Thursday, August 5, 2010

Team Profile Part I

How well do you know the athletes in the Aussie team? How do you think they get on around the dinner table? Are there fights over the queue for the toaster? Will anyone dare admit they they are a fan of Tony Abbott while Julian is listening? Find out in our team profiles! Once again an expert psychologist has devised a series of questions designed to give you an insight into the personalities of our national team.

Shannon Jones

Attackpoint: Miss Jones

Running: Sprint and Long


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Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Drive or Ride? Drive

Nike or Asics? Nike

Mountains or Beach? Mountains

Iced or Cinnamon? Iced

Toast or Cereal? Toast

Abbott or Gillard? Gillard

Public or Private? Public

City or Country? City

Long Run or Intervals? Intervals



Simon Uppill

Attackpoint: simon87

Running: Sprint, Middle and Relay


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Coke or Pepsi? Coke

Drive or Ride? Drive

Nike or Asics? Nike

Mountains or Beach? Mountains

Iced or Cinnamon? Cinnamon

Toast or Cereal? Cereal

Abbott or Gillard? Gillard

Public or Private? Public

City or Country? City

Long Run or Intervals? Long Run

How to...

...run 11 to 10 (sorry for any confusion, but I ran this part of the course backwards in training).








from the control run north of the red line through the marshes (open area in the left part of the photo)













stay in the marsh and run through the saddle to the north of the white hill in the middle of the leg (straight ahead in the photo).












run across the marsh to the hill with the control on it (forest in the background), past the small lakes in the marsh.












the small lakes in the marsh are quite obvious features.











from the top of the hill, run down to the mound with the control. can you see it in the picture? running through the heather and blueberries in the forest is even tougher than the marshes!












the control site (a mound)- we were looking for small white tags on the ground.












and yes, you get wet feet!









Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Daily Quiz

In the lead up to WOC we will be bringing you a daily quiz.

The stakes are high - higher than Galdhøpiggen which is Norway's highest mountain (2469m). The winner will receive a signed Australian top.

Fine print:
* One point per correct name
* Order the names from LEFT to RIGHT
* There will be 4 competitions, one each day from Wednesday to Saturday
* You have to submit your answers by 10pm each day
* Submit your answers in the comment field
* The winner is the person with the most points after 4 rounds
* If there is a tie the winner will be the person who submits round 4's answers the earliest.

DAILY QUIZ 1:

Who do these shoes belong to?

(hint - Grace Crane is still in the UK)

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GOOD LUCK!

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The jet-lagged members of the team rose earlier than those already acclimatised to day and night and we all had a great breakfast at the youth hostel in Tronders.

Afterwards, a full carload headed up to Iladalen for some technical training.


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Anna, Vanessa, Kathryn, Robbie and Dave all ripped up the moss and are happy with their progress in this tough terrain.

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Anna enjoyed checking out the differences in the moss, bogs, marshes, grasses...

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The two other car loads went to Saupstad - a suburb of southern Trondheim which was a mix of residential and forested parts. The finish was at the local biathlon stadium and the locals were fanging around the bitumen paths then firing at the range. We kept clear of that and did a course instead. The stinging nettles in the beginning were a bit disconcerting but luckily it was just a bad patch!

When we were warming up the sun even came out!

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We abided by the rules of the centre
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After lunch and a rest we headed off to a local orienteering event about 30mins drive away. The girls opted for a 4.7km course while the boys did a 6km one. There were plenty of hanging marshes to use for running and it was a good hit out with emit too. The results are below with photos to come shortly.


Results

The drive there took us past a big lake called Jonsvatnet and some of the girls stopped for a swim.
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Oh and by the way, Anna spotted this sign as she was driving from the airport in Trondheim...
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Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Touchdown in Trondheim

The Aussie team has assembled here in Trondheim, Norway for the World Orienteering Championships (WOC). The racing starts this Sunday with the Sprint Qualification and Final around the streets of Norway's 3rd largest city.


The view from our accommodation.

The team is acclimatising well to the Norwegian summer and getting used to the local terrain, with plenty of relevant training mixed with plenty of recovery. With most of the team arriving here at the Trondheim youth hostel over the past two days, we have all had slightly different preparations.

Simon Uppill arrived via the World University Championships in Borlange, Sweden. He placed 23rd in the long distance race which shows some great form coming into WOC where he will be running the middle, sprint and relay races.

Vanessa Round arrived via Sweden and Switzerland where she showed great form at the World University Championships in Borlange, Sweden. She placed 18th in the long race, and she will be racing the middle and relay here in Trondheim.

Jasmine Neve arrived in Trondheim via China, Sweden, Scotland and Oslo, Norway. While having a eventful journey through China, she enjoyed some quality training and preparation with Aussie expats Jim-Oystein Nybråten and Cassie Trewin in Oslo. Jasmine will be running the sprint and middle competitions at WOC.

Anna Sheldon arrived via Orebro, Sweden. Running the famous O-Ringen competitions, which was a great introduction back into Scandinavian terrain. Anna is running the long distance competition at WOC.

Dave and Anna enjoying breakfast.

Shannon Jones arrived direct from home in Canberra, Australia. Where she has been finalising her preparation with some Cross Country racing and a 5km PB. Shannon is running the sprint and long distance in Trondheim.

Shannon and Kathryn recovering after their training run.

Kathryn Ewels arrived from Melbourne, Australia after rounding off her preparation with some fast cross country racing, placing first in the Victorian 15km Championships in 54.12. Kathryn is racing the long and relay here at WOC.

Rob Preston has arrived via Sweden. Reacquainting himself with Scandinavian terrain after a 7 year break. Rob competed strongly at O-Ringen, already feeling at home in terrain which will suit his strengths. Rob is racing the long distance at WOC.

Rob settling into his room.

David Shepherd arrived yesterday direct from Canberra, Australia. David is looking forward to a return to racing in his favourite terrain here in Scandinavia and his preparation has been on track showing good form in local races in Australia. David is racing the middle, long and relay here in Trondheim.

I ( Julian) arrived direct from home in Canberra, Australia. Hungry to get back into the forest and competition here at WOC. I'll be running the sprint, middle and relay.

Grace Crane will be arriving here in Trondheim on Thursday from her base in the UK, after finalising her preparation with a training camp and competitions here in July. She showed good form in terrain which will suit her strengths. Grace is running the sprint, middle and relay at WOC.

Coaches Wendy Read and Rob Lewis have arrived direct from Australia, and have everything ready to go this week to ensure our preparations are on track.
Team physiotherapist, Victoria, will arrive from London on Thursday to ensure everyone is primed for the first races on Sunday.

Everyone is settling in to the comfortable surrounds of our base at the youth hostel, with Jasmine and Vanessa laying down the gauntlet, baking great Kanelbulle. What will be next?
With plenty of training options around for all, this afternoon most team members will be having a solid hit out at a local club race on relevant terrain for the qualification races.



Stay tuned to the blog for maps, pics, videos and the latest news from the Aussie team here at WOC 2010 in Trondheim!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Learning Fast

Training here in Sweden had been going well. With the first competitions at Kolmårdenskavlen now passed last weekend. The time has gone quickly with some high quality training. But the highlight of the trip Tiomila, is coming up this weekend.

The first weekend of competition at Kolmårdensdubblen was quite successful. My first race in Sweden for 18 months was the middle distance on Saturday and I was really looking forward to getting into the forest. I was happy with my race and felt strong over the 5.5km, missing 25 sec on one short leg and some wobbly routes. I ended up in 3rd place over 1 minute behind the winner, Swedish national team runner Mattias Millinger. The gap was large, but the result was encouraging. The prize for 3rd was a Swedish axe...strange, I don't think that will be coming home.




On Sunday it was the 5 man relay Kolmårdskavlen. Malungs OK, had a strong team and I went out 4th of 5 legs, with David Andersson on the last leg. Erik Rost put me out in 6th place 4 minutes behind the leaders OK Linne. I was not very happy with my race, with some mistakes throughout. But I managed to gain some time on the leading team sending out Daid in 5th place online 1.20min behind. David ran strongly on the last leg to bring us into 2nd position only 40 seconds from the victory. So the team and the club were quite happy with the result.
This showed some good signs for Tiomila in two weeks time.







After recovering from the weekend of racing the week has been full of some high quality orienteering training. Based in Falun close to clubmates in Malungs OK and staying with Swedish national team runner and Malungs OK clubmate David Andersson and his partner Lina Eliasson, the training opportunities have been endless.


The quality of orienteering technique training is quite intense but very beneficial for the World Championships in August. With new ideas for training and racing leading up to the World Championships in Trondheim, coming out of a good week of training.

However on Friday a small hiccup hampered my program for the weekend. With what seemed like an insignificant fall in the forest turning into 4 stitches and a swollen knee. This meant that there was no training or competition at Stigtomtakavlen on Saturday and Sunday. But the knee is recovering fast and I'm looking forward to resuming the training on Monday leading into the next races, with the Eliteseries sprint on Friday and the big one, Tiomila on Saturday night.



Malungs OK, has announced our team for Tiomila, and with everyone fit and healthy its exciting to be part of it.

Malungs OK - Tiomila Team

1) Anders Åkerman 9,1 km
2) Martin Hammarberg 12,2 km
3) Erik Rost 16,8 km
4) Lars Åkerman 8,8 km
5) Thomas Carlsson 12,2 km
6) Johan Lindberg 6,1 km
7) Jimmy Birklin 5,8 km
8) Julian Dent 11,2 km
9) William Lind 11,2 km
10) David Andersson 17,0/12,0 km

You'll be able to watch all the action from next weekend here with live Web TV available for $10.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

WOC 2010 Preparation Heating Up

The Australian orienteering team preparations for the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) 2010 is heating up just like the weather in Scandinavia. The snow is melting fast after a long and cold winter, unveiling this years battlegrounds for the WOC medals. The focus this year will be solely on Scandinavian terrain as the World Championships return to orienteering's traditional home of Scandinavia, in Trondheim Norway in August.

After racing the first National League races in Australia, I (Julian Dent) have headed over to Sweden to train and prepare for WOC in Scandinavian terrain. Over the next three weeks I'll be training and competing with Malung Orienteering Club, who have been long supporters of Australian orienteers. Beginning with Grant Bluett and Rob Walter and more recently Simon Uppill and myself, they provide great opportunities and support for training in Scandinavian terrain. The competition and training program over the next three weeks involves:

15/16 April: Training Camp

17 April: Kolmårds Middle Distance
18 April: Kolmårdskaveln


24/25 April: Stigtomtakaveln

30 April: Swedish Eliteseries Sprint Distance

1/2 May - Tiomila Relay

You'll be able to follow progress here and on my Attackpoint blog.