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

Back to Reality

     After 42 day in Europe I will be flying home tomorrow August 1^st to Winnipeg where I hope to compete in the WCOC’s http://www.orienteering.mb.ca/WCOC2013/ if my knee is up for the challenge. It has been a very enjoyable past 42 days in Europe with tons of great orienteering races and trainings on unique terrains. I feel I have brought my orienteering abilities to a whole new level. My goal was to improve my orienteering technique and I think I have succeeded which is exciting for COC’s this fall in Hamilton where I hope to be fighting for gold in all three disciplines.

I      was unable to compete in Day 5 of Bubo Cup due to a severe knee contusion and missed all five days of OOCup because of the same injury. I went to the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana Slovenia to make sure nothing was broken or cracked in my knee and the doctor said I was lucky nothing was broken because there was a lot of swelling. I was given crutches and sent on my way. I was impressed with how fast the emergency service was, in and out in 3 hours. After a week of rest my knee is doing very well and healing faster than expected. I can see and feel improvement on a daily basis. There is a good chance I will be healthy enough to compete in the WCOC’s despite my right leg being weak and out of shape after not using it for a week. I expect my leg to bounce back quickly and despite it being a bit out of shape/weak I think I will do just fine. My bigger worry will be fighting off jet lag. I arrive late Thursday, August 1^st and will be racing the Middle Saturday, Aug 3^rd followed by the Long and Sprint Sunday and Monday respectably. This is not much time for my body to adjust its internal time clock and recuperate after a very full day of travel but I think I will manage just fine.

 

Lets go tot he top! I didn't make it out of the parking lot. Near the top of Mangart Mountain (as far as we could drive)

Mangart Mountain on the Boarder of Slovenia and Italy

Sheep near the top of Mangart Mountain

Some random lake in Italy we past driving to Ljubljana



Trebon Center

Trebon

Train on,

Damian

Bubo Cup Day 4

     Day 4 of Bubo Cup was held high up on the Bisaga map. I decided to walk the course today which was a bad decision because my knee was very sore and even worse after the course. It was very unique and difficult terrain today, so it’s too bad I couldn't run. The ground was uneven, rocky and steep so it was not easy to walk on (or run on I guess). The only upside to today was that since it was so high up the temperature was cooler, around 22C. I finished the course and I wasn't last!  I placed 22/25 if it even matters. I may have to go to the hospital tomorrow to remove some fluid from my knee if it doesn't improve (so I was told by the paramedics today). I will probably walk to the start tomorrow to pick up my map but will not start. I will try to make it to the start even though its painful to even walk now.

My route (some mistakes because I questioned why I was out there and stopped paying attention)

My swollen knee, looks worse in person

View from our camping spot

Train on (well actually off),

Damian

Bubo Cup Day 3

     Today was day 3 of Bubo Cup at Vipava at 1:4000. The sprint race was held in the village of Vipava. It was very warm 32C. My goal was top 5 yesterday before my knee started to really hurt later at night after falling and smashing it on a rock during the race yesterday. I thought nothing of it and expected it to be fine. Well it wasn't fine, it was very sore before my start and I thought about seriously not racing. Well I put some topical pain cream on it and started. I didn't think a top 5 was possible anymore but during the race I didn't feel it hurting much. I ended up having a very good race with two bad routes and a few hesitations. I lost 5 sec on #2 because of a bad route choice, 3 sec on #8-bad route, few seconds on #9-going too slow and 5 sec on #18- too careful and hesitated going though the small passageway. I ended up 3rd/30, 18 sec out of first and 10 sec out of second place. My knee is was very sore after the race and I have been icing it all night. I will see if I start tomorrow...

     We spend the morning enjoying the Adriatic Sea. The relatively cold water was good for my sore knee. I spent most of my time there soaking my knee in the water of sitting in the shade because it was very warm.

Results: http://www.orienteeringonline.net/Results.aspx?CompetitionID=816

Bubo Cup Day 3 Sprint July 21, 13

Photo: Martin Tichy



Photo: Martin Tichy

Adriatic Sea

Train on,

Damian

Bubo Cup Day 2

     Day 2 of Bubo Cup was held across the road from day 1 on the Postojnska jama map. It was another good race for me with fewer mistakes than yesterday. Although I made fewer mistakes they were very dumb ones. I wasn’t reading the map enough going to #1 (I was mostly just running haha). I made one really stupid route choice to #4 that was slightly unintentional and was standing above #13 and didn’t see the control so ran to another depression to relocate and came back to the same spot I was in and finally saw the control. We did some more sightseeing this afternoon and visited the Rakov Skocjan cave. Day 3 tomorrow is a sprint in the village of Vipava which will be held in the late afternoon. I am looking forward to the race tomorrow and I am hoping for a top 5 finish!

Results: http://www.orienteeringonline.net/Results.aspx?CompetitionID=816 

 

Day 2 Postojnska jama July 20, 13

 

Outside the Rakov Skocjan cave

 

Ouside the Rakov Skocjan cave

 

Inside the Rakov Skocjan cave

 

 

Train on,

Damian

Bubo Cup Day 1

     Today was day 1 of Bubo Cup on the Magdalena map. The scale was 1:7500 which I thought would be a problem for me to get use to but I had no problems with it at all. The terrain was very different than what I was used to from Czech Republic. It was a bit of a shock to see so many deep depressions. There were lots of rocks, cliffs and deep depression with some hills. If you lost contact it was very hard to determine what depressions was which on the map.  The ground was very uneven and rocky which made it difficult to run fast. I did fairly well with a few stupid mistakes right near the control, it was hard to pick out what rocks were mapped in some places. I got very confused going to #13 where I swear there was another trail. It was a really warm day around 26C. I Placed 11/22. After the race we went sightseeing to the Predjamski Castle and the Planina cave which are well known in Slovenia. Day 2 tomorrow will be in relatively the same location with very similar terrain as today but with a bit more green and less rock detail.

Results: http://www.orienteeringonline.net/Results.aspx?CompetitionID=816

 

Bubo cup Day 1 July 19, 13

Predjamski Castle

Entrance to the Planina cave

Train on,
Damian