WUOC Middle Distance

I chose to start early to beat the heat and was the 8^th starter and the temperature was cooler (around 23C) than starting later which was nice. I lost 1 minute on #2 and 15sec on #3 but the second to last control #18 was killer where I lost 4 minutes. My plan was to be aggressive and hope to have a perfect race. I thought there is no point in running controlled and place between 60-70 but rather push my limits to have a great result. I was having a very good race up until #17 where I think it got to my head a little bit. I thought to myself I’ve done it and that’s when disaster strikes! Did not end up going far enough and after thinking I was close (and I was) I ran around and then decided to go to #19 and then go back which worked out great but I should have just done it sooner and I would have limited the damage to probably 2 minutes not 4! I am still happy with my performance despite the mistakes. Tomorrow is the relay and I will be anchoring Canada 1 team. Will C. will be starting and Robbie A. will run second.

Middle Distance map

37th Place

Train on,

Damian

WUOC Sprint

The sprint this afternoon was in the city of Alicante starting on the top of the Castillo de Santa Barbara. The course was tough with 135m of climb but there was also a lot of fast downhill running too. Another warm day 28C but it was not that bad for a sprint. I made a few bad mistakes and ended up in 79^th place which is far from ideal. Lots of narrow streets and stair cases made it very tricky. Middle distance tomorrow, I start at 8:44am, better get to bed… One more chance for a decent race!

Punching the last control

Sprint map

Train on,

Damian

WUOC Long Distance

The 27C heat combined with 9.8km and 690m climb made today’s long distance the toughest race I have ever competed in. The race was far from perfect for me but I have already tried to forget about it and focus on recovering for the sprint tomorrow. The insane amount of climb combined with the blazing Spanish sun drained my brain and legs very early on and my legs felt like lead by the 4^th control which was disastrous for me. This made the last 2/3 of the course very tough. There were some good route choice options and I think I chose the best ones but did not see one wide route choice on a long leg on a trail that avoided a lot of climb which would have been a lot quicker and less demanding! I truly think I could have had a much better race if I had an early start time near 8:30am when it was only 20C. I think the starts should have been from 12:00pm onwards so everyone would have had the same heat and sun conditions and early runners would not have had an advantage over the later ones. Looking forward to the sprint tomorrow and hoping for a much better run!



Long Distance Map
Open in new tab if you want to be able to zoom in



78th Place (side # is wrong), I guess I have to take it...

Train on,

Damian

WUOC Model Event

The WUOC model event was right next to the Mediterranean Sea on the Caravasi map. It was warm again but not as warm as yesterday only 25C. Some of the terrain was similar to the Carcross Desert map in the Yukon which apparently is not relevant for any of the races but the steep re-entrants, cliffs and scrubby vegetation will be very relevant. The footing was very uneven again and I expect there to be some sprained ankles throughout the week. The team went for a swim in the Mediterranean Sea afterward to cool down which was refreshing. The opening ceremony is tonight at 7:30 pm which will parade through the streets of a suburb of Alicante. The long distance (9.85km 690m) is tomorrow and the first start is actually at 8:30am, I ended up being in the late start block so I won’t be racing until around noon which will be a major disadvantage with the heat and the sun! Hopefully I can crack the top fifty with a clean run. Stay tuned…

Model event map

Myself after the model with the Mediterranean Sea.

Train on,
Damian

WUOC Preparation

Today part of the Canadian team decided to race an Alicante Provincial League race on EL MOLI just outside Santa Polo which happened to be adjacent to the Middle and Relay map that will be used for WUOC. My navigation was pretty good today with 3, 1 minute bobbles that can be fixed easily with a bit more concentration. Since I arrived yesterday I am still a bit tired and with the long distance in 2 days I decided to take it easy out there and not run super fast and mostly walk the hills. I am not use to the heat here in Spain; it was 34C (at 11:00am) and roasting in the sun since there are not may spots with tall enough trees to get out of the sun. Since it was just a local meet there was no water on the course which sucked because you could have used some by #1! The terrain is very rocky and uneven with lots of small cliffs and scrubby vegetation. The run ability is fairly good but you have to pay close attention not to roll your ankle on the uneven rocky ground. Hopefully it cools down before the long distance on Tuesday which is very unlikely. It should be a bit cooler in the morning because starts are from 8:30am onwards; hopefully I get an early start! Tomorrow is the official model event at carabasi. Stay tuned for daily news.

Map from today 6.6km 285m

 Myself after the race

Train on,

Damian

Europe Bound for WUOC and WOC!

Tomorrow I leave for Alicante, Spain to compete in WUOC and then I have a week off before WOC starts in Lausanne, Switzerland. It should be a jammed pack two weeks of orienteering at its best! The maps in Spain look like nothing I have ever run on before so it should be interesting and challenging. The WOC maps look awesome but they are typical Swiss terrain and similar to some maps in Canada so it won’t be as big as a shock as the maps in Spain. Hopefully I am use to the heat because it should be roasting in Spain and probably Switzerland too! First WUOC race is the long distance on July 3^rd, stay tuned...

Train on,
Damian

WOC 2012 Lausanne, Switzerland

Its offical I made the Canadian WOC team and will be running the middle distance in Lausanne! Check out all the details- http://teamcanadaorienteering.blogspot.ca/. Depending on how I perform in the middle distance I hope to get the opportunity to run the relay this year. Only 40 day until my big race.

Barebones Long Distance/Canadian Team Trials Photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79705841@N04/7305226402/sizes/l/in/photostream/

Train on,
Damian