Training Log Archive: blairtrewin

This was the first forest race I've done in italy, and I had a lot of trouble getting into the terrain - limestone country where it wasn't always that easy to tell what was up and what was down (with various lines of WW1 trenches to add somethign to the mix). I was never navigating with any real confidence, and probably dropped 5-6 minutes all up - the worst being the first control and 5, the first one in the trenches. It was also pretty tough underfoot in places, and I felt rather weak today for no obvious reason - something which was evident in the warm-up.

I was told when I arrived that the announcer had been talking me up as one of the favourites; clearly he was unfamiliar with my recent form (or even my not-so-recent) as this field included Tore Sandvik and Mikael Bostrom, with five WOC medals between them. With a decent run I might have got down into the upper 30s; Tore and Mikael both did 30.

Getting to the event was slightly ill-starred - first it took me 15 minutes to find my IOF parking pass, then we took the wrong road out of Asiago (confused by an O-sign which was going to the event office), then when we got to the event we got directed past the entrance by an official who didn't realise we were there for the event. (Getting out of the car park afterwards was also an experience the likes of which I haven't had since the glory days of VFL Park). There's a definite air of chaos about some of what's happening (no national stereotypes here :-) but it seems to be working Ok on the day.

And the World Championships must be in town; numerous hotel balconies in Lavarone are sporting national flags and drying orienteering gear.

Event: WOC 2014 + 5 Days of Italy
 

Venice public prologue. I'd previously flagged that it wasn't going to be possible (short of hiring a water taxi at vast expense) for me to get to the sprint qualifying, so went straight to the prologue and started as early as I could (it was an open start).

It's Venice - of course it was going to be fun. We went into the core of the tourist zone (although not as far as St. Mark's) and pedestrian traffic was a factor, but not a massive one. I thought the course was technically easier than the one I ran in 2011, but clearly this wasn't a unanimous view because on several occasions I was passed by people at high speed and then saw them again two or three controls later reversing out of a dead end or going at 90 degrees in the wrong direction. This was a decent run though felt as if I was tiring a bit towards the end. Was 6th the last time I saw the results.

WOC in Venice was also a unique experience - probably more so on TV (sepaking of which, my TV gig fell through yesterday but might happen later on the week). Wasn't concentrated as much in the (less interesting) eastern end of the island as I expected.

It was a long day; I eventually got to Lavarone around 10.30. In transit it was demonstrated that it is possible to get a dud pasta in Italy (although I shouldn't really have expected more of a motorway service area).

Started out this morning with thoughts of climbing Konigstuhl, the highest peak in the range to the south-east, but it was apparent I wasn't going to get to the top and back in the hour I'd allowed myself (plus my Achilles wasn't great this morning on the climbs). Instead, about halfway to the top I took to a track which ran east along the contour and downwards - nice in amongst the forest. Not quite so nice coming back along the south bank of the river - lots of traffic - but OK as a run.

As predicted, the function on the boat was a bit less raucous than its 1991 equivalent. At such gatherings in the science world, I'm used to having to explain what orienteering is, but there was definitely no need last night - I was sitting next to a Swiss woman whose long-standing friend from the village they grew up in was a girl by the name of Luder, of whom readers may have heard.

Heading for the station once proceedings end today for the overnight train to Venice. The logistics aren't going to work for me to get to the sprint qualification, but should be at everything else (probably with a TV microphone for much of it).

This was a shorter run, although still with a fair bit of climbing in it as I went back to some of the more view-friendly points of the lower half of yesterday's route, this time with a camera. Started to feel better once the climbing started; grinding the gears has been a regular experience in the first kilometre in recent times, but this week it's taken me a couple to get going. One especially nice section once up high, on a track winding more or less along the contour through the forest.

Today moved to a more formal stage of the meeting (i.e. seating was formally by country). I was keeping an eye out for interesting combinations on either diplomatic or footballing grounds. The Irish might have potentially had a challenging peace-keeping role between Iran and Israel except that the Iranians haven't yet turned up, while none of the World Cup quarter-final pairs are close to each other (though Chile are directly behind Brazil).

It's good knowing enough of the local language to be able to get a handle on the local scandals. Not that today's scandal in Germany (involving a couple of MPs getting up to mischief) needed much translation, with headlines including words like "SPD-Politiker", "Crystal Meth" and "Kinderporno".

Tonight's conference function is on a boat doing a cruise on the river. I'm guessing it might be a less lively affair than the last time I had a function on a boat in Germany.

There are two major sets of hills around Heidelberg - one to the north-east and one to the south-east. (The city is located where the Neckar river, which runs west-east, emerges from an escarpment). I have two major hill runs in mind here and today was the north-east one (Friday is south-east if things go to plan).

There were certainly hills; the track started going up after 1km and kept doing so more or less continuously, easing off somewhat after about 5km but not really flattening off properly until very close to my planned turnaround time. (It wasn't until I looked at a topographic map later in the day that I realised that at this point I was just below the top of one of the two highest peaks in the district, a 546m summit - the river's at about 110). Of course a long climb also means a long descent, which my quads weren't always happy about, although they don't seem to have come up too badly afterwards. (The climb was a long grind but I managed to get through it, albeit slowly). Lots of nice German forest to run through; it's always a bit of a culture shock how dark it is.

The luggage finally turned up last night.

Orienteering is some way behind football when it comes to sponsorship opportunities, but one could be tempted to say that football has gone too far on seeing a tweet (since deleted) from York City FC: "The list of player shits available to sponsor has now been updated".

Didn't get as much sleep as I would have liked last night after going to the university to watch the Germany-Algeria match on the big screen there, before heading out on a nice morning in a crisp Canberra-in-November sense. This was an out-and-back up the river (a major transport corridor which of course, this being Europe, has a good bike/foot path as well as its roads and rail line) - there are big forested hills to both the northeast and southeast but I'll save those for later in the week.

The run was pretty sleepy early on; felt better later on, but pretty slow for a flat run.

Was already thinking today was a likely rest day given the full schedule (coming down from Stuttgart in the morning for the conference start in Heidelberg), but my gearlessness made sure of that - I made the connection in Berlin mentioned in yesterday's entry (not without being part of a pack running from one end of Berlin Airport to the other in a passable imitation of the Jukola mass start), but my luggage didn't. (As of Tuesday morning I'm still waiting). I had partially anticipated this and made sure that I had some key items in my hand luggage (including my conference poster), but there are limits.

One benefit of having an international conference during the World Cup: you have an immediate conversation-starter with whoever you happen to find yourself with during a break (especially if their country is still in it).

And fun for the whole family: the database of the number of registered firearms in Victoria by postcode has been made public. I'm gratified that there are no bazookas, cannons or machine guns registered in Heidelberg (or West Heidelberg for that matter), although there are 17 to be found on the mean streets of Ivanhoe just down the road. (There are also 17 in Fairfield, although how many of these are on the Hells Angels premises is unknown). I am somewhat puzzled about what function 11 rocket-launchers serve in Chadstone, but the most obvious standout - the 18,000+ handguns in Collingwood - has a logical explanation (the Victoria Police armoury is there) and doesn't have anything to do with stereotypes about supporters of their football team.