The state of extreme disappointment...

Last weekend my shape looked like this red line presented in the graph on the left. My shape in general, I mean - because my physical shape fell short of my expectations almost all the time. I couldn't find the right rhythm in March and April but still believed in Pasza's promises that everything would work appropriately in May. And?! An awful disappointment and depression...

On Friday we travelled to the north of Poland to fight in the first round of the Polish Club Championships. The same day in the afternoon the relay competition was held. It was my first time to compete in the elite class. I was chosen to run the last leg in our team.

Pasza did a very good job on the first leg coming on the 3rd place ex aequo with Lupek only some 30secs behind the leader. Cilu made his own race and came alone on the 3rd spot as well. My starting position was really promising, because I began my course no more than 2mins behind Hewi and with the advantage of more than 6mins over the next team.

My goal was to start calmly and find the 1st control confidently. That's why I chose the track route choice. Once I had left this path, I saw Hewi coming down in the completely opposite direction. Then, he turned back and we reached the top of the hill together. He did not even say anything. We looked for this control hurriedly and lost 45 seconds there.

We ran quickly to the 2nd one. In the area close to the control Hewi decided to go right but I was sure it must have been situated on my left side. Fortunately, I was right and managed to gain the advantage of some meters. The next 2 controls were quite easy and I had no problems finding them. I started running straight to the 5th one and didn't see Hewi behind me. From that moment I got the opportunity to run completely alone.

Then, an easy route choice to the 6th control. On my way to the 7th control I lost some 5 seconds due to not being self-confident enough in the middle of the leg (when to leave the path). As for the next control, I chose the right route choice at first, but suddenly changed my mind and went left. Moreover, I didn't carry out my plan for the whole leg. For these reasons, I made mistake of about 30secs altogether. After all, I think that the right route choice was a bit better...

Although the 9th control seems very easy, I didn't succeed in keeping the right direction and lost about 10 precious seconds. The following controls (10-12) were very tricky, but I managed to avoid making mistakes on these legs.

I wasn't sure if I was heading for the right hill to the 13th control, but I was so lucky to see the control flag in the hole just some meters in front of me. Fortunately, just a small hesitation. I noticed that the 14th control was going to be a very difficult one. Therefore, I decided to run to the corner of the field and look for the distinct vegetation boundary. I was really satisfied with my safe choice!

I got into small trouble while looking for the 15th control (~5 seconds) because I thought it was not going to be set that high... I must admit that - in my opinion - the next control was one of the most difficult controls on the whole course (if not the most difficult one!). I found a control from another forking on the hill in the south. Fortunately, I had the right feeling where I should have gone afterwards and eventually found it. However, I still lost about 35 seconds there.

The 17th control was just a formality for me and then, the spectator control - I just love this feeling while running past the spectators during a relay competition! I could hear them shouting loudly and became convinced I struggled for the silver medal.

The last loop was really short with lots of tricky controls. Just after the spectator control I had to face some problems while looking for the 19th one - a hole in the middle of nowhere. After about 25 seconds of hesitation I saw Iwona Wicha running fast to the control. My ass was saved!

As for the 20th one, many runners complained about this leg, because lots of them went too much to the right. So did I and lost another 10 seconds. I went past the 21st control not seeing it at all! Luckily, I spotted the end of the so-called erosion gully (I cheched this word at IOF's website) and immediately turned back. No less than 45 seconds lost...

The last controls of the race were obvious. Nevertheless, because of the lack of concentration I lost about 10 seconds while going to the 24th one. At the beginning of the finish I looked back a couple of times and jogged easily to the finish line. On my way towards it, I shook hands with my clubmates. It was an unbelievably nice feeling as well!

To sum it all up, I had a really good race that day. I made about 3'40 of mistakes throughout this tricky course. I managed to gain one place on the last leg. That's why I was incredibly satisfied with my performance and happy about the spectacular 2nd place in the men's elite!

On Saturday we were to compete in an exhausting long distance race. The course was 10,9km with 490m of climb. I was lucky (or not?) to draw the 3rd start minute. I had not so much time and forgot to read my pre-race assumptions, which I prepared some days ago. I got a bit confused, but didn't want it to spoil my race...

1. - just following the red line in the green, I must admit I walked during this leg, because it was almost impossible for me to run up this steep and slippery hill...

2. - the first long leg of the course, I hadn't planned my route choice in advance, but did it as soon as possible after leaving the area of the 1st control, I chose the best way to go and won this split

3. - short leg across the marsh and through the green, I just kept the direction and corrected it a bit at the end

4. - I controlled all the contours during this leg and it was enough not to make mistake there

5. - in spite of the small mistake in the very last part of this leg, I managed to win this split (0'05)

6. - a small hesitation while climbing up the hill and I had to turn right a bit to reach the control (0'05)

As you can see, I had a really good start and was leading the race. Then, I didn't manage to avoid semi-small mistakes (especially while attacking the controls):

7. - I knew it was going to be a tough one, I was very focused on comparing the terrain with the map and had only some hesitations during this leg, at the very end I went too much to the left (0'15)

8. - very short, but not easy control, because situated in green; I missed the right hill and ran to the left one instead (0'20)

9. - I managed to keep the direction quite well; however, close to the control I saw a wrong depression in the terrain and ran towards it (0'15)

10. - a relatively easy leg, but the control was situated in a tricky and vague area, that's why I had to slow down a bit while approaching it

11. - I thought that it was bound to be a rocky wall, not a stone smaller than a control flag!

12. - distinct vegetation boundaries and white area made this leg really easy

13. - as soon as I had reached the path just after the previous control, I started to mull over whether not to go round... I should have taken the straight one immediately! Moreover, I went too much to the right just before the control (0'30)

14. - going down the re-entrant; unfortunately, I hadn't checked all the depressions on the map in the control area in advance and ran to the wrong one at first (0'10)

15. - easy control, a hole just before the green, but I should have taken advantage of this leg and prepare my route choice for the following one!!!

Despite making some mistakes in this middle part of the course, I didn't give my lead away. Nevertheless, a real disaster was still to come...

16. - a short summary of this long leg:

* I chose the straight route choice, which turned out to be worse than the one on the right using the tracks - I didn't even notice the best one during the race (0'50)

* I got nervous some 300m before the control and went too much to the right and had to walk slowly across the marsh (0'40)

* I had enormous problems finding the control because I actually had no attack point and didn't know whether I should go left or right (2'00)

Altogether I lost about 3'30 on this leg and it's approximately the time that I was behind the winner, Rino.

17. - it was not an easy control, so I had some small hesitations while approaching it

18. - I spent a short while close to the control to catch a glimpse of the control flag

19. - at the beginning I started running too much to the right (0'05)

20. - I planned to notice a cross just after crossing the path and I managed to pursue this goal; unfortunately, I wasn't prepared where the control was to stand and hoped it would suddenly appear to me, obviously, I had to stop for a while and read the map precisely (0'15)

21. - a very easy, short leg; however, I still checked the left depression in order not to go past this control

22. - just following the track and looking for the tapes

F - a really tiring one, I must say.

Mistakes: 5'30.

Just after my race I wasn't sure if I should have been satisfied with my performance. I decided to wait for the others to come. It turned out that I only managed to take the 4th place and my mistake to the 16th was much larger than I had expected. I got terribly gloomy and depressed...

The last race I had to compete in was the Sunday's sprint distance. Yeah... I HAD TO, because I actually didn't want it. I wasn't able to believe in myself and completely ran out of motivation. However, I decided to take it easy and see what would happen.

The first part of the course seemed very easy and much faster than I had expected. To the 1st control I should have gone straight, but almost no-one managed to notice this route, because it all happened much too quickly just after grabbing the map at the start (0'05). I should have used the path around this bushy forest to the 3rd one (0'03). During the next 3 controls I had a really good speed and a confident O-technique, because I managed to win these splits. The other 3 legs were a bit longer, but they didn't cause difficulties for me. Similarly to the long distance race, I was in the lead at that moment...

I saw that the 10th leg was not going to be an obvious one. However, I didn't succeed in carrying out my plan for this leg in its middle part. What's more, I hadn't checked the control descriptions and came to the wrong control no. 56. The funniest thing about it all is the fact that while leaving this control, I looked at the control descriptions and saw no. 38. Then, I thought: 'Ok, it was 38, so I can go!'. Astonishing!

Because of punching another control, I got into trouble while running to the next one. Afterwards I wasn't able to understand the map to the 12th one and spent some time on the slope not knowing where to go (0'15). I started looking for the 15th control much too early and mistook one marsh for another. The waste of time was horrible: 1'10!

In the last part of the course I avoided making mistakes. Nevertheless, I wasn't determined to push hard and even stopped for a while and helped Gosia from my club on my way to the last control.

Mistakes: 1'33.

Of course, my result was DISQ. I am really sorry for my disqualification, because I didn't win the precious points for my club. On the other hand, personally I prefer being disqualified to being ranked on the 5th place with a miserable time...

During the prize giving ceremony that day I achieved a cup for winning the Polish Orienteering Federation ranking last year in class M18. An irony of fate.

Just after last weekend's competitions I even wanted not to run during the coming 4 days, because I was totally fed up with my performances. Nonetheless, Pasza persuaded me that it was not a good idea and prepared a light and nice training plan for this week. Unfortunately, I still have to look for the lost motivation and determination.

Fortunately, hope dies last.......