WCOC's It's a Wrap

     The WCOC’s were held this past weekend in Spruce Woods Provincial Park on the tricky, tricky Hog’s Back map. Three races were held over three days on the most technically challenging terrain Manitoba has to offer. Despite recovering from an injured knee and jet lag, I was very happy with my races.

 

     Another challenge added to the long distance race was the pouring rain at times which made reading the 1:15000 map very challenging. I was happy with the long race considering my circumstances and the fact that my body was not use to running for such a long period of time after 2 weeks of doing very little. I did make some very silly mistakes which is a bit annoying but that’s what happened. I think the mistakes were from not being cautious enough and trying to convince myself where I was when I was really unsure. The generally flat East side of the map with small depressions, light green forest and clearings in between was a whole new challenge of its own.

 

     The next day my body was very sore and very tired for the sprint race but I managed to have a great race with no mistakes. I felt slow in some places but that might have played to my advantage since it was very tricky terrain and going a tad slower could have been an advantage.

 

     I scored some valuable Canada Cup point in all three WCOC races which will extend my overall lead in the series and help me towards winning the series! Now time for some recovery to let my knee fully heal and be ready for the Alberta Championships (Middle and Long are Canada Cups) in September and the COC's in October.

Results: http://www.orienteering.mb.ca/WCOC2013/results.html

WCOC Sprint August 5, 2013

WCOC Long August 4, 2013

 

WCOC Middle August 3, 2013

 

WCOC Sprint Podium- Manitoba Sweep!

 

WCOC Medals (chocolate medals)

 

Train on,

Damian

WCOC Middle

     Today was the WCOC Middle at Hog's Back. My knee was sore to start but the adrenalin kicked in and I wasn't thinking about it so I didn't really notice it too much. I think I am still a bit jet lagged, I felt tired but that was also probably from not running for about two weeks. I would have liked to be able to run faster in some sections. It was tough to keep in contact with the map in spots. I made a few hooks on #2, #6 and lost around 4:30 on #7, followed a parallel clearing and didn’t look at my compass carefully enough. I really felt my knee after I finished, it was a bit more swollen but I iced it and it is feeling a bit better. I placed 2^nd/8. I do not know if my knee will be able to handle 14.7 km and 470m climb tomorrow!

     We were not allowed to keep our maps because we will be in the same area for some of the course tomorrow. I loaded my tracks into the map file that was provided by the organizers on the website. It is not the best quality but it gives you a good idea of the terrain.

Results will be here when available: http://www.orienteering.mb.ca/WCOC2013/results.html

WCOC Middle August 3, 2013 (Time: 37:56, 5.6km, 85m)

Train on,

Damian