Sometimes you´re going for a certain goal and getting the opposite

This was quite what happened to me in the EOC long final race at Saturday in Pismenovo, Bulgaria. The longdistance was the one I´ve been aiming for at most towards this EOC 2010. After at okay performance in the middledistance I belived in my skills and my abilities to perform well in the long race.

When I got the map I took a quick check at the whole course. I saw the long leg to the 7^th and thought immediately that the route must be chosen with patience there. Beginning went nice and running felt pretty good. Towards the 6^th I looked closer at the long leg. After punching I stopped and double-checked it again. My only thoughts were either to the left or right around, never straight on. My choice to run left was made because it had the easiest approach to the flag in the end and big paths almost all the way. After half way the path turned bumpy and it was not very good to run. I started to realize this wasn´t the fastest, and it was also very far away from the line. After punching the 7^th and down in the surprisingly runnable “canyon” it came clear to me I made the wrong route-choice at the long leg. I tried to put these thoughts aside, but it wasn´t easy. Somehow you just try to push harder to gain seconds, but what happens is that the speed don´t really increase. Instead you´re burning more energy and orienteering becomes fragile.

In the butterflies I focused on taking the controls without mistakes and managed ok. After the butterflies I made a clear mistake on the 17^th when I run pass it on the right side in the slope. Definitely this mistake came out of a rush, should have run more slowly here. Towards the spectator control my legs didn´t feel so fresh anymore, I had burned the most of my energy already. The last loop, which was quite long, went okay and I didn´t make mistakes on the flags. Some route-choices weren´t the best thou, and the grass was high due to my early starting position. After finishing with the clock ticking at 2.02, I knew this was not what I was going for. Not at all.    

After analyzing the race I could have made a time at 1.50 but Daniels 1.44 I find more or less unbeatable for me. Maybe in another world…

Middle Finals in Pismenovo

I started with great confidence in todays race. Good, calm orienteering from the beginning. Route choice already to the 2nd flag, but I was well prepared for anything, so it went okay. Until the 5th I was running as planned, but then to the 6th came some seconds of gap in concentration and I went off to the right along the first contours. After a while I started to realize I was going wrong and turned left. Still a little unsecure up towards the flag when there was nothing to read and I knew I wasn´t “on the line”. On to the 13th it was quite “straight on” orienteering, thou I had to stop before the 11th when I was a little left. The leg to the 14th looked interested at first sight, but obviously it had to be run along the ditch. Tricky flags at 14th and 15th. After that, from my opinion, orienteering ended. The loop after spectators control was almost the same as in women´s class, so there was paths in the grass.
Even if my position in this competition was 21. I´m quite happy with my race. I managed to have a steady control over my doings during the race. I think a perfect race today would have given me a place 4 – 6.
MEN A-FINALS Middle-distance
1. Valentin Novikov RUS 34´09
2. Matthias Merz SUI 35´30
3. Daniel Hubmann SUI 35´36
...
6. Tero Föhr FIN 36´21
21. Jörgen Wickholm FIN 37´32

Controlled performance in MiddleQ at EOC

Middle Q (5,2km, 160m climb, 16 controls)

I´m satisfied with my performance in today´s middle qualification race. I started well focused on what to do. Nailed the first 4 controls and running felt good from the beginning. To the 5^th, the first long one, I struggled a little in the half-way and had some difficulties to read the vegetation in the end. This resulted in some stops and I lost for example some 50 seconds compared to my team-mate Mats Haldin. Rest of the course went pretty well and I had time to take it easy on the difficult controls in the end. It resulted in a 9^th place some 1´24 behind the Swiss Bapitste Rollier in MEN-A. My time was 28´25 and the last guy to the A-final in my heat had 29´57. In these qualifications it´s not much room for mistakes, at least in men´s class. I really liked the route, it was a little of everything and the best parts of the terrain were used. I have no complains about the map either, thou green areas are a little confusing at some places.

Not happy with my longQ-race, but I made the cut

LONG Q (9,3 km, 330m climb and 19 controls)
Today started my EOC with long qualification race in Yasna Polyana. I was well prepared for a difficult route. My race went pretty okay in the beginning, but it felt I got stuck in the green areas all the time. To the 2nd control it was hard to find a good “path” along the dried-out ditch. On the 3rd I run a little down in the slope but it was clear the control was on the left. To the 5th I planned to run quite straight up to the bigger path, but got lost in the bushes and found myself out to the yellow opening a little stressed. My biggest miss came to the 7th when I decided to go around to the right. Or actually it would have been okay if I done as I planned. I didn´t see the smaller paths and became nervous so I went off to the left to find my contours leading straight to the flag. In reality I was running down too early, but didn´t realize it yet. After a while I knew something wasn´t right – had I missed the flag or was I running down too early?! After several stops and my head turning as a radar I decided to continue over the big nose. I found myself on the map just before I saw the 7th flag and lost some 2´30 – 3 minutes here. On the way to the 8th Bortnik caught me with 4 minutes. At first I wasn´t sure if he was running same group, but eventually it came clear to me he was. The rest of the route went as planned and running felt better and better. My result was 62´38 and place 13th in MEN-A. (17 from each of the 3 groups on to the A-finals). Fastest was Valentin Novikov RUS with 56´45.
It was very hot weather today, some 28 degrees in the shade.

EOC - time to have some fun

Yesterday I arrived in Bulgaria with the Finnish national orienteering-team of 8 men and 8 women. The time since the middle-testrun in Lohja (PRISMA-rastit) has gone pretty well. I participated in the FOC-sprint in Kirkkonummi last Saturday. My result was 3^rd in the qualify but in the A-final I made an unforgivable mistake already to the first control, and lost some 20 seconds. Then to the 10^th I got lost and lost almost one minute more. I´m not happy with my final run, but after all – I didn´t expect much more than a good training and to feel how fresh my legs were in high speed, and it felt good. A couple of successful, sharp trainings in the beginning of this week gave me the confidence I wanted for EOC.

We´re staying in Hotel Les Magnolias, a really nice and relaxing place to prepare for the EOC. Today we were model-orienteering and the terrain was, as expected, a little different than in the spring when we were visiting Bulgaria on training camp. However, for me it is even better the more under-vegetation and reduced visibility there is. My distances are middle and long - Bring it on!   

A sad thing happened last week - my father passed away. He was the one who thought me how to orienteer when I was five years old and in my teens he was coaching me with training towards the top. He was really an orienteering-enthusiast with a heart burning for the sport. Everything seems to have its time.  

Prisma-rastit (EOC-test for middle)

A competition in middle-distance was held on Thursday in Lohja (west of Helsinki). It was also EOC-test for middle, 2/4 Huippuliiga event and WRE. Route was first 5 km of “ordinary” middle-distance and then change of map to a last loop of 1,7 km forest-sprint on 1:5000 map. Totally 6,7 km. This was okay, but I think an EOC-test for middle shouldn´t have any sprint-moment in it. It´s just not relevant.
The terrain was quite nice offering different type of orienteering. Runnability was mostly good. A couple of steeper uphills and some green areas gave its ingredients.
My race started okay, thou I had to stop once before the first control to double-check. After a small mistake on the 3rd, 4th and 5th with a total of some 20 seconds I tried to rise my focus a bit. Maybe I was running little too fast into the ring. On the 8th I made my biggest single mistake when I went right in the end when I should have turned left, lost 30 – 40 seconds here. Rest of the course went as planned. In the end I was 8th and lost 1´13 to Jani Lakanen.

M21E (6,7 km)

1. Lakanen Jani VaajTe K-S 39.15
2. Airila Hannu KR S-K 39.16
3. Huovila Jarkko TP Häme 39.27
4. Muukkonen Petteri VeVe Kaak 39.32
5. Myllärinen Jani Koovee Häme 39.52
6. Fagerudd Kim PR V-S 40.01
7. Föhr Tero VeVe Kaak 40.05
8. Wickholm Jörgen SV FSO 40.28
9. Tsvetkov Dmitry IkNV Häme 40.36
10. Lakanen Jonne VaajTe K-S 40.52

10-Mila in darkness

In this year I was running a night-leg, the 5^th, for my club IF Sibbo Vargarna (SV).  I usually run last leg in bigger relays for my team, at least in the last couple of years, but now our coach ended up with a different tactic - “plan D”. The goal was to be as close to the top as possible after 5 legs, so that the rest of the guys would have it easier when they´re running in “faster” groups.

I tried to sleep/ rest in the evening before my leg, but I didn´t get any sleep. At 00.30 I went to competition centre from our accommodation together with 4^th leg runner. I felt very awake even if it was in the middle of the night when I was preparing for my start. I had only done one night-training this year, but it didn´t bother me at all. I knew that the terrain would be quite difficult and suite me well.

Runner before me came in at 49. place about 24 minutes behind the leading team. I started with full focus on orienteering and felt hungry for a good race. My technique worked well and I managed to run without any mistakes on the controls. Only two times I was little on the side from my “planned route”. I had enough strength to run the last steeper uphills in the end and still kept concentration at 100%. I came to changeover in 27. place 22 minutes behind the lead, so I was satisfied with my performance. It feels that my skill to keep concentration at high level during the whole race is even better this year.

team SV: (change position/finish)

1 – (13.) Miha C

2 – (?) Jallu S

3 – (?) Jani V

4 – (49.) Toni H

5 – (27.) Jörgen

6 – (?) Teemu V

7 – (?) Matti J

8 – (?) Vicke M

9 – (?) Daniel B

10 – (43.) Ken P

Long test-race for EOC at FinnSpring

First serious competition behind, the long-distance test-race for EOC was held in Rauma in southwestern Finland along with FinnSpring this weekend. The terrain was described to be fast. On open hills it was, but in between it was partly wet and rough. Overall it was a good, and technically demanding competition the whole 17,7 km. I had good feelings before the race, but I hadn´t done a lot of running in Finnish terrain before, and only one competition last weekend. This long distance is my favorite distance, so mental preparation is quite easy. I managed to do what I was going for; “a complete-focus-orienteering” all the way. Route choices went pretty well and no bigger mistakes, only some stopping to re-check smaller details cause of 1:15000 map. I ran a lot alone thanks to 3 minutes start intervalls and two butterflies. Running in these kind of terrains is not yet at top level at this time of year, but every time it´s getting easier.

M21E
1. Tero Föhr 1.40´24
2. Topi Anjala 1.42´26
3. Jörgen Wickholm 1.42´42
4. Timo Saarinen 1.42´56
5. Petteri Muukkonen 1.43´52
6. Vesa Taanila 1.44´02
7. Oskari Liukkonen 1.45´16
8. Mats Haldin 1.45´28
9. Olli-Markus Taivainen 1.45´40
10. Leonid Novikov 1.45´46

FinnSpring relay was held on Sunday. I ran the last leg in SV 1. Team. Guys before me (Mikhail C, Jani V, Toni H) had some difficulties keeping up with the leading teams, so we were fighting for a top 20. I went out 29. and finished 15.

M21
1. IKNV 3.06´40
2. Lynx 3.07´05
3. KR 3´07´22
…
15. SV 3.22´24

Siljarastit (and Huippuliiga 1/4)

Today I was competing in Sauvo (south-western part of Finland) and it was also season opening for me. Weather was windy and cloudy with degrees at 5 - 7c. I finished in 13th place 1´49 behind todays winner Pasi Ikonen. I´m quite happy with my performance, at least the orienteering was at a good level for the first start this year. Running didn´t feel so easy, probably cause of little running in terrain in Finland at high speed in this year cause of snowy terrains in Sipoo. The terrain and route was "almost easy" from the 5th control forward. Especially the flat open "hills" in the end was really fast. My only real miss came at the 5th when I was approaching little too much from the right side and went down in the slopes too late. Lost some 0´30 there. On the 7th I had problems getting down and lost 0´10 - 0´15 more. Rest of the couse I managed to run pretty much the way I planned and "orienteering-thinking" stayed ahead as it should. This race gave made me confident of my skills (I can still orienteer:) and now I can focus on upcoming important starts, already next weekend.

M21E 6,81km

1. Pasi Ikonen 36´57
2. Petteri Muukkonen 37´02
3. Hannu Airila 37´45
...
13. Jörgen Wickholm 38´46

Trainingcamp in Bulgaria 27.3-3.4

It has been a good camp with some nice orienteering trainings near the Black Sea. A couple of them with higher tempo in high-speed terrains and some low pace running to recover in between. Always so enjoyable to get a new map and go running in a snowfree forest, especially when there has been so much snow back home that running anywhere else than on roads has been impossible. (of course NOTHING is impossible, but it is hard to concentrate on orienteering when you´re plumsing in some 60 cm of snow...) My orienteering technique is getting better each day and running in terrain feels more and more natural. This camp is quite short, therefore more high-intensity trainings.

After this week it will be important to recover well before any harder trainings in this critical moment when new competition season is starting. My first start will probably be in Kevätyön viesti 10.4, but not if there is much snow in the forest. First individual start is going to be in Huippuliiga at Siljarastit 17.4.

Winter ´10

It has been the snowiest winter in many years (since somewhere in the 80´s) in Finland. For an orienteerer that means alternative training or trainingcamps in southern Europe or other snowfree places. For me it has been mostly alternative training, besides the Sylvester 5-days in Belgium 26-31.12.09. Orienteering there was much better and interesting than I expected. Good maps and partly very detailed areas. Overall victory in front of P. Hendrikx and the becoming SV runner Ken Peeters.

Rest of the winter I´ve been at home in Sipoo. A lot more skiing than previous years, but not more than some 900km totally. A litte bit more fast running on tracks and powerblock-like weeks once a month. Overall good wintertraining without injuries. Looking forward to the upcoming season.