I am forced to start with negative, but I hope for much better „to be continued”. I expected a lot more from organizers in means of quality and effort vs. price, but it seems that everyone likes to earn some money. In my opinion 80 EUR for bed in 12m2 small 3 person room is a bit overrated (about 3 times) and there are lot more things which I would rate as average for level of World championships.
A good thing – it’s really beautiful around here. I arrived in Trondheim on Fridays evening and went for model race located near to terrain witch will be used for finals and relay. I was positively impressed by a fairy tail like forest and terrain which was less technical and demanding as I expected it to be after hearing a lot about it from others. Detailed map matched to what I expected to see by almost 100%. I also got evidence and finally believed that marshes can get more wet even when I was running up. Physically I felt perfect and let myself to enjoy a bit of a speed (running speed).
On Saturdays training I tried to get some impression and feeling for qualification races. Map looked very similar to one I enjoyed yesterday, but already from first meters I realized that qualifications will be toughest part of this championship. Stony ground and steep climbs reminded me that this is not about running only (once again). In afternoon I made short walk around city and checked sprint model.
A morning of sprint race came with confidence and strong feeling for making it to final, but it wasn’t enough. I was few seconds late, but a lot behind my aim and expectations of what I am capable of. Yeah I had to open race by starting out first and my heat was strong, but those are things I must learn to put aside. Important lesson I learned for one more time – orienteering sprint is very specific kind of this sport there for it takes a lot of specific training work to be done, which I am missing at a moment.
No it’s time for some pain in a typical Trondheim terrain and middle distance qualifications. Good luck!
