Orienteering race (JWOC Long) 1:37:31 [5] **** 11.1 km (8:47 / km) +495m 7:11 / km
27c shoes: Integrator
My plan for the long before i started was to go slow and just use it as a warmup for the middle. So, on my way to the first control i slowed down, and the guy who started behind me caught me just as i was punching. I decided that it woulden't hurt to pick it up and for the next 4 controls i was switching off leads with this guy from Belarus. then i made a mistake at control 6, i was about 15 feet above the control and just coulden't see it. At this point Olav Lundanes from Norway caught me, and for the next two controls i tried to keep up with him. Damn he is fast! i was basically running almost full speed, and i could just keep contact with the map and recognize the bigger features. Then going to control 9, he virtually sprinted up this big hill and since i had 7km left to run i decided to let him go and slow down. (incidentally, if i had kept up with him for the rest of the course i would have been in the top 3). At number 9 i made a parallel error and ended up in the wrong reentrant, which cost me some time. The next 7 controls i had good route choice, and found most of them easily, but i was still getting lost when i got in the control circle, i think for this terrain i need to read my clue card more. going to control 17 i physically died, busted my knee and went really slow. the next two controls i went off to the side and had to relocate. then control 20 (spectator control) was a long leg, and i ended up walking up the hills and slowly jogging the rest of the way to the control. i got inspired by the cheering and picked it up for the last bit of the course. bad idea. control 21 i knew i was in the right area, but i just coulden't find it, so i relocated to the nearby fence, and still i had problems finding it. Just as i was punching the control, Soren Bobach from Norway with another guy following caught me and i dogged it in with those two guys, passing them at the second to last control but they caught me at the finish tape. Overall a pretty good race, especially since the long is not my race, but i was physically wiped out, and if i decide to work on getting better on the long then i have to run more distance.