OLD NEWS >> 2007
2007-12-27 Update - last 3 months
I have not been taking care of my website properly, last update was almost three months ago... Here is a summary of what I have been doing since October.
October
World Cup races in Switzerland (finishing 19th in middle and 22nd in sprint) and then travel to Czech republic for two weeks of training and holidays. I finished 25th overall, after participating in WC-races in Finland, Ukraine and Switzerland. The overall world cup result was not a goal for me this year.
The stay in Czech republic was a rather hectic trip with a lot of organizing, first a training camp for me and some other runners in WOC-relevant terrain and then also holidays. My boyfriend's parents visited Czech republic and my parents for the first time and I tried to show the best of Czech (and also little bit of Slovak) republic in a few days. Unfortunately I got sick after few days and could not participate in all training I planned.
The Czech national team for the next year was selected. I was placed in the A-group, see the whole Czech team for 2008. We were asked by our coach about which distances we would like to run at WOC08. After a lot of thinking I decided to prepare for long and sprint. I would really like to run relay too but the WOC-program with long final one day before relay is not good for this combination of distances. It is pity that the programme was decided in this way. I have never run sprint at WOC before. I have changed my opinion about sprint during this year and started to take it more seriously. I have realized that I like the fast and intensive orienteering a lot. We have good conditions for sprint training here in Borlänge, a big part of the town's area is covered by a high quality sprint map.
November
The Czech training year started at the beginning of November and also my new training program did. Since May this year I have been training much more intervals and other high intensity training, being influenced by Hoff & Helgerud, two Norwegian researchers who claim that intervals 4*4min at 90-95% of maximum heart rate and with ca 3 min active rest is the best way for improving VO2max. The plan is to continue with this kind of training, to add little bit more variation to the intervals and put them into interval blocks (5-10days), to train very short sprints 10-15s max with long recovery, to work with my running technique and to train on athletic track at least once a week. A completely new thing for me is strength training for legs in a gym. My goal is to be able to do it as a maximum strength training (3-5 reps) but so far I have not put very heavy weight on the bar, being afraid to injure myself. However, it is motivating to see the progress - I can lift more and more only after a few training sessions. (see 15s video with me doing barbell squats.)
I stopped counting hours of training/kilometres completely, I only focus on a purpose of each training session. I have also made a plan for my technical training, I perhaps write more about it some other time.
In the middle of November I was talking at Värmland's O-Gala about technical training in orienteering for ca 100 orienteers. I also had my first training camp of the season - skiing in Bruksvallarna with some people from my club.
December
In the beginning of December I got a strange pain in my right foot. I stopped running for two days and then I tried again. It got much worse and I was not even able to walk properly. I started to search on Internet and books. When I found out what kind of injury it could be I was not happy at all. It looked like a stress fracture at the fifth metatarsal bone. This kind of a stress fracture is very difficult to heal and often requires a surgery (insertion of a screw). At that moment I started to doubt about my start at WOC08. I went to a doctor and was sent for x-ray. After some hesitation the doctor told me it showed nothing but I knew that stress fractures are usually not visible at x-ray in the beginning. I even bought a flight-ticket to Czech republic to be able to get to an orthopedic specialist quickly (which is impossible in Sweden) but then I decided to wait and see. I stopped running and trained only cycling (spinning) and skiing (skate) and the pain decreased. Last week I tried to run a bit and this week I have been running twice. I can still feel something is a bit strange with the foot but it does not seem to get worse by little running so I really hope it is not a stress fracture. I am happy that I am able to do a high intensity training, over 90% of maximum heart rate, on both skis (skating) and bike (spinning).
On Sunday this week I will participate in a cross-country skiing competition in Mora (5km skate). I do not have any ambitions in cross-country skiing but I thought it was a way how to make myself train skiing in high speed. My skiing technique is far from perfect but I have no problems to come close to my maximum heart rate so it is definitely a good training.
About my work
Apart from the distance to Mora (100km) I enjoy my coaching job a lot. It would be a long story to write about it now, I can at least show our orienteering training from March - December ( maps + instructions) and also our runners and plans for year 2008.
This year I have done only a little work for my own company, the biggest job was designing a website for Swedish Cross Country Skiing Championship.
I wish you all Happy New Year!
2007-10-04 After WOC (maps from September)
Like many other WOC-participants I have been struggling with my motivation after WOC. My plan was to do some alternative and less structured training during the first weeks but unfortunately I got sick when I came home from Ukraine and was not able to train anything in almost 2 weeks. I recovered in time to be able to participate in District Championships Relay (which our team won) and in Swedish championships long, middle and relay but I did not feel very well prepared there. Anyway I have managed to do quite a lot of intensive training during the last 2 weeks and I hope to be able to run well in Switzerland at the World Cup. After the World Cup I am going to Czech republic for a family visit and training for WOC 2008.
My maps from September:
DM relay - first place together with Emma and Elin, photos
SM long qualification
SM long final - 14th place
SM middle qualification
SM middle final - 16th place
SM relay - 6th place together with Emma and Elin
2007-08-28 Photos and videos from WOC
61 photos from WOC (mostly Czech team and the four runners from Mora) and 8 short videos (most of them taken by Hungarian team, thank you).
Right now I am sitting at home and not feeling very well after catching a cold at WOC. It started as a sore throat and running nose and now the biggest problem is in the windpipe. I guess air conditioning is to blame.
2007-08-25 Relay - swimming in a marsh
We had the same relay team as at WOC last year and also at NOC in May this year. I was running the second leg, Zdenka the first and Dana the third one. The same arena as two days ago and partly also the same competition terrain. Luckily the weather was more pleasant today compared to the long distance. It was a fast race, only a few gullies made us slow down a bit. The biggest problem I had on the course was crossing a marsh on the way to the 4th control. It was on a bottom of one of the gullies and I actually had to "kind of swim" there to cross it. It was a mixture of water and mud, not a nice stuff at all. Zdenka had similar problem on the first leg, together with Martina Fritschy, and they were helping each other to get out of it. None of us three had a perfect race and we were never close to the fight for medals. I think we are happy with the 6th place anyway. I do not run sprint so WOC is over for me and I am going home tomorrow in the evening. I have some photos and videos and I will upload them later.
Map - relay
Results - relay women
2007-08-23 Long final - fighting the heat
14th place and more than 10 minutes behind is my result from today's long distance final. Another "OK-run". Some mistakes, not the best route choice to the 4th control and too much energy left after the race. I could have probably fought more, but I was afraid to "hit the wall". I am disappointed that I did not succeed to do my best at the most important individual race of the season. The weather was extreme - about 38 degrees Celsius! I had a dilemma if I should run with a camel bag. Finally I decided not to do it. I do not know if it was right, we had 5 refreshments controls (only two with sports drink). The feeling in the forest was not good at all but what else should it be if the temperature is more than 15 degrees higher than usual... I have one more race to run here, probably the most important one. I will run the second leg on Saturday and I am already looking forward to it.
Map - long final
Results - long final
2007-08-22 Middle final - three Czech women among 12 best
The terrain was very similar to the qualification, mostly low visibility and not so good runnability. Before the race I was trying to convince myself that I would be able to have a good race in this kind of terrain even if I like more a faster terrain with better visibility. The tactics was to have a safe race; keeping contact with the map all the time. Unfortunately I lost it about 50-70m from the fifth control and made a mistake (ca 2min). I finished 12th (actually my best individual WOC place ever), but not very happy with my run. The other two Czech women had a better result, Zdenka Stara finished 11th (despite a mistake after the spectator control and a short trip outside the map) and Radka Brozkova finished 8th after a run without big mistakes. That was a good team performance! I am the only runner in Czech team participating in both middle and long. After the race I tried to avoid the sun, eat and drink a lot and save energy for tomorrow. I think it will be a tough race in the hot weather and it will be important to think positively even if the feeling in the body is bad.
Map - middle final
Results - middle final
I will try to update my website with more photos and some videos after the long final.
2007-08-20 Long and middle qualification with maps
The qualifications are over and the opening ceremony is held in a park in the middle of Kiev tomorrow. The races I have participated in (long and middle) have been technically more demanding than all my previous races/training here in Ukraine. I think it is good that organizers found a challenging terrain already for the qualification.
I was calm at the start both yesterday and today and managed to make the final without problems, finishing 6th in the long qualification and 7th in the middle qualification. However both days it took a while to understand the terrain properly and I made mistakes in the first thirds of the races. Physically the feeling was very positive and there is no doubt I am in a good shape. The weather was not warm during the races I ran and I hope for the same at least for the long final. The Czech team is staying on the 12th floor in a hotel Tourist which is also an event centre. Sometimes it is little bit too warm in our rooms but as long as we keep both doors and windows open it is no problem. A lot of noise is coming from outside but I sleep with ear plugs and do not have any bigger problems with it. Food is really good, it is nice to have a change from the Swedish food and I probably eat more than I do at home... Tomorrow I will try to rest a lot, jog for a while and swim in the river (Dnepr). A beech is only 1km and 1 metro station away from our hotel.
Map - long qualification
Results - long qualification
Map - middle qualification
Results - middle qualification
2007-08-16 Good feeling before departure
In about an hour I am leaving my home to travel to Ukraine. It is going to be my 5th WOC (1999, 2001, 2005, 2006). I run the same distances as I did in 2006 and 2005 - middle, long and relay (2nd leg). The preparations have been good, I did more quality training in the last 3 months than I ever done before. I do not want to think whether I can "beat" my previous WOC-results. I just try to have fun running the races. As usual I have also done some theoretical training, setting courses on the old maps, playing with google earth etc.
My WOC-program:
Sunday 19th: Long Distance Qualification
Monday 20th: Middle Distance Qualification
Wednesday 22nd: Middle Distance Final
Thursday 23rd: Long Distance Final
Saturday 25th: Relay
Official website of WOC
Website of Czech national team
Interview with me at worldof.com (video)
Last weekend I competed in two races near Borlänge. I got a positive feeling even if I did some small mistakes. I was 2nd both on Saturday and Sunday. Results long and results middle. Map long and map middle.
2007-08-09 Coach at a training camp in mountains and maps from fjäll-Ol
One part of my coaching job is organizing training camps for the club employing me. Last week about 20 runners from Mora participated in a training camp in Swedish mountains.
We stayed in Ramundberget (in Funäsdalen, about 3,5hours of driving to the north from Mora) but the first training day (Wednesday) was spent in Norway, near Röros. When I was planning the camp I was trying to find some interesting maps in this part of Norway. With the help of the map database on maps.worldofo.com and the website of Øystein Kvaal Østerbø I found a map called Skårra (see map location) from IL Nansen. I also got another very interesting map, called Ålen vest, from Ålen IL (see map location) but we did not have time to go for a training there. We trained twice on Skårra. The first session was "even-odd controls orienteering" (Running in pairs, runner A has all odd controls drawn on the map and runner B has all even controls drawn. No lines are drawn. Runner A is leading to the odd controls and runner B is following him/her and vice versa). The second session consisted of 3 loops in a very detailed terrain. See Skårra-map with the courses.
On Thursday we had a training on a 1:50000-map as a preparation for Fjäll-Ol 3 days (mountain-orienteering). It was not very easy to set out the controls. We were looking for a lake (the first control) for more then 5 minutes. See the training course 1:50000 (length ca 5km). Since most of the runners from Mora had never participated in Fjäll-Ol before, I tried to give them advice on orienteering technique, tactics and also nutrition. The courses for H21 are between 25 and 30km long each day so it is very important to refill the energy during and after the race.
Almost all Mora-runners participated in Fjäll-OL (Friday - Sunday). I did not even if I was a bit envious about the others and actually wishing to run. But I had a plan how to train before WOC and I knew that 3 tough long runs in mountains were not the best for me. I did an interval training instead. The races were very nice and a good training for both legs and head. Also Swedish national cross-country-skiing team had a training camp in combination with Fjäll-OL. All three days I was standing in the finish with a bag of bananas and waiting for Mora-runners to come. That was quite a new experience to me. Check the website of the race for results and more information www.fjallorienteringen.se and see also:
97 photos from Fjäll-OL
Map day1 H21 (27,3km)
Map day2 H21 (25,7km)
Map day3 H21 (27,7km)
Video clip from the mass start - first day (.avi, 46s, 15MB!)
Video clip from the race with Charlotte Kalla and Eva Svensson from Swedish TV
2007-07-28 O-Ringen 2008 in Sälen - maps from the area
One month ago I spent 5 days in Sälen - a ski resort in mountains where O-Ringen 2008 will be held. I participated in our district (Dalarna) championships - sprint, middle and long distance and trained on the maps in the area. I enjoyed the terrain in the mountains a lot even if it sometimes was not very easy to find the controls. The terrain on the top of the mountains is open with small reentrants, stones and lakes but the most difficult part are the hill sides just under the tree boundary. Have a look at the maps:
DM - long distance (this map is located just NE of the embargoed area for stage 3&4)
DM - middle distance
DM - sprint
Training - hill side orienteering (S of Högfjället)
Training - speed change (Hemfjällstangen)
Training - long distance mountain orienteering (N of Högfjället)
Training - middle distance (Ö Kalven)
Link to the satellite picture of Sälen-area (O-Ringen centrum in located in a part of Sälen called Lindvallen)
Photos from Sälen on panoramio.com
2007-07-22 Training instead of World Cup
Some time ago I decided not to participate in World Cup races at O-Ringen. It might seem strange when the World Cup is held in the same country where I live but I want be hungry to compete at the World Champs in August. I competed and traveled a lot almost the whole month in June and now I need a good training period to be in a top shape in Ukraine.
After an illness in the middle of April and a bad shape at Tiomila and NOC I realized that something must be changed. I increased intensity of my training and stopped counting hours. I did some information search on Internet and read about the way of training Norwegian cross country skiing coach Sven Tore Samdal recommends. I could see a positive response already in Ukraine in the beginning of June and decided that I would keep on training in this way.
In spring I had a bit low haemoglobin. In the beginning of this month I decided to take a new blood test to check whether I do not suffer from iron deficiency. I do not eat red meet and I know how common iron deficiency is among women. I wanted to be sure before WOC. The results showed that the values were just above the lower limit of what is normal and I decided to start to take iron supplements not to end up with iron deficiency.
Last week I was in Skåne in southern Sweden and participated in Elitserien/WOC selection for Swedish team. I am already selected for WOC so I did not have any pressure on me. I was a bit angry with myself because I could feel that my motivation and concentration was not 100%. I ran well but only at some parts of the races.
At the sprint, I was second at the fifth control (after about 6 minutes of running), but I was probably running little bit too fast in the beginning and I was not able to keep the speed. See my map. Later on the course I had also problems with crossing a fence with barbered wire and I finally finished 12th. I have to admit that I enjoy sprint races more and more. I will perhaps try to focus more on them and not to see them as a good training only. However my goal at WOC this year is again long and middle distance and of course relay.
The middle distance was held in a very nice terrain close to the sea. See my map part1 and part2. I knew that it would be decisive to concentrate every single step and to run pretty fast at the same time. I started well but after about 20 minutes of running it was more and more difficult for me to keep the concentration. I slowed down and started to make mistakes. I finished 16th. I know that the WOC middle distance course will have less controls and that the terrain will have less details. I think that it could suit me better.
The long distance was held in a "Czech terrain" on a map made by Czech map makers so I felt confident. See my map part1 and part2. However I did not have a good start this time (small mistakes and wrong route choices) but I improved and had a good run at the second part of the course. I finished 8th, about 8 minutes behind Simone.
Results and splits from Elitserien in Skåne.
2007-06-26 Czech WOC-selection and how I prepare for important races
I am back from a short trip to Czech republic where I participated in the WOC -selection races. I was not nervous before the races but I knew that it would be important to have full concentration and I wanted to show myself, and perhaps also the people in Czech republic, that I was able to run well. I was not very happy after the first race - middle distance in a "broken" terrain with many pits and small contour details. I lost time at several places, not too much but enough not to have a good feeling after the race. I also felt tired, perhaps after the traveling. See my map - middle.
The sprint was held in Prague. I had more offensive attitude and started fast from the beginning. I got a bit confused at the control number 6 where the punching unit did not work but the rest of the race was good. It helped me a bit that I kept on catching runners starting before me. I won. See my map - sprint.
The last race was long distance and I knew that if I only avoided big mistakes it should be a good result for me. It perhaps resulted in too careful running. I still made one bigger mistake at one of the shortest legs. At about two thirds of the course I felt that it was time shift into a higher gear and increase my speed but it was rather difficult at the end and I was not sure if I was running fast enough. Maybe too much thinking about the speed instead of orienteering. Anyway I won the race but I hoped for a little bit better run. See my map - long part 1 and long part 2..
The WOC-selection races were a tough fight, especially among the men. The team should be announced today at the website of the Czech national team. See also results, maps and photos from the WOC-selection races.
I am one of the orienteers who set courses, using old maps of competition area, as a preparation for important races. For the WOC-selection races, the maps for the middle and long distance were available (.as a jpg-file 150dpi) and I used OCAD to set 2 courses, one for the middle and one for the long distance. We all knew where approximately the finish area would be and how far it would be to the start, and also the course lengths and number of controls. I spent about 40-60 minutes studying the map and setting each course. My middle distance course was not very similar to the one we ran but I succeeded well with the long distance. It almost looks as if I had seen our competition course before the race. See my course draft - middle and course draft - long.
2007-06-20 World Cup and Jukola
June is a traveling month for me. Tomorrow I am leaving Sweden again for WOC selection races in Plzen, Czech republic. I am in a good shape and I am looking forward to compete in my home country again. The Czech selection races consist of middle (Friday), sprint (Saturday) and long (Sunday). More information about the selection races can be found at the website of Czech national team.
Yesterday I was in Mora, preparing today's orienteering training, running 3000m together with my training group and also discussing training with some of the runners. I enjoy my coaching job a lot!
Last week I participated in the World Cup and Jukola. I ran well in both races. I finished 18th in the WC-sprint. See my maps: qualification map (.jpg) and final map (.jpg).
Last week I spent some time preparing Jukola meeting with the runners from Mora. I always try to read all available information, study old maps, make analysis of the terrain and tactics. I knew well that this year's Jukola would be technically very demanding. We had our meeting in the evening before the race. Besides many other things I was talking about the second last control and how important it would be to stay concentrated all the time until punching the last control. I was aware of it when I was running myself but I still lost almost one and half minute there and did my biggest mistake of the race. It is easier to give advice than to follow it.
I was struggling little bit with my motivation before my start, because I had to wait for quite a long time and the chances for a top result were already gone before I started. However, I managed to get into the fighting mood. Besides the mistake at the end, I ran well and improved the position of our team from 139 to 51. Finally we finished 30th. See my Jukola map (.jpg).
2007-06-10 Ukraine - day 7 and what's coming next
The last training in Ukraine was sprint distance final. I had to run the course early in the morning, before the organizers put the controls in the forest. Otherwise I would miss the plane back to Sweden. Our course (see my map - Solomensky park) had less route choice alternatives than the qualification but was rather tricky and it was easy to make mistakes. It was a bit difficult to motivate myself to run fast and concentrate properly. I have three more maps from Ukraine to show: Dubki (relevant for sprint and relay), Babij Jar (relevant for sprint and long), Chapaevka (relevant for middle). I have not been training at those maps. I am very happy with the whole training camp in Ukraine. I have realized that the terrain relevant for both middle and long/relay suits me well. I also think that the fact that WOC is held in a big city in Eastern Europe is probably an advantage for me, born in Ostrava in Czech republic. Another advantage is that we actually have very similar terrain (for middle distance) in Mora and also at some places in Borlänge and I can prepare for WOC at home very well.
Next week I am first going to Stockholm for a conference on recovery in sports and then directly to Finland for World Cup and Jukola. One week after Jukola Czech national team has WOC selection races in Czech republic. Dana Brozkova and Michal Smola are already selected and are the only ones going to Norway to run World Cup. June is a busy month for me when it comes to traveling but July will be much calmer. I am going to participate in the Swedish WOC selection races/Elitserien in the middle of July but not O-Ringen or any other races.
2007-06-06 Ukraine - day 6
Today the toughest race of the whole week was held in a forest located north of Kiev - long distance final. The first and last third of the course was in a terrain relevant for WOC long distance - with a few rather deep gullies and wet ground on the bottom of the gullies. The hillsides were steeper than in the qualification race and also the route choices were more interesting. The middle part of the course was more relevant for middle distance, I guess. Our course was 11km long and it took ca 77 minutes for me to run it. It might be the fastest time on our course according to the online-results but I do not know the times of the Swedish runners who started earlier. The final results should be published here soon. Many runners took it easy today, did not run in a full speed and/or ran only part of the course. I was quite happy about my performance. I avoided mistakes and found right route choices but I was pretty tired and thirsty at the end and my speed was not high. See my map (Vyzhorodski Jari). Tomorrow it is time to go home. I will run sprint final one hour earlier and then I will be in a hurry to catch my plane back to Sweden, leaving at 2 p.m. See 8 photos from day 6.
2007-06-05 Ukraine - day 5
Today we have experienced the nicest terrain so far, at the middle distance final. See my map (Zazimja). I guess the middle distance at WOC is going to be little bit more "green". Today there were only few areas with dense forest and undervegetation. You might think that orienteering in this kind of terrain is simple. But the terrain is very fast and at high speed it is actually possible to make mistakes. I like this kind of terrain a lot. Today's race gave me some self-confidence. It was not a perfect run and I also felt tired at the second part of the course but I finished 4th, and I am happy about it. Results middle final. In the evening I went for sightseeing in the town centre. Check my photos and you will find some of the Kiev's tourist attractions. For more information about Kiev, visit: www.go2kiev.com
2007-06-04 Ukraine - day 4
We have not competed today because it has been a rest day for all participants in the Ukrainian championship. However, we have been training instead, in the terrain relevant for middle distance, both times in an area located to the east from the centrum. By now we are rather confident about traveling in Kiev and we have good knowledge about the location of training and embargoed areas. We also know well what to expect from the terrain in Kiev.
The training in the morning was on a map called "Ptachofabrika". The terrain was mostly very fast with small hills but in some parts we found a lot of undervegetation - stinging nettles, raspberries, grass and various bushes (see the photos). At some places it was so dense that a machete would be helpful.
In the afternoon we trained in a neighbouring forest. See my map. Unfortunately my training was over already after 10 minutes. I could hear dogs barking in the middle of the forest, pretty close to the place where I was. I turned back immediately, increased my running speed and returned to the place where we hid our bags. There I was sitting and waiting for the others, close to a tree which I was able to climb up in case the dogs would come.... I have been afraid of dogs since I was bitten by a dog during a training run in Ostrava. I was about 14 years old at that time and I remember that I was not able to train for a few weeks because of the injury. A scar on my leg reminds me that day almost 15 years ago. Well, some mental training with focus on meeting dogs in a forest might be helpful as a preparation for WOC. I hope this is the last story about dogs.
Otherwise, everything has been working pretty well so far and we are enjoying our stay in Kiev a lot. The maps and courses are good and that is the most important part of an event.
See 11 photos (including hotel Tourist - WOC event centre and also view over the park where WOC sprint will be held).
2007-06-03 Ukraine - day 3
Today's finish area was located in a nice park near a small lake. Again we managed to get there without any big problems, the only difficulty was to find which bus stop our bus leaves from. It has not been as hot as during the previous days. It started to rain at the noon and it has been raining since then. Today's race was long distance qualification. At this camp I do not make any difference between qualification and final, I just try to run as fast as possible every race even if I know that I will be very tired at the end of our stay. I know that some runners took it easy today to save energy for the coming races. It still feels fine to run but unfortunately I did a big mistake on the way to the 2nd control. See my map (Feofania) I did not look at my compass properly and ended up running on a wrong path in a wrong direction. I was surprised to find myself near houses but I did not hesitate too long time and ran away from there since I could see and hear dogs. My route choice to the 7th control was also affected by dogs. I could hear dogs barking in the middle of the forest earlier on my course and when I realized that I would have to run close to a house, which was my first plan, I changed my mind and ran around instead. It was a right decision. The dogs were really there and made some runners scared which I got to know later in the finish. I had similar problems also on the way to the 10th control. Apart from the dogs and some garbage in the forest I enjoyed the course and also the terrain. The terrain relevant for long distance and relay (both the vegetation and the gullies) is a bit similar to some terrain in Ostrava in Czech republic where I grew up. Results long qualification and 8 photos from day 3.
2007-06-02 Ukraine - day 2
Sprint race (qualification) was held in a park called Nivky today. We traveled to the race by underground which was pretty fast, easy and cheap (0,5 UHR). The finish area was located about 150m from the underground exit. It was a combination of a forest- and a town sprint. Our course was a good one with many route choices. See my map (Park Nivky). I was a bit angry with me when I came to the finish, because of two mistakes I did. But when I saw the results I could see that it was not so bad. I finished 7th in my heat. I feel that I can run much faster than at Tiomila and NOC and I am happy that I can see a positive development when it comes to my running shape. In the afternoon we had training together with the Danish team in an area relevant for middle distance. See my map (Koncha-Zaspa). It took a while to get there, first by underground and then by a crowded bus but it was worth it. The forest was nice and we haven't seen any dogs. The terrain was actually rather similar to what we have in Mora where I work as a coach. See 11 photos from day 2.
2007-06-01 Ukraine - day 1
Finally some news here again. Since yesterday evening I have been in Ukraine, at a training camp together with 2 other runners from Czech national team (Dana Brozkova and Tomas Dlabaja) and also 2 Norwegian guys. A few hours ago we found out that we had a wireless network in the apartment we are staying in so now I am able to give you some information about our stay.
Today we have participated in the first event included in the Ukrainian championship - middle qualification. We have not rented any car here but it is not a problem because it is possible to use the local buses and underground to get to the races. Today it took about 80 minutes to get to the finish area from the town centre where we are staying. It was quite a simple "arena" in the forest, it looked more like a club championship. I was lucky that the start was located in the arena because we arrived quite late and I was one of the first runners to start. I had only very little time to warm up but at least I tried to get myself ready for the fact that the terrain would be rather "green" with undervegetation and bushes. That is how it looked liked around the finish area. However, only the first 2 and last 2 controls were in the green part, the rest of the course was in a rather fast and simple terrain. See my map. I finished 4th, about 3 minutes behind Simone. Results should be found here soon. After the race we went for a short swim in a lake near the forest. It was nice to cool down after the race. I am not very used to the temperature. I has been about 30 degrees Celsius today. During the last night I had a bad sleep because of the noise coming from the streets and also because of the heat.
Kiev is a city with 3,5 million inhabitants but the traffic system seems to work well even if it is rather different from what we are used to. The trip to the finish area (one way with two different buses) cost us 2,25 UHR (hryvna) per person which is about 0.33 euro. The dinner we had in the afternoon (you can see the picture of it here) cost about 34 UHR (5 euro). Most of the signs are written in Cyrillic alphabet so it might be a good idea to learn it if you are coming to the world champs. We got a lot of help from Yura, Ukrainian friend of Jon Are Myhren. He arranged the apartment for us. He and his friends are very nice and explain for us how the things work here. But even if they are not with us I do not feel completely lost here, since the Ukrainian and Czech language belong to the same language family and it is possible to make myself understood.
After the race the British team told us a scary story about 2 runners being bitten by a dog at the training yesterday. They had to go to a hospital and start the treatment against rabies, a vaccination which consists of 6 doses. Terrible stuff. We are considering buying a pepper spray to carry it with us in the forest as a protection. And we decided not to go to the forest where the incident happened. I hope the British runners get well soon.
See 8 photos from day 1.
2007-02-23 Portugal: maps and photos
Back in Borlänge, after 11 days in Portugal. I decided to have 2 rest days in a row to recover from the training camp. Today I have started to train again, skiing in the morning and running + strength later today. I am very happy that I was able to train and compete as much as the other runners from our team after being ill before the camp. During the first 5 days, we trained in Praia de Mira. As usual the focus was on middle distance training. My performances varied, I had some good runs but I also made few big errors. About 90% of my orienteering errors happen when I am near the control, in the control circle. This is something I have to work with during the coming months.
Maps:
First training - long distance (11/2)
First leg relay training (13/2)
Long distance training - one part only brown colour + another part without black (14/2)
Middle distance training (15/2)
At the end of our stay we participated in Portugal O-Meeting (4-days-race). The weather during the model event on Friday reminded us that it was February and that we were 1100m above the see level. The combination of strong wind, rain, hail, fog, 4 degrees Celsius and no gloves made me return to the car after few minutes in the terrain.
The weather was only slightly better during my run on the first day of POM but I was still able to enjoy the fantastic terrain. I felt sorry about the organizers, standing in a big water pool at the start and freezing. Map E1
Luckily, during the long distance (WRE), the weather conditions were fine and did not affect the race. I had my best run and finished 7th. I felt tired but I managed to concentrate on the map and made right decisions about the route choices. Map E2 (WRE)
The last two days were even more technical, both when in comes to the navigation and running technique. The map scale was 1: 7500. It was funny, the third day was called "Perfect Day", though, for me it was a disaster. I had a pain in my right foot from twisting it during the long distance and I was a little bit worried about it. One minute before entering the start area I found out that I had forgotten my SI-card in the pocket of my jacket which was lying about 600m far away... I was 3 minutes late when I started. Never mind, it is better to learn a lesson during such a race than at WOC or Tiomila. I lost very much time during the race, both on errors and bad running technique in the stony terrain. Map E3
The organizers prepared chasing start for the runners who were not more than 1 hour behind the leader after 3 days. When we arrived to the arena, the finish was not standing yet and startlists were available first about 30 minutes before the first start. I was curious how the organizers would manage the chasing start (for all classes between 10 and 11 a.m.) and also mass start for the rest at 11:15 and 11:30. They were having very stressful time, but finally all runners seemed to start in time. I was struggling with myself to get into the finish but at the same time I was happy to experience such a nice and special terrain and maps. Map E4
After the last race, we drove back to Lisbon, visited the town centre and on Wednesday we flew back home. See also 61 photos from our Portugal training camp.
2007-02-13 Portugal day 3
It is great to be at a training camp. Orienteering in a nice terrain (sand dunes), eating, sleeping and surfing the net from a hotel room. It can hardly be better and I am fully enjoying our stay in Praia de Mira, ca 250 km north of Lissabon. Not only the Czech national team is here, also Austrian and Slovenian team and Norwegian club Nydalen is staying in the same hotel. The camp is organized by Portuguese club Ori-Estarreja (link to a website with information about the training camp). I started my training in a very slow pace 3 days ago but now I am able to increase my speed and push a bit more without risking getting ill again. After almost no orienteering training during the last half year, I do not feel very confident about my orienteering technique but it is getting better with every training session. Today in the morning we had a relay training (first leg with mass start) together with the other orienteers staying here. Check the course with my route. Marianne Andersen was fastest; I finished 4th ca 2,5' behind. On Friday we are moving to San Pedro de Sul to participate in Portugal O-Meeting.
2007-02-10 New job - orienteering coach at IFK Moras OK
I am going to work as an orienteering coach from March! IFK Moras OK, one of the strongest orienteering clubs in Sweden, with a few national team runners, asked me whether I would be interested to work as a coach for the elite group. I am very enthusiastic about the new job and I am ready to use all my orienteering knowledge and experience to help the runners in their development. It is a part-time job (50%) and I am still going to work as a orienteering teacher at Domnarvets school in Borlänge which is also part-time (20%). The new job situation means that I will have a better possibility to plan my training.
Today I am leaving Sweden and traveling to Portugal for a training camp with Czech national team. I have to take it very easy in the beginning. I really do not want to get ill again. I have been looking forward to this training camp since few months back.
During the last weeks I was working on a website for a cross country skiing race, check it at www.falunborlangeloppet.se.
2007-01-29 Ill again :-(
About a week ago, I launched my new online training diary on this site. Click on the picture on the right site to open it in a new window). It is the same system as Emma Engstrand uses on her site and it is made by her brother Erik. Erik is a skillful programmer and he helped me to implement the diary on my site. As you can see I have not been training since January 20th. The reason is simple, I have been ill. Again! It started as a flu and developed in a kind of sinusitis or whatever it is but I have been feeling bad during the last 10 days, not even able to work normally.
On Saturday I was healthy enough to speak at a project meeting of female orienteering coaches. I spoke about my personal development as an orienteer (presentation, .pdf, 1.1MB) and about a youth project (link to project's website) I worked with last year.
2007-01-09 Three days in Åre with ski mountaineering team
Patrik is member of the Swedish ski mountaineering team (www.skidalpinism.se). Last weekend the team had a training camp in Åre. I joined Patrik to train cross-country skiing in the area near Åre while he and the other guys were using their specialized randonee skis for ascending and descending the adjacent mountains. We stayed in Edsåsgården (10km south from Åre) and I could train skiing at three "new" places - Vålådalen, Edsåsdalen and Åre-Björnen. Åre-Björnen was the best one with enough snow and well-prepared tracks.
I had a 9 days long training break during Christmas due to sickness. I planned to travel to Belgium to participate in 5-days orienteering race (December 26-30) but instead I had to stay at home and get healthy. It was pretty frustrating to be sick during my holidays when I did not have to work at school and could have trained much more than during the working days. I had similar sickness as last year at this time of year - cold, coughing and probably bronchitis. I think it is easy to get sick at school where I meet many kids every day while I train a lot at the same time. During Christmas I entertained myself by uploading landscape photos taken by me and Patrik to www.panoramio.com. Panoramio is a photo-sharing community where every photo is linked with the place where it was taken with the help of Google Maps. I have uploaded 43 photos so far. Check my photos at panoramio.
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