My first major races of the year were the US Team Trials, in Santa Rosa County, CA. I had been looking forward to these races for several weeks as the first chance to put my winter training to a very good test. The races were pretty much a who’s who of orienteering in North America and included some strong international runners - in particular, Kristaps Jaudzems, 4th at the 2004 Junior World Champs and Øystein Sorenson, gold medalist at the 2005 Junior World Champs.
Training Group Success!
Our Vancouver training group had some great results this weekend. Øystein and I had very good races in the Middle and Long. Louise had several strong races in the women’s class as well. I am very happy that the weekend went well for us. Hard work pays off.
Mental Preparation
I am in very good shape right now, faster and stronger than I have ever been, but to have a successful weekend, I knew that I had to navigate well. At this time of year, my foremost goal was to be smooth and in full control, making no mistakes. I was extremely successful at meeting these goals and I am very satisfied with my mental preparation so far. Now it’s time to move on and look towards the bigger goals.
Physical Preparation
My winter training has had its ups and downs, but I am in very good shape right now and looking forward to gaining some higher end fitness leading into the summer. I felt very comfortable physically during the races, so that is good feedback for now. I always had lots left at the end of the races, so there is definitely room to push harder. Especially at the end of the long, I was feeling very strong and gained a lot of confidence from the good race.
Next up
A few days at home in Van to recover will be followed by another big stint of travel. Several TCs, work and the Canadian Team Trials will take me to Kamloops, Canmore and Whitehorse over the next month. Stay tuned!
