Training Log Archive: Kris

Nice morning shake out with the guys. Didn't plan to, but revisited the dead end of doom and the kitchen corridor. I didn't get to sleep until late last night (not that I would have got to sleep earlier had I run well!) but by the time I got to sleep I'd got my head around my sprint performance. I don't think the corridor was good, but I lacked confidence and overreached. I would rather focus on the things I could have done better than focus on the map.

After the race, we ran back to the hotel as a team and then had ice cream - what a great bunch of people.

WOC mixed sprint relay, 7th.

Charlotte set me out in about the position I expected, ~45s behind the lead of Sweden. I didn't expect there to be so many teams close behind Tove though. Normally a gap forms, but there were teams strung out for the whole of the 45s.

My focus was on not overreaching - just do the process and whatever happens will be enough. I talked to myself a lot more than usual in my warm up, reassuring myself.

I focused on picking good routes and catching people as and when I could. I didn't rush and yet I was getting a load of positive feedback each time I'd gain a position. I caught teams steadily throughout the race, getting on the back of Sweden on the last few controls but never quite close enough to pass. It didn't feel special so it's a bit surprising that I was the fastest man by 30s today.

Sweden got away on the 3rd leg but a group containing 2nd-6th formed and Peter stuck in well. Unfortunately, that group did not include Denmark and Maja ran her usual stormer on last leg to take them up into the 3rd place. Megan race a good race apart from a mistake at the end and was in sight of the medals for a lot of the race. Without the mistake, it would have been closer with the teams in 5th and 6th but those teams were slightly ahead so I think we might have ended up 7th regardless. It was a very close relay in the end, and whilst I felt like there was quite a lot of route choice, I think most of the choices were pretty even. There were no 'bad' routes on a lot of the legs and the race stayed together more as a result - that's my theory anyway. Once again, it was exciting to be fighting in the medal positions for a lot of the race and the other guys in the team (and those who didn't quite make the team) were awesome throughout.

C • Super 2

WOC sprint qualifier, 4th.
Not a huge amount to say, I was clean and I ran hard but not flat out. It was getting a bit warm but wasn't too bad out there actually. One of the better qualifying courses I've seen and very tight to qualify in my heat. Minimum stress.

WOC sprint, 10th.
Bit of a difficult one to process.

The rain started before the first man and with it came much cooler temperatures, so I was pretty happy about that really. I felt good on the warm up and was excited for the challenge.

The wet cobbles and crowds were more stressful that I would have liked but I started ok. I missed the alleyway to 7 due to a pedestrian blocking the entry but minimal time lost. To 8 the best route went through an opening that they had opened for the race - basically indoors through some corridor. I ran in and got to a fork with no indication of which way to go and took the right hand fork down some steps into a restaurant kitchen. I lost ~17 seconds to the fastest time on this leg and a big chunk will have been this. I wasn't the only one who did this and it 100% needed to be taped or marshalled.

This made me more stressed and it was difficult to relax and let it go. I ran the next section well but ultimately pushed too hard and didn't see the blocked alleyway to 16, running down the dead end. I lost 22s to the fastest time on this leg and that was the medal chances gone.

I went back through the corridor by 7 on the way to 17 and this time I was certain I knew the way. Except I didn't, ran up the stairs to some landing and then back down, losing more time (+10s to the fastest on this leg). I'm not ashamed to say that my language at this point was far from PG.

So 10th, +38s to gold and +18s to the medals. I'm annoyed about that corridor, but ultimately my performance could have been a lot better if I hadn't let it affect me as much. That is sport though, sometimes things just don't go your way.

I don't want this to sound like sour grapes, it's just frustrating. Ultimately I could have controlled things better, it was a stressful race all around - so full credit to those at the top. I could have been better at controlling my race. It's a missed opportunity, but I have another opportunity tomorrow.

After doping control.

Model event with drills

Landed in Riga with Chris and wanted to do something to get the legs turning over a bit. 2km (~5 mins), 2 x 30s (90s). Felt much harder than I reckoned for, but not too worried given the combination of 4.40am start, 30° heat and headwind (this last one was actually quite nice considering the heat)...