Portugal Once More

10th to 16th – Training in Mira

Similar to last year the first part of the Portugal training camp was held in Mira. I knew most of the maps already and I also could remember some of the control locations from last year but besides a new map close to Figuera de Foz the trainings on the “old” maps were also good trainings. Most of the work was done at higher speed. The two highlights were the relay training together with the Czech National Team, Nydalen and many other runners as well as the middle distance race where also runners from IK Hakarpspojkarna joined the big group.
I had a mistake on the first control of the relay and some controls on the middle distance race and was pretty unhappy with my performances. Still the mistake in the relay will be a mistake I won’t do again and also the other mistakes show me where I have to improve.
Overall there were eight trainings including 3 fast trainings in Mira.

Middle Course
Relay Course Splits/Split Analyzer
Tennis-O Course
Middle Course

16th to 20th – Portugal O-Meeting San Pedro do Sul

The journey continued at these years O-Meeting which was held on maps close or above 1000m height. The similarities to the sandy area around Mira were simply zero. Most of the ground was covered with stones, cliffs and other rocks. Nearly the whole map was open land with small forested parts. This area was also much more challenging from the technical point of view and also the running skills on the stones were tested to a big extend.
Because of the bad weather the whole team skipped the model event and went to the local spa where our communication skills with arms surpased the English knowledge of the people there. Still we finally managed to half an hour in the warm water which was great recovery after the previous trainings.
The first stage (Middle Distance) mutated to a model event and I did a pretty steady run there. The pace was off the maximum and I must also say that the good visibility (no fog during my run) helped a lot but most important I felt very comfortable during the course.

The second day, a Long Distance WRE, was held in the same area. I didn’t feel as good as the prior day. Already during the warm up I could feel that my legs weren’t that lightweight that day but I also knew that the bigger challenges of the day were the technical ones. I’m not happy with the race as I had about eight minutes of mistakes overall. The fourth, fifth, seventh, 16th, 20th and 22nd control cost me some time and in the end my time was 18 minutes slower than Thierry‘s very impressive 61 minutes run.

The third day was taken very easy but on the fourth day my goal was to do a good race and close up on Bindi who started 3 minutes ahead in the chasing start. My legs felt good, the first controls were really great fun and I could catch Bindi pretty early. Also the butterfly went fine except that I missed the 7th control when I attacked it for the second time (as number 11). After leading a pack of runners till the 18th control I missed a bit on the following two controls and fell a bit back. On the long leg 24 I tried to take the left route opposed to what most other runners did and pushed very hard together with Etienne Van Gasse. We also were a bit faster than the others but I didn’t see the flag standing about 5 meters away from it, searched somewhere else and lost some more seconds. The final loop went fine but I couldn’t catch the leaders of the group and finished a bit behind Bindi. Overall I really enjoyed the chasing start and the whole course, for me the last stage was the best run in the O-Meeting.

In the first and the last Splitanalyzer the complete loops of the Long Distance WRE and the Chasing Start Middle are treaten as one leg which makes the comparison easier. For the WRE I also split all the runners under 90 minutes into two groups with the same order of controls.

Splits/Split Analyzer
Middle Course Middle Route Splits/Split Analyzer
Long WRE Course Long WRE Route Splits/Split Analyzer
Sprint Course
Middle Course Splits/Split Analyzer
Middle Course Middle Route Splits/Split Analyzer

20th to 23rd – Training in Ovar

The next stage of the training camp were three days in Ovar. Besides some easy trainings also one fast training was held as well. A “catch me if you can”-O (SUI: Tennis O ;o)) where runners chase each other on short courses with 15 seconds to one minute gap was held. That’s definitely the most interesting training besides relay trainings. After five more trainings my body felt really empty but still the last competition weekend was about to start.

Technique Change Course
Tennis-O Course

23rd to 25th – Competitions in Nisa

The final competition weekend in Nisa was the last stage of this years stay in Portugal. A Long Distance WRE on Saturday followed by a Night Sprint and a Middle Distance on Sunday. The model event on Friday was a bit strange because most runners didn’t understand the map at all.
On the following day the map was much more clearly and the organizers did a really remarkable job building up a great competition centre with great atmosphere and impressive speaker work.
My performance was again over shaded by mistakes on plenty of controls. But there were also some good legs I think that the O-performance is getting better and better which is most important. Still a lot has to be done.

After a very short break of only three and a halve hour I found my self again on the starting line. The Night Sprint was about to start. Sprint is definitely the discipline that I most enjoy and Night Sprints are even better. I had a very good race with only one suboptimal route choice on the 8th control where I didn’t see the middle/right route choice and lost about ten seconds to the ideal route. With about ten percent lag on Oystein Kvaal Osterbro who took the Long Distance on the afternoon easy I was really satisfied. Especially that my orienteering was always ahead of me was a very nice experience (maybe also my legs were tired enough that “normal” orienteering speed was faster).
Right after the Sprint a typical Portuguese dinner was held in Nisa and it was great to see a whole “black” pig on the grill. After the dinner we still went out for a drink because of Wolfi’s birthday.
The Middle Distance took place on a sunny Sunday and offered a good mixture of fast and easy and very technical legs. Some smaller mistakes happened during my race. I really enjoyed the last stage of the stay in Portugal. On the other hand staying and training at home is also nice after two weeks of training and travelling.

For the next three weeks I’ll stay at home now and train. The Austrian Cross Country championship will be held on the 18th March and is the next competition highlight. After that SpringCup will be on my program.

Long WRE Course Long WRE Route
Night Sprint Course Night Sprint Route Splits/Split Analyzer
Middle Course Middle Route

Posted on: 01.03.2007 19:07
Last edit: 01.03.2007 19:07

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