The first important competition period is over. In Jukola we did quite ok, and got 4th position and in Nordic Orienteering Tour I achieved 7th spot. Both results are "quite okey", but maybe it's just that what pisses me off. Where was the fighting spirit and the precise actions needed at the crucial points of performances, tell me man! As my buddy said: "Nobody can be that bad, can he ;-)?"
NORT started on Thursday some days before Jukola with "sprint middle distance", in which I had planned a great charge beforehand. 2nd spot only 24s behind Lundanes felt really good. Also the physical form (I didn't have to push at all) and mental feeling (excited, but still relaxed in technical way) were close to the optimum.
In the evening's final I was maybe out of both mental and physical energy, so lazy were both running and orienteering. Silly route-choice on the second long leg cost me the position among the 15 best - and so were some crucial bonus-seconds and WC-points lost as well. Feeling was a bit disappointment after the race, but good run in the morning slightly cheered up the melancholic mind.
In Jukola I did rather ok job, meaning that I didn't miss in big time. Mostly I was just unhappy with my passiveness when running with Valentin and when choosing the other route-choice when battling of the 2nd and 3rd spot. On the other hand, the physical fitness was not high enough, and I would have had only slight chances competing of the podium places. I still have one big problem when running Jukola: 20min of sleep during the night is not enough, even if you'd feel relaxed.
After Jukola we travelled to Göteborg already on Monday, where my primary goal was to do well in the morning's qualification. It was in fact a good race for me, as I was 11th and lost only 37s to the fastest time. In addition, I lost 20-25s on two legs, so the race could have been better. Before the quarter-final I felt really good, put it didn't help a much as Mr. Müller was running really fast all the time. My best ability - running uphills - was "killed" during the high-paced downhill legs on asphalt. After running long time on the last spot, I decided to flush the performance down the toilet by doing a stupid route-choice and getting lost. This was really stupid, because by running behind the others would have given more bonus-seconds and WC-points. Well, a masochist seems to know that it's not wise to put yourself into too good position before the final...
Before the NORT-final in Oslo we did two o-sessions in Göteborg, which helped to avoid "the hotel death" during the days between races. After Friday's model event I was feeling really good and self-confident.
In the final my performance didn't last to the end after all. The performance got broken. My biggest mental problem - too high expectations concerning my o-performance, took over. The start of the race was good and when checking out the speed of other runners, I felt confident. But somehow I let the grip slip from my hands, and started to miss. The last loop after visiting the competition center was kind of via dolorosa. Too much misses and bad mental feeling. When approaching third last control, I hurt my leg (nice sportmanship by Mr Kyburz there by the way, thanks!) and on the next control we missed too much.
Well, it felt good to unload the mental burden here. Some bright sides are coming up to my mind now as well, and my honest estimation is that the goal of reaching a WOC-medal is still realistic. What is needed now, is a good physical training period accompanied by some precise training for the mental strength in orienteering. I will update the last preparations from the camps (Ylläs & France) frequently. Have a nice summer!