Orienteering race 1:03:23 [4] 8.7 km (7:17 / km)
shoes: VJ Supra 2013
Tiomila 2014!
Team CSU - our second Tiomila attempt, and 5th European relay adventure overall (Spring Cup 2002, Jukola 2006, Tiomila 2008, Jukola 2012, Tiomila 2014).
Our biggest goal was to not mispunch. Beyond that, it would be nice to come top-200, perhaps beat Linné's 3rd team, and also beat our starting number (165). We also hoped to keep PG out of the catch-up mass start, but that was avoided by only 90 teams, so was actually a pretty unrealistic goal.
The line-up: Giacomo-Boris-Ian-Matthias-Brendan-Kenny-Greg-Ali-Ross-PG.
Giacomo set the tone for us by crushing it on the first leg. He came in just 7 minutes after the lead, and I had lots of people around me right from the start. I knew that I was out of shape, so the goal was to focus on my orienteering and not give away any unnecessary time. The climb over the steep ridge right from the start was painful, and I felt like everyone was passing me right away. I had the long first control forking, and took the trail route around. Hit the first control, and saw some of the guys who passed me at the start come in behind me.
I stayed focused through the control-picking section of the course (which was most of the controls 2-11), and was feeling pretty good. I had a couple of hesitations, but no big misses. Then after the 2nd TV control, my shape caught up with me, and I started really struggling, especially in the areas with a lot of deadfall. I made a mistake right after the TV control, losing 45 seconds or so, and told myself to just stay focused on the navigation and keep moving. The leg to the second-to-last control, contouring along a steep and junky hillside, was a struggle, but I was relieved to hit it and get to the finish without major disasters.
I lost a bunch of spots on my leg (15, I think), but it could have been far worse. I am pretty satisfied with my performance, given the shape I am in. It should only get better from here.
I spent the rest of the night spectating and cheering, both for CSU and for Linné. It was awesome to see Ian come in after a great run on his 3rd leg, and also inspirational to watch Albin catch the leading pack from 5:30 back during the Long Night leg.
Cheering for my CSU teammates was so much fun, as everyone came back saying they were satisfied and managed to avoid disaster. Ian, Matthias, Brendan, Kenny, and Greg kept us steadily in the 160's during the night, and then Ali and Ross rocked legs 8 and 9, bringing us into the 140's. PG was solid as always from the mass start, and even put in a final sprint on the run-in that probably ended up gaining us two spots, into a final position of 145 - way above all expectations!
Tiomila was a blast with CSU, and I hope we keep having adventures like these for years to come. Thanks to my awesome teammates for a great weekend! (Thanks also to Alli for making me taking warm gloves and for providing me with pounds of delicious salad to snack on during the long, cold night.)