POM Day 4: Long Distance

This was the last day of POM. Was sad to end the competition as was finally feeling like I was cracking how to race here, But then again think my legs were close to having enough haha. Again we were on the same map, Arcozelo Da Serra, with the same spectator control as the last few days. Today however was a chasing start, ie first one across the line wins the full event. So in the Elite categories our total times for the last 3 days were totaled and if we were within an hour of the leader we started in the chasing start. I was 47:28 behind Simon Niggle who was winning so I started exactly that behind her. Kirsten Maxwell was only about 30seconds in front of me so some motivation to be clean!

This was a bit tricky to start with as the map scale was 1:15,000 not the 1:10,000 we had been running on. Was a bit worried to start with I wasn't going to be able to read all the rock. Might think about training with a magnifier just for long races like this!
Had a clean but slow first control, but was needed as a confidence boost. Control 2 I ended up half way to 3 and was like this doesn't feel right! I had managed to miss the end of the trail and had just kept running went through two rocks and turned around knowing I had gone too far (opposite of what I thought I was going to do today, which was not go far enough!) Saw Kirsten leaving control 2 so knew it couldn't have been that big a mistake :/ Caught her and another girl caught me going to control 3 and there were 3 of us to control 4. Was glad to have a few people around on the first long leg just as a confidence boost and to push my pace a little bit. Went to the wrong side of the rock into 4 and had to go right around but nothing major. the next few controls were nice as fairly big features could been seen from a distance that the control was near. Almost ran past control 7 though! Was keeping up with Kirsten and another girl for ages as well which I was quite proud of didn't think I had that much speed for this distance. I could tell though that Kirsten was trying hard to get ride of me! At control 11 we had a nice surprise though! It was a water control on our descriptions but wasn't expecting to also get a chest deep river crossing along with it!

Photo by Miguel Barradas

Legs weren't too happy just after that with it being fairly chilly. Was close to cramping as we went into the short Urban bit of the course, so glad the navigation was a bit easier. bobbled going to control 14 which was the first one after the urban back in the rock. Just didn't hit the small trail before it like I was wanting to but almost nailed the control about 5m to the right of the control. Then it was the sprint up the hill to stay with Kirsten into the spectator control. (I was really starting to hate that hill!) After the spectator control we had a trail run to where the "butterfly" loop was. Because kirsten was the girl starting ahead of me I knew we were going to have a different way around the loop. I went counter clock wise and then straight through and I found out at the end that the others went straight through at first and then around. I was fairly clean through the loop but both me and another girl had difficulties on the through bit. I think I just didn't go far enough and then had a hard time relocating. Kirsten got a much bigger gap there. Then control 22 which was the first out of the loop I went into it too late and bumbed around the control circle a bit too long before finding it. Felt like the control wasn't actually on bare rock :/ I was getting a bit tired by this point. Picked a poor route to 24 as well. I should have gone back up the hill and along the fields to drop back down to it. But I legged it down the hill and along the trial just to slog my way back up through the forest. Silly Alison! Then it was basically home :)

I ended up running close to 14km for the 10.5km course. I feel like that wasn't too bad though. Also I was only 128% of Simon Niggle's time who won the course and POM overall and is the Queen of Orienteering. That was a big motivator to the fact that I'm improving. So just need to work on a few smaller things and get my longer distance fitness up I think.

Overall POM was great! The experience in this rocky terrain was amazing. I have never run in anything like this before. Also getting another multi-day event under my belt. And getting to race against the best in the world was amazing, so much to learn! So time to reflect at home and train train train!

POM Day 3: WRE Middle Distance

Well today was the important WRE day. Same area was yesterday but starting on the other side of the road and so had a marked road crossing as part of the spectator section in the arena.
Wasn't feeling super fresh this morning, but was happy enough on my jog to the start and warming up. Thought I got myself calmed down and ready to go in the start blocks and was feeling confident and in control heading off.

Well that lasted for probably 2 minutes. Think I was about half way to the control and then Poof nothing was matching up! And the panic set in pretty quickly. I was having a hard time keeping my compass work steady and felt like every time I looked at it it changed direction on me. I honestly have not a notion of what was going on and was getting annoyed that I couldn't see what I thought should have been an obvious 6m high rock!! Ended up finding control 5 and 8 before finally making it to control 1. Well pressure off, there went my clean race, now just make the rest clean! Well I did that for the rest of the tricky controls in all the rocks. Some how things clicked back in and managed a flow through controls 2-10 with only a few small bobbles. Was pushed along with a few other girls that caught and then passed me as well. Then comes leg 10-12. Was with another girl at this point and saw her just ahead of me leaving the control off to the east. Didn't see a route to the right I liked. Looked at the left route which I really didn't like. So straight it was! And this is where I'm going to point out that it would have been VERY useful to have known that in Portugal the cultivated fields (yellow with black dots) are fair game! To me that is an out of bounds symbol and therefore was going wellish to the trees pockets just before the fields and then skirted the fields and battled my way through a TON of darkish green thorns to get to the control when had i run through the fields it would have been a dead easy entry into the control. Well we live and learn I suppose, but lost quite a bit of time there for that grrr. Not to bad through to 12 and 13. Was then a bit high for 14 which was silly! I saw people running away from that control when i was running to the start. Through the spectator control in the arena and straight down the hill into the rocks again. I was fairly clean through the last little loop apart from a few places getting stuck on top of rocks I didn't realise were actually that tall on the other side.

Overall came back and wasn't happy about this race. I knew I can run much better than this! But hey we all have bad days and all we can do is look at them and take them as a learning lesson. I was supposed to learn something from this, and I think I have. That one must be focused from the start and don't just go running off thinking "its a huge rock I'll find it!". Also that part of an international competition prep I should find out if there are things that are different than at home.

Spectator control for Elites

Go control - after a long hill!

Arena for the last three days

Rocks!

POM Day 2: Middle Distance

 Today was the first of the two middle distance races at POM. It was held on a map called Arcozelo Da Serra. This is the area for the rest of the POM. The assembly was a football pitch and that is also where we finished. The terrain is described as:

 "Varied terrain composed by a forest slope, with rocky details, where there is a variation between forest and open areas. Also cultivated areas and areas with difficult progression and visibility. "

It was a little bit more open than day 1 but still fairly green in places. I jogged to the start with Kirsten which was nice to kinda just chat and relax before. Then we went off and did our own drills and pre-race thoughts. She was starting two minutes behind me, but was trying not to let that pressure me at all. The plan for today was: to be calm, Look for the big features, and use my compass! 

The first control although a bit slow getting to was alright. Then got in the control circle to two and was having to check every boulder :/ Then 3 was where I really lost time. Went and just legged it to the path, but once i got to the path was a bit confused by which path was which and the rock walls and everything. Checked my compass and decided to ignore it all and just aim for the big rock. Well I think I ended up on the wrong side of the rock and ended up running quite far past the control. Bugger! figured out where I was and was heading back into the control when I see Kirsten coming out of it. I remember thinking "well there is the pressure off she has caught me now". But really that was probably the underlying mistake was that I was feeling rushed. Anyway calmed down and got into a rhythm and ended up staying with Kirsten for most of the course. Had a few bobbles in places and wasn't using my compass well enough. But powered through! Literally in one spot where I ended up pretty much going for a surprise swim when crossing a marked trail through some cultivated land. Then it was a big slog up the hill for a few controls and into the finish.

Overall it wasn't too bad of a race at all. ended up 55 out of 107 so very close to the top half which is what I wanted. Plus this run put me only +46% of Niggle's time which I think wasn't bad going. 

Tomorrow's WRE event is on the same area so what have I learned?

5 things to work on to gain time:
1. compass out of controls
2. simplifying the map
3. picking out the BIG rock features
4. Reading my control descriptions (not just number)
5. be calm/focused at the start

5 things I did "perfectly":
1. forgetting about past controls
2. good routes towards end of course
3. slowing down when I thought I was in the circle to minimize searching
4. picking up on smaller contour detail when I slowed down
5. Physically able to hold an ok pace

POM Day 1: Night Sprint

After the classic event Martin and I stopped at lidl to stock up on food to power us through a night sprint in the evening! The sprint was held in the town of Gouveia. The womens elite had 1.9km (with the best route being almost 3km!) and 22 controls.

This race was interesting as it was SUPER misty and pretty much pissing rain the whole time. Jogging up to the start with Emily Kemp was actually a bit miserable! But Emily being her bubbly happy self, well it was just infectious! I was excited about running once I got to the start. (miss Emily wish I got to see her more!) Got to the start and all ready to go and you could just tell it was going to be interesting when your head torch almost just gives a line of dispersed light in the mist not actually allowing you to see things. But who cared this was going to be a bit of fun!

Well oh boy was I glad I did this sprint! Not because I had the best run ever, not because I was clean and just flowed. No because this was probably one of the trickest areas I've done a sprint in for a while and then to have it at night and trying hard to work out what was crossable and what wasn't! The area around 1 and 9 got me both times I was in there! totally could not understand what i could cross and what I couldn't. Think I picked the right routes up until 6 where I actually think the faster route might be to go round the bigger road that 5 is on and up at the end and not pick your way through the smaller streets like I did. Then 8 was a great stumper! well done to the planner, or maybe the person who built the city. 8 was wall inside corner. Well got to the stairs and right away knew it wasn't going to be there but couldn't figure out where it was, then i stood on the first step looked down and there was the control about 1.5m below me in a TINY walled ditch thing. So next question: how does one get down there?! Well knew it had to be along the wall but hadn't actually seen how far along the wall yet on the map. Actually ran past the small steps down and had to come back at it. Crazy! Then 9 i just couldn't figure out how to get passed the walls and what i could cross and not it was a mess! 10, 11, 12 no bother. Almost ran past the stars up to the spectator control 13, ops! Straight to 14. Then carried on along the road from 14, and up the hill on the road to 15 nailing the stairs. Probably should have continued up the stairs to 16 but came back down. Then the last few controls in the garden was tricky figuring out which hedge it was on what side of.

A lot of fun! And came 18th out of 38. And it was won by Emily Kemp which was very exciting!

POM DAY 1: Classic Distance

For the first day of POM it was what they termed an "Intermediate race" for everyone. Which really was just what I would have called a classic distance in the states. The Elite Women had 7.4km, 200m and 29 controls.
The map was Vila Nova de Tazem and we had it at 1:10,000. and the terrain was decribed as:

"Terrain with many variations between forest and open areas, with a great richness of rocky details. Medium slope and variation between fast progression areas and areas where the vegetation causes difficulty in the progression."

And I would have to agree that that was pretty darn accurate! The rock detail was MUCH greater than the model map and it was not nearly as open as the model so harder to pick out the big features from as far away. The elites also had a spectator control with a map exchange. so many things to think about!

I started at 12:17 so kind of mid pack and was feeling pretty calm at the start. Jogged up with a few of the brits and did my stretching and was ready to go! Get into the start box pull my control descriptions down and the first difference for the race was we only had control decriptions for the first 20 controls :/ so to the map change. Fine deal with that when we get there but odd. 

Map Part 1 - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5be1b1Sze1kc3pibTF4X25yOUk&usp=sharing

Started off great nailed control 1, bit of a bobble to control two. This was when I figured out I was going to have to be a bit careful reading small trails and rock walls quickly. Was expecting a trail to connect up to another one and it was actually a rock wall! Then hit my first more technical section and knew I was going to have to be more careful than in the model. Pretty much nail 3 and 4 and Jess Tullie caught me up going to control 5. The two of us made the same mistake going to 6 which was the first control in the really rocky section of the map. We ended up hitting 7 above first and having to drop back down to 6. We then had a clean run to 13 kinda just taking very similar routes just over taking each other every so often. Then I passed Jess at 14 where she over shot and I hit pretty close to dead on the control. Hit the next few just fine and thought I got away from jess but she must have picked the better route on the long leg to 18 and caught me up again. So came through the map exchange together along with another runner who was announced as in 2nd place. All very exciting! This is where I started to find not having control descriptions for the rest of the course a bit annoying. It was basically relay practice, but wasn't expecting it.

Part 2 - https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B5be1b1Sze1kc3pibTF4X25yOUk&usp=sharing

The rest of the course was really a bit of a blur as I tried hard to hold on to this train of runners that was developing. Was clean and able to hold on for almost to control 25 and then was just having to push the pace on my own and really stay focused. Bit of issues with 27, starting with trying to cut through some of the green as loads of people where going in there. Took a few steps in and turned around to do the trail all the way around. Then was a bit hesitant going into the control as knew i was in the right area but didn't really see the reentrant, only the control once i got my head up enough to see it.

Ended up placing 42nd out of 94. So happy with top half and managed to beat all the EUOC girls and Louise Oram. Also was close to Jessica Tullie which was nice to see as she is a strong runner and navigator!

Went for a cool down run with Jess, James and Peter afterwards and the highlight was us getting excited about olive trees and trying an olive off the tree. NOT one of our better ideas! It was VERY sour and made my tong purple. It was as odd as getting handed Hot green tea when I finished.

POM 2014 : Trainings

This Year's Portugal Orienteering Meeting (POM) is based all around Gouveia, which is up in the mountains in the middle region of Portugal. I'm here traveling with a family friend Martin Wilson, who kindly let me tag along to get some big races in.

We arrived in Portugal on Wednesday (after our plane from London was turned around on the first attempt for "operational problems") so that we could have two days of training before the races started.



On Thursday we went to the POM Model  on a map Arcozelo da Serra SE. This map is supposed to be similar to days 2,3,4. It was a bit rainy and misty when we first arrived but it cleared up to be a really nice day! The sun even came out! So I just ran round all the controls first taking in the terrain. Afterwards I walked around for a bit to really understand the way the mapper was mapping the rocks. There is going to be a lot of scrambling! its almost faster to keep to the bare rock. And then afterwards I went out and did a few more controls in different orders and stuck in a longer leg that took me through the main rock bit near 42.

Map at 1:10,000

What did I learn?
* The rocks here are HUGE!!!! 
* If you are able to simplify the map down it is very fast running
* The green slash is brambles and should really be avoided as much as possible
* These controls were much easier than the ones in the race will be
* There isn't that big of a difference between the different kinds of rock, however the shapes are mapped very accurately
* A clean run but slow will be MUCH faster than trying to push the pace and getting totally turned around in the rock

Photos from the area:

Near Control 42 the big gap between the cliffs

Control 42 :)

One is marked as a thin cliff line and another a more blob :/