Patrick

One of the many reasons for my visit to the Yukon was for the Whitehorse Adventure Run. The races usually have slightly easier than normal nav, but around 25km, so it ends up being in the 3h range. My good friend, Chris Piller and I teamed up for the race, and we pulled off a narrow victory over the local Junior National team boys, Colin and Lee.

In the evening, Brent was at the meat station on the grill when the local paper called. "I happen to have the winners right here" might have been a bit unusual in some places...but I have the feeling our reporter didn't find it so surprising. Ah Whitehorse.

Brent's writeup of the race is an exciting account of the day.
Here's the article in the local paper.
Map and our route

Øystein enjoying a reco run after a successful USTT

My first major races of the year were the US Team Trials, in Santa Rosa County, CA. I had been looking forward to these races for several weeks as the first chance to put my winter training to a very good test. The races were pretty much a who’s who of orienteering in North America and included some strong international runners - in particular, Kristaps Jaudzems, 4th at the 2004 Junior World Champs and Øystein Sorenson, gold medalist at the 2005 Junior World Champs.

Training Group Success!

Our Vancouver training group had some great results this weekend. Øystein and I had very good races in the Middle and Long. Louise had several strong races in the women’s class as well. I am very happy that the weekend went well for us. Hard work pays off.

Mental Preparation

I am in very good shape right now, faster and stronger than I have ever been, but to have a successful weekend, I knew that I had to navigate well. At this time of year, my foremost goal was to be smooth and in full control, making no mistakes. I was extremely successful at meeting these goals and I am very satisfied with my mental preparation so far. Now it’s time to move on and look towards the bigger goals.

Physical Preparation

My winter training has had its ups and downs, but I am in very good shape right now and looking forward to gaining some higher end fitness leading into the summer. I felt very comfortable physically during the races, so that is good feedback for now. I always had lots left at the end of the races, so there is definitely room to push harder. Especially at the end of the long, I was feeling very strong and gained a lot of confidence from the good race.

Next up

A few days at home in Van to recover will be followed by another big stint of travel. Several TCs, work and the Canadian Team Trials will take me to Kamloops, Canmore and Whitehorse over the next month. Stay tuned!

Summer has most definitely arrived on the west coast. Warm, sunny days, cherry blossoms, the end of work and new found speed are all some of the things I get to enjoy with the new season. But to start it off, I visited home for a few days last week. The CBC stories of flooding and massive ice jams are no exaggeration, and it was quite a sight flying into the prairie town.

Relaxation, good food and visiting with family are the main reasons for a trip home, and I am now charged up for a very busy summer. I plan to keep regular updates as my exciting weeks of racing, training and travel unfold!

Next post – Maps from TC#1 in Kamloops!

A few highlights from the prairies:

I am happy to announce two new equipment sponsors!

Vitalyte is my new bevy of choice to keep me fueled during those big workouts. It's mostly glucose which means it gets into the blood much more quickly than the table sugar in, say, Gatorade. Good stuff.

Bell is my new cell phone provider! When I moved to Van, I knew two people without a cell - me being one of them. Suddenly it's down to one again as I have a great plan with Bell and a snazzy new phone. And now I don't know how I'd go back!

Help me thank my sponsors by choosing those companies who contribute amateur sports in the community. Thanks to all my supporters - it really does make a difference!

Just three of the reasons Portugal is an ideal getaway for the orienteering athlete pining for great training. The terrain is amazing, technical and fast. The sun is warm. The coffee is strong and cheap.

February was a packed month and just flew by. It was filled with a few big, solid training weeks, two training camps, and one injury! I will be doing some updates about the past month, but for now, here's a peak into the month that was!