Wednesday 19 June 2013

Not This Year

     After a strong start to the spring both with training and racing (Sage Stomp, Barebones) I have failed to qualify for this year Canadian WOC team. I was unable to attend the Canadian team trials due to moving complications which were held in the US in conjunction with their team trials. I do not agree with the way the team was selected because it was way too reliant on subjective criteria that can be altered anyway one wishes to. I hope this will be changed for next year so I am not trying to chase after elusive selection criteria.

     After failing to qualify for this year’s team I decided that my main goal this year would be to win the Canada Cup Elite Series. I am right on track to do just that after winning the first Canada Cup race (long distance) this May which was held at Sage Stomp near Kamloops, BC on the McQueen Lake map.




 
 
Sage Stomp Podium


2013 Canada Cup Standings:


2013 Canada Cup Schedule:
Yes-August 3-5 ~ Western Canadian Championship, Manitoba (sprint, middle, long)
Maybe-August 23-25 ~ Eastern Canadian Championship, St. John, NB (middle, long)
No-September 20-22 ~ Ottawa O-Fest, Ottawa, ON (combined Saturday/Sunday results)
Yes-October 11-14 ~ Canadian Champs, Hamilton, ON (sprint, middle, long)

     Instead of going to WOC this year I have decided to train and race in the Czech Republic which I believe will be a better experience. I will be leaving for the Czech Republic tomorrow to live and train there for just over 6 weeks.  After arriving in Prague I will drive to Trebon and stay the night. In the morning I will drive to Kuncice for the Czech middle distance championships on the weekend. I have scheduled orienteering training or racing almost every day for 6 weeks so it should be a great experience.

My Schedule:

21.6 Arrival in Prague
22-23.6 Czech Republic Middle Distance Championships- Kuncice: http://mcrkt2013.ssu.cz/?page_id=219
24-29.6 Training at Hradce Kralove
1-7.7 JWOC TOUR-Spectator races: http://www.jwoctour.cz/jwoctour
8-10.7 Training in Olomouc.
11.7 Rest day - Sokolnice - Brno
12-14.7 HSH Cup Tři Studně-Moravia:  http://www.obchrast.com/nz.php?nzid=950
15-17.7 Training around Trebon / Jindrichuv Hradec
19-23.7 Bubo Cup – Slovenia:  http://www.bubocup.com/
26-30.7 OOCup – Slovenia:  http://www.oocup.com/
1.8 Departure to Winnipeg- WCOC’s: http://www.orienteering.mb.ca/WCOC2013/

      I am flying back to Winnipeg on Aug 1st just in time for the Western Canadian championships.  I hope to come back from Europe stronger than ever and hopefully it will show in my results and I hope to make it easy for next year’s selection committee for WOC. It should be an exciting summer of training and racing. Stay tuned for the latest on my trip.

My racing goals for this season:

Make the A final at the Czech Republic Middle Distance Championships????

Win all three races at WCOC’s

Gold in the Sprint at COC’s

Medal in the Middle and Long at COC’s.

Win the Canada Cup Elite Series.

 
Train on,
Damian