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