World Cup Round 3

After settling into my new home in Oslo, there was no time to lose to prepare for World Cup Round 3 in Sarpsborg. The KM (District) championships in long and relay the weekend before were some good warm up races. In the relay I was running first leg with a strong field and to my surprise I was able to keep up and finished with the leading pack. This gave me a much needed confidence boost for the following weekend. Karolina and Andrine ran good races as well and Lillomarka OL were KM relay champions for the first time in D21!

KM Relay Winners! (Photo: Andrine Benjaminsen)

I travelled down to Halden on Thursday morning in order to be able to get out on the model map before the races began. A strong compass and staying in contact with the map were important in order to avoid any parallel errors. The terrain was quite tough underfoot making it important to stick to your intended line so as not run any uneccessary distance.

The programme was a tough one with four races in three days. The terrain was quite different to what I had been orienteering in all summer. Nevertheless I realised I had actually done quite a lot of training in these terrains (thanks to NWJS junior tours and the old BOF tours) just not for some time. I love the terrain in that area so I was super excited just to go and race in it.

First up was the long distance. I started quite nervously - after some big mistakes at WOC I had decided to stop and check as soon as I felt unsure about anything. I had a few wobbles but I reacted well to them. I was really pleased with this as this is not something I have quite managed to get under control in international races this year. Once I got into the map I felt I was able to run strongly and really attack the terrain. I finished 36^th. I was pleased with this as I felt I managed to orienteer as well as I could on the day. With a stronger field (a max of 6 runners per nation) than at WOC I was pleased with the result as well.

The next day was middle day. This began with a prologue to determine the starting order for an ungaffled chasing start in the afternoon. Therefore you really needed to run as well as you could in the prologue to get in the best possible position for the afternoon. I had an ok race, but didn’t make any big mistakes, which some people did. I finished in =39^th and starting 9.26 just towards the end of the back of a group of girls (time behind the winner was doubled for the chasing start).  

Finishing the Prologue (Photo: Stefan Månsson)

In the pursuit we started straight into a green area which meant you couldn't actually see many runners ahead. Even if they were only 10s in front. I managed to catch the group by #1. It was then mostly uphill until #7. I realised I was fitter than most people around me up the hill so managed to work my way to the front of the group. There was then a leg across to some semi open. I decided to stay high and run down the ridge, before cutting across to the semi open. This worked well and I managed to overtake a few people. Looking at the splits and gps tracking afterwards I had started very fast - faster than I realised at the time and very much faster than I thought I was capable of. This would explain why I was feeling very tired at the arena run through. I lost quite a bit of time in several places in the second half and finished 30^th. It wasn’t a complete performance but this was probably the hardest I have ever managed to push myself orienteering and it is good to find out what happens and where I’m losing time to the best in these situations.

The next day was the relay. I was on first leg for GBR1 and feeling exhuasted. Nevertheless I knew it would be the same for everyone so it was just a case of getting on with it.  When we started I felt I couldn’t hold my form in the terrain at all. I felt like I was tripping and stumbling all over the place. I just decided to focus on staying in contact with the map and checking my compass to make sure we were going the right direction. I managed to make it to the arena passage just clinging on to the back of the front group. After the arena passage it was a long slog back up the hill. I had the longer gaffle but also lost time on the last few controls mainly due to being in severe oxygen debt - every time I looked at the map I couldn’t remember which control I was going to or where I was. Given that it was a first leg I probably should have been a bit more careful and taken a good look at the last loop on the track run out of the arena run through. I lost some time on the last 3 controls and also had the longer gaffle so handed over to Cat ~3.30mins down on the lead.

Start of the Women's relay (Photo: Stefan Månsson)

With so many races the weekend was a bit of blur. But thinking about it afterwards I think they are, in some ways, my best ever races. I made some mistakes in all my races but I don’t think I’ve ever managed to attack a set of races so hard or push myself so hard when orienteering, particularly not in an international race. A good starting point to look towards WOC 2019 from. All results and maps from the weekend can be found here.

I was pretty exhausted after these races and took this week fairly easy. Nevertheless on Friday my body had had enough and I spent most of the weekend in bed recovering for a bad cold/flu bug. I’ll take the time to get fit and well again then it will be a few more focused weeks of training until the final World Cup round in Czech Republic.