Third Time Lucky

It's October again and time for my annual autumn highlight: Bupa Great Birmingham Run, also known as Birmingham half marathon. This year it clashed with the British Fell Relays and Compass Sport Cup final, which was really a shame, because I would have loved to do them all. But this half marathon has become very special to me and I just couldn't pass it. I'm sorry if I let anybody down. So here we go.

I got to start by a gunshot in the faster group just behind a handful of elite runners. I knew that most of them were faster than me, so I placed myself safely far back in the group in order not to go out too fast in the beginning. What I unfortunately did not know was that my time would be based on the gunshot. I passed the start line 5-6 seconds after the shot, which isn't much, but still if I had known that it was the gun time that counted, I would have taken a sprint at the end.

0-5km: First kilometers went pretty fast but effortlessly. I hit the 5km mark in 18:49, which is over a minute faster than my goal pace. So far so good.

5-10km: After the first 5k I have found a comfortable rhythm and good company to run with. There's a drink station where I collide with one of the marshals but no one gets hurt. My 10km split is 39:29. Still half a minute ahead.

10-15km: First signs of tiredness and my calves are getting tighter. I've been running together with a girl from Solihull but she's increasing her pace now and I have to let her go. Soon there's another girl from Birmingham University who accompanies me for the rest of the race. 15km in 59:49. Still ahead. I can't believe I've just done 15km within an hour. Wow.

15-20km: I'm feeling alright until the big climb from about 18km to 20km. It seems to take all out of my legs and I find it difficult to accelerate after that. "Come on, get angry" someone shouts at the climb. I try to do that but find it quite funny. Of all feelings angriness is certainly not highest up on the list. I'm more somewhere between amusement and agony. But I survive the hill. I lose some time but not too much.

20-21.1km: "Okay come on now, it's just the sprint left, you can do it!" I tell myself. I try to speed up but my legs are empty. The climb was too much to my already aching legs and I find them useless. The last mile takes ages. Finally comes the '800m left' mark and two 800m runners pass me. It looks so smooth and easy as they surf away. I hear Sami's shouting that I should stick to them. Easier said than done. Anyway I reach the finish line in 1:25:50 and something. Definitively under 1:26. That's all that matters. I could have finished stronger but I'm still quite pleased with my run. Until the moment I go and check the official results. There's only my gun time 1:26:01. What?? I know it was clearly under that - by several seconds. Rather frustrating. 

Thanks once again for a terrific event with superb atmosphere and great support all the way through! Special thanks to all K&D runners who gave their support after the Cadbury loop. Seeing a friendly face and hearing your name is always a big help. I'm proud to be part of the 3rd best club at the event!

GPS route and splits 

Official results

Magnifico, fantastico, excellente!

That's northern Italy. And that's also Simone and her way of saying good-bye to the international orienteering community and the home crowds. I spent fantastic 1,5 weeks on a training camp in WOC 2014 regions in Trentino and Veneto with the Finnish team before going to Baden for the World Cup final. Training camp itself was excellent in many ways but maybe not optimal preparation for the World Cup final. Italy provided good food, great coffee, excellent wines, gorgeous views, lovely alpine villages, fresh mountain air and nice, runnable terrains. I just loved it all. If I ever had thoughts whether to continue or not, Italy gave me confidence and motivation to go on. I fancied the terrains there and feel keen to go there again.

Long distance race (photo Vitalii Rupp)

There was a two-day orienteering event, 2 Giorni dell'Altopiano, in Lavarone, just next to WOC 2014 long distance terrain, which attracted quite many international orienteers. There was a middle distance on Saturday and a long distance world-ranking event on Sunday. I enjoyed both races very much and was quite pleased with my runs on both days. Middle distance was pretty straightforward execution whereas long distance offered more route choices and small details. In the middle I had a smooth run but tried to save my legs a bit on ascents whereas in the long distance I ran full speed but did some small mistakes in the circle on the second half of the course (controls 8, 9, and 18). To controls 10 and 14 I took bad route choices and lost a little on them.

Results middle distance

Results long distance

Middle distance race Lavarone

Long distance race Lavarone

After training camp we drove the whole way from Asiago to Baden for the World Cup. But training twice a day in tough hilly terrains had taken its toll and I had nothing left in my legs. Long travel and one easier day (including a model event and a mixed sprint relay) wasn't enough for recovery. I loved the terrain in the middle distance but I was too tired to keep a decent pace. Also I lost 4min in total on two controls, first because I wasn't paying attention and overshoot one of the easiest controls and then because I simply couldn't get to number 5 (steep slope too muddy and slippery to use when approaching the control from the right hand side). So I wasn't at all pleased with my run. World Cup final middle map

World Cup final Baden (photo Marc Streit)

In the sprint I realized only afterwards how bad my run really was. While running I had better feeling than in the middle but because I'm not very used to sprints with climbs and stairs I had difficulties in making the right decisions. I think I took almost all wrong route choices and ended up running far too many stairs instead of running flat. I tried to stay on the shortest route but it was seldom the fastest. So I lost over a minute on four crucial route choice legs (1, 8, 12, 14) and also some hesitation here and there. It was probably one of my worst World Cup performances but it was still great to be involved in Simone's last international race and farewell party. She's an amazing athlete with amazing career and we will all miss her not just because of her talent and achievements but also because of her admirable personality. She's been such a great role model for the sport and such a great person in every way! 
World Cup final sprint map

Thank you Simone! (photo Erik Borg)

World Cup final sprint broadcast

Results, splits, GPS-tracking etc.