Training Log Archive: Kseniya

Felt rushed prior to the start, used a warm-up to get a sense of the terrain.

I really wanted to do well on this course but it turned out to be a huge fail. Quite disappointed afterwards. But, there are some things that I can improve on next time and they most involve my preparation for a race. First days of an Oing weekend have always been tough for me and I have not done much to address the problem prior. Going out the day before or in the morning to the model would certainly have helped, not necessarily in providing insight into the mapping or terrain styles, but more in terms of preparing my psyche for the races to come. Traveling the day of the race is not working for me, doesn't matter if I'm driving or not.
So in regards to the race itself, this was a very frustrating one because I could not snap out of whatever was preventing me from orienteering properly. It felt like there was some translucency overlaid on top of the map that I could not penetrate through. Of course, the haze was in my head and I could not get rid of it. I tried hard though. After each mistake, and there were many, I would try to concentrate better and really get into the map and terrain, sadly, without success.
There were some issues with the map itself that caused me confusion, such as near the control #4, where the pine forest boundaries were not properly mapped. I lost some time here and only thanks to a West Point girl (I believe her name is Rachel) I was able to find this control.
#7 was a bummer for a lot of people, including myself. I relocated off of the three open areas left of the control but am not actually sure how I got there. #8 I totally messed up because I was not paying attention to my compass. Saw #9 before I got to #8. The rest of the course was mostly Ok.

Middle - Course 9 - Splits

Event: NAOC2014 (North American Champs/Ottawa O-Fest)
 

Couldn't resist going out for a relaxed jog at eagle rock on this beautiful autumn day. About half-way through an old Japanese song from the movie, the Double (recommend for fans of dark humor, Dostoyevsky and Fight Club), lodged itself into my head, and I danced to it on the leaf-dusted trails like the weirdo that I am.

C • Sounds wonderful! 2

I set out to get lost in the darkness of the evening but the brightness of full moon found me. I got lost in it instead while chasing my own shadows.

Verona park

Stomach not 100% yet so did some yoga instead of a recovery jog. Balance was dodgy.

Stomach and ankle 90% Ok this morning so decided to start the race as planned.

I was a bit nervous for this Middle race because Alex was starting two minutes behind me. I tried my best to not focus on that before the start or during the race, somewhat unsuccessfully. Started out well, hit easy #1 no problem, down to the road to #2 but confusion when I was on top my spur looking for the bag. The clue description read NE side but the control placement was closer to the N side, at least that was my impression. #3 and #4 were good but had an element of surprise, like "oh, I am actually doing this right", which should not happen at this stage of my orienteering career. "Slow down." I tell myself, "no need to rush, execution is key". I specifically choose to contour to stream first on the way to #5 and then climb up to avoid a potential mistake (this is the control/dot knoll I relocated off on the long but did not realize it during the middle race). On #6 I was a bit low and on #7 I let the reentrant carry me too far north to the pond and I had to correct myself. If I planned that, it would have been a good route. Hesitation to #8. Up to the road to #9, solid attack. Straight to #10 and 11, getting tired and the thoughts of Alex catching up to me are starting to annoy me. I consciously focus on the map with effort. #12 Ok, easy last loop, "don't mess up" mentality with good effort. Saw Alex going into the last loop and I knew it was a good race then. Happy not only to win but to not have made any major mistakes. This race has given me a boost of confidence in my skills, which for some reason has been lacking in the last few years.

C • 1 min/km faster 2

C • Congrats!!! 2

Middle Red X - Splits