running 15:09 [1] 2.2 km (6:53 / km)
ahr:130 max:145
My normal morning jog to get ready for the race today.
running warm up/down 41:00 [2] 7.0 km (5:51 / km)
shoes: VJ Integrators (black/green)
Warm-up and cool down for Long qualification race.
Orienteering race 55:56 [5] ***** 6.5 km (8:36 / km) +120m 7:53 / km
ahr:188 max:197 shoes: VJ Integrators (black/green)
Again, not my best race, like yesterday I was unable to run with the confidence and exactness that I have achieved in almost all of my races this year. Already at the first control I lost 1 minute. Grr. I wish I could find the flow that I have been having, but I guess my nerves are getting in the way. Running races like these is good preparation for the World Champs, because the pressure and stress that I feel in big races makes it hard for me to run at my optimum. I really need to work on this and find a way to stand on the starting line and run normally, even if it?s a ?big? race. I have figured it out at a lot of big races in the past (WOC 07, Masenstaffeten, Tiomila etc) but something is missing at these races. My normal mental preparation has not been as affective as normal. At least I know I need to work on this and will be prepared for this situation at WOC.
The races here at the European champs have been really tight. Everyone here is really good and the competition is high. To qualify for the A final in my heat you couldn?t loose more than 6 minute! That is a lot less than any WOC Long quali I have ever run in. I lost 15 minutes to the winner, which is not awesome, but also not a disaster. The terrain was really technically difficult. The complicated sand dune formations mixed in with light green and lots of swamps made for a type of orienteering that I have not had a lot of practice in. I tend not to be great in depression (negative) type of terrain either. At 1:15000 it was very hard to read and I felt a little overwhelmed during the race. My technical ability in this type of terrain is something for me to work on. You can see that all of the Scandinavian nations did well today and that lots of other pretty good nations had some people out of the final (Swiss team had 3 out). It was hard for a lot of people.