On the road again

After a quick two weeks in Hungary, the 2009 World Champs are over, and I'm on my way home to Manitoba. The Canadian Champs start in a few days, but first I am looking forward to the annual National Junior Training Camp. The camp is always a great experience a great chance for the young athletes to get some excellent training, hang out together and have a ton of fun. Hopefully, I'll be able to post some photos and writeups from the camp over the next few days.

Now sitting in the Budapest airport, I have a bit of time to reflect over the whirlwind two weeks here. Right now, I'm mentally and physically drained, so will fully digest the races later. But most importantly, thanks again to my team mates, friends and family for all the support along the way. 349 days to go!

2009 WOC Done

With the relay over, WOC2009 is done for Team Canada. I am wiped! Running 3 hard races in 36h was tough. I knew it would be, so I was prepared for a fight in the 1st leg of the relay. But of course, it's a fairly ruthless race and didn't have a great race after losing time right off the start. When you lose the lead group, motivation suddenly drops and you realize how tired the legs are! This was my #2 goal of the year, so I was disappointed and angry at letting the opportunity go. That will fuel my training for the next 351 days.

The Long Final will be run tomorrow, and I definitely feel sad not to be running it. I had mentally and physically prepared to be running it, and it feels like the week shouldn't quite be over yet.

But the silver lining is that we get to enjoy the last 2 days here in Hungary fully in holiday mode. After the race, Louise and Carol greeted me with a kuruskalac (warm Hungarian cinnamon bun!) and beer. What could be better!

Top 40!

Yesterday was a big day here in Hungary! I broke into the top 40 in the Sprint for a new PB on the world stage. My qualification race in the morning went well as ran a safe race and placed 11th of 37 to make the top 15 cutoff. I was very motivated to perform to my capabilities, so was happy with the morning's run.

I was definitely tired for the afternoon's final, but ran another good race to finish up in 38 of 46. I ran technically well and pushed to my physical limits, so I am satisfied and content with the day. But of course already hungry for more next year :)

We're off to the relay soon, the final event of the week. Thanks for all the support from everyone watching from home and here in Hungary! I'm looking forward to sharing the stories when I get back to Canada.

A relay viewer's guide is up on the Team Canada Blog

Do it properly

This is the big one. Sprint time.

I was not happy with my Long Quali earlier in the week. Although I ran on pace with the best in the world for much of the race, my huge mistake at #1 destroyed my day. Not good enough and I know that is not up to my ability. I appreciate all the support and good wishes during and after the race - but now it is time to do it properly and make all the hard work worth it. Game on!

Finally

Finally. It's time to race! Morning of my Long Quali race and I am antsy to get going. I've thought a lot about today over the last year and looking forward to seeing what improvements I've made. I know I'm in great shape and technically sound. I try not to think of results, but I know that if I stick to my game plan, they will come.

Concentrate on what you can control. Nobody deserves to do well, you have to earn it.

At the end of the day, my #1 goal is to represent Canada to the best of my ability and cross the finish line proudly with a smile on my face!

WOC Training Camp

After the long travel day to Hungary, I am now settled into the Uni-Hotel Miscolc with the rest of the Canadian Team. The team is a bit small this year with only 5 men and 2 women, but everyone is in very good spirits and looking strong! Coach Magnus arrives tonight to complete the Team. I think it will be a good year!

Yesterday, we did two training sessions to get the body going and get used to the terrain and maps here. I felt surprisingly good after the travel! My legs are rested, so the main thing is to kick-start the body and brain, rest and relax before the races. My first race is the Long Qualifier on Monday, so that amounts to two more days of training, one rest day, and one easy day before the race.

Today, we are heading up to the Slovak border for Relay-specific training. The relay is my #2 goal this year as I plan to start off our Team well, arriving in the lead group...something that hasn't happened in years!

We are updating the Team Canada Blog very regularly, so check back often for updates! teamcanadaorienteering.blogspot.com

Recovery on the road

Under a week to go until the 2009 World Championships. I'm excited. I had a great 10 day training camp in Whitehorse with lots of quality time on maps and high intensity training. Some warm weather made for excellent heat training as well.

And then it was time to rest. Not total rest, because that only does so much good and drives me nuts. I always say that recovery is one of the most underestimated, but important aspects of a good training program. I won't share all my secrets, but one of the most important parts is eating good food. Compression socks and ice baths are a close 2 and 3! On the right, some of my fav's. Yam fries, killer salad, salmon, steak. Oh yea, and local wine :)

Now waiting for my first flight, my bag is fully stocked with good recovery food. The work has been done and just the last 1% matters now! So after all the hard work and attention to details over the last year, there's no way I'm leaving the next 36h of travel up to random chance airport food!

Two giant salads (one with chicken and local BC blue cheese...mmm), cucumbers, almonds, oatmeal with nuts and berries for breaky, hard boiled eggs.

Heli-Running

It doesn't really get much better than this! Only 50 miles away from home, as the helicopter flies, is Kushawa Lake. Sure, we've been there before. Last time, it was a drive and long uphill from the lake to get on top of a nice ridge. This time, it was by chopper with the sole purpose of finding pristine, remote, smooth ridge running! Our friend Kimball was in town and we joined up for an awesome day starting off with the spectacular run, then a swim and some sushi to top off the day!

I lifted this photo off Brent's blog. Check out his writeup for more photos of the epic day!