Training Log Archive: JoshuaDudley

https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Wintercup-Jan2020/M...

One of my first goals for the year as a way to practice my new race routine. was a miserable and coldish day, lots of rain and I expected the forest to be very tough going, based on what i had studied and seen on previous routes. A large crown, over 50 in the long mass start. After a good easy warmup, i got my head in check through the routine of controls. Importantly my goal for the race was no mistakes, clean, with good route planning and control circle control. Simple.

1 - start was on a path, so instantly pace was quick, i hung steady trying to read the map, eventually twigged path most of the way to one, so kept it simple just stuck to it. Felt good, strong and clear headed. Breifly looked at 2, knew it was across a marsh (that was all i needed for now). Ok nearing path bend, off into the forest, aimed to stay high of cliffs, at the rentrant was clear to the control. People all over but I kept my own plan.
2 - as I had checked continue on same line, over hill, marsh thn control. boom
3 - slowed a litte to read map, worked back, conrl, cliff, cliff, ridge, so plan was easy, along the ridge. compass was clear. hit the open hill and cliff at the end and knew to skirt up rentrant. As climbed up past final cliff visualised 4 quickley, only to path (no more). Control boom
4 out up to path and along. knew entry to control was a bit tricky so kept good eye on my line, off the path and just right of cliffs, over hill and I was right online, saw Eskil 20s ahead punch it, boom.
5 hadnt planned but knew flat so good compass and head up seeing nice runability. looked at slight left line but marsh on line was ok, crossed hill and intro control. Slowed into control to glance at 6, ok first to path.
6 reflecting on this leg now, left wouldnt have been bad at all, ensuring to keep tabs with crossing final hill. I kept it simple, along upper path right of line, past lake, tried to run and plan the last section, aim was off at path turn, and straight aiming for the gap in the cliffs, then nicely into control. alot of green at bend, so turned off down a litte. kept good tabs with compass up rentrant, came up onto hill a little, and dropped into big marsh, knew i was just above right cliff, so nicely in between then across to final spur crossing. was then keeping close eye on small cliff just above control, came just from its right, crossed underneath then i came right again boom. some had drifted left but I gained a little time. told myself to be calm and plan next leg.
7 as i had focused alot on previous leg, immediately slowed down, got the compass on line, then read the detail, was aiming for big hill then rentrant. came up over knowing where i was smooth in boom.
8 again hadnt planned, so slowed myself. A couple people dart past me, i dont think they knew where they were headed. i spotted the path to the right and aimed there. through green and along, then crossed up to the open area. The group i had lead was now ahead of me on top of the hill, i wondered why? was i that slow. put it behind me and focussed on the control. clocked my entry at the top of the climb, in between two knolls, so was simple, round contour, past boulder over marsh.
9 . bearing for hilltop, then maintain line to control, with small rentrant to guide into control. boom. was slowly catching the group.
10 long one. turned ot of nine, set the compass, and immediately spotted path from before so quite simple down the hill and in. easy to run to much down the hill, but caught the other group now. past marsh and along up the hill. everyeone tried climbing above to get to it, but spotted the cliff below, and caught some time round the bottom.
11. straight to path and up. When you get your eye in, there are more paths than i woudl have thought. after crossing stream, had plan across hill side, found some nice lines through the terrain, leading the pack. up rentrant, spur then nearing control i slowed to check a small crag, was just shy of control, but ok, continued up and in.
12 - rough bearing out. many dropped low, but i stayed high. and sadly misinterpretted a crag for the wrong one. I then ended up on the wrong hill top. soon i flet something was wrong and re-thought my route. ahh im too high, so back and on to the other hill. There was a gaffel here which may have had some effect, but I think my line out of control was more to blame.
13 - now alone again, keep calm, dont storm off. focus. plan for control was contour the bottom. past mid rentrant, then pick cliffs into conttrol. worked well. a bit green tho. staying on high line might have been a bit quicker.
14 - simple up and over down up boom. hard to go wrong here ;)
15 - had a small glance at rest of course. one more long leg. ok now what. along tops. Had thought these could be tricky as very similar shapes so kept really good tabs of aps. was moving quick, strong and had quick AP turnaround. Simple, hill, hill hill, rentrant boom. felt awesome.
16 - didnt think too much here, green was enough to aim for. had momentum in my legs so powered all the way on a nice line. clocked entry point in the green, and continued in. boom.
17 - had managed to see the path right option. simple out and power along. had some breathing behind me but just kept running. then straight across the marsh. a mental fart here thinking i was left of the wall but was ok when i came back over it. apparently ollowing wall directly had a nicer path to follow, i was swimming almost. all the way to the green, considered up and over hill but stuck in to the green. a small pack was moving slow in the green which was frustrating. was careful to hit control correct tho. everything felt suddenly very intense, quite a few people on different courses, but near the finish. boom
18, set the line, ok aim right follow ridge, right of cliffs. crossed well smooth. a wall? didnt exist on map, threw me a little, but ignored it. two guys infront of me, some behind, saw control. boom
they went out to path, ok straight for me. full out, bounding over marsh, so close, but Jens, just got me.


-Good visualising just ahead, to keep the flow, looking to far ahead can lead to miss the current contorl.
-careful on several legs back to back without planning ahead. eg 6,7,8 try to -have a small forward plan before reaching control
-flow on contol still to work on eg 11. great up until last 50m
-bearing out of control!! tu tut
- good control of nerves and technique after 12

Chill stretch core and balance session then a very hot sauna!

Easy run. Found myself in amongst a Gothenburg street race which was a nice surprise to have people cheering without expecting it.

Easy session to get the body in focus for tomorrow, shortened routine so legs wouldn’t be tired.

https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/GBG-Tekniktraning/L...

Aims: clear plan for each leg before leaving previous control, know my control before last ap, slow into circle.

A strange night, very cold but when moving very warm. And so muddy I don’t believe it. In places. It reminded me of trossachs slightly where a contour was definitely 5m and avoiding climb was very sensible.

1 started off plan. Slowly jogging on the path, spot the marsh then big hill and cliff back to spur. Seemed good, so I cut into forest to spur, on line to under crag. Didn’t appreciate how much climb so crossed wall at the green but knew I could push through. Skirted round edge of rocky area. I’ll be honest after crossing th e big renetrant I’m not entirely sure what happens but I kept compass close and aimed for the big marsh, I knew if I was offline I would hit the cliff anyhow. I climbed the hill and knew I was ok, looking for a boulder, it was totally clear until I was near the cobtrol, the mapping just felt a little different to normal.
2 plan, marsh, pass hill, straight to marsh.quite straightforward compass out skirt along marsh, nearing hill it was quite a cliff. But I went straight up and clocked I was right slightly at the top.
3 plan. Working back from control, Big marsh and hill, hill in middle, marsh, cliff edge back to control. Easy. Followed it quite nicely talking to myself occasionally to keep focused. Crossed marsh in mid leg, under cliff and to cross wall, as I got nearer I came a bit right towards saddle of final hill, so decided to take right line to control traversing last tower, and in. I stopped early and spent time looking in the wrong bits although I was 10m from control. Cliffs were mapped odd here, but I went back toward tower to rerun, and this time I forced myself to the renetrant and found it fine.
4 not much in it, try straight up the hill and push to flat area, climbed hill and because of my slow pace and the big contours i gestated almost at every small flat area. Then got to the major one. Into control just slight left of it.
13 plan easy out to marsh in at crag. Text book. Being confident into control knowing it’s a small marsh in renetrant helps to keep the focus.
14 plan, from control cross large flat, renetrant , from big marsh, hill mid leg, to skirt round hilltop. Came o it of control and stayed right of line, staying above large drop, then aiming to traverse cliffs but I was a bit right of them. Hit the big marsh however and was clear aiming to cross to plateau towards control. Easy to cross too high here and get sucked off line but kept checking compass and contouring. Looking to pass rocky hill and in to control. Worked well, however I felt a little rusty on the last 10m into cobtrol. Coming more

Know the control, have confidence on the line
If in doubt of location, don’t worry know your safety direction, you don’t need to know where you are all the time

https://www.livelox.com/Viewer/Night-Corriodor-20_...

Another classy night corridor. Felt great on the warmup and excited to go. Taking from last week my goal was a smooth flow between aps the whole way round. Conscious use of magnifier when I needed it and have a small vague plan ahead.


Overall very content. Ran easy and navigated well. Initially large group of 10 then it split in half at the first diverge. I noticed overall I was using my magnifier less that I had last week, perhaps a mix of used tot he terrain again, simpler shapes on map, or just getting awesome haha. But I don’t see the magnifier as bad either.

I noticed a couple of times where we approached small technical sections, there would be a couple leaders, and a couple of “safe orienteers” willing to follow in times of need. I felt comfortable navigating through these parts , the magnifier being a big bonus. Essential to keep recalling and checking the direction. Especially on some green/ marsh crossings, having a light at the end of tunnel to aim for.

On the small gaffeled cobtrol pick I felt a little clumsy spiking controls, slowing early on one. Partly some pressure to maintain pace with others, but also an interesting shift from a flow through aps to hitting exact controls. Really need to know the cobtrol feature you are looking for, as two next to each other could cost 10s extra if you go for the wrong one.

Overall
Smooth running flow
Direction recall
Know your control
Ruin surprises, look ahead

Golf course intervals fast and muddy so quite tricky running in spots, essentially a xc course. Interval was 5 mins then 90s recovery. Pushed hard on the first two, then 3 at threshold pace. Felt awesome on the first two, middle one felt tough, but pulled together on the last.

Nice long easy run in the woods with Oskar. Needed a bit of sugar part way round to keep me going.