Training Log Archive: Rosstopher

UOF Cup race number 4. A smaller crowd out there, but I decided that my goal would be to beat my oft times rival Tommy Lindberg.

There was an immediate split of the pack on the way to the first control, and David Lingfors, Tommy, and I had the right fork while Henrik and Niklas had the left. We met up again running across the field to 2, and then on the long trail to 3 Henrik and Niklas had already disappeared up front. David had to stop for a few minutes to let his heart palpitations pass, and Tommy and I were still together for 3 and 4, but then he had the longer forking on 5. I was running alone to the center of the butterfly loop, crossing the field and, wondering why I only saw one set of prints (they looked like Henrik's) when I heard Tommy and Niklas coming up behind me. Tommy and I had the same order in the butterfly but Niklas made a big mistake on his loop. I fell a bit behind, but was still close enough to get some help from Tommy when I drifted too low on 13, and I saw him punching above me. He disappeared, but I was running strong and I caught back up and perhaps passed him on the long road leg out to 16. I was alone for 17-18 but Tommy reappeared as we came together to punch 19. I knew I had it in my legs to out sprint him for the last few controls, and that's what I did. At the end, as we were chatting, he realized that he skipped 14, so a dsq for him.

It felt like a good race and I was pleased if surprised to come in 2nd. Nice open woods, beautiful sunshine, and a good result. Mycket bra.

results

Biked down to the gym for gympa tonight. If you're working hard, the trip down is only 15 minutes. I met Boris there and Lisa also arrived, but no Magnus. He was sick, but his replacement had good music and a really hard workout that was heavy on the upper body. Happily tired by the end. The slow slog up the hill took more than 15 minutes :)

Simon designed a long training on a map to the north of Uppsala. It was a cold morning, but a nice group to run with. We started out running at an "easy pace" and quickly found that our little group of Simon, Niklas, Anders, Boris and I had distanced ourselves from the rest.

I was navigating well and feeling great. Really liked this training a lot. It's fun to see and feel how much better I'm orienteering now, six months after arriving in Uppsala.

map

Rest Day of sorts. Skipped out on SynggFriday to go to a disputationfest. Wonder if I can log 40 minutes of trying to tie my bowtie using a smart phone and perhaps stupid fingers on the train to Stockholm :)

Snabbtdistance with the club. Ran over with Boris and Sam. It was cold, Sam was running way fast muttering "It's cold, It's cold, It's cold" which was funny but also very true. Too cold to be any fun.

We skipped running drills, and just did a couple of ramp-ups to gradually work into the speed session. Right into 3 x 3.33k in Flogsta.

I chased Henrik, David and Niklas around the first loop in 12.27, tried to keep pace with Johan on the next loop for 12.19, and then only the truly crazy and hardcore of us stayed around to do a third lap with Niklas and Johan keeping a nice speed bringing me back around in 12.05.

A nice training, feeling stronger and stronger each lap. Looking forward to the real test next week.

Wednesday Night Orienteering with the club. Tonight was held on a distant map, and I always worry slightly about keeping people waiting when there is a drive back to Uppsala after the race. So, with that in mind I signed up for the middle course, and it seems to have been the right choice tonight.

Sam set courses, and I think they were well received. I had fun, but I found Lunsen to be also a tough place to orienteer at night, not just during the day.

Quickroute My track this evening courtesy of Sam's Garmin. I had a hard time reading vegetation and swamps tonight, getting tripped up a lot, notably on 1, 2, and 8 because of making bad assumptions based on over reading the stuff around me. Didn't realize that 4 was mishung until after I got back, and that certainly helps to explain how I managed to get off so much on 5.

8 was a debacle. I thought, at one point, that I was seeing the clear cut area and so altered my course drastically. Of course I hadn't even crossed the main path yet so changing my direction drastically resulted in wandering lost in the swamps. Not in the best mood for the rest of the course, but it was tough to stay grumpy when cruising through the beautiful white woods on the way to 13. Ah well, next Wednesday will offer another chance for redemption.