Training Log Archive: eoinmcc

Event: Irish Orienteering Student Championships, Clarabeg
 

Intervarsity Orienteering Champs
Wet.
Wanted to stay in control of my navigation today and have solid technique.
1 - Left the start triangle in the wrong direction. +5s.
2 - Got 2 fine, but was chilling too much and lost over 30s to Colm
6 - Small mistake, coming across slightly too high. +5-10s
10 - Came across too low under it. +10-15s
11 - Thought I got this pretty ok, no issues with it, but lost 1:30 to Conor and 1min to Colm....?
12 - Didn't take the best route, going round the track, but didn't want to take the chance of the heather being horrible going straight (straight, in this case, was great). Then ran past the control on the track above it. +1:20
16 - Came into the forest too low. + 20s.
A pretty solid run, apart from the loss of concentration on 12. Navigation was decent and felt pretty good on the hills. APs need work (what's new?). I wanted the win, but have to be happy with 2nd place and overall victory for DUO!!!

Brown - Splits

Event: Irish Colleges Campus Sprint Series (Irish Junior Squad Fundraiser), Trinit
 

Trinity College sprint.
Went into this sprint looking to plan ahead and execute route choices well and to pay greater attention to detail.
1 - Lost almost 20 secs. Description was a bit ambiguous and didn't know which side of the uncrossable fence the control was on, so took a chance with left, not seeing the uncrossable fence and olive green you would have to cross to get there. Bad start
3 - +10s. Didn't read the detail enough in the circle and went up the wrong stairs in to the control
4 - +3s. Knew it was at a stairs foot, yet still stopped to check around the corner for the control. Not reading enough in the circle.
9 - Coming out of 8 I went to go into the library rather than the passage after it. +2s. Not reading enough.
12 - Was unsure of where the control was, hesitant coming into it. +2s.
15 - +25s. Thought the control was past the buildings on the outside, but was inside, up the steps. Didn't take the time, particularly in the circle, to slow down, or even stop, to read the map properly.
Most problems today were due to not taking the time to read the very fine detail on the map, particularly in the circles. Running speed was pretty good. Have to stop going into the rough area in the circle and finding the control. Need to be more precise in the circle, and if that means slowing down in the circle at tricky bits so be it because my foot speed can compensate for that. Maybe get doing some sprint intervals to practice navigating at speed accurately in the circle as well

Looking back on last weekend, there is a lot I can take from it and learn from, even if the results were mixed (to put it lightly). The main thing I took from the weekend is that my orienteering needs LOTS OF WORK.
Although there were lots of negatives, there definitely were positives as well. For instance, in the middle distance, for the first 18 controls I was having a decent race. (Obviously it's the time when you cross the finish line that counts, but there were positive signs in there that my middle distance isn't in too bad shape, although it definitely needs work.)
In the sprint, the section around the castle was good, along with some other sections of the course.
In the long, the last 10 controls went well.
My compass work in the middle for the most part was good. Focus was also ok until I began to tire.
Now, time for the things that didn't go so well:
Over the three races, one thing that kept coming up was my poor planning and execution of routechoices. This can definitely be worked on.
My flow in navigating wasn't good in terrain. Need to fix this by having a solid plan, and simplifying my plan the terrain around me.
For the sprint, I need to work on the attention to detail in planning and executing my routes.
My routechoice selection can definitely improve, in all disciplines, by planning ahead in sprints, and choosing smart routes that can be simplified in the forest.
The mental side of things definitely needs work, both before and during the race. I need to find a way to be completely focused when I'm on the startline and to stay focused and in control during the race. I don't have such a simple fix for this. Need to think about this over the coming weeks and months.
So, a lot to take from the weekend. It was very worthwhile as a marker to see where my orienteering is at, to compete in a top-class competition, and to get some of those world ranking points. There's a lot to improve to get to where I want to be come summer, but it's still February, with plenty more races to come, so no need to panic. Just keep improving.

Easy run around drumcondra before trinity sprint tomorrow and intervaristies!!!

Giving the calves a rest so went for a cycle over Howth, summitting twice. Fierce 'aul headwind on the way home

Easy run in DCU, taking it easy on the calves running on the grass

Tough session with clonliffe in trinity. Did 3 sets of 1,2,3,4 mins with half the time of the hard running recovery (30 secs rest off 1 min etc...)
1 - 291m, 573, 849, 1.14
2 - 285m, 561, 884, 1.13
3 - 291m, 571, 847, 1.13
First session in about 3 weeks and it showed. Was not running fast tonight. Was struggling on the 2nd 3 min but got through the 3rd set ok. Felt tonight in the legs, tight in the calves and hamstrings. Not in the best physical form of my life at the moment, need to get the consistency back into training the next few weeks and months if I want to get to where I want to be come summer

Legs not feeling too bad after MCO, but my knee was killing me today from a heavy knock on Sunday on bare rock and struggled to put much weight on it