NZ JWOC Squad 2009

Post JWOC

2009-07-14T10:49:00.000-07:00

We have now all left Primiero and split up for the rest of our trip. Though JWOC is over some of us are staying on for more orienteering or to see a bit of Europe. At the moment Kate and I are on our way through Northern Italòy before we head to Oringen at the end of the week. Simon is in Ireland on his way to Oringen. Jourdan is on his way to Oringen too. Mark is already running up in Finland at the Fin5 The rest of the team is either on their way home, or spending a few days sightseeing before the long trip back.
Thanks for reading the blog, posts got a little slow during the jwoc week, just a reflection of how busy we were. We appreciate all of your comments, the trip this year was amazing, and we have many more stories to share once we are home.

Ciao
Tom

Relays

2009-07-12T00:15:00.000-07:00

The Relays were held yesterday afternoon at Val Canali. The start and finish were in a "meadow" and the courses had two spectator controls and a map change. This made the relays really exciting to watch.

Jourdan and Tom went out first. Both having fairly good runs, just a little bit of the pace.
Kate and Nicola went off for the girls relay teams. Kate came in about mid field and Nicola just a little bit behind.
Toby, in the second boys team, had a really good run, catching up to Scott, which meant that Simon and Andrew went out on leg three about 30 seconds apart. In the girls relay both teams were fairly consistent with each team member having about the same time for their leg.

The map was fast and had a few technical sections. The start was the part of the course that caught most of us out. It was really technical with lots of rocks and contour detail.

The course also had something which hardly anyone had done before and that was that we had a map "change". This meant that when you got to the first spectator control your first side of your map ran out and you ran to a new start triangle and turned over your map and did the rest of your course. The reason for the map change was that we had controls that were on the same part of the map and this made the map less busy and easier to understand.

One thing that we have all found out is that the Italians love long runs to the start triangle, long finish shoots and also long spectator legs. The long spectator leg after the second radio control was the worst. It was a gradual uphill run in an open field and everyone could see you!!

The European teams fought out the top places and the boys race was really close with second place only about 30 seconds behind.
The boys relay was won by Sweden and the top New Zealand team was about midfield - the boys can't remember. In the girls Switzerland won and the top New Zealand girls were 13th.

In the Overall country competition New Zealand ended up 10th - the best that we have ever done!

It has been a good week that has gone by so fast. Well Done to Everyone and thanks to all your support and encouragement during the competition!

Ciao Rachel and Nicola

Middle Final

2009-07-12T00:13:00.000-07:00

Friday was the middle Final and the map was called “San Martino – Centro.” The starts of the races were in the same place but went in an opposite direction to the Qualification races.

The B and C Finals headed off first, followed by the A final. Competitors were numbered according to their places, so the fastest qualifier started last. This made for interesting racing.

All the finals had similar courses, but the A finals had a spectator pivot control, which made it more spectator friendly. Today’s map was much more technical that yesterday, with a lot of rock and contour detail towards the end.

In the girls A final, Tove Alexandersson from Sweden took out first place and the three Kiwi girls were all about 10minutes behind her. All agreed that there was room for improvement. In the B final Nicola had a good race, and Rachel and Greta had early mistakes, meaning that they were a bit off the pace.

In the boys, Tom had a fairly clean race with only a few small errors and all the other boys were about midfield.

Watching the A final, especially the last few runners was definitely a highlight. It was amazing to see the speed that some of them travel through the forest at. The boys had great fun cheering on the runners, in all kinds of languages as we were socializing with other teams.

Overall it was a fairly good day and most people were pleased with the end results.

Now there is just the relay to go.

The relay teams are;

Boys A;

Tom

Scott

Simon

Boys B;

Jourdan

Toby

Andrew

Girls A;

Kate

Georgia

Angela

Girls B;

Nicola

Rachel

Greta

Ciao Kate and Rachel

Middle Qualification

2009-07-12T00:11:00.001-07:00

The middle qualification was Thursday. The map was “San Martino-Nord” which was a 30min bus ride up the valley of Primiero. The way that the middle qualification works is that there are three people starting together and each of those three people are on one of three courses, which are called heats. Which course you get is completely random. The top 20 from each heat qualify into the A final, the next 20 the B and the rest into the C.

The courses were fast, as the expected wining time was 20mins – meaning that the girls needed to do a km rate of about 6mins and the boys 4.5mins. It was pretty much a downhill course, with minimal climb compared to the step terrain that we were in.

The middle map was much cleaner underfoot than the long and the weather was significantly better too!! The start of the race greeted us with a nice 270m run to the start triangle. The courses had a fast, easy start with a bit of route choice. Then a more technical section in the middle of the course that was around a creek bed. The end of the courses reminded us of home, as it was steep clean pine forest.

The most nerve-racking part of the races was the wait. The wait for the last runners to come in, the wait for the names to move on the board and the wait for the final results.

In the girls, Angela managed to qualify for the A final in 19^th position, Kate and Georgia were in heat C and they both also qualified for the A final. Nicola, in heat B, narrowly missed out by about a minute and her, Greta and Rachel made the B final.

In the boys, Tom and Jourdan just missed out on the A final, due to the last few runners knocking them out of the top 20 positions. All the other boys had fairly consistent runs and managed to make the top 40 in their heats. This meant that all the New Zealand boys qualified for the B final.

Good Luck to all those in the A final.

Rachel and Kate

Long

2009-07-07T13:58:00.000-07:00

Kate

Tom

Greta

Four seasons in one day today! Jourdan left for his 10am start in beautiful sunshine, he even managed to finish his race before the rain came. Those of us in the middle of the day were waiting with Mark at the pre start when the clouds rolled up from the far side of the Passo. The top of the hill disappeared and so did Mt Doom (one of the mountains). Then came the rain just before Simon arrived, complete with his jandals. Andrew, Simon and Kate settled down in the bivvy bag as the water began to flow through the tent.
Meanwhile the forest had been transformed by the water, streams were high, everything was boggy and the mist had rolled into the clearings. Those at the finish were trying to keep dry, in an increasingly boggy event area. We had the luck to get first and last start today so we were waiting until the end to see Andrew finishing under clear skies once again.

We found today’s map heaps of fun. The newer version with the Lidar contours and remapped rocks made the area so technical into the circle. The long legs posed problems with very few tracks to provide an easy option. Most of us used the streams on the map (though this got harder with the weather closing in). The vegetation varied from sparse trees down to tight small trees in some places. The rain made the slopes really slippery to traverse and bare rock really slick. The first control caught out quite a lot of people because it required lots of concentration right from the triangle.

Greta and Kate had great runs in the girls. Greta came in 19th. She said that her run had lots of hesitation and caution, which no doubt helped avoid a big error. Kate was 22nd after a great run right near the end of the girls start block. She had some great early time checks but lost out a little to mistakes near the end. I was best boy in 31st. I lost 2 minutes at 1 and had some more errors throughout. Quite surprised at the spread of the boys times. Simon was next in 54th, after a couple of mistakes.

Results are up on www.jwoc2009.it, along with radio control times (look for Kate at the first radio in 6th!)

Sprint o

2009-07-07T13:52:00.000-07:00

The weather in Italy seems to follow the same pattern, clear and sunny in the morning, rainy in the afternoon. Yet on the day of the sprint the sun kept on shining. In the afternoon heat we all set out for the jwoc sprint. It had been a tense morning. Waking up at 8am, and not racing till after 3pm leaves you a lot of time to think about a race, making the first racing even more daunting. Jourdan and Angela managed to conquer most of the course, coming through with the best results for the NZ team, Angela in 22nd and Jourdan in 40th. No mean feat given the technical nature of the course with winding cobblestone roads, shoulder-width alleyways, and plenty of locals watching. While nobody seemed to come close to the mythical ‘perfect run’ that we all strive for, we all had an amazing day. The Italians put on an amazing event today and set the tone for an awesome week. The Swiss especially were on fire and ran some really impressive times. For the guys, we could only see a time of about 15.50 if we had been perfect. The course required so much concentration and very strict speed control. Most of us had mistakes at the speed change moments, either from the fast streets and fields into the tight alleys or vice versa. The Course setting also made planning ahead very difficult on the course. The tight portions required full concentration and put huge pressure on the start of the leg.

And man we can’t wait for the long!!!

Andrew

Opening and sprint start times!

2009-07-06T00:08:00.001-07:00

Last night we had the opening ceremony. What and amazing experience, walking down the streets of Primiero which were lined with people supporting JWOC. It was great to see the kiwi supporters amongst all the other faces and see a few NZ flags waving. Thanks guys for coming all this way it means a lot to us! The opening ceremony itself was held in the square in the centre of town. We were lucky as it was the only afternoon the whole time we have been here that didnt rain.

We ate at our JWOC restaurant today for the first time. Its fair to say that we will not be going hungry, not to say we have been with Norms fantastic cooking! We now have a three course italian meal for lunch and dinner. Its good to see what the locals eat but we will have to be carefull to eat what we are comfortable with for the races.

Today is the sprint race. We got our start times last night which we are all reasonably happy with I think, they are posted on maptalk for you to see. Its raining this morning so we hope it will not be thunderstorms this afternoon. We are running between 3 and 6 this afternoon. There should be coverage up on the jwoc website (see the link on the side of this page). Unfortunatly this race is not at the best time for you in NZ to watch! Everyone is trying to keep calm this morning and turn our nerves into excitement about the race ahead. I know I just want to have a clean run and orienteer the way I know how to.

Bye for now
Georgia

Preparing for JWOC and lightning

2009-07-04T11:44:00.000-07:00

Today we started the morning early by packing up all our gear and walking to our new accommodation nearer town. Then it was across the river to catch the bus up to Passo Rollo. This was an experience in itself, up continuous switchback corners in a van and bus.

The area was a section of the long distance map so will be very relevant. Most of the team took a rest day and just walked or jogged the course. It was good to check out the vegetation, rough scattered trees but nice open white forest and a few marshes.

We all dodged the rain and massive lightning storm that surrounded the town tonight in an effort to get to the restaurant for dinner. Lots of tasty pasta and pizza were enjoyed by all.

Ciao
Angela

Fiera Di Primiero - Sprint Training

2009-07-03T00:21:00.001-07:00

Today we did some sprint training around the centre of Primiero. We found that the map was not as technical as our previous sprint training in Tonadico. There was far more open running on roads and most of the route choices were confined to the longer legs. We also found that looking for a covered alley among shop fronts is not that easy when running through a crowd. We are still finding that it is worth the distance to take a wider flowing leg as opposed to a shorter zig zagging one.

After training we did the usual lunch chillout movies espresso and supermarket.

Simon and Scott were not content with this morning’s training so went to do some extra sprint training at a town up the road called Siror.

We haven’t really mentioned it but we are surrounded by glorious mountains. Although in the afternoons the rain haze tends to obscure them. However at nine in the morning, such as it is now, they are resplendent as the early morning sun gleams off their sheer cliffs, speckled snow and opposing peaks. Up one valley a castle forms as an extension of the rocky crag it sits on [I’m dictating this as Tom and Nicola hang out the window Ed.].

Ciao bella!

xoxo

Long Distance Training - Lake Caliata

2009-07-03T00:19:00.000-07:00

Today we went up to a map called Calaita. Todays focus was to work on some long distance practice. The map was quite steep in places, but very manageable. There was a lot of rock and contour detail, which will be good practice for the races next week. Some of us did a lot of route choice exercises, especially for controls 9 to 10 - around the track seemed to be the quickest, even though it looked longer. Mark went straight and Tom went on the track, Tom ended up beating Mark to the control by about 7 minutes.

After training we decided to go to the stream on the map to ice our legs, it was definitely icy! Whilst down at the stream, the boys decided to build a mighty solid dam - the town in the valley below are currently experiencing a water crisis.

As always, up at the map, around lunchtime, the thunderstorms began to echo around the valley. We were beginning to get a little worried about the sprint being around the same time when it is rather wet.

In the arvo, we chilled, watched some movies, got some Gelato and just wandered around town.

More teams are beginning to arrive, we have seen the British, Irish, Swedes and the Aussies training around Primiero.

Sprint and some Middle

2009-07-01T00:05:00.000-07:00

Norms surprise paparazzi

Todays middle training map

The view from San Martino, can just see the gondola in the distance

We began the day yesterday with some sprint training on the town we are staying in. Our accomodation is in a part of Primiero called Tonadico and we had a two loop sprint race around teh labyrinth of houses up here. The map also has a hill on one side which posed some route choice.

After the morning sprint we headed up to San Martino Castrozza and Passo Rolle for a drive through to get a look at the race terrain. Road goes up quite high quite quickly. The road has painting on it left over from the Giro d'Italia in May. San Martino is quite open with relatively clean forest floor, while Passo Rolle (long) seemed to have a little more branches and rock on the ground to slow it down. On the way up we also saw a suicidal gondola up to an impossibly small summit of a mountain, a little kid who thought he was in the Giro and the Norwegian team.

Afternoon training was halfway back on a tiny map called Dismoni. Magic terrain, mossy floor with lots of rock. We seem to have clicked onto the Italian rock mapping style (if in doubt leave it out) so we all felt much more precise with our orienteering. The map was steep and all on one hillside.

Picasa Photos

2009-06-30T00:53:00.000-07:00

For some more photos from the last week or so and for during jwoc week check out Norm's Picasa Site. The link is:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Norm.Jager

Currently has photos from Asiago but Norm will keep them coming during this week and next.

Ciao Primiero!

2009-06-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

We are now in Primiero. We arrived the day before yesterday after a pretty cool drive from Asiago. Instead of taking valley roads we went across the plateau straight down into the valley then straight up the other side. The Italians sure know how to do switchbacks.

Primiero has a much more alpine feel than Asiago, we are very much sandwiched in between mountains. We have awesome views from pretty much anywhere in town.
Training yesterday was our first run on one of the official JWOC training maps. An area called Passo Cereda which is about 20 minutes drive up out of the valley. It is supposedly quite similar to portions of the middle map. We had a course with controls set by the organisers which most of the team did in its entirety. Some of us tested out some of the Leppin Sport products we are using. The forest had less scattered rock than Asiago and contours in places that felt a lot like Weiti, between 3 and 4 for instance with teh re-entrants ending part way up the slope. The rocks on the map were alot easier to read than in Asiago. The vegetation varied across the area, up by control 10 and 11 was perfectly clean and lightning fast, whereas 4 to 5 was quite green.

We encountered the ther teams for the first time today, Russa, Japan, South Africa and Hong Kong were all out on the map training at the same time as us. We expect to see heaps more of the other countries as the week progresses, as Primiero isn't a very big place! JWOC is being promoted much more than last year in Sweden. There are posters and o flags up in shops all over town and most of the lamp posts have JWOC 2009 flags hanging from them.

Everyone enjoyed the map and is happy with how the preparation is going. This morning some of the team are doing sprint training on a training map provided by the organisers with a pre marked course starting from our accomodation.

Passo Cereda training map:

Last day in Asiago

2009-06-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Jourdan hanging it out

Andrew on the charge

Today is our last day in Asiago. We are packing up in the moment to head up to Tonadico near Primiero. On the way we are going to be stopping for some 1:15000 training on a map along the route. Simon arrived last night so we are a full team of 14 now.

Yesterday we had two sessions. The morning, which most of the team did was a downhill course focussing on navigation in the rock detail around here. The last few controls were supposedly very relevant for the terrain in the JWOC middle. The morning was quite wet but not too cold.

In the afternoon we headed into asiago for some sprint training. We had a course set around the center of town that inclded some parks, some tight alleys in the town center and some more open streets. The slippery streets made it quite tricky. Lots of discussion afterwards about optimal routes, especially on the legs from 20-21 and 21-22.

Todays sprint map:

Asiago History

2009-06-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Cow with cowbells

One of the many caves

With the long race at 1800m, we thought today we'd train further up on an alphine map. The crazy italian roads seem to be made for only one car, so with perilous drops down a few hundred metres, and nasty blind bends, we put our trust in Norm and Mark to battle the trucks going the other way! The road workers seemed content to leave their digger in the middle of the road and refused to move it on the way down.

It was nice to explore a map that didn't have ankle breaking rocks with every step. However, while this meant we could run faster, the World War 1 trenches and monuments that we came across slowed us down somewhat. This lead to exploring caves made during the war, presumably to store ammunition and for sleeping. The trenches, covered in trees, were in fine condition- giving us a glimpse of how scary and terrible it would have been. Barely shoulder-width apart, well over head, and with small dugouts along the walls, it was an interesting experience. In fact, Jourdan and I managed to run a few hundred meters, following the bends and turns in the trenches- there were even old tins in them! We also got to try out our Italian on a local man searching with a metal dector for bombs (and presumably other WW1 artifacts)!!

On the way back, after another training session in a different forest, we stopped at the Asiago War Memorial; an imposing white marble arch, set at the end of a tree-lined promenade. In the crypt below, the walls were lined with the names of the fallen, with well over 25,000 from this area alone. Amist the photographs was the cemetery we ran across the other day- who would believe that the area was once completely devoid of trees.

The Italian front around the Asiago area saw fighting between the Austrians and the Italian forces, with support from the British artillery. A 1916 offensive by the Austrians drove the Italians off the plateau. However, subsequent coutner offensives in 1918 managed to reclaim this territory. The trenches we found at training represent the front line from 1918. Many of the deaths occured just prior to the Armistice.

Todays second map. Faster orienteering focussed on detail.

Full Team Training

2009-06-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

Had our first training as a whole team yesterday. We went out on one of the maps adjacent to our accomodation. A map called tanabek, really rocky but with good visibility. The rocks here are mapped very minimally so a bit difficult to be confident especially into the circle. Map has a couple of World War 1 cemetaries on it and lots of trenches from the war. Really interesting to look around at.
Today were heading to some maps a couple of town over for some shorter, more detail focussed exercises. Maps and photos to come.

Tom

Almost a family again

2009-06-25T00:49:00.000-07:00

After waiting for 6 hours at Bassano Train Station for Mark, Georgia and Angela, Greta and I had some friends. After some delayed flights and non functioning cell phones we eventually met up after a day waiting by the beautiful Bassano train station (not).
We headed up to Asiago and Cesuna where our accomodation is. We are staying at a place called La Pineta, right in the centre of a whole heap of training maps. The terrain is very rocky, the maps don't seem to have much rock but that's only becuase there is too much to map. The area also has lots of old trenches and cemeteries from WW1.
After some adventures around Gallio and Asiago with just the 5 of us we spent yesterday waiting for the arrival of the rest of the family.

Andrew, Kate, Rach and I arrived in Venice airport after a wicked flight flying over the dolomites, making us very excited to finally be in italy after what seemed like non-stop travelling! Norm, Scott, Toby and Jourdan soon arrived too and we all got in the van and started our venture up to Cesuna. After driving around about 15 hairpin corners and through many small italian mountian towns, we finally made it to Cesuna and were greeted by the rest of the team!

This morning we are heading out training onto a map right next to the accomodation. The first chance for all of the recent arrivals to try out the white rocks and white pebble tracks through the forest.

Ciao
Tom and Nicola

The view from the frontdoor of our big house

Tom and Greta getting ready for training at Kasselruth

Greta looking out over Bolzano

Looking back towards Vols am Schlern up near Bolzano

Waiting, waiting, waiting

2009-06-21T10:14:00.000-07:00

Probably the theme of our week. We are both getting pretty good at waiting. Waiting for buses, waiting for internet, waiting for more buses, waiting for cablecars. Luckily its a pretty cool place up here and Tom has a real simple mind, so it hasn´t been too bad.

Training for the last few days has been full of variety. We have been to some maps north of Bolzano, little towns called Völs and Kasselruth. Both of these maps were luckily right on the edge of town, a couple of hundred meters from the bus stops. Steeper than Wölfl and with more cliff detail. The vegetation is resonably well mapped and the boulders seem to get bigger on every map we go to. Both of us now feel like were over the jet lag and looking forward to seeing the others tomorrow (Mark, Georgia and Angela).

We have been up another cablecar, apparently the oldest in the world. We have also seen the Ötzi (The Iceman), a 5000 year old mummy in one of the museums here. Tom has also seen lots of logs floating in the river and has lots of cranes to look at while we wait for things.

Tonight is our last night here before we head to asiago, and once Norm arrives in 3 days we should be able to get some photos and maps up.

Ciao
Tom and Greta

Wölfl

2009-06-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Went on another exciting orienteering adventure today inthe hills around Bolzano. On the menu today was a map called Wölfl in the middle of nowhere. No cable cars today instead we had an hour long bus ride that went through tunnels, up a gorge that makes the Buller gorge look pussy and up and down some ridiculously steep hills.
We got off at a little town called Nova Ponente and walked about 3km to the map. We didn´t mind the walk because the panoramic views of the Dolomites sprinked with snow took our mind off it.

The map was amazing! It is my new favourite. Had a forest floor like Gothenburg last year, the rocks were a little bigger than yesterday but still quite small andthe contours were a mix of flat swampy plateaus, big round hills and STEEP gullies. We did a course with some short legs to get into it and then some longer legs to finish. We are going to visit this map again later in the week. Its worth the 2 hours of bus ride and hour of walking return.

Some exciting things we saw today were a MASSIVE snail, a squashed frog, Heidi´s house, a St Bernard dog, a bus stop at a skifield.

Ciao
Tom and Greta

Cable car to training, why not?!

2009-06-17T06:41:00.000-07:00

Bolzano is very cool. 3 cable cars from town up into the mountains. We caught one to training today. We had light get-into-the-map session today and chose a map called Jenesien (Can´t get it online right now sorry). Turns out the best way there is via cable car. So we took the tiny cable car up over 1000m with some Italian women who looked quite surprised at our enthusiasm for what must have been a daily journey for them. Amazing views.
Map was fun, relatively clean, steep but not too bad with lots of subtle re-entrants. Rocks were like midget versions of what we would see in Aussie. Did a short course after we had got into the map.
Had our lunch on the edge of the forest in view of a house that could have been straight out of The Sound of Music. This combined with the German street signs and Cowbells made the area seem much more stereotypically Swiss or Austrian than Italian. Tomorrow we are heading furthur out to a place called Wölfl, no cable cars tomorrow only buses that conveniently run into the middle of nowhere.
We are working on figuring a way to get photos up and will bombard you once we can.

Ciao
Tom and Greta

Bolzano

2009-06-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

Greta and I have made it to Bolzano. After 3 flights, 2 train rides, a bus and carrying our much too heavy packs a fair way we made it. Bolzano is amazing, more German than Italian, with lots of castles, a couple of big rivers and huge mountains all around.

We came through Dubai and Venice. We had a chance to have a quick look around Venice before getting a train to Verona for last night. Another train up here today and into the mountains. We will head out to a map tomorrow and see what o here is like. We will try and figure out a way to get some photos up soon too.

Waitaks Run

2009-06-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

Instead of writing I thought I'd do a photo essay as I thought it would be quciker. Of Course Murphy's law came into effect and its probably taken longer than writing! Anyway here it is.

1) Setting Out

2) Near the top of mountain road. Downed some Leppin while I was taking the photo

3) Near the top of my run. A panorama sweeping from north to the city. Its hard to make out due to it being an average day. The stick on the right is the radio mast. The centre is the city and Rangitoto

4) A shot toward the city and Rangitoto, Radio tower on right

5) The radio tower and the highest point of my run

6/7) A lookout on Scenic Drive. This is looking roughly SW

8) Looking south over the Manakau Harbour. You can see one of the dams in the foreground

9) 180 Degrees from the spot where I took eight. Looking N. The strip of water you can see is the Waitemata Harbour

10) One of the magnificent Kauri Trees

This was a long run. I wanted to go out in the bush but it had been raining quite a bit so I thought it wouldn't be worth it. However I highly recommend any one going out there for a walk some time. There are some amazing views and the tracks are well looked after. The best place to go is to park at Cascade or Waitakere Dam car park and head for Upper Kauri Track.

Flying away

2009-06-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

This evening the first team members head over to Italy. Greta and I are making our way up to Bolzano for some training. Huge thanks to Jonas Rass who has helped us out with maps and trainings. We will try and get some photos and news up as often as we can. The rest of the team still has exams and will head over in the next few weeks.

Also I am really lucky that another company has come on board to support me. Icebreaker, makers of New Zealand grown Merino apparel are helping me out with some cool gear for racing and training. The skin baselayers are great heat modulating insulating layers, and the Icebreaker range includes some awesome jackets and jerseys. All New Zealand Merino of course.

Check out www.icebreaker.com for their products

Overtraining

2009-06-08T00:30:00.000-07:00

Overtraining is a topical issue for us athletes at the moment, as most will have been training for a months in the build up to JWOC. While everyone is pumped and motivation is high to get out the door and run, it’s important not to flog the body. Being the fittest you can be at your race means that you need to at least be able to run- and being so shattered/injured that you can’t means you might as well have not trained. With that in mind, here is a little bit on over training.

Overtraining occurs when training beyond the ability of your body to recover. Thus without rest and recovery, hard and intense training (to try and win your race!) will actual backfire and decrease performance. When viewed in conjunction with the overload training principle there is a real risk that athletes will hit this ‘wall’. Orienteers are particular susceptible, as well as long distance athletes, due to the long and often monotonous hours of running.

Common warning signs include:

• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Mild leg soreness, general aches and pains
• Pain in muscles and joints
• Sudden drop in performance
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Decreased immunity (increased number of colds, and sore throats)
• Decrease in training capacity / intensity
• Moodiness and irritability
• Depression
• Loss of enthusiasm for the sport
• Decreased appetite
• Increased incidence of injuries.
• A compulsive need to exercise

The hard part is distinguishing between fatigue from just going for a run, the stage of your training programme at the moment, and overtraining symptoms.

A simple way to try and objectively measure this is by recording your heart rate over time. If your pace starts to slow, your resting heart rate increases, and you feel some of the above symptoms, you may be heading towards over training. Another important monitoring method is by recording your resting heart rate each morning- a noticeable increase from the normal might mean you aren’t fully recovered.

Heikki Rusko (while working with cross country skiers) designed a method to try and recognise overing training. It goes as follows:

1. Lay down and rest comfortably for 10 minutes the same time each day (morning is best).
2. At the end of 10 minutes, record your heart rate in beats per minute.
3. Then stand up
4. After 15 seconds, take a second heart rate in beats per minute.
5. After 90 seconds, take a third heart rate in beats per minute.
6. After 120 seconds, take a fourth heart rate in beats per minute.

Athletes who are well rested should have a consistent heart rate in all measurements, but Rusko found those with an increase of 10 bpm or more in the last measurement where on the verge of over training.

HR monitors can help

The best (and by far the simplest) method, is to take a moment and check for psychological signs/symptoms. Do you have decreased positive feelings for the sport? Increased negative feelings after/towards training? Increased perception of exertion during training?

Unfortunately, most of the warning signs often go unnoticed, and many athletes do burn out.

So find the balance between pushing the body and resting it. Don’t feel pressured to get out and train when you’re feeling buggered- the people hassling you aren’t going to suffer if you push yourself too hard, you will. Sometimes the best form of training is actually resting!

Peace out,

Andrew
"Note: some, possibly all of this might or might not be correct."

Training today

2009-06-07T01:28:00.001-07:00

Had a fun o session this morning. The aim was to really focus on executing my plan and being in control of my direction. Secondary to this i wanted a fast hit out which had the potential for some fast legs if the navigation was clicking.

So with that in mind I searched my old map box and found some maps from the Royal Rogaine Loops Race from a couple of Queens Birthdays ago. I had 3 loops from that race and planned to do them back to back and build up the speed as i went. I have scanned in one of the maps and put it below.

On this particular course I swung off the track so that i didn't just track run on the way to 1. High point just south west of the control was attack point. No problems. Two was red line using the green strip hilltop to confirm distance. Three got me swinging left, i wanted to try and bounce in off the hill by the track, a little indecisive cost me seconds. Four was compass with head up looking for clearing shape. Five, I didnt initially like the look of the detail to the north of the line, but i wanted to stay in the white. Tried to simplify, using the hill to my left as a guide. So open that using detail was unnecesary. Up the small spur under the redline and up into the control. Lost some time on the way to six, getting pushed off line by boxthorn and flax. Stayed left of the line and into the control through the line of u depressions. Vege boundary to finish. Next loop.

I found the dunes most challenging, couldn't quite get enough confidence to really push the speed. The lack of big features in the white was probably the biggest challenge. Made it hard to pick a strong feature and really be positive i was coming up on the correct feature and not drifting in the last 50m or so. Guess that's the difficulty of not having controls out.

Was a beaut morning and a great way to start my Sunday. Not really Italy specific, but getting some o in which i'm happy with.

bing bing bing

2009-06-07T01:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are into Google Earth, Norm found a much higher resolution version. It's part of the new Microsoft search engine called Bing. Go to www.bing.com/map

Some searches of where we are going:

via pineta, asiago (training camp with Mark)
primiero (host city)
jenesien, italy (one of the training maps Greta and I are using)

Queens Birthday, Angela's view

2009-06-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

Angela in action at JWOC 2008

Wow. What a fun weekend of orienteering. Despite the cold, sometimes damp weather I had a very enjoyable time. Thank you to the organisers.

The first three events were held at Wharepapa South, and lead us over broad farmland and into many tricky patches of limestone rock. An excellent area for final JWOC training.

I was reasonably happy with my run on the middle distance. Although I was slightly too hesitant at times and not careful enough reading the rock detail, especially around number 12. I went too far , crossed an extra fence, then realised as I turned around and spotted the control and had to climb back over. Meanwhile, I was almost caught back up by Tessa and Claire whom I had passed earlier.

I learnt from these mistakes and orienteered much better the next day. It helps to focus all your time on navigation and planning ahead so you can flow around the course, rather than running hard out and then being unsure coming into the control. As I was planning ahead a tricky decision was which way to go to number 12. The first option I saw was over the spur and up the stream. But sometimes following along a stream is rough and slow. Next I saw the track option out to the left, fast running to the top of the hill then attack down the spur from the water trough, but this might be too far round. I was near control 11 and had almost decided on the stream option when I spotted another choice. Over a saddle, contour around to the right, up the re entrant and then up to the control checking off the single trees on the way. This looked like smooth running. Georgia was also just leaving the control heading for the stream so it was a good chance to compare routes. We met near the single trees at the bottom of the valley about the same time, but my direction allowed for a smoother angle into the control, easier running than straight uphill. This could be something useful to remember for Italy and incorporate when planning route choice; it is easier to keep running when contouring gradually than trying to push it straight up.

Heading into the final race of the junior super series, a mass start at Aramiro, Georgia and I were very close with points. I was able to stay with the front group, but coming up the hill towards number 6 I was slightly too far left. Everyone else spotted the control in the depression but I didn't see it and after only a short time finding it the others were long gone. I tried hard to keep going the rest of the course hoping to somehow catch up but I had wasted too much time. A fun race though with plenty of deep swamps. I thought I might lose my favourite INOV-8 shoe in the sticky goo. Just as well it was tied on tight. Overall in the super series I came second for junior women.

Check out the course at:

http://www.routechoice.co.nz/gadget/cgi-bin/reitti.cgi?act=map&id=37&kieli=

Queens Birthday Weekend, Kate's View...

2009-06-03T19:10:00.001-07:00

Superseries placegetters

The weekend was a good set of races for our preperation towards JWOC.
My car load arrived a bit late to the first day, so i had to literally jump out and race to the start. When I got there, they were calling me, and i had 20 seconds till I started! When I started, my mind was obviously not in a clear, focussing state, as i did many mistakes on the first 7 or so controls. After that, the rhythm started kicking, although it still was not perfect. I was not disappointed with my first race, but was not happy with it either.
We had a bit of a wait before the night race, so we went along to Brent Edwards Adventure race talk. It was so interesting to see how he competes and what motivates him to do such an extreme sport! I would love to do adventure racing, but i think I will stick with Orienteering for the moment as it seems a lot more tame. I would like to thank Brent for the really inspirational talk, im sure it helped to motivate many of the juniors, and seniors to keep on going and pushing through those difficult times in a race.
The night event was very different. We had a mass start for the women, it started off pretty well. Most of us were together for the first part of the course. People were sinking in mud, getting caught in blackberry and falling in streams. It was raining as well, making it a lot harder to concentrate on the orienteering. At number four, i was in the lead as i had a feeling we were too low, so i started running up the rocky hillside a bit more to get a better view, but i could not really see a thing...not until one of the others shined their torch in my direction, and then i could see the control! After this control, I think i was trying to run too fast, and trying to keep in front of the large torches so i could see better, but i over shot a control, and had to run back. By this time, I had lost the main front pack which had all the powerful lights. Amber and I were left working together as we both and very dull head lights and mine was not staying on my head anyway. Oh the joys of night orienteering. We kept on going, not making too many mistakes, just had a bit of trouble when we got closer to the control circle as we could not see very far. In the end, we got beaten by about 10min by the front 3 that had awesome head torches. It just goes to show how much of an advantage those headlamps are! If I had the money I would invest in one, but i dont really see the point, when we only do one or two night races a year. Overall a very fun and challenging race! Really helpful for concentration on orienteering techniques.

Day 2, C.D champs. I was originally supposed to start at 11.16am, but the W20 grade had to be moved to 2 hours later as there was a clash in start times. This was a bit disapointing as we did not get to run in the sun, and instead got the cold overcast weather conditions. Overall it does not make too much of a difference as we are all in the same situation. This race was ok for me. I made quite a few costly errors on the first part of the course, which left me in a postion to work hard. I got caught up by Georgia, as she started 2min behind me. I found it hard to get away, and stay ahead. I made a small error when I was with Georgia, I was looking to early, which left me to fall behind her and Angela, who had just caught us both up. I found it hard to keep up with these two once they were that bit ahead of me, so i tried hard to not lose too much time on them. I could see them alot on the long legs, which was challenging to try to catch them up. In the end, the course was great, but my result and orienteering was not as good as i would have like to have done.
My loop for Arimrio mass start

Mass start at Arimiro. This was another very interesting race. I became submerged in mud at least 6 times! It was such an experience for me, and my upper body which was trying to support my weight in order to get out of the deep stream sides. I was on loop b, which was not as competitive to the other loop group. It was Amber, Rita and me that were battling it off for the first part of the course. Then at the last pivot when the loops met up again, I managed to get stuck in mud quite deep again, and just found it hard to keep up with Amber along the track. This leg was quite a route choice leg, and I was really hesitant in which way to go...track (hill) or marsh (flat)...in the end i chose the flat option. Whilst running around the flat to the control, I got stuck in a jungle like terrain and really marshy undergrowth. I thought to myself, "what are you doing? no one would have gone this way!"-then happened to find out at the end that a lot of people went that way. After this control, I didnt end up making too many mistakes, just pure strength when wading through the mud and streams was the hardest part. Angela caught me up at number 14. I was very suprised to see her, as i thought I had lost a lot of time at number 12. Me and Angela both went down an extremely muddy track to number 17, which was possibly a bad route choice as we were sliding around everywhere!! From then on, it was ok, and Rita caught me back up somehow, which I was suprised about again.
Great weekend of racing, although I was not entirely happy with my racing. I hope it will become a lot more smoother as JWOC creeps up on us.
Overall in the Superseries events I came 3rd in junior women. I did not know this could possibly work, as I had missed Waitangi weekend because of my injury, so it was quite cool to have this end result, and it also meant I won a head lamp(could have been useful for the night before :P)
Thanks to everyone that organised the weekend. Definitely worth the break from study! Also found out and experienced this weekend that winter is definitely here this year :S

QB 3Day video

2009-06-03T18:18:00.000-07:00

Mick Finn has put together an awesome video from the weekends races down in the Waikato. It's about 5 minutes long and has segments from all 4 events. the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsSSW_O2GIk Check it out!

Leppin Sport, JWOC Supporter

2009-06-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today we confirmed the support of another sponsor for JWOC this year. Leppin Sport will be the fuel behind our training and competition. Long term supporters of orienteering in New Zealand we are stoked that Leppin are helping us again. Squeezies for pre and during races and Enduro Booster for pre race preparation and post race recovery.

For more info on Leppin products have a look at www.leppinsport.com

Queens Birthday, Tom's view

2009-06-03T04:36:00.000-07:00

A weekend of rain, mud and freezing cold weather. The mighty Waikato really was true to form. The weather map have been rubbish but the o was hot. The rocks of Wharepapa were perfect for starting to switch the mind into rock-o mode.

The middle on the first day was for me pretty good. Under coaches orders to take it easy up hills I began focused on my navigation. Ensuring i was executing my plan and being decisive in the control circle. I let this occupy my mind too much at times as I lost time needlessly in a couple of pieces of detail by not taking simple, cleaner option. The rock was tricky in places, especially descending as features were often concealed. Toby was fastest out of the boys team, putting 10 seconds on me with a minute or so back to the others. Darren added to his Superseries lead with another win.

How we do icebaths at NZ orienteering

I didn't run the night event, still watching my shins, and personally i preferred watching lights bobbing through the rain from the warmth of my 5 layers within a nice waterproof raincoat and pair of overtrousers. After getting all warm and dry listening to Brent's cool adventure racing presentation, everyone going back out into the cold and dark to run deserves a pat on the back (maybe i'm just soft).

The next morning was a long on the same map. My plan for this race was to nail the nav while managing my shins. I did the initial short legs fast then eased off for our longer route choice legs. The terrain was really good for practicing simplification within rock fields. I tried to pick a key feature and focus on shutting other rock detail out. Still needs some practice, but got some improvement throughout the course. I took a short cut to keep my run at about 60mins and jogged back to see how everyone else fared on the course. Toby was again top JWOC boy. Good signs so close to leaving time. Darren and Lizzie, both basically winners before the weekend started, clinched their respective Superseries titles. Proving the need for not only consistency but the ability to win multiple races in the title race.

Thanks to Lizzie and Tessa for their photos and no thanks to Telecom for switching us down to dial up internet.

Queens Birthday Weekend

2009-05-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

Most of the team are heading to Queens Birthday 3 Day this weekend. This years event is being hosted by Hamilton Orienteering Club and will be using Wharepapa (near Castlerock) and Aramiro (near Raglan).

The racing this weekend includes a night sprint on the Wharepapa map which will be an interesting challenge. The last night race we had was last year at QB 3day last year. The setting was a bit different however, taking place in the well lit confines of Massey University Palmerston North. This years race will be very much in the dark on the farm maps around Wharepapa.

For more information check out http://www.madeventz.co.nz/qbday09/

The terrain at Wharepapa

Grand Prix Race 2 - MacRennie Construction Cross Country

2009-05-26T18:38:00.000-07:00

Toby in the top image and Kate in the bottom image-Pakuranga x-country race.

Last Saturday (23rd May), Toby and I competed in a cross-country event covering a series of races over this years season, the Grand Prix series, this weekend been was held in Pakuranga. Toby and I recently joined the Auckland City Athletics Club(ACA) and we are hoping to do a number of this years coming cross country events in Auckland in order to help us with our speed and strength building for running fast in Orienteering races, especially in Italy. I will only manage to do three actual races before I go to JWOC, but I hope it will boost my confidence in racing with lots of top speedy athletes and gaining that extra bit of speed work whilst running in these races.

I have not done a cross country event in a very long time, and this was sure to be a tough one. I arrived at the event feeling rather nervous, there were many serious looking athletes and was rather suprised by how many people turned up (well compared to races back in Hastings). I bought a club singlet and chucked it on ready to warm up. It felt quite cool warming up around the course with lots of other top runners. My legs felt very dead and cold, and i found it rather hard to get properly warmed up. Earlier that week I had a bit of a cold, so the remains of it were still lingering on. I did a few stretches and then put on my spikes that had new 12mm spikes in them which felt amazingly grippy and ready for those muddy corners! I then realised the start line was all lined up and ready to go, I jogged over and got ready to start this running race. My heart was beating quite fast, but i managed to just keep my nerves under control. Then as we started I got a feel of how it is to run a running race again. The pace at the start was rather fast and i was able to keep up with the main pack for the first lap. The last two laps felt a bit harder as i could feel that cold coming back to haunt me and my quads were becoming very heavy and sore, but i managed to keep pushing and tried to stick with two other girls from ACA. We were cheered on by other club members and told to "stick together!", it felt really motivating as they were cheering for ACA, which I then realised was me! Near the end, the two ACA girls managed to get away from me as i tried hard to keep up, but it was not enough to beat them. Up the small hills i managed to get a bit of an advantage on them, must have been all the orienteering hill training and forcing myself to push up them. Anyway, I sprinted into the finish with a reasonable feeling of a good first race especially being the longest one I have ever done, 6.5km.

When I was warming down, I thought to myself, this was my first race and I have achieved a pretty big challenge of 6.5km running race. So i planned out that for the next race, where it will be around 4km, which i am more used to for x-country, I will definitely try to stick with those girls and push myself so I can beat them. I thought this could be a very reasonable goal for my next race as I hopefully wont be sick and I will be used to the distance.

Over this years season, I am looking forward to improving my km rate as I become stronger from my new strength programme and as my amount of speed training becomes more consistent.

Overall was a good race and am already looking forward to the next one(last one before I go to Italy) on the 13th June which will be held in Manakau City for the Grand Prix series number 3.
There is a club event on the 6th of June that Toby and I hope to do, this is called the "King of the Mountain" which is a race up One Tree Hill and down. This could be quite a challenge and good to see how our hill training is going.

Cross country running is a good source of training for Orienteering as it is very similar without the map reading. We can study maps and endure long hours of orienteering training, but the main thing for orienteering fast is to have speed and strength in order to control your rate in which you run through the forest so you can have more energy for reading the map and orienteering perfectly. I hope as this speed training gives me that little bit extra, I will have more concentration for when it comes to orienteering as I will not have to worry about the speed I am running at all the time, as I know it will come naturally from the amount of hardwork being put in.

It is now the 27th of May, that means only 26 days left till I go. It is becoming very close now and i am looking forward to it! Especially with all the training and hard work being put in and I know it will pay off, but these next few weeks are a very vital in order to get some well based training in. My peak is definitely JWOC, so I will not be holding off or tapering before this weekends Orienteering events in Hamilton as I am using this as more training and practice before we leave for Italia!

Cape Brett

2009-05-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

The Wangamumu Wonder is the short course of the Cape Brett Challenge, a coastal run held in April each year. The Wangamumu Wonder starts at Rawhiti and runs out to Wangamumu Harbour then loops back to Oke Bay, with 1000m climb. The Cape Brett Challenge is the same as the short course but runs out to Cape Brett and back aswell as the Wangamumu loop. The first 6km are on gravel road with the rest of each course on the Cape Brett Walkways Tracks.

This year I ran the Wangamumu Wonder for the fourth time. In previous years I had won the Junior Mens category and this year was my first competing in Open Men, and I hoped to take it out.

In previous years I had gone fast out of the start only to be caught up when I got to the big hills so my strategy this time was to race the other competitors. I didn't push it as my goal was to beat all the others not to get the record. This year the pace was slow out of the start. I sat about 50m behind the leader and averaged 130 heart rate for the first 6km. I found it very relaxing and a great chance to check out your competitors. By the time we got to the entrance to the track a group of me and 2 other lead by approximately 70m. As the hills started I sat behind the other two and tried to get a measure of what their strengths were. I knew there was a large downhill approaching (down into Wangamumu Bay) and I decided to make my move here and drop them quite early in the race. I came to the last slight uphill and went for it, I never run up a hill so fast! I then increased my stride on the long downhill. By the time I got to the beach I looked back up the slope and I had a reasonable lead, to me it looked like 200m but I might've over estimated. From then I just relaxed into the race, using my energy on the uphills and making sure I caught my breath on the downhills before extending my stride. It was a great feeling leading the race for the majority of the way, something I've never done before. I also couldn't think of a better place to do it as the views as you run around the bays are amazing.

The last section of the course is along a short piece of gravel road from Oke Bay to Rawhiti. I found some more energy as the local kids cheered for me and pulled off a bit of a sprint finish, achieving my goal.

All in all it was a great event. Held at a great place, with great people and great prizes.

I'll be back next year to chase down the open mens record!

JWOC Team selections overseas

2009-05-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Browsing through some websites I am finding that more and more JWOC teams are being named. Our good friends and rivals from Australia have just finished a re-selection for their boys team after a protest. No changes were made so they still have their original 12.

Denmark and Great Britain have named teams in the last week, some familar faces in both teams, both countries are sending 12.

The Swiss have also just had selection races. With the Italian terrain so similar to Switzerland they are sure to be one of the top contenders for titles this year.

Our neighbours from the accommodation last year in Sweden, the Germans, have also announced their team. Smaller than our team again with 3 girls and 5 boys.

Seeing the other teams is making the event seem so much closer and providing some powerful additional motivation on the cold wet NZ days. It's now only 3 weeks until the first two of us (Greta and I) head over to Italy.

Opening Ceremony, Sweden 2008

Desperate for some O

2009-05-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

As some of you might already know I'm working back from a couple of weeks off running due to my temperamental shins. I've started getting the o back in but it just hasn't been enough. 30 minutes a couple of times a week just isn't cutting it, so I've been trying to get the map into my other training.

Cycling on my road bike with a map is in the not safe basket, but aquajogging is perfect for it. The last few sessions in the pool have seen me taking some Italian maps with courses drawn on to the pool for some cross training. Trying to keep the mapbag out of the water sort of simulates the rough ground and means its not as easy to see the map if i was just sitting looking at it. Using it in the rest periods of intervals gives time pressure and adds the fatigue that goes with orienteering.

It is filling the gaps in my desire for some o as I taper real O back into the training.

Asiago maps

2009-05-18T14:34:00.000-07:00

Was browsing through World of O and found this story on the blog of Alessio Tenani, an Italian elite. It is written in Italian but the maps are from Asiago, which is the location of our pre-JWOC training camp training over in Italy.

Looks very un-NZ which is perfect, can't wait to run there.

Here's the link:

http://alessiotenani.blogspot.com/2009/05/o-heaven-in-asiago-with-trainings-and.html

Southern Adventures

2009-05-17T14:54:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give Tom a break from writing posts all the time and fill everyone in with what I've been up to in the deep south. I have just finished my base phase of training and my next few weeks involve hill work and leg speed. Training has been going well and I have been making full use of the surrounding hills of Dunedin. With much encouragement from my coach Robbie I have been judging my training well and listening to my body and am in a far better place than I was this time last year.

As exams are looming and it was the end of my base phase during the weekend I thought it would be a good opportunity to get out of Dunedin for a bit of a break before the real studying begins. A few friends, my brother and I had been meaning to go tramping for quite some time so thought this was the perfect opportunity. We set out towards Tuatapere and the Hump Ridge Track at 6am on Friday, arriving at the DOC centre we got a very stern look from the lady at the desk, we were late. We reassured her that we all had lots of clothes and headlamps and despite the extreme weather warnings we would be fine. Setting out for a 7-9hour walk at 11.30am is probably not ideal in summer let alone winter and looking back now was probably not out smartest moment. We all found it rather amusing when we stopped for lunch and one of our party commented that "it's not a small walk is it?" having seen we still had 5-7hours to go. However as usually happens with the DOC timing we managed to shorten 9 hours down to 6 and a half and made it up to the hut just before 6pm. Tramping through the snow was quite a new experience for me and was definitely the first time I've worn so many clothes while walking. The forecast extreme weather held off for the day so we were able to see the views and enjoy the walk alot more. When we arrived at the hut it was quite a relief and within 20minutes it was pitch black outside, we realised if we had got there any later we would have been far more miserable pushing through the snow in the dark. We were all tucked up in bed by 8pm.

Waking up the next morning to an amazing sunrise over the ocean with Keas sitting on the hut railing was quite an experience. The weather still seemed to be holding off and we were all looking forward to a day of downhill and flat, having climbed to 800m in the last 2hours of walking the day before the legs were starting to feel a little weary. The track followed the ridge line all the way down and we could see the snow-capped Fiords behind us and endless ocean in front. We could also see a huge black cloud rolling towards us which motivated us to pick-up the pace and get below the tree-line. The track passes over a few very large wooden viaducts, one of which is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, very impressive. The last part of the 2nd day followed the tram line to Port Craig village where there used to be a sawmill and the old school has been converted into the DOC hut. The rain set in for the last hour and the idea of the warm fire and marshmallows we were going to have on arrival kept us going.

The last day it rained. All day. I thought a goretex raincoat would be enough but apparently not, I was soaked after 5hours of rain and very grateful to get to the car. The last day wound around the coastline and some very pretty beaches. Probably very nice in summer but in winter with the rain and wind we just wanted to get home. Three days of wet feet was enough.

Looking back now we were incredibly lucky with the weather, it was a really good tramp but I'm unsure if I would be willing to pay the $90 each they charge in the summer season. But well worth it for the winter rates. It was a lovely escape weekend and nice to get away from reality for a little while. The next few weeks are going to be incredibly busy with uni work and training but I'm looking forward to it as it means we're that much closer to JWOC.

What is the squad doing in preparation for JWOC?

2009-05-16T23:27:00.000-07:00

A few of you less experienced orienteers may wonder what the squad is doing in preparation for JWOC. Obviously we are training but how does one train for orienteering?

Orienteering has two key components

The physical side

This is our fitness and strength. Through this training we aim to increase our aerobic capacity and increase our strength, we will need plenty of it to power up those Italian hills!!

The mental side

The mental side of our training aims to improve and practice our navigational skills.

Each member of the squad will have a training program. This may be written by an orienteering coach, an employed coach, a friend or even by the squad member themselves. In general a training program aims to increase speed and aerobic capacity, but are often tailored to the target event. For example many squad members will have training programs that include as much hill running as possible in preparation for the mountainous terrain we will encounter. The squad members may also tailor their training program toward the event they wish to perform best at e.g. some one looking to do really well in the sprint will have extra speed training sessions, where as someone looking to do especially well in the long will have more longer runs.

A Basic training program may be as follows

Monday

Easy run 60mins.

Tuesday

Intervals. Intervals consist of fast running and rest periods. These are run at 80-100% of race pace and aim to increase speed. Intervals can range from 100m or 30s through to 2km or 6mins and beyond.

Wednesday

Easy run 60mins.

Thursday

Long run. The long run aims to increase aerobic capacity and may range from 90 to 120mins. For the JWOC team this will take place in a hilly area, for example the Waitakare Ranges(Akl), or the Port Hills (ChCh)

Friday

Rest Day. The rest day helps the body to recover.

Saturday

Easy Run or Intervals.

Sunday

Orienteering Race/Training.

In general this is what a training program will look like.

Other things seen in a training program may include:

Heart Rate Guides; Heart rate limits will be set for each session and heart rate is measured with a heart rate monitor. This is to ensure training is completed at the appropriate level.

Core/Strength; aims to increase the strength of the core musles. Strength training may be under taken by some members to increase leg strength or just to impress the ladies.

Stretching/Condition; should be done anyway but may be specified in the program. Aims

prevent injury

Cross Training; Swimming, Cycling, Rowing, Kayaking, this can be anything that isn't running. Aims to give the mind a break from running or to reduce impact (many runners suffer from shin splints, small fractures in the shins brought on by the impact of running)

Well thats enough for the physical side, now for the mental side.

There are several ways to train for orienteering;

Catching Features

An orienteering computer game. Simulates orienteering in a realistic 3D environment.

Looking at Maps

Fairly self explanatory. Involves looking at old maps or maps of where the event will be. This can aim to become familiar with the map or to practice finding different routes and comparing their merits.

However nothing beats going out to the forest and doing some real Orienteering. This may be going to a weekly event or going out to the forest and running on an old map. Some team members may go out to an old maps by themselves or in small groups. In this case there will be no controls making the task of finding the exact spot where the control should be that extra bit harder. If there is a larger group going out to do some training controls can be represented by mini controls or something simple like ribbon or toilet paper.

An old course may be run or a course made up by a team member.

A course set by a team member may aim to improve specific parts of an orienteering race for example:

Control Picking;

Many controls with short distances in between. This aims to improve flow in between controls

Route Choice;

Controls will be placed in a way that there are many route choices between each control. Each member at the session can take a different route choice and meet at the next control to compare the merits of their respective routes.

Height Control;

Controls will be set at different heights along a slope. The aim is to practice awareness of how much height you are gaining or losing.

There are many more exercises to help practice your orienteering skill but I don't want this to go on for ever!

I hope this has been interesting and or beneficial to you all,

Hope to see you in the forest!

Calendar Supporters

2009-05-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

In a previous post I mentioned the calendars that we have produced for fundraising this year. We have almost sold all of them, so a big thank you if you have picked one up. A key element of the calendars that made them a good way of fundraising was the sponsorship we got for each month. These are businesses that have supported us all through the calendars and we want to acknowledge their support. Alot of them are not directly related to orienteering but I'm sure orienteers will be able to support them for supporting us. Here they are in no particular order:

Shoe Clinic - The best place for orienteers to kit up. They sell Inov8 shoes as well as a wide range of other running shoes and gear. Will help ensure that you get the right shoe for you.

DirtyD design - The only people to get cool shirts from. They have made NZ team shirts for the last few years and have a top design. Also responsible for most of the club shirts in NZ. Clem and Tania have some cool new designs avaliable too.

Edsoft E-learning -

Mortimer Hirst Optometrists - Optometrists in Auckland Central

McKay Knarston Ltd - Land surveyors and development consultants

Eiji Japanese Cuisine - Japanese Cuisine in St Heliers, Auckland

Marcus Diprose Barrister - Tax and Trust Law specialist, and all round endurance sport good guy from Rotorua.

Progressive Meats Limited - New Zealand Meats in the Hawkes Bay.

realmap.co.nz - innovative online real estate

Pernel Fruitworld Hastings

St Cuthbert's College

Footworks - Sports Podiatry in Auckland

A big thank you to all of these businesses, each has helped us get another step closer to JWOC.

Keeping the motivation...

2009-05-14T01:03:00.000-07:00

2 hours of mindless lectures to finish the day, spent wishing I had just gone early. Finish uni just after 4. Straight to the bike to get changed and head out training. Forgot my drink bottle, guess I'm going to be thirsty, but at least I've got my arm warmers, it's chilly. Check the program for what I'm doing and out into the traffic. I'm riding in my bubble trying to focus on cadence, on heart rate and not get killed. The traffic is doing all it can to distract me; it ebbs and flows around me, sweeping past in vigourous pulses. Waves of colour blur past, the wind buffets me. No worries, I can balance and I use assertiveness to make it through safe. I hit Scenic Drive, it's my place now, the traffic subsides and i can focus on my legs, on my lungs and my training.

But this is too easy, or so The Man thinks, the rain starts to bucket down. It doesn't bother me, I'm in my element. The squalls follow me like a shadow as i tap out a high tempo effort up to Shaw Road. It helps me forget I'm thirsty and washes away the stresses of today. For now it's me and the tarmac.

Hissss..... In desperation The Man has hit me where I'm weakest, and punctured me as I'm on the verge of training zen. No worries. I'm prepared. 10 minutes to reflect and steel my determination for the rest of the session. The last minutes of sun keep me warm as I slot the wheel back in, switch on the lights and pedal off again, focussed on my cadence, my heart rate and the road ahead. Tom 3, The Man 0.

Gracious in defeat the rain is stopped and the traffic has been placated. I've passed his challenges and I'm free to finish off my session. The burning in my legs as I finish the last effort is the immediate reward for my resilience. The satisfaction as I roll into the garage; wet, cold and tired will let me sleep well tonight.

Keep it up guys, it is all worth it.

Giro d italia passes through Primiero

2009-05-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

As i mentioned a few days ago the Giro d Italia is spending a couple of days in the Trento region and passes though the sprint and long areas. Stage 4 took riders up to San Martino di Castozza, a site within the embargoed area. From the coverage i saw the terrain looks amazing. Steeper than i anticipated with huge vistas out across the valley to the sheer cliffs all around. If you would live to watch some coverage check out the Giro page on www.steephill.tv (takes a bit of trial and error to get a good feed but the highlights on Rai TV were the best i saw).

Stage 5 started from San Martino di Castrozza. It took riders down to Bolzano, which is the city Greta and I are staying in for our initial training then back out into the Dolomites. I have some photos below of the stage. Looks like there is still a substantial amount of snow around up the top of the passes. The forests are also looking quite brown up high, no doubt as it rapidly warms up this will disappear and leave the beautiful green environment we have been hoping for.

For those of you that are interested Danilo di Luca of Team Lpr won stage 4 in a large sprint. While stage 5 proved decisive, with Denis Menchov from Rabobank taking the win ahead of a select group of favourites. Lance Armstrong, Damiano Cuenego and Gilberto Simoni all missed the elite group on stage 5 so have an uphill battle to make it to the podium. Di Luca is currently in pink with Thomas Lovkivist in 2nd on general classification. (www.cyclingnews.com for more if you are interested).

I think that the top two photos are from within the embargoed area for the long distance. I could be wrong, but looks very similar to what i saw on the live coverage as they were going through.

Also who recognises the guy in the Viking Horns with no shirt on at 1.12 in this video on you tube?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7Vte4Gu_Q8

Bulletin 3

2009-05-11T00:32:00.000-07:00

The 3rd Bulletin with some more JWOC information is out. Check out the JWOC website (link in the sidebar).

Includes some information about course lengths, the long races look quite short, with solid amounts of climb though.

Greymouth Petroleum - JWOC Supporters

2009-05-10T20:00:00.000-07:00

Greymouth Petroleum have generously contributed toward the cost of the team shirts. The team is very grateful for their contribution.

Visit their website at http://www.greymouthpetroleum.co.nz/

Giro d Italia

2009-05-09T22:39:00.000-07:00

Columbia Highroad won the first stage of this years Giro. The stage one team time trial was raced on the archipelago itself. Columbia edged out Garmin and Astana. Mark Cavendish is in the Maglia Rosa and could potentially hold onto it until stage 4, when the race visits the jwoc areas. Go Columbia, hopefully Cav can get a couple of stage wins in the Maglia Rosa.

Couldn't resist, and it is related to jwoc because its in Italy too! I will try and get some photos from stage 4 that are 'relevant to jwoc' after theyve done it. And don't worry i wont do daily updates.

Some thoughts about Dolomites Terrain

2009-05-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

So i'm sitting here having a look at one of the maps from Italy and thought i would share what I'm thinking. Will be very stream of consciousness and feedback would be great if you think there are things I'm missing from the terrain, or ways i could improve my theoretical orienteering. For those of you that are non-orienteers can act as a guide through what we do.

San Martino - Sud
Supposedly similar to the long terrain. Straight away hit by the steepness of the area. Some sections would be unrunable. Vegetation, lots of changes, will be important to get a mental picture of green vs white vs yellow in the training weeks. Tracks everywhere, look fast and good for contouring as they hold height pretty well. Rock detail seems to have lots of cliffs with lots of individual boulders. 1:10,000.

The course, which is from the website so i guess could potentially represent the style they are going for at JWOC. Has a basic format of tight loops of controls linked by longer transit legs. The transit legs have most of the route choice and some tricky control approaches too. Im thinking key techniques; contouring, compass, height control. A bit of bravery could come in handy with a couple of the route choices having long wide routes to avoid substantial climb. I think that this will be pivotal in the races, getting the choice right and not haemorhaging minutes on a long leg. 1,3, 10, 16 all have nice attackpoints off tracks. 5 through 8 could be from an hb map and if the open really is fast and open could be very fast (and steep!). Slumpy area around 12, 13 has caught my eye, a break from the slope that would need a switch from contouring into a detail and compass focussed technique. Lots of form line detail, so subtle. Lots of small clearings too, wonder how well these are mapped...

Route choice, looking 8 to 9. My initial call on the route choice is leftish of straight. Down the open, down steep gully with creek, up to opposite track then up the ascending track to the road and along that to attack up off the boulder cluster in the clearing by the road corner. Safe route choice with track running. Looking more closely and centre right looks on too; bomb down the big slope on the red line then around the base to the pond on the road then ascending up ticking off boulders from near the intersection south of the control. I think trying to hold height on this leg involves too much deviation to the left. Any one got any other routes?

Also 15 to 16. Im for dropping straight into main gully then up track leftish of center, over the rough open and down the gully left of the red line taking care to turn early and not overshoot the control. attacking the control is the risky part of the leg, especially with the green.

Thats what i think. Have a look below and see what you think.

Scott goes for a TWALK

2009-05-07T00:59:00.000-07:00

Scott is one of our Christchurch based team members. On the weekend he took part in the annual TWALK, a 24 hour loops orienteering event organised by the Canturbury University Tramping Club, it is in its 43rd year and Scott's thoughts about the event are below,

I did TWALK on the weekend. It's a 24 hour rogaine held by the uni tramping club except the controls are little bits of plastic (the size of your palm) often hidden and with cryptic clues to make things pretty tricky. I was in a team with Tim Farrant and an ex New Plymouth Boys High adventure racer. They bused all 200-300 people out to the mountains where the event was being held.

Pretty much everyone dresses up in costumes, the best were probably some guys dressed up as giant tin foil and cardboard kegs who would sneak around and then crouch down and disappear into the "keg".

The race was made up 5 legs of 15-20km each based around the "hash house" (a wool shed) which had heaps of food and provided a little relief from the sub-zero temperatures outside when the sun was down. Our team did 4 of the legs and won the student section (about 4-5th overall). Jamie and Matt Scott were in the winning team who we were with for lots of the race and kept catching up to when it came to hunting for controls for like 20mins, which happened quite a few times!

I ended up only doing 14 hours on my feet all up and I was smashed. The worst part was probably spending ages searching for hidden checkpoints in the early hours of Sunday morning when everything around was frozen from the -9 degree temp (so we were told) and I didn't have many layers on (just holey puma tights on my legs) and I was freezing cold! Best parts would have been the mint view of snowy mountains in all directions, running along having sweet yarns with guys like Jamie and Matt all dressed up in their 'Planet of the Apes' costumes and having chocolate pudding for breaky.

Check out Jamie's blog for his take and some photos (pennyandjamie.blogspot.com)
Here is a link to the website if you want to check it out, http://www.cutc.org.nz/twalk/index.php

Auckland University - Orienteering Supporters

2009-05-05T16:10:00.000-07:00

The team to this years Junior World Championship includes 8 students from the University of Auckland. Andrew, Simon, Toby, Jourdan, Kate, Rachel, Nicola and I all study at the University. As part of their support of students and sport in general on campus the University is helping out the Auckland based team memebers with funding for the trip.

We are really pleased with the support that the University of Auckland is providing, another reason why the U of A is a great place for young orienteers to come and study.

San Martino di Castrozza

2009-05-04T01:42:00.000-07:00

I mentioned the other day that stage four of the Giro finishes in San Martino di Castrozza, the location of the JWOC long. Stage 5 also starts here, so will see quite alot of action. I was reading the stage descriptions and found some quite interesting pictures of the area. Below are a couple of the pictures from cyclingnews.com

Thinking about Italy

2009-05-02T23:03:00.000-07:00

Some of you will no doubt be interested in what the terrain is going to be like in Italy. The JWOC website has a collection of sample maps on their website http://www.jwoc2009.it/index.php?lang=en&page=208.

Basically all look steep with lots of repetitive hillsides, not quite Woodhill!!! Going to be physical with a lot of emphasis on height control and contouring. Best of all the terrain looks magic in all of the photos, bring it on!

Calendars

2009-05-01T15:26:00.000-07:00

We have repeated accosted many of you in our attempts to sell JWOC 2009 calendars. Many of you have already purchased one, which we really appreciate, but we still have a few left if anyone has missed out.

The calendars have been put together by Claire Patterson and are based around each month representing a team member. Awesome action photos, orienteering dates and all for a good cause. We also have an awesome set of sponsors who have each sponsored a month, businesses like Dirty D design, Shoe Clinic, Edsoft, Mortimer Hirst Optometrist and others (will include a separate post for these guys)

So if you are interested in a calendar, get in touch with one of the team members (my email is thomasreynolds123@gmail.com) and we can hook you up with an awesome, unique calendar in support of our JWOC campaign. They are $20 and run from May 08 to April 09

So where are we going to be running?

2009-04-30T00:41:00.001-07:00

This year JWOC is in a town called Primiero in the Dolomites. It is about 60km east of Trento. According to wikipedia the population of the Fiera di Primiero municipality in 2004 was 560, so quite alot smaller than Gothenborg last year, and much smaller than Dubbo too. It is one of a number of villages in the area.

Dominating the scenery in the area is the steep sided mountain valleys and the exposed rock of the peaks. The name Dolomites comes from the name of the predominate rock in the area, dolomite, a carbonate rock that gives the distinct colours and shapes in the area. The Dolomites has more than 40 glaciers and the valleys around the JWOC areas have the distinctive U-shaped profile of glacial valleys.

Another major sporting event is visiting Primiero in 2009, stage 4 of the Giro d' Italia passes through the valley on the way to a finish at San Martino di Castrozza (http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2009//giro09/?id=stages/giro094). The finish of this stage is within the embargoed area for the long race (http://www.jwoc2009.it/img2/embargoed_area.gif), would be a stage to watch on TV to get an inside preview of the area. Will also be a key early stage of the Giro.

Representing New Zealand at JWOC 2009

2009-04-29T01:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog of the New Zealand team for the 2009 Junior World Orienteering Champs.
We're off to Italy to compete in this years championships. We will keep this blog updated throughout our preparation and while are over in Europe, so keep an eye out from now for stories.

The Team, for those of you that don't know is:

Rachel Goodwin, HBOC
Greta Knarston, CMOC
Kate Morrison, HBOC
Nicola Peat, CMOC
Angela Simpson, ROC
Georgia Whitla, PAPO

Jourdan Harvey, CMOC
Simon Jager, AOC
Scott McDonald, HBOC
Andrew Peat, CMOC
Thomas Reynolds, NWOC
Toby Scott, AOC