Discussion: Training Camp in Denmark

First of all, THAX TOM for putting on a great training camp! Too bad you couldn't plan nicer weather, but compared to my last training camp in Denmark, this was a breeze! Tom, Sandra, Boris, James and I will certainly be working on a full report, but here are the quick and dirty details.

Key importance factors for next year:
Vegetation will be very important. Light green is actually more difficult to get through that dark green (particularly the light green that is non-pine, and will only be getting thicker during the summer months). There are many forms of white forest, depending on age, proximity to other levels of vegetation, etc.
Route choice: will be critical. Finding the best route, finding the best route for your particular strength and executing well. And the forests will be fast, so planning ahead for later in the race could play a big part in successful runs.
Hill reps required: You think Denmark is flat? Not this part of Denmark. Okay, it is not Japan or Swiss-land, but there are hills to be run (and we did).
Trail running: Danish maps have intense trail (and ride) networks, and these were no exception. These are also often strong candidates for route choice options. So speed on the tracks will be important as well.
That is the short and sweet...more news to come, and of course, check out our training logs as well. I am sure Boris will be much more eloquent that I. Thanks again Tom!

Hopefully we can post the maps they trained on. In the meantime, here are the most recent versions of maps for the middle qualifying and relay terrains.

thank you for the update!

Tom has all the maps that we trained on digitally, so those will certainly be posted - it is just a question of where. I think he was going to contact Eddie about putting them on the team page. Both Tom and Sandra took some pictures as well, so those will most-likely be forth-coming. We did stop by one of the proposed accommodations as well, which Helen had actually stayed at for a training camp and could recommend positively. It is a bit more isolated than staying in Aarhus, so there is that discussion.

I will try to get all the maps posted tonight in some form at least. I have tried sending them out via my work e-mail today without success, so I need to do this from home I guess. Also, James has started drafting a report from the training camp which we will distribute to the Team e-mail list. Relative to accommodations I think there is some reason for discussion of options and this is probably also best handled via the team e-mail list.

Thanks for the quick update, Karen. And I can't wait to hear more and see your maps!

Those maps look really nice. How is the green on the Middle Qualifier?

John, the maps I posted are of the actual terrain to be used next year. That terrain is embargoed. Our guys/gals were training on nearby maps that are said to be relevant.

Doh!

Karen writes: "Vegetation will be very important. Light green is actually more difficult to get through that dark green (particularly the light green that is non-pine, and will only be getting thicker during the summer months). There are many forms of white forest, depending on age, proximity to other levels of vegetation, etc."

I sure hope the WOC maps are better than this at representing speed of forest. Dark green being faster than light would be a problem. Hopefully we'll be able to recalibrate how they did on the green mapping at the WOC model event(s). Definitely something to pay attention to! Thanks.

Karen: Can you navigate by the vegetation? Is the vegetation used a checkpoint locations? or is it important for speed/route choice only.

The training camp was GREAT! Thanks Tom! I am really looking forward to going back, and am a bit sad that it went by so quickly.

I will be working on my report today, updating my training log and putting my maps and routes up on Marc and I's blog. I applogize for being a little slow at getting this up. My father is in town.

Sandra's report is posted here.

Hammer...sorry for the delayed response. Navigating by the green is relatively safe, and the open areas are very distinct...the white is very variable. I do not recall having any of our control points being vegetation features, but there might have been the odd small clearing. It will be very important for speed and route choice, but I doubt it will be a core control feature.