Training Log Archive: MCrone

Chilled run around Steinach am Brenner and in the forest close by (forest was with a map and I went to some of the permanent controls there so maybe I can count this as orienteering ;) ). Just trying to get the legs moving and shake out the WOC cobwebs. It's going to be a fun week. At least now there is a lot less pressure. Sprint will be fun on Monday, middle on tuesday and long on wednesday and then just some training for the rest of the week.

Another O event next Sunday.

Then it is back to work and things will probably be quite hectic, but I am looking forward to it as well.

So here is some WOC feedback (first of many). I'm going to try and be as honest as possible and we will see where we go from there. I don't think that trying to not step on people's toes does any good for the sport, especially elite orienteering.

Firstly, I was not planning to run at WOC this year. My federation is not able to provide financial support and so it is entirely funded by the athlete. I feel that it is difficult to justify spending £1000 on two weeks of orienteering when I would need several trips beforehand to get used to the terrain. This is something that is not possible for athletes in South Africa and the fact that I could attend training camps is solely because I am currently based in Europe. By the time I feel that I am actually ready to compete it is just too much of a cost in terms of time and money (especially with very limited leave at work and I have a leave policy that is actually quite lenient). This may be different for sprint distance (and I will deal with that later) but it is definitely true for the forest races.

My plan for orienteering this year was potentially to help out with JWOC and to then run the 5 days of TyrOL with my new Swiss club OLV Zug. I am still going to Austria this weekend to compete and train and I am really looking forward to what I consider the more "fun" side of forest orienteering.

To be blunt, I am a sprint orienteer. However, I do forest races for the enjoyment. Therefore I enjoy interesting and technical terrains that generally don't fight back. I wouldn't mind training in Estonia, but racing in very green forest is not as enjoyable. I would rather try and pick my races based on the terrain. This year I have run in some very technical terrain in Britain and some lovely terrain in Denmark where it just honestly felt like magic and I loved being in the terrain and the forest.

I do sprint orienteering for competition because I am "good at it". I've had some really good results and it is where I know that I can compete with the world's best. I'm slowly getting better and better technically and I am also generally in good shape for sprint orienteering.

The reason why I went to WOC this year was because I was invited to take part in the WOC clinic. I had all my WOC expenses covered other than my flights to get to Estonia. This was an amazing opportunity and so it kind of twisted my arm and made me change some of my plans. It was completely out of the blue and it did come as quite a shock. I'm not sure if there was really the option to turn it down because it is always good to be on the right side of the IOF and have opportunities like this for other athletes in the future.

At first I was nervous, scared in fact. I think that part of the reason why I haven't competed at WOC since 2014 is because I have set such high standards for myself. I was scared that I wouldn't perform in the sprint. I knew that I wasn't great technically in the forest. I was told in early May, just around the time of the British long distance and relay champs. Physically I was in good shape. I had raced Danish spring and British Long distance champs, two very long races (~17 km) so I knew that I could handle the distance. I had also planned to go to the Italian Sprint and Middle distance champs completely independently of my WOC plans and so that too would be good preparation.

But again I don't feel that this was really an opportunity that I could turn down. It was a given, I was going to WOC and I had to do the best that I could to prepare for it. What followed were some very hectic weeks at work and in my personal life that put me in a state of mind where I really did feel that this was going to be a disaster. But you can't really let anyone down, so you fumble your way through and see what happens.

Italian Sprint distance champs went alright, I still wasn't in the greatest form technically, but my speed was good. I tried several times to boost my speed in races, "red lining" it as I would like to call it. It's very tricky to simulate how you race in important races, because often adrenaline just takes over. My focus going into WOC was to just prepare for the sprint races as best I could and "survive" the forest races. Very little technical preparation can go into the forest races unless you spend a lot of time in the terrain and so I was trying to focus my attention on something that I could control (in this case sprint prep). I also didn't really want to commit to a lot of time in the terrain when I got to Estonia because I wanted to rest a bit for the sprint. I didn't want an excuse of why I didn't qualify. I don't think excuses like that are really acceptable. You need to do whatever is in your control to ensure that you have the best race possible.

I started to get an idea of the area, the possible route choices, some of the possible courses. With work I don't think that I was able to spend enough time on this. I did have some great help with courses from Sarah, Coni and Nicholas though. This was nothing compared to my preparation for EPFL in 2012. I had made an orienteering map and I had walked around the campus for almost a week before I raced. I knew every underpass, I knew every building corner. Granted this wouldn't work well with artificial fences, but I used the lack of an embargo to my full advantage. I feel that this is what is needed to do well in a WOC final, proper technical preparation. Often it is too much work for one person though so it is very helpful to do it with others. I had help for Colombia and Venice, but both races I had problems with focus and made some mistakes. That is just how elite orienteering goes. With my errors in those races I was really scared that I wouldn't be able to make a WOC sprint final ever again. Maybe I had reached my peak. Even if people were telling me there weren't any expectations I still felt quite a heavy burden on my shoulders. It might have been my own pressure on myself, but it was still there.

Physically my preparations went really well, although often I felt that I was racing too often and not resting enough. I had some great friends that I trained with from January until May. People of similar ability that I would do my easy runs, long runs and track sessions with. I had a great time in a 10km race (33:15), but it was tricky juggling time trials and other track sessions with sprint orienteering races. I think often I committed to too much and I went into the final weekend before WOC feeling a little tired. This worried me because I knew that with the WOC clinic we would have several forest and sprint sessions just before WOC started, so no real time to rest. And again, excuses are not really acceptable...

Luckily, for my first day in Estonia I asked for a map and it turned out to be a sprint map for a session planned for later in the week. I had a quick run in the terrain but I also knew that it would be very different to the sprint qualification terrain. I did the forest sessions, trying to get a good idea of the terrain to guide my route choices for the later races.

My biggest focus was on trying to rest. I had done the WOC clinic sprint session earlier in the week so I had the Wednesday afternoon off. I went to the model map and the technical model, but after that I just tried to rest. I also ate some of the Futurelife that I had brought with me to make sure that I was eating enough. I went through the maps with various courses and tried to get an idea of where the traps could be and I managed to get to Friday feeling OK about my prospects. I had seen the start list for my heat so I didn't really expect too much. I was in a very difficult heat and I would have to beat some big names to qualify. Quarantine on friday was relatively uneventful. It was raining which isn't ideal with my glasses (although they actually still work great). I was also struggling with what shoes to wear. I feel like I run better in my sprint shoes (flites) and I thought that I would lose quite a bit of time on the flat sections with Xtalons. This is only a mental thing that I now think that I have gotten over (after qualifying wearing xtalons).

The thirty second start intervals were also a little weird. It was strange moving so quickly. You almost didn't get a chance to panic :P. I saw my 90 second man (same heat) go in a particular direction out of the start so at least I had an idea on where I was heading. Then it was suddenly time and I picked up the map and I went. I missed the first junction for the first control and panicked, had I already thrown the race away. I actually stopped dead at this point and checked to see if I could get through the fence (which I could) and tried to salvage my mistake. After that it was "red lining" it all the way. The controls around the depression were easy, they were all about running hard and picking a solid attackpoint to aim off from. From then on it was all about simplifying the route choices. I stopped once again to check the route choice to 14. Then it was just all out to the finish. The anxious wait to see if I had made it was pretty agonising... It would have been so frustrating to get so close and miss out. But then I had made it... and suddenly my fears from the past few weeks seemed so far away. I don't think that orienteering can solve your problems, but in the 11:11 that I was racing I felt like I distanced myself from reality. In that moment all that was important was executing the next route choice. It doesn't help when you come back down to earth and realise that the world is just as you left it, but at least you had a good race!

After my qualification there were far fewer expectations. Suddenly Zoran (managing the WOC clinic) was very excited. They had always said that they wanted someone from the clinic in the final, but I think that generally that is really unrealistic...

I still wanted to do well in the final, I just wanted to beat someone! I didn't have the best race in the final, missing a very important route choice to 1 and 10. But the speed felt good and I felt that I had worked hard and deserved to be in the final.

The forest races were relatively uneventful and I will post specific feedback on those soon (when I have time in Austria).

What I really want to talk about is where this places us in terms of elite orienteering in South Africa. What has this opportunity given me that I can now use to change the way that I (we) treat WOC? I think that I have changed my opinion on competing at WOC. I was always so against it because it was very expensive, but there is also a feeling of pride when you put on your South African vest, represent your country and actually qualify for a fucking sprint final (excuse the necessary use of profanity). I don't think that anyone should take that opportunity away from you if you get the chance.

In terms of forest orienteering. I don't believe that we are ready as a nation to compete at WOC. We need a lot more work in the terrain which will probably require someone moving to Europe for an extended period just to improve their orienteering. This is something that the Kiwis and Australians regularly do! I'm not pretending to be someone that suddenly knows everything about WOC and I don't want selection policies to be influenced by my views. I have just felt for too long that I am an Imposter at WOC. I've always felt inadequate. If I didn't perform I felt as if I didn't deserve to be there. And then I did perform, but was that just a once off? Was I still an imposter that was just lucky. I mean maybe... But then I have been lucky twice now? I train hard and I love this sport. I train to compete in Sprint orienteering. I train to enjoy forest orienteering.

Over the next year I will be living in Switzerland, starting my PhD. At this point so many other things have come up. Things that I want to work on, things that I need to commit time to. So I don't quite know where my own orienteering will go in the next year. I would like to go to WOC in 2018. I'd like to make it lucky number 3. But maybe it is also the time to take a step back. I don't really know and it is something that I need to work out...

I'd like to thank everyone that has helped me up to this point. They know who they are and they have a very special place in my life.

I tend to dread going into quite a few of these forest races. This was mostly silly because I would actually be just fine. And going into the warm up area was a bad idea (ask Matija), there just seemed to be a lot of vague features and it was more stressful to try and find them and prove that you knew where you were!

Started off conservatively and ticked off the features. I picked very safe route choices around on the path and this was the main reason why I lost quite a lot of time. At one stage Niall from Ireland caught me and we worked together from then on. This gave me an element of safety and we could push slightly harder, but we still took the roads often when we should have tried to go a lot straighter.

Reasonably good race which I am quite happy with. I feel that I am not good enough to run in the forest at WOC just yet, but it is good experience regardless.

Slightly better start time for the middle tomorrow. Goal is to go out and just have some fun. The model map wasn't too bad today, but then in the team leaders' meeting they specifically noted that the area of the model map that is most relevant is where the visibility and runnability is very poor. It was quite hilarious...

Stay in the channel, take the track when it makes sense, go slowly and always have a plan, otherwise straight is great!

Also, can I put in a kind request that it doesn't rain again tomorrow... I'm pretty used to running in the rain, but it does get old quite quickly...

Also... If I manage to get on the map in Tallinn (will just be walking around the old town with all my luggage...) Then I will have orienteered for 22 days straight when I get back from Austria and Switzerland... :O (maybe I need a rest day...)

I survived ;). Pretty shocking route choice to 2. Or rather just got lost in the green a bit which was rubbish and tried to cut a bit earlier on something I really shouldn't have...

Otherwise not so bad. Tried to stay in the channel after that and use people to my advantage. Didn't feel too terrible at the end. Just my one leg was cramping because I only had 3 gels during the race so I think that I was a bit low on electrolytes (I had taken 5 gels but didn't feel like I needed more). The steep run to the finish which I didn't take very slowly probably didn't help either.

This is what happens when you send a sprint specialist into the forest :). I also got comments from the Americans and the coach from New Zealand that I was running into the finish really hard... Unfortunately I'm currently a bit too fast and fit for my orienteering in the forest, so it really shows at the end of the race.

I suppose since it is too late to start working on the blog I might as well use my attackpoint log to share all my thoughts and feelings. I'm going to leave quite a few of them until after the WOC week though, because it doesn't make sense to talk about the future when I have a long forest race tomorrow which I might not survive ;).

I was unlucky enough to be the second starter tomorrow. This has both advantages and disadvantages, obviously the main disadvantage is that I'm going to be a professional pathmaker for everyone else! On the bright side I may avoid some of the afternoon thunderstorms. As I said the terrain is surprisingly better than I expected. The marshes will be very deep and not very runnable though... (There has been a lot of rain in the last week).

My vain side is coming out when I see my photos from the sprint quali and final. Obviously everyone knows that the only reason that we do orienteering at an elite level is for the photos :p!

Yesterday I was lucky enough to go around the course in Viljandi. During the day I was called a professional twice which I still find very strange. Just checked controls and the tape.

I'm rather apprehensive about tomorrow. I'm glad that I have done some long races at the JK, Danish Spring and British Long Champs. I don't think that South African races are anywhere near long enough to prepare you for what I am expecting tomorrow. It'll definitely be a physical challenge, but I'm hoping that it's also really enjoyable, like I found in Denmark! I think that many of us still have a mental block about the long distance. I also think that the WOC week is just seriously not designed for people who race all the disciplines. Give me sprint hands down, Brad or Tim or Nic can fight over the rest! But as I said, I view it as a challenge and an adventure and not something I will back away from. Until tomorrow evening!

After running in Haanja last week I had nightmares about what the long area would be like. It actually seems to be a lot better than expected. There may be fewer paths in the competition area though, although most of the paths here weren't very fun to run along anyway. Tomorrow I'm viewing it as an adventure. I'm fit enough. It's just about getting the body and mind to be in the same place and see where that takes my orienteering!

Sven Oras from the organising team wanted me to run the course, checking to see if the controls were in the right place and that the barriers were obvious. Was cool to get out into the terrain before the fun started. It was crazy steep!

16.55

Missed the important route choice to 1 and to 10 which cost me 50 seconds. Slightly fluffed a few other controls. Happy otherwise, speed was good. Should have been quite a bit higher up!

More to follow

Event: WOC 2017
 

On a side note. We had an interview with the WOC digital team. Two young women from Spain asked us some questions about our goals etc. One of the funniest things that they said was that I was the youngest there, before asking me my age and giving me a funny look when I answered... This was also followed up by them asking me "you say that you're from South Africa, how did you get here?" :)

C • Congratulations! 5

So there isn't very much to say... I was in a state of mind that I have never really encountered before. I didn't know where I was on the map in the bigger scheme of things, I just knew where I was going and how to get there. Picked the straight lines. Shoe choice was also very important in the end!

11:11. Finished 15th, a few hundreds of a second ahead of a very quick Norwegian... Strange how I always seem to beat them...


More to follow...

Also I think now suddenly my log will get a hell of a lot more attention... Glad that I won't be defined on a run that I had five years ago. Very happy!

It's now or never! We got the start lists at the meeting this evening and it is always intimidating to see who you are up against. It's something that is very new to me with the new 30 second start intervals. I'd rather remain completely oblivious until I finish the race!

Model map didn't inspire much confidence. Quite a bit was undermapped but I suppose it's just something to keep in mind. I also think that often the model map is left for the last minute and so they don't care as much.

So it's on to the sprint quali. Just have an interview this evening with the WOC digital team. Then I'll try and do some more prep and get my emitags in a comfortable position with my control description holder. The double tags make you feel like a bit of a Christmas tree. Something which we experienced at WOC in Italy (although it was worse there with two SI air cards, a timing chip on the ankle and the GPS).

Funny moment from the meeting. One of the managers asked if full leg cover was advised. The answer was "the bulletin said that there are no clothing restrictions, some people at jukola ran the night leg with shorts. It's therefore up to the athlete." It's always quite funny to hear the different jibes at the meeting. Keeps things slightly entertaining.

Thanks everyone for all the support. I know I can be pretty difficult at times :). I'm hoping that tomorrow will go really well. I've prepared as best I can so it's all about having a good race now!

Clear eyes, full heart, be cool and don't forget to have fun!

Quick jog to some of the controls after getting an idea of the area. Having looked at street view I think that the park section will be much less overgrown than it was today. But hopefully my middlish start time will also allow for some tracking.

Just a walk around the model to get an idea of what to expect. The slopes are quite steep so X Talons for tomorrow. A few vague features and some silly control descriptions, but whatever, it's going to be awesome :).