Training Log Archive: kissy

I'm sitting in Arlanda airport in Stockholm, waiting for my flight to Heathrow and then Glasgow. I've made the executive decision to stay in Glasgow tonight instead of trying to drive to Forres after landing...a 3.5 hour drive in the dark, on the left side of the road (for the first time), trying to find a bed and breakfast in the country.

I'll drive up Sunday morning, enjoying the countryside, and go directly to the meet site. I also decided to change my class to W50S. My knees survived Oringen, but I can feel they are getting worn out, so I thought I should take it a little easier. I feel good about the decision and so did my house mates in Boden. :-)

Oh, yeah...and I'm currently sitting next to Per Forsberg at the Starbucks in the airport. :-)

C • Sitting next to Pers 4

Made it to a Hilton in Glasgow...probably the smartest decision I've made in awhile. My flight out of Heathrow was delayed by an hour and the rental car process took another half an hour due to long lines and only one counter person. So, that would have meant not getting to Forres until around 1 or 2 in the morning. Yuck!

Plus, I almost killed myself just trying to get out of the rental car parking lot and again while trying to navigate alley ways looking for the hotel entrance! I needed a rest before trying that again.

C • Driving on the other side 2

Oringen 2013. Etapp 5 - Åberget Arena

Thankfully, I ended the week on a good note. Even though my result might not appear to be so good, I was happy with today. Probably my second happiest, after Day 1. I bobbled a little on #1, but then everything went much better.

I would say the week was a success for me. I never became hopelessly lost, which had been a big concern. There are a few controls I would like to "do over," but on the whole, it was good. I'm psyched to come back again at some point, and do better.

Cycling to and from the arena from the house. How nice it was to be able to bike to an o-meet! Clark would be so proud. It was also cool because the bike path went through one side of the map (we had permission to use it), and when I was riding, there were orienteers running everywhere. It was pretty neat.

Walk to the start.

O-ringen 2013. Day 4 - Jokkmokk Arena.

The travails of Kris continue. I was actually having a good day...finding everything well and moving okay. Not great due to the return of moss-covered rocks and general terrain bumpiness, but okay. And then I got cocky and thought I didn't need to keep pace counting. Well, I got a little off my line on the way to 10, wasn't sure if I had gone far enough, and then disaster struck. Definitely my worst control of the week. I eventually found it and continued on, slightly deflated. But, all in all, I'm still having fun.

Walk to the start.

Ross, Samantha, and Ian came over for dinner and a rousing game of 7 Wonders. I caught on fairly quickly and really enjoyed the game. I might have to get a game for home.

C • 7 Wonders 1

Oringen 2013. Day 3 - Piteå Arena.

Okay, so this was a spectacularly horrible day. I missed the first control by quite a lot, probably 8 minutes. I came off the wrong bend in the scooter track and took a while to figure it all out. And I couldn't really get moving for any of the course. It was all bumpy terrain, with rocks, moss, and lots of blueberries. And a fair amount of steep contouring, which is the absolute worst thing for my knees. Some good things that happened included finding the rest of the controls pretty cleanly, powering up the ski mountain without feeling wiped out, and doing a fairly okay job in the finish chute.

The other good thing is that I'm having a fabulous time over here. I'm in a wonderful house with fantastic house mates. I'm sleeping more hours each night than I have in years. And my laptop didn't work with my converter, so I couldn't do work if I tried. So, it truly is a relaxing vacation.

A shorter walk to the start.

Today was a rest day, or "activity" day, at Oringen, so we took it easy. Slept in late, had a leisurely morning, and finally got out of the house around 12:30. First stop was Oringen arena to do some shopping. And, emulating PG, I bought some O pants. Then we headed to Rödberget, one of the fortresses surrounding Boden.

The road up was very skinny, and after we parked, we saw the road was blocked by a van that was unable to go further because it couldn't get passed a parked car. So, we left our car there and hiked up the rest, hoping the situation would have cleared itself up by the time we got back.

The fortress was pretty cool. We opted not to go on the tour, and instead walked around the top of the fortress. We could see all of the area for Etapper 1 and 2, which was kind of cool. We picked out the arena location, the start for Etapp 2, and the big sandy desert that we ran across. When we headed back to our car, the road was clear, and we were able to escape.

Then we headed to a nearby cafe for vafflor och te. Så fint.

C • Glad to hear the knees are ... 5

Oringen 2013. Day 2 - Arena Rödberget

Not as clean as yesterday, but I felt like I was moving a little faster. It was not as rocky as yesterday, but a little thicker. I lost 2 minutes on #5 when I thought I was being so good when I ran past a control and thought, "That's not mine so don't check it." Well, two minutes later I realized it was mine. :-(

The best news, though, is that my knees feel fine so far!

Walk to the start.

Tonight, Judy, Jeff, Mary Jo and I biked into Boden Centrum to watch the elite sprint. It was so exciting! Sam and Ross were competing, and Sam had a great run! We also saw Eric and Emily Kemp run, but unfortunately, Eric missed the map exchange and didn't run the second loop. He looked very befuddled in the finish, but we talked to him later, and he had made peace with it. We also saw some stars...Simone, Tove, Thierry, Annika... Like I said, kind of exciting.

Oringen. Day 1 - Arena Rödberget.

This was a pretty taxing day, both technically and physically. I did well on the technical side, finding all of the controls pretty easily. But I just couldn't move fast due to the moss-covered rocky ground full of knee-wrenching holes. I was quite pleased when I finished, thinking I had done okay. But after seeing the results, I was a little more disappointed. The good thing about Oringen, though, is there's always tomorrow.

Walked to the start with Judy and Mary Jo.

Event: O-Ringen 2013
 

After 12 hours of flying and no sleep, I finally made it to Luleå, met at the airport by the smiling faces of Jeff, Judy, and Mary Jo. We drove to our house in Boden, and then went out on a training map. And I'm really glad we did! It's been years since I have orienteered in Sweden, so it good to get a quick look. And also to realize how bad the mosquitoes are! Time to get the strong bug stuff.

A lot of dog walking lately, but my days have been filled with getting ready for my trip and trying to wrap up as much as possible at work. Long days and little sleep.

Plus, I stepped on a small rock and seemed to have bruised my heel. It hurt to walk on it for a few days, but it seems to be getting better.

Leaving tonight: DEN --> KEF --> ARN --> LLA!!

C • Trip 4