Last Sunday was spent up at Cragieburn for the first PAPO OY of the year, then Tuesday the final 5k of the series, topped all off with the first of the Twilight Sprint Series. Unfortunately I was feeling a little bit under the weather from about last friday onwards and suffered through a week of racing.

The OY at Cragieburn was tough work. Just like the first time I ran there it was increably hot and dry. I ran out of food as the course took me long than it should have….I made a few too many mistakes early on keeping me out there longer than I should have and as a result I ran out of food and made more mistakes….so all in all a bit of a fuck up! A good example of bad race management…..so experience all experience is good experience and Ill file that away for future reference on what not to do. It was good to get out into the hills and do some real orienteering anyway!

Tuesday night came around fairly quickly, and by this stage I was wondering whether I could make it through the week…I was a bit blocked up but I ran solidly and feel good once I was up to speed. I kept up a good pace the whole way round the course and felt like I was pushing it hard. I was hitting the target times for a good race but let myself down a little in the last k and could only manage to equal my PB at 16:14. I also managed to pick up 3rd pace in the overall standings for the series! A bit of a supprise but I suspect that turning up to all 5 races had a lot to do with it. Still keen to go a bit faster though!

By Wednesday night I had crapped out and given in to the cold….but that was not stopping me from racing hard in the sprint. I had my best run this year and made only 1-2 very minor mistakes. I cleaned up the competition and finished 30 sec ahead of Carsten…It was tough work and I was fairly stuffed by the end of it all.

I had to get out this weekend and check out some courses for the up and coming OY I am planning today. So I spent the day out in the steep hills at McQueens Pass. Next weekend is the Avalanche Peak challenge which Im looking forward to. Hopefully I have done enough long distance training to get a good run in! We will have to wait and see!