Prioritizing

The season has been a struggle. I finally got myself going before the first important event - the EOC. A week before, 10MILA indicated fairly well of where I stand. With a partly sloppy race I was fastest on the 3rd leg and raised Delta to a 2nd place. The physical condition was great and I was looking forward to the Championships. But somehow I was starting to feel strange after a few days, not exactly sick and not exactly well. A slight headache accompanied me for the next week or so. I was weakened and with almost no power in my legs, the Swedish orienteering festival was ruined for me.

Middle qualification map, results

Long qualification map, results; final map, results

Relay map, results

Jengi
Photo: Olle Kärner

After the frustrating week, I started focusing more on what's important. The ultimate goal WOC of course, middle distance in particular. Before that, Jukola should have been the right place to be in considerably good shape again. First, I needed to gain some vitality again. Some rest and basic training should have assured that in a few weeks' time. During that period, I took part in the "compulsory" Baltic Champs in nice terrain and with an unsurprising result - 9th place on the long distance.

Long distance map, results

Relay map, results

A week later, I was starting to feel alright again. It was time to test my wellbeing on the Estonian middle distance Champs. It was a blast! Enjoyed the race very much. Technical, with varying sections of slow and fast orienteering. Plus, the weather was somewhat extreme, as it was pouring pitchforks, just the way I like it! Sadly I messed up my race on one key leg and lost the chance to win. Physically I was feeling rather blunt, but in a good way. It was the kind of state, that allowed to build up a good shape.

Map, results

I went on to sharpen my foot at the Military World Championships in Aalborg, Denmark. A terrain I was familiar with since JWOC 2010 (old training maps on the maps page), but never got off on the right foot with. Interesting races and suited quite well in my overall plans. Just a little bit too close to Jukola, only two days in between.

Middle map, results

Long loop 1 map, loop 2 map, results

Relay map, results

Team competition 3rd, just 1,5 mins behind Switzerland! Results

Now, Jukola at last! I had some doubts in a good race, since it hadn't felt that good in Denmark. But I had been preparing for this over some time and knew that anything was possible. I started 18th, a couple of minutes behind and managed to catch up the leader quite early in the race. I didn't have very much to give, but I mobilized myself as much as possible and continue as long as I could. The race was far from perfect: right before the 10th control, I was surprised to already see the border of the forbidden area and thought I had gone too far, that explains the mistake. Was the plastic in the terrain in the correct place? We'll never know. Anyway, I continued well after that, until I had basically used up all of my resources. That is on the way to the 17th control. The latter part of the race was just a fight with myself, just to finish decently. Sadly the leaders gained a little gap during the last forking and was half a minute behind. Impressive race by Eskil Kinneberg!

Delta finished 4th in total, a little dissapointment, with 13:30 behind.

Map, GPS tracking 2. leg, results

Jukola finish
Photo: Mikael Ahlfors / Valio-Jukola

Now it was time to fully concentrate on WOC - good trainings in Finland at the beautiful Koli nature reserve and nice terrains at Kalevan Rastiviestit and Kainuun Rastiviikko. The more time went on, the more I was preparing for the middle distance. I hadn't succeeded in any long distance race during the season and nor did the terrain seem like something that would suit me, unlike the middle distance. Actually, it had seemed that way over a year already, it just became more obvious as the Champs approached.

Kalevan Rastiviestit map, results, GPS tracking

Kainuun Rastiviikko

day 1 map, results, GPS tracking

day 2 map, results

day 3 map, results

day 4 map, results

Lost in Koli Surroundigs

Coming up: WOC story and more...

Serving Two Lords

There won't be any longer story, just an overview of the season beginning.

30.03.-01.04. National team camp in Jõulumäe, practically first orienteering this season. Orienteering was pretty ok and it felt great to run in snowless forest.

1. Plain orienteering map

2. Cut areas + direction training map (route is on an ordinary map)

3. Middle distance race map

4. Contours map

5. Long run map

06.04-09.04. Time for Delta 10Mila camp. Plenty of night trainings on strange maps and a few races. The long distance race in Finspång was no good on my behalf. Both physical and technical sides were to blame for. Just couldn't get any rhythm. Kolmårdskavlen (relay) was different. Just some rusty early season orienteering, being actually able to run.

Finspångsorienteringen map, results

Kolmårdskavlen, 2nd leg map, results

Peko Kevad day 1
Photo: OK Peko

14.04.-15.04. Peko Kevad and EOC long selection on first day. First day: terrible-terrible-terrible. Running felt like torture right from the beginning + no good map contact. Felt like all the valves were closed and after the race I didn't feel tired. The second day was more fun, but didn't feel much better.

1. Long distance first loop map, second loop map, results

2. Middle distance map, results

21.04. Riga Cup and EOC middle selection. No actual running capacity and even worse map communicating, especially in this overdetailed map. The niftily hidden controls and the large amount of them in the terrain made it even trickier. In the night, Jüriööjooks (mixed relay), running the anchor. Felt better than during the day and orienteering was also better (but the course was pretty basic).

Riga cup map, results

Jüriöö map, results

Dream (Jüriöö) Team
Photo: Tartumaa Spordiliit

Now a lot of schoolwork awaits, while also trying to prepare for 10Mila and EOC...

40. Haanja Marathon

Another milestone is passed and feedback is received. It was time to test my functional side on the traditional Haanja classical cross-country skiing marathon. This time the tough ~42 km race was a part of Estonian Championships. Strong competition was expected, but it rather turned out the opposite way. The best skiers were the same level as usually, but most of who I might be able to beat, weren’t here (unlike last year).

On the previous days, I didn't think I was ready for the event. I didn't feel prepared. The skiing possibilities have been quite poor this year and its volume in trainings has been significantly smaller. I could feel it in the technique: I was lacking most in balance, which is very important in long distances. But the engine was ready and running, so I did't bury my hopes to make a good race. The previous days I was doing fieldwork for the Estonian ski-o Champs in relay and "Näps" sprint relay. On the very last day, my training diary enriched by 2 hours and 7 km. The snow was just so deep and soft, that floundering around with skis was very complicated.

Start
Photo: Tarmo Haud

On the competition morning, I did a final test to see what grip would work best. I have given up trying to make my own skis glide, so I lent a good pair from Ats Uiboupin. The rather warm weather with fresh snow was problematic for choosing the grip type. The right choice for me was waxless skis - just sandpapered grip area. This worked only for those, who were skiing in front. Testing (and the race) showed that the skis were working well on uphills, downhill was so-and-so, but not bad.

I used a bit different tactics this year: I started more aggressively. I used to keep an energy reserve for the last part, now I knew I would last til the end. But as I said, my technique was a bit problematic, especially when skiing faster. I was clearly wasting more energy than my closest rivals and I think there was no doubt that they understood that I'm not a skier! But I was surprised by the relatively slow pack speed on climbs, so I tried to pass others as soon as possible, to get going in my own pace.

Kurgjärve, 12th km
Photo: Tarmo Haud

Half way through, I felt strong and was moving pretty well. I was about 12th-13th and really hoping to climb some more places. After 25 km, something unexpected happened: my right hand pole's strap unexpectedly ripped and broke. I don't even remember what went through my head at that moment, but it wasn't anything pleasant. No way was I giving up! It was uncomfortable to ski just trying to have a grip on the pole. The speed decreased and it was a struggle, but it was doable. The worst part was when the pole got stuck in snow and I lost it. This meant stopping and going back to get it. Had to do that three times and lost a lot of valuable time. I was hoping to get a replacement pole in the next refreshment control after 1,5 km. I got two offers, but both of them were unfortunately too short for me. So I had to continue with my own. By that time, already 5 skiers had passed me. Having accepted that I'll have to continue like this for the rest of the race, I soon got lucky. After 5 km of skiing with a bad pole, I got a new one, a near perfect match, from Kristel Laurson. Thank you once again! Now it was time to make up for the lost time! Pretty soon I started seeing those who had passed me and overtook them pretty quickly before the last refreshment. Then there was a long gap before me and I wasn't able to catch anyone else. In the end, I finished 12th, 2:11 behind 10th/11th and 13:08 behind the winner. The winning time of 2:09:44 seems pretty good considering the conditions. It is very difficult to say how much time I lost because of my misadventure, but I'm positive that I could have finished 10th. 9th was too far ahead.

Results

Finishing with different poles
Photo: Uku Vislapuu

I got what I went looking for: feedback from the body. I know where I stand and what I must concentrate on.

This has so far been my best position, but it wasn't the best comparing to the winner:

Year  - place,   ratio

2012 - 12th,   1,101

2011 - 18th,   1,075

2010 - 13th,   1,079

2009 - 17th,   1,120

2008 - 106th, 1,301

2007 - 159th, 1,196

So what else to conclude from this incident? I immediately got the same piece of advice from various sources: "check the equipment before the race." But... think I didn't? My pole handles were very worn and one had a crack in it. Therefore I got new handles and straps for my poles, the marathon was the second time using them. I've used the previous handles and straps with the same poles for about 6 years and am very pleased with them. The new ones were the same model, but a newer release. So, I've got old poles and boots that are on the verge of falling apart, but the thing that lets me down, are the brand new straps. Trust your old equipment!