Orienteering

Ups and downs | The orienteering season has started. After the Uganda training camp I have had a few weeks to build up my training before the first competitions start.Victory at the Danish Night Orienteering Champs - my first Danish Champs title since 2018.Nordjysk 2 daysThe first competitions were organised in Svinkløv plantation in North Jutland. First day with a long distance and second day with a middle distance. I had planned to run the long distance as a good workout at a moderate pace, as I estimated that my programme would otherwise be too hard. After all, it is only the beginning of March and the important competitions are not until the end of April. A big snowfall in the days leading up to the competitions meant that the start times were not completely irrelevant. With at least 10cm of snow in the terrain, it means a lot to have the advantage of starting in the late end of the starting field. I started among the first on the long distance, but which only made it more interesting from an o-technical point of view, now that I was not going to send it anyway. Ended up coming home with a miss punch - can't remember if it has happened to me before in a competition, so it shouldn't happen again. Quite embarrassing.The middle distance had a slightly better start list, as most of the runners with good chances of winning started not too far from each other. I put together a reasonable race and won the race. 18sec ahead of Rico Hejlskov Mogensen. Rico won the long distance the day before quite convincingly. I made several 5-20sec mistakes on the course, but no bigger ones. So I still have a long way ahead of me o-technically.Working my through the snow at the Nordjysk 2 days. løjer mig igennem sneen til Nordjysk 2 Dages. Can't think of a single scenario where snow is something you hope for in a race.Danish Night Orienteering ChampsThe weekend after the races in Svinkløv it was time for Night Champs, which was held in Stenholt/Buchwaldt plantation - a bit west of Silkeborg. Not a competition I have run before as a senior. In the week leading up to the race, I acquired a new headlamp that shines significantly better than my existing lamp. Great with an upgrade, but maybe a little too late up to the competition to be able to test it properly.The first part of the race was a bit slow. I make a lot of mistakes, none of them cost much more than 45sec but I made a lot of them. From control 10, about one third into the course, I got my shit together, and from here I got things under control. From here it went really well until I had 8min left of the 12,5km long course. My lamp goes out, and from here I only have the emergency flare left, which does not shine much more than a flashlight in a mobile phone. Enough light to take finish the race, but costs me about 2min at the end. Luckily I had a lead to take off and (fortunately) take the victory with 2sec ahead of a strong running first year senior Asbjørn Kaltoft.Danish Spring and sicknessThe third weekend in a row with competitions was to be Danish Spring on Zealand. Three World Ranking Event races. Sprint in Frederikssund and long and middle distance in Tisvilde Hegn. I got through the sprint fairly well. Feels there is much more in the tank but without a sprint map in hand since last spring, I probably can't expect much more. Finishes as no. 5, 43sec after both Andreas Bock and Ralph Street. I had a bit of a sore throat and did not feel quite good. The day after on the long distance day it has gotten worse. I am at the stage before being downright sick, but still choose to give the race a shot. Pretty stupid. Tried to justify the decision with the fact that I lack the WRE points. It didn't turn out well. There was not much in the tank and I had to cough a lot. Pulling out of the race annoyed that I even tried. Sunday on the middle distance day, I had fortunately become a little wiser and did not go out to the arena at all. Together with Tim Robertson we went straight back to Aarhus. The plan was to have a week's training camp at home in Aarhus. We both usually progress a lot when we train together. The training camp ended up being the training camp with the worst outcome I have ever experienced. Tim had been injured in the knee and could not really run and my illness persisted throughout the week. We got a single jog together of 5km, which neither of us should have run. Frustrating as it can be, but that's the situation - injuries and illness are part of the game.At the time of writing, I am still sick and hope for the first post-sickness training day tomorrow. So almost 10 days without training. Especially the lungs are badly affected. Critical in relation to the season which really only really has to take hold now, but I remain optimistic. Can't do much more than stay calm and wait for the virus to pass. In 12 days is the first selection race for the first World Cup round in Norway. I still believe in it :-)

Is it possible? The selection races are just around the corner! | In just 2.5 weeks, the selection races for this year's main goal: the World Orienteering Championships - also called WOC 2023. This year, the World Championships will take place from 11-16 July in the middle of the Alps in Flims Laax, Switzerland. If you love forest orienteering, it's hard not to be excited about the host nation and the location of the event. Difficult and hilly terrain awaits to navigate in a fascinating natural setting. It is incredibly far from the type of terrain we have here in Denmark, so it will definitely be a big challenge. At the World Championships this year, competitors will compete in the middle and long distance as well as the relay.In action at the World Cup finale last year in Davos, Switzerland. (Foto: © IOF)The last period has been miserable to say the least. Barely 5 weeks ago I got sick, and the sickness has just stuck with me. After about 3 weeks I felt close to symptom free, but still something was stuck in my system. I monitor my resting heart rate every night and it continued to be completely off. The same as soon as I got into activity. It is only within the last couple of days that I feel my body is starting to give the green light for training again. The last 5 weeks in km: 78km. The week I got sick. 5.5km. Probably should have stayed home. 37km. Tried some slow jogging, just to get a bit of load on my legs. 39km. With the national orienteering team in Norway all week in the hope of getting well. 56km. Recovering, and among other things tried out a 6x1000m session at the end of the week with a controlled intensity.Before I got sick, I had a period of 10 weeks before, where I averaged just under 12 hours of running a week. Normally I calculate my training in kilometres (and with focus on the content of course), but this year with focus on the forest World Championships in Switzerland with a lot of training in terrain and hills, it makes more sense to calculate my training in hours. This meant that I was getting in pretty good shape when I got sick, and fortunately it is something I think is not completely wasted. If I can get two good weeks now towards the selection races, and with the training I have in the bank, I think I can get to a reasonable place physically. The first round of the World Cup is in Østfold, Norway next week. Of course, I will not run it. Frustrating as there are good World ranking points to pick up as well as the technical benefits of running quality competitions. Fortunately, I have a few days in Switzerland before the selection races to get a map in my hand. The last period has certainly not increased my odds for a World Champs selection, but I still believe that it is possible and I will do my best! Then we'll see. The programme for the selection races will be as follows (more information can be found here): Sprint distance: Bot Fiena Trin. 3.7km, winning time of approx. 25min. Middle distance: Crestasee. 4.1km, winning time of approx. 35min. Long distance: Arosa. 12.5km, winning time of approx. 100min.I will be doing a weekly update here on the website every Sunday evening at 8pm, so you can follow the project. You will find out if my health continues to improve for the selection races, if I smash the winning times, if I take more than 5 gels on the long distance, buy cheese instead of chocolate in Switzerland, get selected for the World Championships and much more.

Maybe there is hope | My body is gradually starting to become more cooperative. However, it still seems to be sending a little mixed signals, but nothing too alarming, so I feel reasonably confident in stepping up the training again. This week has thus offered significantly more training than the previous 5 weeks, but I am still not up to full load yet. But hopefully this week has offered good enough progress for me to go full on next week.The week's totals end up at 107km and 9.08 hours of running. Nothing crazy, but it's getting close to training. I've got some days with double trainings, so I can get my body used to it again. It has been on the days between sessions I have done it in the form of two short daily runs. 7km jog in the morning and then 7-10km jog in the evening. On the short morning jogs on Monday and Wednesday I have had the pleasure of Daniel Graversgaard's company and Friday morning by Jakob Edsen's. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday have been with intensive training and just a single session on those days. Tuesday was hill interval in terrain near Ørnereden and Thursday was interval on the "Switzerland round" at Thors Mølle - the round that is currently being used at Aarhus' Elite Centre terrain intervals with a view to the World Championships. Sunday long run in terrain in Marselisborg - a fixed route I have with 800m of elevation.Terrain test loopSaturday's quality session I ran as a tempo run on the Elite Centre's terrain test loop, which I believe was used for the first time in December 2016. I have run on this in both 2016, 2017 and 2018 until I took my break from orienteering in the summer of 2018. Then I have been running on it again from the spring of last year. Many times have been run on this terrain test loop by both me and many other orienteers based in Aarhus. It can thus be used as a good indicator of where you stand physically - at least in terms of your "terrain form".As seen on the map above, the loop consists of 107.5 of climb and is 2.6km long located between Oddervej and Silistria (where the orienteering club OK Pan Aarhus has its clubhouse). When the terrain test is run, a total of 3 laps are run and thus a total of 7.8km with 321 metres of altitude. The conditions on the round can vary a lot, for example in winter it is quite "heavy" in the form of precipitation which has made the surface more soft and muddy. This means that the comparison of the times on the loop from time to time must be seen in the light of the condition of the route and conditions.I have been through the archives and found times that have been run on the loop. These are listed in the table below, where I have only included times under 35min. Hope I haven't missed any times. Times on the terrain test loop Rank Runner Time Date 1 Emil Øbro 32:25 29. apr 2021 2 Tue Lassen 33:38 4. maj 2017 2 Jakob Edsen 33:38 20. aug 2020 4 Søren Bobach 33:48 19. apr 2018 5 Eskil Schøning 33:55 25. feb 2021 6 Andreas Bock 34:06 25. feb 2021 7 Bjørn Cederberg 34:11 26. jul 2018 8 Magnus Dewett 34:12 19. apr 2018 9 Emil Ahlbäck 34:13 14. jun 2018 10 Thor Nørskov 34:57 23. jun 2017 My time yesterday, 29 April, was 36.30min. Far from what is required to be able to run in the top at a World Championships, but now I know where I stand after the longer sickness period. The conditions on the loop yesterday were pretty good, as the forest is currently quite dry, so unfortunately no excuses there. That almost makes the run half trail on single tracks and half terrain. I'll run the terrain test again next Saturday, where I hope to shave 1-2min off the time on yesterday's test. Maybe it sounds like a lot, but after the illness, I think there is a lot to gain in a short time.Now a week awaits, where I will try to train at full load again, so I can get some training in the bank before the World Cup selection races start on 12 May. This will be my last week at home before leaving for Switzerland. Next project WOC 2023 blog post will come next week at the same time, Sunday evening at 8:00pm.

Last week before it starts | Another week has passed and things are going in the right direction. The training volume has ended up being slightly more than last week with a total of close to 10 hours of running. My coach, Kent, is trying to rein me in a bit, which is for the better. No need to push the training now before the WOC qualifiers next week, especially as I have made a lot of progress this week compared to last week. Since I have great progress now, it must indicate that I currently hit a training level that fits very well in relation to my current situation after the illness.The content of the training this week has almost been identical to last week. The primary difference is that there has been a slightly higher load on the quality sessions. My time on the terrain test loop yesterday ended up at 34:53 min, and thus 1:37 min faster than last Saturday, where I ran 36:30 min (all-time top 10 on the run can be found in last week's post). Back in 2018 I ran my PR of 34:12 min and this was 2 weeks before the European Championships. At this European Championships I was 24th in the sprint and 33rd in the middle distance. On this middle distance I could have picked up a lot of time on fewer mistakes and by being able to read a map better. So with yesterday's time, I feel that I have a benchmark for where I stand physically ahead of next week's selection races. This comparison with yesterday's time on the terrain test loop and the time from 2018 makes me believe that I can go far with three good o-technical performances next week.In a programme with Team Denmark expertsThis year I am a permanently established part of the orienteering national team squad, which I have not been between 2019-2022. This also means that I am reinstated in Team Denmark, which among other things gives access to their expert team, which consists of sports psychologists, chiropractors, doctor, physiotherapist, masseur, dietician and more.One of the exercises I have been given by Team Denmark physio.I have had problems with my glute since December. An injury that does not affect me to any great extent anymore, but I intend to get rid of it completely. After having had some hands on the injury and an ultrasound scan, much suggests that I need to have worked a lot on my hamstring flexibility and strength. My back could also do with a little more work. The injury does not seem to be bone-related, but rather some muscle attachment up on the pelvis somewhere (I have been given a more precise explanation, but my knowledge of anatomy does not extend further). Anyway, I have got a lot I can work with now, and already after a few weeks I think I feel a good effect. So some of the exercises I do now are something I have to stick to. My injury history over the past few years has not been great. Among other things, with a stress fracture in the sacrum in the spring of 2021 and last year a stress fracture in one of my ribs. In addition to this, I have had some illnesses that have been worse and longer than I have been used to so far. None of this helps me become a better runner. So it would be interesting to find out if there is something else behind the injuries and sicknesses than too hard or wrong training. I have been referred for a dexa scan, which among other things can measure bone density. In addition, I have started a course with one of Team Denmark's skilled dietitians, to clarify if there are things in my diet I change or improve. And after the 1st consultation, it immediately turns out that I have many things I should do better. I have already got some things I can start working on. There are a number of things that still need to be calculated, but in the first instance I can work on distributing my dietary intake better throughout the day and as far as possible have a better energy intake in connection with training.Departure to SwitzerlandOn Tuesday we are travelling to Switzerland. Travelling from Aarhus to Zurich via Copenhagen. There I will stay in Pfäfers with the Thrane Ødum family, so Miri, Marius and Søren and the Cederberg family (Line and my old roomie Bjørn). And then Malte Kjær and Jacob Steinthal. So a good bunch, it will be nice. Wednesday and Thursday there are some organised o-technical training sessions, before we start with the selection races Friday to Sunday, which I have mentioned in a previous blog post. Then we will stay in Switzerland until the Wednesday after the selection races, where the trip then goes on to Sweden.

The selection races | Unfortunately, this post can be rather short. The selection races ended almost before they started. The night of the first race on Friday a cold hits. 6 weeks of illness, 2 weeks of 80% training and now a new illness. I don't quite feel lucky at the moment.On the way to the finish line of the short distance (Foto: @ Emma Bjessmo)On Friday's short distance I tried, I get through the course technically reasonable, but the body was slack. Saturday's middle distance nothing worked, and I went home after only a couple of controls. Sunday I forced the long distance with a small hope of a result that could secure me a spot. I finished as no. 7 - so the only thing I really got out of that race is that I probably get to extend the illness period.On Wednesday I head to Skellefteå Sweden, where there is Swedish Leauge middle distance on Thursday and then 10mila in the weekend. I hope to get well enough to be able to get some acceptable races. Then I have to try to find new goals to train towards, whatever it will be. Hope the trend turns soon, so there is something more positive to write about :-)