Team Canada Live Chat - November 7, 2011 - 8PM EST

Live Chat on this blog Monday Nov 7 with Louise and Will

Please join Canadian Cup Elite Series Champions Louise Oram of Vancouver and Will Critchley of Edmonton in the first ever Canadian National Team Live Chat on Monday November 7 at 8:00 pm EST. Please join us online to chat with Louise and Will, ask questions about their 2011 season and their training plans that will hopefully lead to an even better 2012.

The chat will be on the Team Canada Blog at http://teamcanadaorienteering.blogspot.com/

Louise Oram (27) is a member of the Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club (GVOC) and has been a member of the national team member since graduating from the junior ranks. She has participated in 6 World Championships including placing 37th in the Sprint Final at the 2011 WOC in France.

Will Critchley (27) from Edmonton (EOOC) and has made a quick rise through the ranks of elite Orienteering in Canada since re-entering the sport in 2009. He made the 2009 World Championships in Hungary, which was followed by 2010 in Norway and 2011 in France in which he placed 38th in the Sprint Final. Will has also been able to undertake the very unique experience of participating in the Park World Tour (PWT) in China, something he hopes to again in 2011.

Nevin French will be hosting this chat. A big thanks to Nevin!

WOC Long Final Report

After the euphoria of qualifying for the long wore off, reality sunk in: Oh God, I actually have to run the long. I tried to stay calm, telling myself I had already made my goal to qualify and I did know how to orienteer but I was so so nervous the whole morning before the start.

I started with Magnus's last words of advice running through my head: "Take your time to do the first two controls well. It's a really long race to be annoyed all the way through!" Then I turned over my map. The first control looked so tricky! Despite the 375, 45m climb run to the start triangle, I still hadn't decided what what route to take. But good sense won out and I decided to play it safe and ran along the path. You can find the map (and final results) here.

I had a few minor hesitations through the first four controls but I manged to make it through the tricky section relatively unscathed. That made all my training in France seem worthwhile as there is no way I could have done that a year ago!

On the big screen! Photo: Greg Walker

The second half of the race was really just a physical fight. Running up and down ski hills in that heat really cooked my brain and I made a bad mistake on the way to number 12, dropping 9 places. Oops. Lesson learned not to cut corners when you can't think properly! I was running with a few other runners through this section but never really managed to keep up with anyone for very long.

Finally, I made it to the finish, after 1 hour and 56 minutes of running. I was so exhausted. Everyone was coming over and congratulating me on an awesome race, which was a little confusing. I didn't feel amazing out there so I thought they just were saying that for finishing; admittedly, finishing that course did feel like quite the accomplishment! It wasn't till I recovered a bit that I realized the mistakes some of the other women were making. You can relive the drama by watching the our GPS tracks.

Just trying to make it to the finish line! Photo: Adrian Zissos

In the end, I was ecstatic to learn that I'd finished in 33rd, way beyond what I'd dreamed was possible. This WOC everything really came together, with terrain that suited me, having tonnes of supporters there and just having lots more orienteering experience. Then our team's relay result was really the cherry on top: first ever top-half finish for the Canadian women! Such an awesome week and now I'm really excited for the future!

First WOC Experience and Definitely Not My Last

I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to race in my first World Orienteering Championships in Savoie, France. Although the Long was not the race I particularly wanted a start in, I made the most out of it.  Of course I would have preferred to have a start in the Sprint or even the Middle before the Long but it just didn’t work out for me. I did not know what to expect but I knew it would be really tough to qualify or even crack the top 20. Saturday August 13^th came and my first WOC race the Long Distance Qualifier dawned on me. The first start was at 13:10 and I started at 13:28, so I knew it was going to be hot, hot, hot even though the start was around 1400m above sea level. I knew that there was going to be a fair bit of open meadow running based on the course notes and in order for the winning times to be accurate which made me feel better about the race knowing that there would be some less technical parts with faster running. One of the things coach Magnus was stressing was compass, compass, compass, always look at your compass. It probably was the best advice he could have given myself and the team. Before my start I was constantly telling myself compass, compass, compass and to take it easy and safe to the first control which I did. I nailed the first control and got into a nice rhythm early on and kept it going until the course got into the more tricky terrain just over half way through.  By this time I was getting tired after the huge climb going to control #7 which turned out not to be the best route choice. This is when the small mistakes started to happen and my concentration was fading.  I was having trouble judging the distance in the forest and I consistently was not going far enough. On my way to control eight I was stung by 3 to 4 wasps or bees which was irritating but my adrenalin was so high that I did not notice it much at all. Immediately after it happened the first thing besides some profanity was I hope Thierry is not coming on this exact route haha. Later in the course Olle Boström the young Swedish star came blowing by me heading into control #10 only to stop shortly after and ask me if I was looking for code 72. This stunned me because someone of that calibre asking me where I am going is unusual.  I could maybe see someone else asking me but a Swede, no way. Anyways I told him I was looking for 72 and we both continued on to the same control and he soon left me in his dust. By the time I reached the finish chute I was physically and mentally wrecked but somehow managed to find some more energy since there were so many people cheering. Nothing can compare to the feeling of running down that finish chute despite how exhausted I was. I managed to make it back with no major mistakes which was one of my big goals. I felt like I had a pretty good race but it did not show in the results like I thought it would. I think I got stuck with one of the hardest heats (Heat B) because if you compare my time to the other heats it should have slotted me into about 26^th or 28^th place not 30^th which I ended up in my heat.  I guess it does not really matter because I would not have made the final either way. Thierry Gueorgiou crushed everyone in my heat winning by over six minutes. I guess you could say I was 34 minutes behind the World Champion that is about the only claim to fame I have. Besides taking a bad route on the long leg and losing some time here and there I think the race went as well as it could have for me considering my training and running speed.  Of course I could have had a faster race with some better route choices and fewer mistakes but can’t we all say that. I will remember my first World Orienteering Championships in Savoir, France, 2011 for the rest of my life.

Check out and follow my new personal blog too: http://damiankonotopetz.blogspot.com/

Damian

Team Photos

Directly after the relay we gathered in the baking sun to take some team photos! After that we rushed down to town to get ready for the banquet.

Training Video

Here is a video we shot on our second day in France. We weren't able to upload it with the slow internet at the hotel.

The quality isn't great, but hopefully it gives those who weren't there an idea of what the terrain is like. Enjoy!

Post-WOC Pre-WOC

As a pre-face to this entry, I'd like to touch on the distinct lack of athlete reports from their respective finals and relays from WOC week. Unfortunately, the internet at our hotel was highly suspect, and the finals days proved to be very long and very hot. Over the next few weeks and as the season winds down, we will gradually be posting our individual experiences from these races, from the much talked about Sprint qualification to Carol's epic marathon of a long final, to the madness that was the women's relay. There is much coming down the pipeline!

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Although the initial fervour of this year's WOC is slowly dwindling (though some debates rage on - see AttackPoint), its time to start looking forward again. And, it just so happens that NEXT year's WOC is a scant 150 km for this year's WOC!

Carol and I stuck around for a week after France to do some relaxing, some sightseeing, and a little bit of orienteering. Our initial plan of visiting the Olympic Museum in Lausanne was thwarted once we determined exactly where the embargoed zone was, so we turned a hard left and headed back into France, the Jura area.

Now, to be clear, a large portion of these days have involved lying in the sun (or shade) on the beach of some lake. Naps occurred. Some food with questionable health qualities were consumed.

But, it has not been all lying around. We have "climbed" Mt. Jura, a massive 1500 metre peak which the tourist office says would take around 4:40. We made it up and down in 1:45.

Tomorrow, I head back to England to get in on the City Race action, with Sheffield and Lincoln next weekend, and London the weekend after. Carol is going to head to Switzerland and will likely do some more WOC specific training.

Finally, although the first two days we stayed in a pleasant and cheap hostel, last night we found some cheap as free accommodation. Can you guess where we are staying based on the picture below?