I was offered to join training camps of Lillomarka OL, Halden SK, and Team Finland. Obviously I chose Lillomarka. First days we spent in EOC relevant terrains around Coruche before moving up to Viseu.
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| Lovely Lucy and sunny Sao Bartolomeu do Outeiro |
I knew only a few from Lillomarka before the training camp but they were a wonderful bunch of fun and extremely
friendly people and a fresh mixture of different nationalities. Most of them
were Norwegians but spoke so good English that I got confused which of them
were really Norwegians. I also tried my best in Norwegian language and they did
their best to destroy my Finnish (by repeating a stupid Finnish word that sounds awful in English). Despite that, they were really awesome and I can't remember when I last had such a good time or laughed
so much on a training camp. So thank you all!!
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| Lillomarka style sprint preparation |
I must admit that I had my doubts when I
travelled there with my inflatable round cushion and other special equipments
for disabled and had my restrictions to drive or sit in a car. What would they think of me? Would they make
fun of me? Luckily, they barely noticed my disability and I was treated
like one of them. They even waited patiently for me after each training as I
walked around courses, spending twice as much time as the others. Not a word of
annoy. They just had this wonderful we-are-here-to-train attitude, which meant
that everyone had right to train as much (or in my case long) as they wanted.
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| Lillomarka style strength training |
Social nights with different games were a
big hit but I'm not sure whether it is appropriate to write too much about them.. More details about the Lillomarka training camp with maps and pics by
Ingvild Wang (in Norwegian) here and by Helen Palmer (in proper English) here.
After a week it was time for goodbyes and I
was almost in tears when they left me. Nothing to do with the fact that I was
dropped in the middle of nowhere with no good plan what to do next. I hugged a
guy next to me so hard that I was afraid of breaking his bones. Sorry Helmut, I hope you're okay!
But no worries, my dear club mates Lotta
and Tytti were already on their way to rescue me from the threatening outskirts
of Coimbra. I had barely finished my espresso when they already wheeled their
sporty Nissan in front of the cafe where I was sitting. Next four days I spent
in Figueira da Foz together with my very best club mates Lotta, Tytti, Sonja
and Suvi.
Their enthusiasm was infectious and I forgot
my homesickness and tiredness immediately. On Wednesday they announced that
they've entered us all to a relay competition. I hadn't thought of racing
before Danish Spring but suddenly there I was, standing in the line with other
first leg runners. It was quite extreme relay opening where I lost quite amount
of time in crossing some lakes but still it was a victorious season opening for
us.
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| Invincible |
On Friday we made an attempt to get 5
persons, 5 big bags, 5 smaller bags and 5 bags of food into a small 4-person
car and drove to Mangualde to take part to Portugal O Meeting. It became quite
clear that we couldn't possibly do another trip like that, so we decided to
send Suvi home earlier so that we would have more space on the way back to the
airport. Suvi had some exams coming up and was happy to do so.
I had somewhat mixed feelings before
Portugal O Meeting because it was supposed to be Finland's selection races for
EOC but I knew that I shouldn't compete. Weeks before I had already made myself
clear that I couldn't possibly try to qualify for the team. It was far too
early for me to race and I should still take it very cautiously. But still, it
felt weird to be there and not to race. First day I started very carefully,
avoiding falling on the rocks, but increased the pace towards the end as the
course turned more runnable. I was surprised by the result and felt more and
more tempted to race. Fortunately the terrain in the second day made it very
clear that I shouldn't. It was perhaps the most dangerous and most challenging
course that I've ever run. I loved the technical challenge but it felt more
like an obstacle race than orienteering. Third day was slightly easier but still
filled with stones and reduced visibility.
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| My favourite terrain - but not for disabled |
Forth and last day was a long distance race
in a chasing start form. I didn't think that I could run a full long distance
race after only a week of running but decided to start and then quit whenever I
wanted. I ran more offensively than in the previous days and enjoyed the fact
that it was more runnable. Initially I had planned to stop before the last loop
but because I was still feeling fairly good by the time I got to the spectator
control I decided to continue. In the butterflies I made a mistake on one
control but apart from that it was a very good run. Still, I was more than
surprised to catch so many girls in front of me. On the third last control I
got along in the bronze fight but lost it in a downhill race to the second last
control. My legs were filled with lactate and I was afraid of taking any risks.
In the last climb I had no power in my legs to close the gap. I was just
extremely happy with my run and I didn't care about the sprint. I finished 8th
in the chase with a big smile on my face. In the day's results I was 3rd
after Simone and Annika. I couldn't have wished for a better comeback!
Portugal O Meeting results, maps, tracking
and photos here
And one more thing. Suvi and I both lost our trousers while we were running the POM. Suvi lost her dark blue Noname running pants and mine were black wind- and waterproof Haglöfs trekking pants. Both were very muddy. Please return them if you find them!
