Austrian Championship - second place at the middle distance
Monday, 5. May 2008, 22:11:45
After two weeks of travelling and competing it is time to sit down and do some analyzing. What has been good, what could have been better?
Tiomila, for sure, could have been better. I tried to regenerate as much as possible between the training camp and Tiomila, but I also had to work long hours, so I was not completely recovered. On the day before Tiomila we did a short course in Västerås and I felt really good. Also the warming up felt good, but just after a couple of minutes out on the leg I felt tired and really slow. I was running the third leg, which was unforked, but still I managed to do a mistake on one of the shorter legs, missing more than a minute.. I got really angry at my self at that moment, so at least my legs had some more adrenalin to run with, but that was not enough to make it a good run. I didn't loose to many places, but the time was not good at all. Alva, our second runner (a very talented junior from Västerås!) was running very well, the rest of us not good enough, so in the end we came 27. One place down compared to last year and definitely not top 20, so no reason to be satisfied. For my part I know what to do better in front of the next relay and to reach our goal we all need to run like Alva.
This year's Tiomila was, no matter how my run was, for sure not very interesting orienteering. For those understanding Norwegian, Anne Margrete Hausken has a very interesting comment on Tiomila on her homepage . Hopefully the course setters of Tiomila read it.. I fully share her opinion, that for the women, Venla is a much better and funnier relay than Tiomila..
Coming home from Tiomila I used the first two days to get fully recovered and this time it worked like it should. I worked normal hours, ate like a horse, slept for hours and did only jogging and stretching. Wednesday I went for a easy run with some faster sessions in between and that felt really good. In this three days I also fixed up my little balcony, so now I can finally have breakfast out in the sun (if she turns up then, now it is once again raining like in november..).
Thursday was the first race of Schöcklland-Open, at the same time the second WOC-selection. It was a short-distance, mainly downhill. Weather was really bad, rain in masses, but conditions were the same for everyone and afterward you could drop into one of the two restaurants, so it it did not really matter. Some months ago, there was a heavy storm in the competiton area and due to this there were lots of fallen trees and branches. My run was ok, but nothing more. I chose to run very carefully, since the slippery branches made me feel insecure. With such a low speed you can't really make mistakes and I didn't, except for the last control. I came on the upper side of the green area instead on the lower side where the control was set. First I could not understand where I was, so I lost about 45 seconds.. Way too much, but fortunately the time was still good enough for a 4th place.
Results/Splitalayzer/Routegadget Schöcklland Open - all three competitions
Friday was for me a rest day, just work and easy jogging. Saturday was again WOC-selection, at the same time Austrian Championship middle distance (S.O., 2.day). The whole morning my stomach was playing the "I am getting nervous-game" with me, but that is mostly a good sign. Before the race, we knew it would again be a down-hill race, since the start was at 1100m and the finish area at less that 800m above sea level.. Luckily they had a transport service to the start!
The first control came exactly as I expected it to, but punching it together with Lisi Hohenwarter, who started 2 minutes in front of me, was not expected. I tried to run my own race, even if I was not alone and most of the time I succeded. The first 6 controls were straight downhill - appr. 200m descending.. Then a longer leg from 6-7. Good course setting, running that fast downhill you have enough concentrating on the next control and the long leg is hard to plan then. My only mistake this day came on the 6th control, where I thought to be more to the right. Even if I could read my self in to the map again relatively fast, I left about 2 minutes there. Not only because of the mistake, also the route choice was not perfect. The longer legs from 6-7 and 8-9 went okay, but it might have been better to run more to the right from 6-7. The only disappointing moment this day was the leg 7-8. Normally uphill running is one of my best qualities, but this day I was just not able to run this little hill. Grr...The rest of the course was again downhill, so thanks to Agoston for kicking us out to train downhill running and orienteering in the Czech Republic! I am still not good at it, but at least I am not so bad at it as before!
Knowing that I had done a good run I gave everything in the run in and it paid off. Second place in the Austrian Championship!! I am really happy with this medal!! On the podium were the same girls as in the Ultralong Champs: Ursi first, me second, Anita third. Michi Gigon was 4th, only 4 sec behind the bronze medal. All the first 5 girls within 1 minute - that's cool!
Sunday was the last day of S.O and the last WOC-selection. Knowing my races beeing ok so far, I didn't feel much pressure or stress, but I still wanted to do a good race. Of course I could feel some tiredness, but that was the same for everybody. Warming up on the way to the start, I could feel that my legs were ok and that runnning up the hills would make fun again. Due to some stress with nature activists, lots of course-changes had to be done only a couple of days before the competition. With this in mind, it doesn't matter, that the course was a build around the long course from the JEC 2 years ago. Except for the leg 2-3, where I had heavy legs, the rest of the course was ok. I made almost no mistakes at all, some seconds here and then and 45" at the 19th control, where I came too far down, so I was satisfied with the technical side of the race. In the middle of the race I overtook Uschi with 4 minutes, for the rest I saw none of the other girls. I was running at faster speed, but not maximum, somehow knowing this was okay. Strange feeling, but it is nice to know, that you can run at normal speed, not maximum speed, and still be in the top. Grande dame Lucie (Böhm) Rothauer won the race, in front of Anita, then me, then Michi G. All 4 within 33" - after 78 minutes of running. Cool!
Today the WOC-team has been nominated and all the girls are in it, together with the 6 elite men. It is somehow early to do the selection all ready now, but the positive thing is that you can do some solid preparations without selection stress.
Friday we're heading off to Hungary for some EOC-preparations. The maps looks like good fun, very detailed and challenging. I am looking forward to some good technical sessions! Then there will be a periode of hard training and then it is EOC. Time is flying!
]
Tiomila, for sure, could have been better. I tried to regenerate as much as possible between the training camp and Tiomila, but I also had to work long hours, so I was not completely recovered. On the day before Tiomila we did a short course in Västerås and I felt really good. Also the warming up felt good, but just after a couple of minutes out on the leg I felt tired and really slow. I was running the third leg, which was unforked, but still I managed to do a mistake on one of the shorter legs, missing more than a minute.. I got really angry at my self at that moment, so at least my legs had some more adrenalin to run with, but that was not enough to make it a good run. I didn't loose to many places, but the time was not good at all. Alva, our second runner (a very talented junior from Västerås!) was running very well, the rest of us not good enough, so in the end we came 27. One place down compared to last year and definitely not top 20, so no reason to be satisfied. For my part I know what to do better in front of the next relay and to reach our goal we all need to run like Alva.
This year's Tiomila was, no matter how my run was, for sure not very interesting orienteering. For those understanding Norwegian, Anne Margrete Hausken has a very interesting comment on Tiomila on her homepage . Hopefully the course setters of Tiomila read it.. I fully share her opinion, that for the women, Venla is a much better and funnier relay than Tiomila..
Coming home from Tiomila I used the first two days to get fully recovered and this time it worked like it should. I worked normal hours, ate like a horse, slept for hours and did only jogging and stretching. Wednesday I went for a easy run with some faster sessions in between and that felt really good. In this three days I also fixed up my little balcony, so now I can finally have breakfast out in the sun (if she turns up then, now it is once again raining like in november..).
Thursday was the first race of Schöcklland-Open, at the same time the second WOC-selection. It was a short-distance, mainly downhill. Weather was really bad, rain in masses, but conditions were the same for everyone and afterward you could drop into one of the two restaurants, so it it did not really matter. Some months ago, there was a heavy storm in the competiton area and due to this there were lots of fallen trees and branches. My run was ok, but nothing more. I chose to run very carefully, since the slippery branches made me feel insecure. With such a low speed you can't really make mistakes and I didn't, except for the last control. I came on the upper side of the green area instead on the lower side where the control was set. First I could not understand where I was, so I lost about 45 seconds.. Way too much, but fortunately the time was still good enough for a 4th place.
Results/Splitalayzer/Routegadget Schöcklland Open - all three competitions
Friday was for me a rest day, just work and easy jogging. Saturday was again WOC-selection, at the same time Austrian Championship middle distance (S.O., 2.day). The whole morning my stomach was playing the "I am getting nervous-game" with me, but that is mostly a good sign. Before the race, we knew it would again be a down-hill race, since the start was at 1100m and the finish area at less that 800m above sea level.. Luckily they had a transport service to the start!
The first control came exactly as I expected it to, but punching it together with Lisi Hohenwarter, who started 2 minutes in front of me, was not expected. I tried to run my own race, even if I was not alone and most of the time I succeded. The first 6 controls were straight downhill - appr. 200m descending.. Then a longer leg from 6-7. Good course setting, running that fast downhill you have enough concentrating on the next control and the long leg is hard to plan then. My only mistake this day came on the 6th control, where I thought to be more to the right. Even if I could read my self in to the map again relatively fast, I left about 2 minutes there. Not only because of the mistake, also the route choice was not perfect. The longer legs from 6-7 and 8-9 went okay, but it might have been better to run more to the right from 6-7. The only disappointing moment this day was the leg 7-8. Normally uphill running is one of my best qualities, but this day I was just not able to run this little hill. Grr...The rest of the course was again downhill, so thanks to Agoston for kicking us out to train downhill running and orienteering in the Czech Republic! I am still not good at it, but at least I am not so bad at it as before!
Knowing that I had done a good run I gave everything in the run in and it paid off. Second place in the Austrian Championship!! I am really happy with this medal!! On the podium were the same girls as in the Ultralong Champs: Ursi first, me second, Anita third. Michi Gigon was 4th, only 4 sec behind the bronze medal. All the first 5 girls within 1 minute - that's cool!
Sunday was the last day of S.O and the last WOC-selection. Knowing my races beeing ok so far, I didn't feel much pressure or stress, but I still wanted to do a good race. Of course I could feel some tiredness, but that was the same for everybody. Warming up on the way to the start, I could feel that my legs were ok and that runnning up the hills would make fun again. Due to some stress with nature activists, lots of course-changes had to be done only a couple of days before the competition. With this in mind, it doesn't matter, that the course was a build around the long course from the JEC 2 years ago. Except for the leg 2-3, where I had heavy legs, the rest of the course was ok. I made almost no mistakes at all, some seconds here and then and 45" at the 19th control, where I came too far down, so I was satisfied with the technical side of the race. In the middle of the race I overtook Uschi with 4 minutes, for the rest I saw none of the other girls. I was running at faster speed, but not maximum, somehow knowing this was okay. Strange feeling, but it is nice to know, that you can run at normal speed, not maximum speed, and still be in the top. Grande dame Lucie (Böhm) Rothauer won the race, in front of Anita, then me, then Michi G. All 4 within 33" - after 78 minutes of running. Cool!
Today the WOC-team has been nominated and all the girls are in it, together with the 6 elite men. It is somehow early to do the selection all ready now, but the positive thing is that you can do some solid preparations without selection stress.
Friday we're heading off to Hungary for some EOC-preparations. The maps looks like good fun, very detailed and challenging. I am looking forward to some good technical sessions! Then there will be a periode of hard training and then it is EOC. Time is flying!
]
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