Now based near Aalborg, the team has been going for day trips to the training maps to further hone our orienteering skill in the Danish terrain.
The weekend running in the Vestjysk 2 Days has left everyone with something to work on. One huge difference to this terrain compared to NZ is the route choices which normally involve a track to the left or the right and or straight through the forest. It is almost alway quicker to take track routes to avoid the dense forest but knowing where to cut corners is a skill to be perfected. Despite a fairly cruisy approach to the races the team did extremely well with Duncan posting the fastest time on the 8km course and Angela was the fastest girl in the sprint race on Friday evening.
We were treating the 2nd race (Sundays race) as preperation for JWOC by simulating race starts and running at race pace to the 6th control and then completing the rest (or not) at an easy pace. For the boys this did not quite work out with two of the controls being swapped. However despite this mistake in the courses the boys handled it well and continued with the rest of their courses, except Matt who sprained his ankle.
We have been going out training on the official training maps Blokhus yesterday and Molleparken and Vester Torup Nordos. These maps are very similar to the JWOC maps had will provide us with very valuable terrain knowledge.
Great stuff guys, keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteWhat he said.
ReplyDeleteIts nearly time for me to roll out THAT saying........are you ready........CARPE DIEM means SEIZE THE DAY!!!! Its up to you. Hope it goes well for you all....good O-ing!! xxx
ReplyDeleteYay for those who are updating the blog with photos so those of us back home in NZ get a taste of what is happening over there. Just checking out the Vestjysk website & spotted a photo of Carsten registering plus one of Gene & Ross (looks like you are all enjoying yourselves)
ReplyDeletePlus a message from the organisers "At the rally site to get forgotten a pair of black Puma boots" ...wondering if they are a pair of the team puma shoes! (I can still act like a mum checking up on your lost property from NZ!!:)
Hope you are surviving self-catering & the heat
Have to agree with Anna about the blog updates and photos. Makes are feel like we are in the loop.
ReplyDeleteWe could do with some of that heat and extra daylight hours here at the moment.
The trailrun.info website, which showed the map and courses you ran on last weekend , gave a good insight into the navigational difficulties with the vegetation and lack of detail, in many places, something that Matt commented on earlier. However it looks like you were coming to grips with it.
Good luck to you all over the coming days. Do yourselves and us back home proud. Go you young kiwis.
Mike
Hope all goes well with the racing. Keep in contact if poss. And by the way Gene, we found your jeans under the seat in the car. Mum sends her love and Renee says hi and good luck.
ReplyDeleteDeb
. PS And be nice to the competitors!