O-France 2016 Aveyron

I know it's been a while since my last post but I reckon it's time I dust off my keyboard and get this going again. It's been a busy year with A-Levels, moving to uni, injuries and the general workings of life. My last post concerned the BOF camp from last year which went, I think, quite well and I was thoroughly looking forward to the next season. I'll keep this part brief, winter training went well, building the mileage and beginning to work in the technical training whilst keeping the strength and endurance work up. Moving to uni undoubtedly helped, awesome training partners made it a breeze and the facilities and environment for training is second to non (not biased at all...). So I felt pretty set for selection races for this years JWOC, them being the JK, Nothern Weekend and the British Long. Perhaps in hindsight, another week or two of harder speed session wouldn't have gone amiss, or maybe getting down to the track a touch earlier might have helped a little, but physically and technically, I felt as prepared as ever and that I had a real shot this year. JK was mixed, with a good sprint, awful middle and a very good long (bar one 1 or 2 controls which really cost me) and I felt I had something to prove for the coming races. Unfortunately injury struck 2 days before the Northern

My undoing

weekend ruling me out for that and then I gave the British a half-hearted attempt but really it was more to get out and start running again. I knew that I was but I stupidly built up far too quickly and developed new niggles and injuries, with my knee and then later achilles, ruling me out properly until roughly the middle of June. Came back on the weekend of the British Sprints and middles where my performances were surprisingly positive, coming away with a bronze medal in the middle. Jukola was an awesome experience and the training was invaluable, but I wasn't in any shape to compete properly and I just suffered through, much to my own annoyance! Couple of weeks of nice easy building coupled with a 3rd place at the British Mixed Sprint relay alongside moving in to the new pad was a welcome boost to my fitness an confidence so I headed to France with high hopes. So now that that's done, I'll begin...

British MSR

Burbage Skyline

So, France. After a mammoth drive down with Dad of over 1000km and 15 hours in the car, we arrived at the campsite to some much needed beer and pizza, ideal race fuel as it so happens. The next day was the Prologue sprint around the charming village of Nants, with myself running at 12:07pm, with the temperature at a toasty 32 degrees or so. I began a touch cautiously, but saw that the first couple were simple enough controls and so dashed around them confidently. My own lack of orienteering practice came in to play in the old town unfortunately, with scrappy route choices and many hesitations costing precious seconds. Enjoyed the little section after, skirting the edge of town on fields and a small estate, allowing for fast flowing racing. Felt like the last bit was a bit of a dog loop just to get the distance but lost a fair bit of time on 14 annoyingly, dropping my position from 2nd to 4th, where I finished. Temper was a touched flared afterwards, seeing my time 30s down but remembering recent fitness set backs and lack of practice I had to be contented with my position, besides, it didn't actually count. So a reasonable is very scrappy performance to start the week.

Tearing up the streets of Nants

I began the second day in good spirit, despite the 30 minutes delayed start due to maybe the weather, or traffic, I forget. Straight out of the blocks I loved it, tricky rocky terrain, but lightning quick so it was just a pleasure to race on. Admittedly there were a few slips, but this came with the territory and I was in a strong position at the 5th, with a 30second or so lead. Alas, I was then betrayed by my own shoe of all things, as the sole decided to do a runner in to the nearly undergrowth! I had seen that they were a touch shabby to begin with but underestimated the terrain and thought they'd be fine. Still, with the hour window for the chasing start in mind I soldiered on, and maintained my lead through to 9 where I was clinging on by around 10 secs, yet I know from there it was damage limitation. Once in the insoole and canvas had gone off the bottom, there was little else I could do other than hobble the rest of the way and hope for the best. As it turned out, I only ended up 40mins down which considering the last 10k was shoeless, could have been a hell of a lot worse. So, not the best start to the week, but something to chase, and god knows I was hungry for it!

The guilty culprits

Thus, after the fiasco  of day 1, I was determined to improve on this going in to the second race of the week. It did not begin well. Mistakes on 2 of the first 3 made for an annoying start but I cooled this anxiety and settled in nicely for the rough scrubby wasteland that emerged from the trees. Smashed the long leg but annoyingly messed up the circle, then led a little pack around until the next wooded section, making some small slips but nothing huge to lose time. Won the middle style section in the woods but then undermined this somewhat by messing up 16 and 17 successively to leave me treading water. Again, determination prevailed and I made good time through the next 2 but then crippled the run and sealed my fate on 20, binning 6 minutes on a 150m control. A hollow victory on the last 2 legs and the run in to leave a bitter taste in my mouth at the mountain I'd have to climb in the coming days, still, onwards and upwards, or so I thought...

Day 3, the World Ranking Middle and a chance for me to prove myself following the last couple of days. It wasn't to be...I guess it started by leaving my description holder in the car with a 2k jog to the start, doh! Thankfully Dad graciously gave me his and I actually started feeling very calm and relaxed. Now, I don't wish to sound bitter or petty on here and I'm speaking the truth of what I felt at the time, immediately and now after some reflection. Personally, I felt the map was not up to standard for a world rankings event. No1 was in a clearing in the middle of dark green, the  same dark green that apparently on the ground had decided to take a walk from the one that was on the map. We entered perfect, lush, white forest without a hint of gorse or holly, yet the map clearly shows some there. Regardless, I found 1 fine and flowed nicely through to 8 where I was in the mix with the other guys. I fell apart on 9. Here was more examples of what I felt was poor mapping. In an area 50m across and maybe 200m long, there were tens of small boulder and knolls, each supposedly mapped individually, marking them as distinct stand alone features, yet then were simply on top of each other in a huge morass of earth. Further, in the hunt for my own control, I found no fewer than 5 others within the same area on the same features, breaking what I thought was an IOF rule and making it impossible to navigate. Needless to say I was incensed following this and proceeded to rampage through 10 and 11 which unfortunately for me carried on through to 12 where I encountered a similar issue only this time said boulders and knolls were covered in a huge green mess. Much swearing and running about ensued with me finally retracing my steps from 11 and walking to the control. Race was over but my mistakes weren't as I spent the remaining time jogging from mistake to mistake in the semi open in my GB for all the world to see, no doubt providing some wonderful laughs for the happy punters around me, including dad... Not happy after this one and ready for the rest day.

Maybe not the best choice...

On top of the rocks above
Nant, around 850m

No sign of human existence...

Myself and Ben passed the rest day in a pleasant jaunt up in to the hills to take in the views of the charming valleys we stayed in. Hard work on the climbs but the cracking paths and views at an easy pace weren't taking, plus exploring Cantobre, finding a 'new' cave and getting lost in the river made it a pleasant morning, followed by an afternoon kip when the weather turned. All topped off with some chilli and a pint leaving me feeling well rested for the next day to come.

Day 4 was the final middle distance day and at 5.5k with 70m climb I thought it'd be easy going. Never have I been more wrong. I made mistakes yes, it cost me a fair bit of time, maybe as much as 15 minutes on obvious ones, but good god this terrain was ridiculous. I ended up running 9.6k in 76 mins, when the expected time was 35, the winner did only 64... I began slowly, knowing from a past maps that the area we were starting in to was slow and tricky, but still managed to bin 5 mins on 1. Flowed nicely from then on through to 9, although suffered a bad knock to my arm on a rock at 5 meaning it was sheeting blood down my forearm and on to my maps. Lost time on 9 annoyingly but recovered quite well and then had a really good battle with a French guy on the same course through to 18, taking varying lines and routes, jumping 40ft caverns etc etc. It's hard to describe how utterly ridiculous this terrain was. Ended up losing a load of time finding a cave on 19 which scuppered my run and my chance of the chasing start but I nailed the route and just couldn't do the circle, no idea what happened. I finished annoyed at the last mistake but also just kind of accepting that I went up against an incredible area and had lost, without any shame, just laughed it off because it's just like nothing I've done before. Despite mistakes and slow going, I actually really enjoyed myself and without the chasing start knew I could just relax in to the last day and enjoy myself further.

So, the last day, 10k of orienteering heaven on some of the worlds most absurd terrain. Hats off to the mapper is all I can say. A nice touch from the organisers was to get everyone wearing the tops for the week to show unity for the vicious and senseless attacks in Nice which brought home how close to such atrocities the French people are and made me think a little more about these issues that always seem so far off. But back to the racing, it began well, chatting with Alice Leake on the start time about the week and was relieved to hear I wasn't the only one struggling, if WOC athletes are struggling maybe it wasn't such a bad thing? Anyhow, setting off in a jolly mood, we had a similar 1 but took different routes but from then I didn't see a soul on my course. In hindsight, I was a bit too safe having lost time earlier in the week and likely added a lot of distance, despite taking legitimate routes each time. Only 2 or 3 real mistakes, 2 and 10 mainly, losing about 10 mins combined, then a fair few dropping time in circles or on aforementioned 'safe' routes, in the loosest sense of the word. Enjoyed today, finally felt like a chance to stretch the legs properly but some poor routes and fine orienteering let me down. Another long one, but another fun one to round off an awesome week of orienteering which was a real eye opener tohow crazy some orienteering is.

3 seconds after finishing the last day, definitely relief on my face!

This years French, whilst it was a really good competition, was just a good all round trip enjoyed with great people in great surroundings. I thoroughly enjoyed my week of resting up in the Dordogne afterwards but I'm more than ready to get cracking on Croeso tomorrow! I'll update again after that and then try and keep it a regular thing after any major races, trips or events. Until then though, onwards and upwards...