We did it! Won the relay at Swedish Championships. Amazing.
I still find it hard to find words to express my happiness. It just feels so
big. It’s a huge victory for me personally after a miserable season. And also it’s
big for the club since it was 12 years ago since OK Linné won the women’s relay
last time. It’s never easy to win. Until you actually do it.
Even if you have a good team, you all need to do well on the same day. We have a
strong women’s team in Linné but we’ve been more or less unlucky in the relays
this season, so it really felt good to get it right at the end of the season.
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| Swedish Champions (Photo: Peter Ridefelt) |
I ran the first leg. Not my favorite but I knew it was the best
set-up for the team. I remember running a good opening leg for Tampereen
Pyrintö in 1999 when I won my first senior gold at Finnish Championships. I just don't recall much of that run anymore... Then I have vivid memories from running first leg at 10mila some years ago and taking my own route choice
right from the start all alone while the main group and other top teams went straight.
Not a good strategy in a big relay if you’re not 100% sure to be faster than the
others.
Anyway, my tactics was to stay awake (that is orienteer
actively all the way) and avoid idiocy (can be pretty hard when exhausted). I
was seriously tired after the middle distance and doubted whether I could run
fast enough. I could feel the two races in my legs already after the first
acceleration on the field. Not going to be an easy day... I look at the map and want to go straight to the path on the right. Yellow-green area under the
red line looks horrible and there’s no way I’m going to go there. I just hope
some of the others would choose the same route with me. When we climb up to the
start point I go through the options in my mind. Am I ready to make my own choice this early? Is it smart or is it
stupid? Then I see one of the girls turning right at the top of
the hill and I follow. I intended to cut it sharper to the path but end up
running with the pack further north before reaching it. But no major
time loss and now there’s good time to read ahead and get a
smooth start.
I find a nice rhythm in my orienteering and take my controls
without problems. Just before the arena passage the girls in front of me take a
different route but I try to be in control of my own orienteering and make my
own choice. After the passage the same scenario recurs. Those in front of me turn
down to the hillside before reaching the top. My control is at the top of the
hill and suddenly I’m alone. Following three legs I’m on my own but then just before
the long leg back different forkings gather together. I see Järla, Lidingö
and Domnarvet there. Looks like the main contenders are still together. I take slightly
different route out from the control but we are nonetheless closely together
the whole leg. Just before the control I hesitate a little and a few teams pass
me. I just want to play safe. I know I’ve done a good job so I
don’t want to screw it up at the last meters. On the last climb towards the
second last we are all pushing hard but instead of rushing to the control I try
to read the details carefully. Control sits high up in the open hill and is
actually much easier than it looks on the map. For just a short moment I regret
taking it maybe too carefully but at the same time I’m very relieved that I
managed to hold it together and do well despite growing tiredness. Maybe I
eased a bit too early and lost some valuable seconds to Järla on the way to the
last control and in the run-in but I’m just incredibly happy to be able to send
Cat to the second leg in such good position. She has a big smile on her face
when I hand her the map. I just know she will do well. I have two most amazing teammates
and have 100% trust on them. Cat does a solid run and comes in in the lead but
Järla is right behind and it looks like to become a tight duel between Järla
and us. There were some dramatic turns on the last leg but Annika kept her head
calm and we were over the moon to see her come first to the last control and
join her in the run-in. Unbelievable, we had really done it! Results
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| Picture tells it all (Photo: Mårten Lång) |
Gold in the relay was really the best possible way to finish
the season. But the whole project towards SM, starting in August after my calf
finally got better, was successful. Gold at the end of it was obviously
the best you can get, but also getting back in competitive shape in such a short
time felt great. It was kind of necessary too if I wanted to be part of a
winning team. At the time of my last blog I had reached a decent regional level
but I was still far from fighting top positions at Swedish Champs. In the
winter I may have dreamed about a medal but at the end of August I doubted
whether I would even make it to the final. Top10 felt definitively unrealistic.
And yet, at the time of the champs, it wasn’t out of reach. In fact in the
middle 10th place was just 7 seconds away. I made mistakes in both finals
and wasn’t too happy with either of my runs but two 12th places at
Swedish Champs is not that bad after all…
In the long final I got really bad start to the race: I lost
about half a minute on the first control, made an idiotic route choice to the
second (losing over 3min there), and missed the third about a minute. So on the
3rd control, very early in the race, I was 30th and over
5min behind the lead. But after that I pulled myself together and turned it to
quite a decent run finishing 12th.
In the middle final my expectations were slightly higher
since I had a very good qualification run and a 2nd place in my heat
(results).
In the final I tried to find the same flow and confidence that I had had in the
qualification but it didn’t really work out the way I wanted. I had a good
start but then didn't see the flag on the second control, which caused some
additional stress and affected my orienteering on the following legs. All in
all it was a bit shaky run and I just didn’t find the same flow I had had the
day before. On the long leg I missed a few features that I had expected to see after
climbing up the big cliff and thought for a while that I had got lost. It took a
while to relocate but then it went well until the map exchange. After the map
exchange I wasn't focused enough and made a half minute mistake to the
next control. The rest was fine and I finished 12th. Disappointing
to lose 2-3min on mistakes on a middle distance but encouraging to be just
2,5min from the bronze. Certainly a proof of improvement!
