for me and almost no forest races at all and only ARK
related training made me feel slow and tentative. When I'm used to wanting (and able) to be aggressive it feels wrong and less satisfying being tentative - and I still made over 2.5 minutes of errors. BUT our min/km times were still competitive in M21. Faster than some HPP members !!
Some racing prior would have sharpen the mind. But injuries earlier in the year prevented this. I think similar to your case. And then is the time availability and/or opportunities for terrain or races
Yeah it al clicked for me on Sunday. Fun