Forest panorama
Tuesday, 22. July 2008, 18:24:09
A panoramic picture of the forest (Akbara) where I'm mapping:
Click the picture for a higher resolution
Click the picture for a higher resolution
Training Update
Monday, 21. July 2008, 18:07:07
Since I promised (to myself) to start training properly 3 weeks ago, I've actually been doing quite well. Having 7 weeks to prepare for my trip to Slovenia, I decided to split it into 3 "hard" weeks, one week of recovery, and another 3 tough weeks. With the first 3 weeks just finished, I can summarise them with a simple chart:
Of course my training is not at the level of an elite orienteer (even an Israeli one), but I'm happy to be training "by the book", with a regular sequence of light jogging, medium paced runs, and interval sessions. After this easy week I'll try to continue in a similar fashion, while adding 20-25% to the distances.
Of course my training is not at the level of an elite orienteer (even an Israeli one), but I'm happy to be training "by the book", with a regular sequence of light jogging, medium paced runs, and interval sessions. After this easy week I'll try to continue in a similar fashion, while adding 20-25% to the distances.
WOC 2008 - Israeli summary
Saturday, 19. July 2008, 13:59:28
From the Israeli point of view, WOC 2008 is over, after Pavel finished 42nd in a disappointing long distance final (and we have no relay team). Now is the time for a short summary, from my viewpoint as the national coach over the past 13 years.
In order to summarise, we really have to divide our team into two:
Pavel Gvozdev
Pavel is on a level of his own, and is not a product of Israeli orienteering - a self-made athlete, with the potential to improve even further and start aiming for top ten places in WOC. He is still young (24) and needs some expert coaching, which is not available in Israel.
We should invest in Pavel by supporting him financially, making sure he stays connected to Israel even though he lives in Russia, and trying to find a top-level European coach (and maybe also a Scandinavian club) for him.
All the others
The best Israeli-grown orienteers are still not good enough to qualify for a WOC final, but are slowly improving. The best way to analyse our progress over the past years is with a chart of the World Ranking points gained in WOC qualification (men only, Pavel excluded), as I think this is the most objective measure of an orienteering result:
The chart shows no real progress since 2003 with the top results (just under 1000 points), but I am confident that our orienteers today are better, physically and technically. Our main problem is getting them to use their ability to it's maximum when it matters. Here is a table analysing the performance level in WOC since 2003, in my (subjective) opinion:
Good = ran at maximum ability (not necessarily perfect)
Medium = an "OK" race
Bad = a catastrophe
We need to get our percentage of "good" results over 50%, while continuing to improve physically and technically. For that, the top Israeli orienteers need more experience in high level competition, both locally and abroad, in all orienteering disciplines. To put things in perspective: I've been orienteering regularly abroad (every summer, plus a few other trips) for 15 years, and only in the past 2-3 years have I become confident of running at above 90% of my ability in nearly every race. So how do we do it for the team? I don't know, but I'm thinking. And of course I don't make the decisions any more.
The combination of improved ability and a very good race will enable another Israeli orienteer to qualify for a WOC final within the next few years, and that should be our goal. And maybe, one day, a medal for Pavel?
In order to summarise, we really have to divide our team into two:
Pavel Gvozdev
Pavel is on a level of his own, and is not a product of Israeli orienteering - a self-made athlete, with the potential to improve even further and start aiming for top ten places in WOC. He is still young (24) and needs some expert coaching, which is not available in Israel.
We should invest in Pavel by supporting him financially, making sure he stays connected to Israel even though he lives in Russia, and trying to find a top-level European coach (and maybe also a Scandinavian club) for him.
All the others
The best Israeli-grown orienteers are still not good enough to qualify for a WOC final, but are slowly improving. The best way to analyse our progress over the past years is with a chart of the World Ranking points gained in WOC qualification (men only, Pavel excluded), as I think this is the most objective measure of an orienteering result:
The chart shows no real progress since 2003 with the top results (just under 1000 points), but I am confident that our orienteers today are better, physically and technically. Our main problem is getting them to use their ability to it's maximum when it matters. Here is a table analysing the performance level in WOC since 2003, in my (subjective) opinion:
Good = ran at maximum ability (not necessarily perfect)
Medium = an "OK" race
Bad = a catastrophe
We need to get our percentage of "good" results over 50%, while continuing to improve physically and technically. For that, the top Israeli orienteers need more experience in high level competition, both locally and abroad, in all orienteering disciplines. To put things in perspective: I've been orienteering regularly abroad (every summer, plus a few other trips) for 15 years, and only in the past 2-3 years have I become confident of running at above 90% of my ability in nearly every race. So how do we do it for the team? I don't know, but I'm thinking. And of course I don't make the decisions any more.
The combination of improved ability and a very good race will enable another Israeli orienteer to qualify for a WOC final within the next few years, and that should be our goal. And maybe, one day, a medal for Pavel?
WOC Middle - mixed fortunes for the Israeli team
Friday, 18. July 2008, 06:32:11
Yesterday's middle distance at WOC held mixed fortunes for Pavel and Alexey. In qualification, Pavel ran a fast and solid race, even though he started next to last and was virtually alone in the forest, and qualified for the final from 11th place (as in the long distance). This was a great achievement, as the middle distance is in my opinion his weaker discipline.
Alexey, who was expected to be strongest in this race (and even then needed a perfect race for a chance of making the final), had a bad day, finally losing concentration at control 12 and making an 8-9 minute mistake, which put him next to last in his heat.
In Israel's first ever middle distance final, Pavel ran well and finished 25th - setting a target which we hope he can beat in the long final tomorrow. On current form, maybe a top 20 place?
Alexey, who was expected to be strongest in this race (and even then needed a perfect race for a chance of making the final), had a bad day, finally losing concentration at control 12 and making an 8-9 minute mistake, which put him next to last in his heat.
In Israel's first ever middle distance final, Pavel ran well and finished 25th - setting a target which we hope he can beat in the long final tomorrow. On current form, maybe a top 20 place?
WOC 2008 Long Qualification - good news!
Tuesday, 15. July 2008, 20:34:01
Pavel qualified again (as at WOC 2007) for the long distance final, finishing 11th in heat A of qualification. Analysis of the split times shows that he started 2 minutes before Matthias Merz (2007 World Champion), and made small mistakes at controls 2 and 3, so that he was almost caught. Then he managed to pull away and stay ahead of Matthias until control 15, and they finished the last quarter of the course more or less together.
The fact that Pavel was fastest overall on two of the legs (11 & 19) shows that he can run as well as the best orienteers, and his orienteering is getting steadier. Last year he finished 21st in the final, and his goal this year should be to improve on that - but I think that in Ukraine he had a "home" advantage which will be missing in Czech, and he will finish between 25th and 30th.
Alexey was never expected to qualify for the final, but had a good run and finished 25th in heat C, in what is probably his best ever result in WOC long distance. If he continues to improve his running ability he is on course for a final in the coming years. His best discipline is the middle distance, and I think he has an outside chance of qualifying on Thursday - or finishing 16th according to the Israeli tradition.
Looking at the map, I can only say that it seems very.... continental. It doesn't look like the sort of terrain I would want to orienteer in for fun, and reminds me of the long distance terrain from WOC 2003 in Switzerland. Challenging but boring. I hope the Middle is better.
The fact that Pavel was fastest overall on two of the legs (11 & 19) shows that he can run as well as the best orienteers, and his orienteering is getting steadier. Last year he finished 21st in the final, and his goal this year should be to improve on that - but I think that in Ukraine he had a "home" advantage which will be missing in Czech, and he will finish between 25th and 30th.
Alexey was never expected to qualify for the final, but had a good run and finished 25th in heat C, in what is probably his best ever result in WOC long distance. If he continues to improve his running ability he is on course for a final in the coming years. His best discipline is the middle distance, and I think he has an outside chance of qualifying on Thursday - or finishing 16th according to the Israeli tradition.
Looking at the map, I can only say that it seems very.... continental. It doesn't look like the sort of terrain I would want to orienteer in for fun, and reminds me of the long distance terrain from WOC 2003 in Switzerland. Challenging but boring. I hope the Middle is better.
Pavel misses the final....again
Monday, 14. July 2008, 03:29:38
Pavel Gvozdev missed the WOC final by one place for the fourth time, finishing 16th in heat C in sprint qualification. I was following the online results (which were fantastic) closely, and after Pavel came into 4th place out of 15 finishers, just 10 seconds behind Thierry, I was sure he would be in the final, but apparently the later half of the heat had a lot of fast runners and he slowly slipped down to 16th place.
Analysis of the split times shows me that Pavel was orienteering almost as fast as the winners, but he made a critical mistake at control no. 12, losing 8-10 seconds. The course looked quite easy and very fast, and that control looks easy as well - but judging it from home is unfair, compared to running the course at a speed of 3-4 minutes/km.
Our other athlete, Alexey Marchenko, ran a solid race and finished 24th in heat B. Alexey is not fast enough to qualify for a sprint final when running speed is an important factor, but he has a better chance in the middle distance. I think Alexey's orienteering is about as good as his running, while Pavel can run much faster than he orienteers and therefore tends to make more mistakes.
Pavel and Alexey at WOC - thanks to WorldOfO.com for the pictures
Analysis of the split times shows me that Pavel was orienteering almost as fast as the winners, but he made a critical mistake at control no. 12, losing 8-10 seconds. The course looked quite easy and very fast, and that control looks easy as well - but judging it from home is unfair, compared to running the course at a speed of 3-4 minutes/km.
Our other athlete, Alexey Marchenko, ran a solid race and finished 24th in heat B. Alexey is not fast enough to qualify for a sprint final when running speed is an important factor, but he has a better chance in the middle distance. I think Alexey's orienteering is about as good as his running, while Pavel can run much faster than he orienteers and therefore tends to make more mistakes.
Pavel and Alexey at WOC - thanks to WorldOfO.com for the pictures
WOC 2008 - the Israeli team - part 2
Friday, 11. July 2008, 11:19:25
The story of the Israeli national team this season is in those who are missing from WOC 2008. A month ago I resigned my post as national team coach, after the Israel Sport Orienteering Association (ISOA) decided to continue ignoring my recommendations and selected the participants in WOC 2008 based only on criteria which were in my opinion unfair, unbalanced, and unprofessional - and which were set without consultation with me (the coach) at the beginning of the season. As a result, Gilad Harnik, the best orienteer in Israel (Pavel Gvozdev is better, but lives abroad) will not be at WOC 2008, and will probably not represent his country again in the future.
So who is missing:
Gilad Harnik (age 31) is currently ranked no. 1 in Israel (ahead of Alexey Marchenko), and was undoubtedly in the best form of his life towards the end of this season. When it became clear that he would be prevented from participating in WOC because he couldn't pass the criteria for running speed (on a track) - unlike Alexey, who runs faster but loses to him regularly in terrain - Gilad lost motivation and reduced his training. I hope that next season the system will change and he will be given an incentive to continue.
Roni Harish (age 27 - my girlfriend), by far the leading female orienteer in Israel, actually passed the criteria which were set by the ISOA back in April, but decided not to travel to WOC due to lack of motivation (caused partly by the problems around the national team) and her inability to commit enough time for training in addition to her studies and work. She has changed her priorities and currently is not training at all.
When Roni decided not to go, I declined as well, seeing that there would be no "team" at the championships. I have been to 5 World Championships as coach, and of course I would very much like to go again, but in this case it would have been a waste of the ISOA's money and of my time.
Currently there is no Israeli national orienteering team, and no coach. We are represented at WOC by two individuals, who certainly deserve to be there, and I wish them both the best of luck.
So who is missing:
Gilad Harnik (age 31) is currently ranked no. 1 in Israel (ahead of Alexey Marchenko), and was undoubtedly in the best form of his life towards the end of this season. When it became clear that he would be prevented from participating in WOC because he couldn't pass the criteria for running speed (on a track) - unlike Alexey, who runs faster but loses to him regularly in terrain - Gilad lost motivation and reduced his training. I hope that next season the system will change and he will be given an incentive to continue.
Roni Harish (age 27 - my girlfriend), by far the leading female orienteer in Israel, actually passed the criteria which were set by the ISOA back in April, but decided not to travel to WOC due to lack of motivation (caused partly by the problems around the national team) and her inability to commit enough time for training in addition to her studies and work. She has changed her priorities and currently is not training at all.
When Roni decided not to go, I declined as well, seeing that there would be no "team" at the championships. I have been to 5 World Championships as coach, and of course I would very much like to go again, but in this case it would have been a waste of the ISOA's money and of my time.
Currently there is no Israeli national orienteering team, and no coach. We are represented at WOC by two individuals, who certainly deserve to be there, and I wish them both the best of luck.
WOC 2008 - the Israeli team - part 1
Wednesday, 9. July 2008, 20:14:41
Israel will be represented at WOC 2008 by two athletes - Pavel Gvozdev and Alexey Marchenko. While both come from a similar background, immigrating to Israel as youths from the former Soviet Union with previous orienteering experience, they have taken separate paths since then.
Pavel (age 24) came to Israel from Russia at the age of 18, without his family, and immediately dominated the local youth category. However, his ability declined during the years of compulsory army duty, and after that he returned to Russia to study and train (including a spell with OK Orion), appearing again in much better form at WOC 2006, where he was noted for the unprecedented feat of missing qualification for all three finals by one place. In WOC 2007 he improved, qualifying for both the long distance final (where he finished 21st) and the sprint. He is the only Israeli ever to qualify for a WOC final, and we hope he can do so again this year. His main strength is his running ability, and he tends to make large orienteering mistakes, especially at the beginning of a race.
Alexey (age 23) came from Ukraine at the age of 17, with his family, and was good enough to make the Israeli national team and participate in WOC 2003. He has stayed in Israel, training locally but not improving enough to reach Pavel's level, and since participating in WOC 2004 and 2006 as well. He was prevented from returning to his native land for WOC 2007 by a knee injury, but has fully recovered and started training and running for an athletic club, so he is at his best running ability today. Alexey has an outside chance for a WOC final (he was closest in 2004 with 16th place).
The advantages of living and training in a country with a much higher level of orienteering are evident in the progress Pavel has made, relative to Alexey, who was better than him when they were juniors. However, for most Israelis this is not an option, and we need to find ways to improve our level locally.
My prediction: two finals between them, though I hope for more.
Pavel (age 24) came to Israel from Russia at the age of 18, without his family, and immediately dominated the local youth category. However, his ability declined during the years of compulsory army duty, and after that he returned to Russia to study and train (including a spell with OK Orion), appearing again in much better form at WOC 2006, where he was noted for the unprecedented feat of missing qualification for all three finals by one place. In WOC 2007 he improved, qualifying for both the long distance final (where he finished 21st) and the sprint. He is the only Israeli ever to qualify for a WOC final, and we hope he can do so again this year. His main strength is his running ability, and he tends to make large orienteering mistakes, especially at the beginning of a race.
Alexey (age 23) came from Ukraine at the age of 17, with his family, and was good enough to make the Israeli national team and participate in WOC 2003. He has stayed in Israel, training locally but not improving enough to reach Pavel's level, and since participating in WOC 2004 and 2006 as well. He was prevented from returning to his native land for WOC 2007 by a knee injury, but has fully recovered and started training and running for an athletic club, so he is at his best running ability today. Alexey has an outside chance for a WOC final (he was closest in 2004 with 16th place).
The advantages of living and training in a country with a much higher level of orienteering are evident in the progress Pavel has made, relative to Alexey, who was better than him when they were juniors. However, for most Israelis this is not an option, and we need to find ways to improve our level locally.
My prediction: two finals between them, though I hope for more.
A high standard of mapping
Monday, 7. July 2008, 18:53:13
Ludek Krticka has published some pictures from the terrain of the Cerkno Cup in Slovenia, where I'm going to compete in August. Ludek has made a few maps in Israel (together with Radim Ondracek) and in my opinion he has set the standard for high quality mapping and drawing. The best map is Ein Zeitim, where we had the Israeli Championships in 2004. I have organised several events there, so I've had time to check the mapping, and it is simply fantastic.
I'd like to believe that I can make a map at Ludek's standard, and I will certainly do my best, but I am only an amateur and he is almost a professional. Visitors to the coming Israeli Championships will be able to compare - the map I'm making at Akbara is right next to Ein Zeitim, which will be used for a warm-up event the day before.
In any case, I'll be used to the mapping style in Slovenia, and I know that I can certainly trust the map. Now I also know that I have to plan a training session or two in Ein Zeitim.
I'd like to believe that I can make a map at Ludek's standard, and I will certainly do my best, but I am only an amateur and he is almost a professional. Visitors to the coming Israeli Championships will be able to compare - the map I'm making at Akbara is right next to Ein Zeitim, which will be used for a warm-up event the day before.
In any case, I'll be used to the mapping style in Slovenia, and I know that I can certainly trust the map. Now I also know that I have to plan a training session or two in Ein Zeitim.
Mapping in Akbara
Saturday, 5. July 2008, 09:52:59
I started mapping the forest near Akbara (a small Arab village) today. The map will be used for the Israeli Championships in February 2009, where we expect an unprecedented number of orienteers from abroad. It will also probably be a WRE.
I usually work in half-day sessions, especially in summer. The terrain is typical Israeli pine forest, on a steep hill, with lots of rocky features and very good visibility. I started at the top, and the view is fantastic, but I didn't take the camera today, so here is a sample of the base material instead:
The most difficult aspect of the mapping today was deciding which features to mark on the map. The steeper parts are no problem, but in the flatter areas of forest there are scattered small rocks (or large stones) and cairns (or piles of stones), of varying sizes. You can't mark them all on the map, but you can't ignore them either, so selecting the right ones is important. The accuracy is less of an issue - I use a laser rangefinder.
You can see an album of photographs from one of my previous mapping sessions on Flickr.
I usually work in half-day sessions, especially in summer. The terrain is typical Israeli pine forest, on a steep hill, with lots of rocky features and very good visibility. I started at the top, and the view is fantastic, but I didn't take the camera today, so here is a sample of the base material instead:
The most difficult aspect of the mapping today was deciding which features to mark on the map. The steeper parts are no problem, but in the flatter areas of forest there are scattered small rocks (or large stones) and cairns (or piles of stones), of varying sizes. You can't mark them all on the map, but you can't ignore them either, so selecting the right ones is important. The accuracy is less of an issue - I use a laser rangefinder.
You can see an album of photographs from one of my previous mapping sessions on Flickr.
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