| 15.April 2008. Still a long way to go Even with my best effort and motivation, I still cannot plan competitions as I would like to. On Saturday 5th I went to Maribor and on the slopes of famous Ski center ran second race of the Slovenian Cup. You would expect a steep course on a mountain slope, but I didn't have that feeling and really enjoyed the entire race. I made only two small mistakes at the end of the race, loosing my concentration, but this was still good enough for the first place. On Sunday, day after, we had a national competition on a terrain that was maybe too much exploited in the last 10 years, so orienteering there becomes less and less motivating for me. I had some ankle pains throughout the race and my concentration was on the edge of disaster, but I managed to finish in second place, 2' behind the leader. My thoughts were already set on the trip to Czech republic and Moravian Championships, but this didn't turn out to be like I expected. I went there on Tuesday, joined Slovenian team and done two good trainings (1,2) with them. They were also responsible for my not sleeping in the car, because I had some last minute changes with my accommodation and on Tuesday evening all the places were closed. So, my big thanks for that favor. On Thursday afternoon I ran prolog race in Prostejov and was, in the least, disappointed with my performance. I was expecting 1'30'' faster time, but after KT5 my legs just quit on me and I was struggling to the end. This was so disturbing for me that I immediately decided to go back home. Of course, even if I had run like I wanted, I wouldn't have much choice. Competition that was held this weekend was part of selection races for the WOC, so I would still had to turn back home. I spent half of the Friday in the car, driving from Czech republic to Zagreb. It took me almost 8 hours and I didn't stop in total for more then 15'. I had an idea to do easy jog when I get home, but I was too tired. Saturday race was, therefore, hard to run and I did two mistakes on two consecutive controls (4,5) loosing 1'30'' and a chance for a victory. I had struggled with myself like on the prolog in Prostejov and I wasn't too much motivated for the Sunday long race. Luckily for me, I recovered well and made much better performance winning with a 4'45'' lead to the rest of the field. And now back to the headline... I cannot help but think that there is still much work to be done if I want to have any chance in reaching final on WOC or a serious result with such a strong field like the one that was in Prostejov. Sometimes it is not easy to deal with all this last minute changes and planning that takes a lot of time, but I always try to find some good side or a lesson that is teaching me something new. Prostejov was 250eur and 4 days off work for me and, in the end, in spite of all the disappointment, I realized that with setting big goals there has to be (sometimes) great disappointments, but also that this is just a way you have to go. So, set your dreams high, fight through all the problems (no matter how long it takes) and don't give up. Reward is, after all, not in reaching that dream - but in journey you had (and you choose) to take. 11.Mar 2008. Parallel is parallel  This
year Lipica Open will be marked by a very strong athletes field and
a lot of green areas through which you had to go without errors if
you were hoping for some decent result at the end. It was, also, a
cloudy weather this year, but this didn't stop some 700 runners to
stand on the starting line. Map Krajnja Vas was enlarged for this
year competition and courses were set to be challenging and diverse.
I had high hopes for the race, but on the first
stage I managed to ruin a good result with a >4' mistake on
one single control. This was due only because of the lack of concentration
- my mind was set, instead on orienteering, on a thought that I was
going to be overtaken by one runner that started 2' behind me. In
the forest this wasn't looking like a 4' mistake, but splits showed
different and, in the finish, I could only be disappointed. Second
stage started good, with a chasing start, but on 2/3 of the course
I run out of strength and lost around 2' just on dropping down in
pace. That was the same mistake I have done last year between two
competitions - I didn't have enough to eat so recovery from the first
day was not possible. I had some last minute changes for arriving
on the competition and I underestimated recovery I would need. Stupid
and unnecessary error. In men's elite Mikhail Mamleev won, in front
of Thierry Gueorgiou and Damien Renard. It was again a very nice competition
worth coming. |
||
 Alpe
Adria, Graz, 1.5. - 4.5. |
| 1. Thierry Gueorgiou |
| 2. Matthias Merz |
| 3. Anders Nordberg |
| 4. Daniel Hubmann |
| 5. Valentin Novikov |
| ... |
| 220. Lino Legac |
| 308. Tihomir Salopek |
| 376. Damir Klobučarić |
| 446. Andrej Barić |
| 477. Edi Ocvirk |
| 665. Damir Gobec |
| 828. Matjaž Štanfel |
| 1222. Danijel Katalenić |