Sinusoid. It's all in your head.

Fortunately, my good health let me execute all the plans presented in the last note.

My last winter training camp in Szklarska Poręba in the middle of February was expected to be quite tough. And it really was. I managed to do 21 trainings during 9 days (3 of which were technical sessions).

At the end of February my club made his way to Żelazko in order to spend some time with a map in our hands. At the weekend I got the opportunity to run 4 technical trainings (using even 5 maps, in fact). I had a really good flow and my orienteering technique was quite promising.

Then, the highlight of this training period - Portugal!

After arrival in Crato we spent 2 days training on the model event maps for Portugal 'O' Meeting 2011.

The competition itself was a great success for me. I managed to win both middle distance races and place 3rd and 2nd in long ones. In the overall classification I gained the 1st place ahead of Jan Petrzela (CZE) and Olej. It was unbelievably satisfying and boosting to defeat the previous European Youth Orienteering Champion. I felt that everything is on the right way!

Afterwards, we trained for some 3 days in a bit different terrains and prepared for the coming competition - International Meeting of Arraiolos.

Despite making some silly mistakes, I managed to win the middle distance again. Nevertheless, I had no mental power for the last day - long distance of 13,7km. At the first 4 controls I lost a total of 11 minutes! 5 of them already at the 1st one... And the rest of the course I jogged. At the end I remembered about my bet with Olej concerning the finish. Although it was very muddy, I decided to run the last 300m as fast as possible and... won this split with the advantage of 5 seconds over the next competitor (not only in my class, but in all competition classes). Funny;)

One week later I took part in the popular cross-test in Ruda Pabianicka. I achieved the time of 28:58 on the course of 8,08km (3:35/km). Looking at my last year's result, it was 51 seconds better! However, Olej was really fast that day and beat me by 27 seconds - congratulations and recover!

Last weekend I took part in the Danish competition, which is considered as the opening of the orienteering season - Spring Cup. The night relay on Friday was a real fun for me and I enjoyed the mass start very much. Nonetheless, the most important race for me was Saturday's classic. Generally, I made an awful performance and lost as many as 6mins due to my mistakes! It wouldn't have been that bad, if I hadn't lost more than 10 minutes to the winner - Eskil Kinneberg from Norway. In my opinion, he is the best junior right now, but losing so much time is not acceptable! I must have had a really bad day...
This painful failure made me lose my motivation, self-confidence and belief completely. That's why I had no fun running the 1st leg of Sunday's relay and came 7 minutes behind the leading group (making no more than 1min of mistakes!).

My mental state during the last days was so poor that I wasn't able to find any motivation for running and my life was so dull... I don't mean that I avoided trainings. I did them, but with no commitment and willingness. On Wednesday I was close to tears when I finished almost all the intervalls behind the runners who are actually not faster than me. At the same day I had a long talk with Łukasz and it must have helped me really a lot, because - although the beginning of my Thursday's training wasn't good - I managed to overcome my problems and ran with a huge smile on my face!

THANK YOU, ŁUKASZ.

It is really possible! (the end of JWOC story)

Useful rest day

We really deserved this one-day break after a very tiring long distance race. The organizers prepared a model event for relay that day. Firstly, we started laughing while looking at the map, because it seemed to be too easy and almost useless. However, it turned out that these open fields (yellow areas) weren't covered with grass but some pricking bushes, which made running much more difficult. The relay race on Saturday was going to be really tough...

Solid middle qualification

I felt that I wouldn't have forgiven myself if I hadn't managed to get to the A final. So I just decided to do my best to qualify and thanks to it I had an almost clean race with quite a good speed. The terrain was unbelievably easy and fast. I only had some hesitations at the beginning (1st and 4th) and probably took not the best route choices at the end (18th and 19th). All in all, it was a wonderful feeling during the long finish when I already knew that I would compete in the A final the following day;)

(Bad) luck during the middle final

Bad luck? The first part of the course (6 controls) was very tricky. Unfortunately, I lost too much time at the beginning. Small hesitation while running to the 1st control... Running too much to the right while approaching the 4th control... Running much too far and looking for the 6th control near the wrong hill... 5+20+55=80secs, whereas I lost 73 seconds to the podium place. That's a pity!

Luck? Just before the 4th control I managed to catch Vetle Ruud Bråten from Norway, who started 2mins ahead of me. Thanks to him my speed and self-confidence were much higher later on and I could be happy with a TOP 15 result in a JWOC individual race. 14th!

Analysing the splits, I got to know that my time in the easier (forest) part of the race (from the 6th control till the end) was 15secs better than the one of the bronze medallist Olle Boström from Sweden. I became convinced that it is really possible for me to get a JWOC medal next year!

JWOC diploma in the relay!

It was an unbelievably hot day and the courses were extremely exhausting due to many open areas and huge amount of climb. I stood in the first row (thanks to our team's 8th place last year - Jacek, Jancia, Rino) and expected an incredibly fast mass start. That's why I started quite fast as well and... landed in the lead - quite funny;)

The first double forking went really well. Then, I decided for the track route choice to the 5th control. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, but eventually it must have been quite ok. Afterwards a triple forking came! I got a bit confused while running to the 8th control, because almost everyone went left there. Fortunately, I was brave enough to go alone to the right hill. I took a very round route choice to the 10th control, but it turned out to be quite good as well. Then, a spectators' passage and a map change for the second loop.

One more time I chose a round route choice to the 14th control - really good. However, the right one using the mountain top might have been a bit faster. While running to the 16th one, I saw a big group of about 4 runners some 150m ahead of me. Unfortunately, it seemed quite impossible to catch them and I had to run almost alone from that moment. Technically, the rest of the course went really ok, but I wasn't able to keep the appropriate speed...

I finished my race on the 8th place less than 4mins behind the leading Swedish team. It was a quite satisfying result and a good starting position for the next legs. Olej had a brilliant race and jumped onto the 5th place! Unfortunately, Rino didn't succeed in gaining a podium place. Nevertheless, he secured our 5th place and a JWOC diploma! I think all of us did their best and thanks to this magnificent team effort we could celebrate the 5th place in the world!

Saturday's afternoon and evening

Just after coming back to the barracks we decided for a short football match on the pitch. We all felt terribly exhausted, but who cares?:)

In the evening the time came for the well-known JWOC banquet. Fortunately, I was able to keep my drinking under control and had a great party with the orienteers from all over the world;-)

JWOC long map and analysis

I didn't start my race well. I made mistakes at the first two controls (0'50 and 0'35). I think they were caused by my not competing in sprint the previous day...

Then, I went a bit too far at the 6th control (0'20). I had problems leaving that control and attacking the next one (0'15). I decided to go straight and ran too much to the left (0'10).

The butterflies weren't as tricky as I had expected them to be. However, I took the wrong route choice to the 10th one (0'15), because I caught some other runner at the 9th control and wanted to run away from him as fast as possible. Then, a 'mirror' mistake to the 12th control (0'10).

I managed to run the middle part of the course (between controls no. 13 and 24) in 33:56, while the Junior World Champion's (Pavel Kubat's) time was 32:40. It's really promising;)

The 25th control was one of the trickiest ones, because situated in the green. I should have chosen the left route choice. But I didn't and went too far there (0'30) - I was lucky not to lose more time in that area.

During the last loop I felt really exhausted. That's why I took a round route choice to the 27th control, which turned out to be much worse than the straight one using the paths. I must have lost most of this time trying to get down in dense green (0'45).

Even the last control was very difficult! Firstly, you had to get uphill (which was terribly tiring) and then, find the control somewhere in the bushes. I landed a bit too much to the left, but saw the tapes after a short while (0'10).

Summing it all up, it was quite difficult to estimate how much time I lost. However, I tried to do so and it turned out that I lost about 4mins due to my mistakes. If it hadn't been for them, I would have taken the... 16th place. Sounds miserable, but my physical shape that day wasn't as good as I would have wished to. So the TOP 10 result seems to have been possible. Maybe in the middle?

26th in long

My aim for this race was to achieve a TOP 20 place, my dream - TOP 10.
The start was delayed by 40 minutes - ridiculous!
Unfortunately, I made mistakes at the first 2 controls and lost my self-confidence. I had to fight with myself to still believe... The middle part of the course went pretty well, although I didn't feel fantastic physically. At the spectator control I was 19th. During the last loop I felt really exhausted and lost some time (actually not due to my mistakes, but due to my lack of belief and praying just to finish my race).
All in all, my result is much better than I had expected while running. However, my performance was just featureless - not bad and not good... Comparing to my 99th place in Sweden 2 years ago, I can see an enormous progress. What's more, there's potential to fight for the TOP 10. Nevertheless, the podium place was completely out of reach and it's bitter...

The map with route choices and some analysis tomorrow, because there's a rest day at JWOC.

Amazing girls! & tomorrow's long

First of all, I must admit I am so proud to be a member of Polish Junior Team during JWOC 2010 in Denmark! Why? We achieved 2 medals in the sprint distance!!! Hania and Monika - I give a big hand to YOU:)

As far as my performance at JWOC is concerned, tomorrow I am running my first race - long distance.
Yesterday I took part in a short model event for long. The scale 1:15 000 makes it very difficult to read the map precisely. What's more, I totally lost contact with the map once... Fortunately, it was only a model event and I have drawn a very important conclusion thanks to it: execute your route choice STEP BY STEP.

My start time for tomorrow is 11:34. It's just perfect for me! I promise to do my best and fight for the best result possible!

Quick catching up before JWOC!

I haven't written for a very long time, but now it's high time I fixed it;)


Polish Champs in Gdańsk

The sprint distance went pretty well for me. I managed to keep a really good speed throughout the race and gained the 2nd place (5secs behind Hewi). Analysing my route choices and splits, it turned out that I lost gold because of being too hesitant just after the 3rd control. However, I was very satisfied with my performance.

The middle distance wasn't as technical as it should be. Despite that fact, I didn't succeed in avoiding making mistakes. The worst one came while running to the 3rd control. I saw Drągu, who started 2mins ahead of me, got this weird feeling and misunderstood the contours completely. Eventually, I achieved the silver medal... 7secs behind... Hewi. I felt a little bit disappointed, but still very happy about my stable shape.

The most wonderful thing is the fact that on both days the podium looked the same: Hewi, me and Rino. Nevertheless, not only the people were the same, but also the time difference between the winner and bronze medalist - 21secs!

In relay we knew that it would be very difficult for us to reach the podium, but we never gave up! I ran the last leg in my team and started to the forest as the 6th runner. During the race I managed to catch Włodar (2'34) and Jacek Kowalczyk (5'16). Running with Włodar was a real pleasure, because the pace was very high and everything happened so quickly. At the very end I had a shorter forking and had the opportunity to gain some advantage over him. I managed, but he was incredibly fast before the finish and I lost the 4th by some 5 seconds. Respect!

Technical camp in Białogóra

The first two days were full of slow, easy running, because we were taking rest after the demanding PC weekend.

On Wednesday we ran a very interesting sprint in Gdynia (the map from EYOC 2002). The start interval was 15secs, what made this race much faster, I think. I took stupid route choice to the 7th control (too much climb) and lost some time close to the control, as well. Apart from that, I ran really well and lost 15secs to the winner - Rino.

On Thursday we had a really tiring long distance (12,65km). It consisted of 3 loops. The first 2 of them went pretty well, but the last one was a real disaster - due to my tiredness, all the scrapes on my feet and bent north lines on the map... Unfortunately, 2 controls were set in wrong places and I didn't find them. However, I lost some time while running around and looking for them everywhere. After all, my performance was quite satisfying;)

Kytäjä-Jukola 2010

On the ferry between Stockholm and Helsinki something really amazing happened. We took part in an orienteering competition!!! Just see the map and regret not having been there:)

On Saturday afternoon Olej and I decided to run a short technical training session to familiarize ourselves with the terrain and get to know what was waiting for us in the nearest future. Since that moment we had known that we were going to run in the most challenging terrain in our lives!

I wanted to run the 1st leg and I got the chance! The start was at 22:55 (Finnish time - sunset). Unfortunately, it was raining (what made the terrain even more difficult), but I felt really hot and excited inside. I stood in the 3rd row among 1534 other runners! The music at the start was really thrilling, I remember. And it all began...

The decisive moment was the forking before the long leg, where I lost touch with my group and had to run the very long leg with a much slower and technically worse tram. While heading to the finish, I thought I would take the 500th place. To my surprise, I was 102nd (a little less than 12mins behind the leaders). All things considered, it was an average performance, but the experience was unbelievable!


Vestjysk 2-dages in Denmark

Only some time after a long plane (2 times) and car journey we were to run the sprint. The course was really long - 4km (my watch states that I ran 6,37km!). The terrain was very demanding physically because of numerous meters of climb. The map was a little bit imprecise. There was quite an interesting route choice to the 15th one. What would you choose? I lost more than a minute to the 17th control due to the fact that the map was not made in accordance with ISSOM.

The next day we competed in a very challenging long distance race - 10,4km. I made some mistakes (especially to the 22nd one...), but I must admit that the terrain was very tricky - full of green areas and winding contours. I was very happy about my result, since I managed to achieved the 3rd spot (behind some elite runners and ahead of my peers, with whom I'll fight in one week's time at JWOC).
Note: the map was made by the Poles: Lech Trzpil and Piotr Sierzputowski.

3 days ago we decided for a middle distance. That day I felt completely out of tune, probably due to my enormous headache the previous evening. That's why my only dream was to finish the course and take some rest. Fortunately, we got the opportunity to run in the dunes. The last part of the course was very greeeeen and running was almost impossible. To sum it up, that stay in Denmark was very useful before the coming JWOC competitions and my performance during the long distance made me believe in my abilities;-)


Now

Yesterday I decided to make some blood tests and got to know that my results are better than ever! What's more, I changed my hairstyle and am much lighter now;) Moreover, I passed my A-level exams even better than I had expected. It's not a place to boast about it, but I just can't help telling you that I got 99% in written Polish (basic level, of course) - I still can't believe it, haha! Furthermore, I did 2 great physical training sessions yesterday and today, during which my legs were close to flying;)
It's all a very positive signal for the nearest future and in the future comes...


JWOC 2010 in Denmark

I am leaving at 22:10 to Świnoujście tonight and then, probably on Saturday, to Aalborg. I am going to run the long distance (6th July), middle distance qualification (8th July), hopefully middle A-final (9th July) and relay (10th July). I promise to do my best and fulfil my expectations!
All the appropriate information here.

KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED FOR OUR WHOLE TEAM!

I've finally found the right rhythm!

It all began almost 2 weeks ago when I left Łódź for a long sport camp.

After taking part in short medical tests in the north of Poland we made our way towards Germany to compete in International Ostsee OL 2010. It was the last chance for me to show something before announcing the list of runners to represent Poland at the coming JWOC in Denmark. However, I felt no pressure at all, because I had completely changed my attitude after a real disaster at PCC one week earlier... and it was the best thing I could have done at that moment!

On Friday we took part in a model event so as to get used to this kind of terrain.

The competition itself started on Saturday with the middle distance race. That day I felt quite well physically, but I wasn't able to feel the map. I had problems understanding the contours, estimating the distance and keeping the direction. That's why I made more than 5mins of mistakes and got a miserable place on the result list.

Next day there was a WRE race - 15,7km and 450m of climb. I had been looking forward to taking part in it for a really long time. My performance was very close to perfect! I took a round route choice to the 5th control (which turned out to be pretty good). It involved extremely fast running using tracks. Probably that's why I got a bit tired afterwards and lost about 2mins to the next control... However, I decided not to give up, because I still felt a grat chance of achieving a brilliant result. The rest of the course went pretty well (despite some hesitations near controls: 12, 23 and 25). I only thought that my pace at the end of the race was too slow. Nevertheless, it turned out that everyone got tired then and my pace was one of the best ones (comparing to other Polish runners). Eventually, I managed to gain a podium place (3rd) and the best time among the Poles (18secs faster than Rino and 5mins ahead of Hewi). I really needed this magnificent performance, because it made me believe it is possible to win with them - a positive signal before the Polish Champs:) What's more, I think this race showed me and everyone else that I am the appropriate person to run JWOC 2010.

The same day in the evening we took part in a nice city sprint in Heringsdorf. We felt really tired and decided to take it easy, just for fun. Only Hewi decided to run a bit faster and won the elite class;) Seeing the control descriptions before the race we organized a small competition for us all. The aim was to achieve the best time possible on the leg 10-11. The winner was Rino (who took the left route choice) with the time of 1:06. Slavko and I took the 2nd place (following the red line) - 1:08.

On Monday there was a hunting start. The course was quite long again - 11,2km. Although I didn't manage to catch Rino during the race, I was very satisfied with my performance, because I achieved the best time among the Poles once again (over 1 minute ahead or Rino and Hewi). The course was physically demanding, but as for the technical aspects - it was much too easy...

All in all, the only thing I can regret is the poor performance at the 1st stage, because of which I missed the podium (4th place in general classification). However, I am incredibly happy about this stay in Germany, because it just must have been a real breakthrough in my career during this season!

Afterwards Rino and I waited for Pałka and Dyzia to come from Baltic Cup in Poland and we all travelled to Denmark for a short technical camp before JWOC 2010 then.

My goal was to familiarize myself with the challenging terrain, especially running (or even walking) and orienteering through the green areas (they are awfully green, I must say!), reading the dunes precisely and keeping the right direction.

I had 8 technical trainings there, 2 of which were fast ones. Comparing my technical performance to the one from the last year (on the same maps) I got to know that I made an enormous progress and I am so happy about it! ;-)

On 29th June we travelled to Szklarska Poręba by car (more than 1000km!) to spend some days working on our physical abilities. I must admit this camp wasn't so exhausting as the previous one about a month ago. However, we did some demanding training sessions - we even had a technical training in pairs once;) Unfortunately, the weather was awful almost all the time...

On Friday evening we moved to Czech Republic with the Polish Junior Team and competed in two races of Gigasport Cesky pohar 2010. Most of us decided to run at full speed only during the middle distance course on Saturday. That day the terrain was just too challenging for us all and the results we achieved were miserable. It's been my first time in the rocks this year, so nothing to be surprised at.

I took the tough long distance race on Sunday very easily. My pace was really close to the so-called 'holiday' one - I only tried to avoid making unnecessary mistakes and I somehow managed. I succeeded in gaining the 14th spot (exactly the same as in the middle) - weird... To tell you everything, this time the weather was just brilliant, even a bit too brilliant;)

After all these amazing adventures I could finally reach my home on Sunday evening and take a wonderful rest! Now I am just ahead of an interval training before Polish Championships in Gdańsk this weekend.

Can't wait to fight for the medals there!

Danish Easter

I could hardly find any time in Łódź to write this post, so I am doing it right now lying on my bed in Szklarska Poręba.

We travelled to Denmark in order to take part in Spring Cup and Paskelob. Moreover, we planned to do some technical trainings.

During Spring Cup I took part in Night Relay running the last leg in my team (Pasza, Charubcia, Olej). I was to run slowly but I just couldn't help speeding up;)

Unfortunately, I hit my right knee against some large branch and wasn't able to run the following day. It was my favourite Classic distance and I was pretty disappointed.

On the other hand, I was really lucky because as soon as Sunday I was able to run the longest last leg in Relay. Our team looked exactly the same as 2 days before.

Then, we moved to Givskud for a technical camp. We had 3 model events before Paskelob competition. Nevertheless, the terrain was so boring and different from the one during the races that it was a real waste of time!

The 3-day competition called Paskelob (long distance races with a handicap last day) showed that my O-technique is on a quite satisfying level. However, my legs didn't work as I would have wished they had done. That's why I lost several minutes each day to Rino and Hewi... But I think there's nothing to worry about because it's just not the time to win. Not yet.

We stayed in Denmark 2 days more, during which we did 2 sprint trainings and one middle distance. I must say the maps were far more interesting than the previous ones just before the competition.

We came back to Poland and I had to stay one day in Gdynia to take part in a special medical examination. What's more, I was very happy to run a short technical training in a JWOC 2011 terrain.

Finally and at last(!), we could return to Łódź to spend 3 days there and go on another sports camp to Szklarska Poręba. At last... why? Because I just lost so much motivation during this stay in Denmark... Fortunately, when I came back home, I got extremely motivated and determined once again. Much more than ever before!

I hate this !@#$%^& white shit!

This weekend I kind of began my 2010 O-season. However, personally I wouldn't call it 'orienteering'. I would rather use the term: sinking deep into the snow with a map. I just couldn't stand the fact that it was not me who chose the route choices, but the exisiting snow-tunnels prepared by all the runners who started before me... Moreover, it's unbelievable how much I lose physically in such deep snow - nevertheless, I'm sure it's all in my head. That's why my only aim during these races was to reach the finish line - not to make no mistakes, not to be 100% focused on map reading and not to achieve the best result! What's more, I caught a cold at Friday's night and have to fight with a sore throat and a runny nose right now. It all made this 3-day stay in the very north of Denmark a real nightmare for me. I DO HOPE it already was the worst one in the coming year!

On Friday we took part in a technical training:

At the weekend we competed in Nordjysk 2-Dages:

I don't even feel like analysing these courses, not yet... On the other hand, the terrain was really wonderful and I really can't wait to practise orienteering there (with no snow under my legs of course!). Today I am doing my best to get over this little illness, jump into my running shoes tomorrow and be back on Saturday stronger than ever!

P.S. Vote for us here! (survey in the right bottom corner of this site)

First camp before JWOC 2010

Yesterday I came back from Denmark. We spent there 6 lovely days. We trained on maps similar (to some extent) to the ones we are to run at during JWOC 2010 in Aalborg.
I have not much time since today I am going to Czech Republic to take part in Bohemia 2009!

I don't really know why some of these maps below are turned around...

Orienteering - wake up!

And I must admit I've really woken up! ...thanks to Spring Cup 2009 competition;) which was held in Hillerod [DEN]. We were to run 3 O-courses there. I was looking forward to taking part in them very much. However, I hadn't actually expected such good results judging from my shape and tiredness at Thursday's training. Fortunately, it went quite well...

Night Relay on Friday
Each team consisted of 4 runners in Men's Open. It was arranged for me to run the second leg - I don't know why, cause I was almost sure I was going to compete with the 1st leg runners. But it didn't really matter for me, I was even pleased with this decision since I was able to make the whole race on my own, not having to push the pace following the leaders. I took this course as a perfect opportunity to improve my orienteering technique at night and made a pretty satisfying race, although I didn't manage to avoid one sooo stupid mistake! In the end, we crossed the finish line as the 39th team. Nevertheless, it was only a small warm-up before the most important 2 challenges of the weekend :-)


Classic on Saturday
Our head coach had decided that Polish Junior Team runners from M18 were going to compete in M20. It seemed to be quite a good idea until we got to know that the courses are the same in both classes and the reward for the winners in these elite classes was 1,500 DKK ;-D However, I did not take any special notice of that fact - I only wanted to perform well and be satisfied with my run. And I pretty managed! Though the beginning of the course was quite tricky and my legs weren't working as I would have wished to, the very end of the race went just superb regarding not only my technique, but also running speed. I took a satisfying 7th place in H19-20E being the best among the Poles. What's more, if I had run in H17-18E, I would have reached the podium! I got a real buzz out of my performance and my self-esteem has heightened significantly. To conclude, I would also like to add that the result of the great running/orienteering fight between Nati + me vs. Dyzia + Olej is 3:1! We both achieved victories at the weekend :) I must admit Nati's success was much more clear than mine of 13 seconds ahead of Olej, but still...

Relay on Sunday

I was really looking forward to taking part in this particular relay competition for many reasons. Two of these were: my true love for running relays and a great chance of obtaining a good place in this race.
Not surprisingly, I was chosen to run the first physically demanding leg. I expected a fast race with a whole group of strong runners. But already the 1st control made me forget about my predictions. I left the starting flag as a third runner and almost immediately realised the other competitors were going in a strange direction. I decided to believe in myself and went completely alone to my first control. While leaving it, it was so funny to look at those lost guys heading for the same control from the place the other forking was;-)
Having left the first control, I saw a whole pack of runners from my class some 100m or more ahead of me running to my 2nd control. I got a bit angry, looked at the map for a short while to check the direction, held it strongly in my hand and started chasing them furiously! It turned out to be quite easy to catch up with the leaders. Then we reached the area close to controls no. 70 & 116 and stood for a while looking at each other. I suppose no-one was actually looking at the map precisely while running;-)
Having found these controls, we were to enter the part of the course with no forkings. I decided to push the pace and wanted to lead the whole group. I succeeded in doing it since I was the one to follow between 4th and 7th control.
I was so delighted with my shape and technique that I lost a bit of my concentration and instead of finding my 8th control on the yellow field I reached the control of the very different forking. I could only look at 3 guys punching it and making their way towards the next one.
Having spend about half a minute there, I still believed to catch up with the leaders. Unfortunately, at the 10th control another unlucky forking came and I had even punched control no. 81 and wanted to go ahead when I realised it was not my description! I lost another precious seconds there and it became almost impossible to reach the leading group now.

I reached my 13th control in a brilliant way, but didn't manage to stay concentrated enough during such fast running and missed 1 minute(!) to the next, 14th control.
The last part of the course after the spectator control went pretty well, with no huge difficulties. Only the 16th control should have been found faster and in an easier way.
At the very end of the race I was overtaken by some British guy who followed me almost all the time! I finished 4th, just one second behind him...
Then, I had nothing more to do than just take some rest and wait for Duduś and Olej to see the result of our team work. The result turned out to be magnificent! Since Olej was the first one to cross the finish line with the advantage of almost 2 minutes over the Swedish team :-)
We got some nice, miniature backpacks and were ready for a long journey home.......