Training Log Archive: ernst

JUKOLA! Leg 7. The UNO old guys team on their 2018 bucket list tour!
A huge O fair/festival with about 20k people mulling around - oversize screens ; sounds everywhere, long lines for most everything. Dust in the air like at a rodeo. I'd call it the "Woodstock of Orienteering".

Our team completely converged over 3 days with J.J. arriving just hours before the start.

I was glad not to run in the dark. I started with the morning anchor leg mass start. Alar and I were able to watch on the screen the top teams finishing which included GPS traces on the map. This helped to prepare me mentally for the task, and it was nice to have a bit of a preview of the last few controls.

The start itself was not nearly as dramatic as the beginning mass start of the event. Almost all runners seem to use the chute to the start triangle as a warm up. I also used it to plan my route to 1 and 2. There were some "waiting in line" stops as we entered the foot paths. After that it was the endless game of moving, passing slower runners, being passed by faster runners (more rarely). A new experience for me but I seemed to adjust ok. I did forget to check the code at 1, but the location was unquestionable. From then on, I religiously checked all codes to the end, including the last control.

I could have had cleaner approaches. I bobbled around in several of the forked controls, most seriously at 3 and 15, a bit at 4, A monumental mistake at 6: I followed the crowd instead of executing my planned route of staying on trail to water stop, then attacking backwards to gauge off the oncoming runners (up to 10 min mistake, grrrr), but I did manage to solidly relocate in very complex terrain. I missed 23 which was in a vague area in the same way I saw some of the top runners doing in the broadcast. But I relatively quickly recovered.

I felt strong physically and passed many runners until around 15, when I felt the onset of cramping in the inner thigh muscles. So I slowed and went with the flow. I ate a bar on route, drank a lot at the water stops and tried to engage calf muscles more than the uppers. Luckily there were long runs mostly in the flats from 16 to 22 and I was able to avert any serious cramping incidence.
The rock salt that was offered at the water control after 16 may have helped as well.

It was a great experience! Totally new to me. The training in similar terrain 3 days before was extremely helpful. In the end it was not nearly as torturous (both physically and mentally) as I had expected. The weather was on the hotter side, but very dry, not dreadful.

I am so happy I was able to participate in this. Thanks fellow UNO team members for the initiating of the effort, the incredibly uplifting positive spirit and camaraderie throughout and a solid finish in the end!

C • Woodstock... 5

Event: 70th Jukola Relay
 

Gentle run on dirt roads on a loop near our cottage in Lahti. I expected a 3 mile loop but it ended up being a bit farther. Windy and clouds moving in at about 70 F degrees. Very comfortable.

Part 1 of O training at map 7 of Jukola training maps. Group forking exercise with Alar, and the 2 Steves. We waited for each others at # 1 and the second triangle, but then the bugs (mostly flies) were pestering us too much, so we decided to continue individually. Very tough navigation around the many often very deep depression. Woods were full of elephant tracks, which was helpful at times and confusing at others. Toughest navigation I have ever done, which explains the slow pace. Some of it includes waiting for others.

Part 2 of training at map # ...
Last few controls to "finnish". I crossed over with Steve O, and then plowed ahead doing quite the detour to 13, but staying high. Alar and Steve T had moved ahead of us quite a bit.

Local evening event W of Tallinn. Alar, Steve T and I started closed together and kept seeing each other throughout. Fun event with some challenging controls in poor visibility areas, others along an ocean beach, and finally a river crossing up to 1 foot deep in one spot, and some slouching through muddy high grass. Otherwise some good fast running. That was a lot of fun. Lost 3 min at # 2, then some <1 minute bobbles near the controls. I need to achieve better fine precision. Using the magnifier does help for that purpose, just need to cultivate the habit.