Training Log Archive: caitlinirving

Routegadget from middles :) (course 12)

jog & drills

British Middles
everything was going really well for the first 6, i was lying 2nd only 15s off 1st. Then wasn’t confident enough in my self and binned 2 mins at 7 going to the right place, not seeing the control and then running around like a headless chicken. Managed to bin another 2 mins at 9, not reading the map in enough detail and not seeing a reentrant before the hill, which our control was behind. Spent ages searching in the first reentrant until i eventually realised.
Then was a bit mentally dead so messed up at the end twice not concentrating at all and not really pushing anymore because the race was long gone anyway.
In the future i think i need to stop putting so much pressure on myself and to relax before a big race as in races like this i tighten up and don’t run as well as i know i can.
This weekend is one to forget results wise but also one to use in order to learn and improve in the future :) (also sorry for the big write ups for these 3 races)

C • Big write ups 4

Event: British Sprint and Middle champs.
 

jog & drills

BSOC Heats - 1st
Pretty clean with only 2 minor (10s??) mistakes. I had good control flow and concentrated well.
I think because I was thinking more about the nav instead of running it went well, and this is something I need to do in all sprint races. It took the bad final race to work this out unfortunately...

C • well done! 2

jog & drills

BSOC finals - 4th
Really just blew it, knew I was in with a chance and just didn't perform well enough.
Hit the technical layer part with a rough plan of how I was getting through it but when the lighting changed to darker I found it hard to read the map and run fast at the same time so faffed a bit. Also messed up 8 really badly by running up the stairs and getting so confused, even though I knew the passage was on the service level and not on the top. It just didn't fit at that moment and I panicked and legged it lol. Anna then over took me and I was chasing at this point.
Didn't feel like I was moving very quickly (and I wasn't...) and I think I was thinking too much about running and not enough about orienteering well.
In future I think better results will come if I focus on being confident in where I am going, and speed will follow (I hope). After all it worked well in the heat.
Also at the end pulled my groin as I must have twisted my leg weirdly. Was so annoyed as knew I'd fucked it anyway but that was the final straw. This quite possibly lost me 3rd place as I could barely run along the final parts and was grimacing like hell lol. Think it shall be fine for tomorrow as long as a warm I up properly.

ouch - groin/upper leg is pretty sore

**update** lost 1 min on my big mistake & then at least 20-30 seconds pulling my leg and being slow. Annoying because i was only 13s down on 3rd...
Leg wise it keeps tweaking sometimes when i move but will just race tomorrow and grim and bare it for now if it hurts.

chillin’ @ the campsite haha

Event: OD Summer Evening Event - Warwick University
 

laps & drills

warwick uni sprint - medium 1 - decided to only do this as my legs were still quite tired from norway and was using it as practice for the weekend.
first part of the course was pretty good and was planning ahead well until 10 when i relaxed as i’d already been through this area before and assumed i knew what i was doing... bad decision lol. My ‘buffer zone’ ran out here and then began making mistakes because i couldn’t plan my exit direction/next leg quickly enough. Lesson learnt: never relax & keep planning ahead until you’re over the finish line haha!!