Training Log Archive: O-ing

Easter Day 2 - Pre-planned rest day. The terrain sample didn't look good, so I didn't enter. Figured I would need the rest after the WRE on Day 1. Bruises from the fence hit started coming up, and my neck felt like I had whiplash. pm started to get a cold, not from Aoife, but probably by spending close to 2 hours in a cold Tasmanian playground.

Benbullen (Diddleum) M21E. Straight line 5.3km. Slow and dithering for the first two, losing about 30 secs each, although didn't actually go the wrong way. Coming down to 2, I saw Blair punching it - he started 2 minutes behind me. Far out, I didn't think I was going that slow. Put the map away and got on his trail. We punched 3 and I was stuffed (Blair had the fastest split for this leg!). Leaving 3 Blair started straight up the steep hill it was on. Having already climbed 3 contours to get there I wasn't in the mood for more, so decided to contour. Slow, but hit it straight away. Coming out of 4 Craig was coming back in (he started 2 minutes before me). Did 5 OK but overshot it on an unmapped track - only lost 10 seconds but when I looked behind me Craig was punching it. The next couple were easy long slogs mostly in the open, so settled down for some hard running. Started to lose touch as we climbed to 7, then POW! I'd hit a two strand electric fence full on; bent double and rebounded. A bit groggy after that and had lost Blair and Craig. Hallucinated that I caught Jase by 4 minutes but that was a dream. Reasonable until 10, then drifted off line to 11, got stuck in green and lost 1 minute. Julian Dent flew past till 12 but I was now stuffed and struggled home for 37th place of 46 finishers.

Happy with a respectable if not outstanding result in my last WRE race - scored 645 WRE points, a lot better than last years NOL (292 pts). I'm pretty sure I am now officially retired from elite orienteering - bar miracles.

C • hallucination 3

Event: Australian 3-Day Orienteering Championships
 

Trevallyn (Deadmans Knob) at Launceston, TAS. Bush sprint distance with 4 loops, mini mass starts of 4 with a 4 minute gap. Didn't see anyone after we got onto the separate loops after no. 5 (2:09), so they could have used a 2 minute gap. Slight misses in direction at 7, 11, 12, 17, 20 and 22 costing 10-20 seconds each. Also lost 10 seconds up the hill to 14 with stabbing pains in my R ankle, not sure why, but it went away. So total time loss 1:45. Although I was running OK, the climb took its toll and I was slowing down by no. 19 (11 minutes in). Finished 43rd, 3 places ahead of LOST_Richard!

At Physios - needling, taped knee. May be patellar-femoral, rather than tendinosis.

Slowish early. Got on the chase group from Cott to Roses Hill. Reasonable position for sprint, but car on the right and Greg on the left put paid to that.