O-week in Ottawa

My last preparation has included a week of Orienteering in Ottawa. The first day in Ottawa was really rainy, but as usual, it does not stop orienteers from racing.

My first race and gold medal was on Farsta race (Lac Beauchamp. Farsta means one-man relay. We had 3 loops with two kilometers courses on them. Ottawa terrain is well known for its rocks and marshes. After my first loop, I was 3d. I did not do mistakes, but choose more safe routes. In the middle of the second loop, I got Robbie Anderson. We ran all way to the end, but two CPs before finish, I checked legends and our CP was located on the bottom of the cliff. After Robbie went up, I went to the bottom and got a chance/advantage to punch it first and as a result, I finished first.

My second race was Classic Event. It took place on the same area as 1st Canadian Orienteering Championship (COC) in 1968. The map is quit old and vegetation is not reliable; so, I took it easy. I finished 4th and only few seconds behind second place, which was not as bad as I was thinking.
My third day was a Sass Peepre Junior Training Camp. I got an excellent opportunity to run some Orienteering with juniors, and provide them a feedback later. Training day included 4 trainings: Contour-O, Line-O, Sprint and Star-O. I would like to say that only my group of kids took all CPs in the forest. I was really surprised that present juniors are more Orienteering oriented and willing to spend their time to improve their skills and results.
Next day I got sick and did not feel well, but I wanted to run a Sprint Chase in Carleton University. Sprint Chase included prologue at 12pm and chase sprint at 3pm. My goal for 1st race was not to win, but to be not far away from the leader. I started 4th and 9 seconds behind the leader in the main sprint chase. The final race was really technical, fast and fun. With 15 runners in one minute on 2,5k course, it was a great challenge to run away physically. So, I tried to run away on different route choices, but they were to close. Finally, on CP#13 (I punched 2d) the leader of the pack made a route choice mistake and pack followed him, so I ran to the right into the tunnel and got around 15 sec advantage. It was my second gold in 3 races.

My 5th day and the last before COC10 was a Relay, which I ran with Andrew and Ethan Childs from US Junior Orienteering Team. I got really confused and upset because of the start procedure. I lost my concentration and did few mistakes, which is not very often these days. I finished 5th, but my teammate did a great job and we won it. It was my third gold in 4 races. It was a great lesson from me before COC. I realized that I should focus on my-self, map and pace. Only good news was that I felt better from my sickness.
Next post is about my main race of the year- Canadian Orienteering Championship 2010.