Pre-JWOC training

      The past few weeks of training in Europe have been busy for me as coming straight from Italy to Bulgaria was the beginning of a new experience. First I met up with Emma Sherwood and the US team, and spent 12 days training for all of the orienteering disciplines, sprint, middle, and long. Both Raphael (the Canadian JWOC team coach) and Erin (the US JWOC team coach) did their best and succeeded in teaching all of the athletes new skills and preparing them for the upcoming JWOC.

      The unique Bulgarian terrain provides an unexpected challenge through the difficulty of some of the maps. In the upcoming races each of the disciplines will be unique from anywhere else in Europe, judging from the maps we have run on as every feature looks different, from the sizes of the rocks to the shapes of the spurs and re-entrants. Now I have started a rest period and am preparing myself mentally for the upcoming races. I have confidence that our coach has helped us prepare for the upcoming races as much as possible. I am really looking forward to all of the JWOC races.