Europe Time!

Yes once again it has been a long time since the last post...but I am here now!!


I have arrived in Europe and been here for nearly 2 weeks now. This was a different trip to Europe as I have a one way ticket and a permit to live in Sweden for 2 years. A big change in my life is happening right now! But first I have to compete in the World University Orienteering Championships in Spain, and the World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland. It was super sad to leave everyone I love back home, but I will be back home soon (hopefully as soon as December for the World Cup races in NZ!).


I flew into Geneva where I met with Ross, Tane, Greta and Amber where we did a few days of training around Lausanne. My bag was delayed and I would have to wait till Friday to pick it up, but there was a slight problem of me going to Spain on that same day. So off to Spain on Friday we went! (Greta, Amber and I) We were also on the same flight as Lilian Forsgren, it was a nice catch up :-)

WUOC!

Once we arrived in Alicante, we had just till Tuesday to get used to the terrain and taper with our training before the first race on Tuesday. It was a bit of a shock arriving into Alicante as the weather was so extreme!! I think the first day we got there the temperatures were rising close to 40 degrees! Quite a different climate from the NZ winter...
Another thing to look forward to once I got to Spain was that Rassmus was running for the Swedish team, so I would be able to see him after 5 whole months apart!!! :O

Finally got my bag after 3 and a half days without it!

The NZ team at the Opening Ceremony

Amber (coach/sister) and I at the opening ceremony

I was racing in the Long Distance, Middle Distance and the Relay, so had a rest day when the Sprint was on. 


The Long Distance was super challenging! It was so incredibly steep, and the heat did not make that climb feel any easier. I managed to have a steady race. A few mistakes here and there, so a bit of time lost, but most of my time was lost on the route choices, in particular the long leg after the ravine crossing. I should have taken an easier running track route instead of changing half way and trying to go straight. I was totally smashed doing this route choice and hit the wall very badly! So in the end it was ok and I ended up 39th out of 67.

Chilling before the Long Distance

The Middle distance was on totally different terrain than the Long distance, and I had actually had some practice on the maps which are similar to this map. I felt rather confident on the warm up map just before my start, but I still felt nervous. I managed to get off to a steady start to number 1, although overshot number 2. The next two legs are where I gained confidence in my good route choices! I went rather straight and kept stopping to check my compass direction along the way to 3, and 4 I decided to take the bottom route even though it looked green. I caught the Czech girl who started 2min ahead of me around #3, so we managed to stick together for a bit. She was making mistakes, then I would get in front, then I would make mistakes and she would get in front. At the second to last control, I lost my direction into the control, so was stuffing around for a minute, but I knew I had not stuffed it as much as the Czech girl and a few other girls that were in the same area. At the finish, I knew it was a safe race, but not too sure how it would have placed? Turns out I was 10th!! :D That was a pretty cool feeling! Top 10 from a NZer is always a good thing :) Looking back at the results, 5th place to 10th place was only 35seconds! I easily lost that at that last mistake! But hey, everyone else had mistakes too, so it is what it is...just exciting to see when you get so close!! 10th! Yay! :-)

Top 10! :)

The Relay was another steady race from me...ran 1st leg and managed to stick with the pack for most of the race, although got rather tired in the end, so was going a bit slower...I made a few silly errors and went to a few other split controls, but nothing too major. Ended up about 2.35min behind the first finisher. Angela was 2nd and Greta ran last to place our team in 12th, 30min behind the Swedes.
Was a pretty fun week, and am very happy with some of my racing :) I loved the terrain, and would love to go back to Alicante sometime in the future.

The NZ girls before the Banquet

Now I am back in Lausanne where most of the NZ WOC team are here training for the competition next week. It is all so exciting, but a little scary at the same time as I make my debut on the senior level! I am racing in the Middle distance and hopefully in the Relay. The Middle qualification is on the Monday, and the Final on the Tuesday. The Relay is on the Saturday, so in between I will be trying to do a little bit of running/orienteering, but still taking it easy in case of a Relay position. We have a pretty big team this year, 5 men and 5 women, and we also have around 20 NZ spectators coming to cheer us on! It will be pretty wicked and I just can't wait!
But for now I am trying to familiarise myself with the terrain along with tapering for next week, whilst recovering from last weeks tough races! :P

One of the Middle training maps terrain

Dieter shouting Tane, Lizzie and I a nice drink in the hills after our morning training session :)

All is going good, and I have also found out that I have passed all my exams, so I am now a qualified Scientist in Geography and Environmental Science! woop woop!!

Au revoir!