Studies on Orienteering

While studying and in need of Orienteering I searched "Orienteering" at Pubmed, the medical searchtool and found some interest studies that I post. I didn't check its validity, just copy-pasted some paragraphs from the abstracts that I found.

The other major findings were that prior to competition, superior orienteers reported use of higher self-efficacy, more positive outcome expectations and more task demand orientation than their less successful counterparts. Top orienteers coped more successfully with pre-competition anxiety by lowering their anxiety to a more moderate level prior to the actual performance. here

High aerobic power in orienteers (up to 63 and 76 ml/kg/min in women and men, respectively) is coupled with lower anaerobic performance. While leg strength is generally not high when compared with other athletic specialties, female orienteers have relatively good leg flexion strength. The energy cost of running is greatly increased in rough terrain. Oxygen cost was 26% higher while running in a forest when compared with road running. Biomechanical differences in stride pattern contribute towards this increased demand. Despite the high energy demands during competition, orienteers pace themselves such that their mean heart rate remains within the range of 167 to 172 beats/min, despite large fluctuations. The rough terrain encountered in orienteering results not only in a high energy cost but also in a higher incidence of sport-specific injuries, particularly to the ankle. here

Orienteers, as compared to nonathletes, showed a faster reaction speed and a complex pattern of attentional differences depending on the time constraints of the attentional task, the demands on endogenous attentional control, and the presence or absence of a concomitant effortful motor task. Results suggest that older expert orienteers have developed attentional skills that outweigh, at least at rest, the age-related deficits of visual attentional focusing. here

More experienced orienteers attended to the map markedly more while moving and spent less time stationary than less experienced orienteers. The participants' performance was significantly related to the ability to attend to the map while moving. The strategic control of attention is proposed to explain this ability. It is proposed that attentional training might enhance performance in sports characterized by multiple and dynamically varying elements. here

Correlation analyses showed a relationship between a high anaerobic threshold and few orienteering mistakes here

We conclude that daily orienteering competitions per se do not seem to create risks for developing a state of hormonal imbalance or significant decrease in glycogen when the carbohydrate supply is appropriate. here

The magnitudes of the age-related slowing of orienteering speed and of the difference in orienteering speed between males and females aged 45 years and over were greater than those reported for the other endurance running events. This may reflect the physical demands of running in orienteering terrain, tactical and cognitive aspects of the sport, or sociocultural aspects of the participating population. here

Inspired by the Tour de France I've been off-road cycling a lot, mainly uphill. I'm feeling physically well and in the 1st of August I'll start running more seriously again. I'm really missing navigating with a map!

End of the season...

And so this season ends for me (the last season with Portuguese calendar; next season we'll fit to the international calendar).

Some feet pains and tough study hours to exams anticipated my Summer recovering period from 1-15Aug to 15-31Jul. I won't completely stop; I'll mantain a 30min/6km run per day (I've already been doing it for a week). The next season will officially start for me in the 1st August.

The madness of the last days has been compensated: 18/20 in Medicine I (the Big One of the course). Now with only Pediatrics left I can only think on Holidays!

The August plan for now is:
1st week- Family holiday in Algarve- The first long trains... (Bike and Run everyday)
2nd week- Possible surftrip to Morocco with friends
3rd week- Training camp in Sweden with CPOC(Start of the O'season)
4th week- Portugal O'Summer - A WRE event not to miss!

...and reeeeeelax!

The 08/09 season was pauted by my physical improvement on which I have the basis to continue working. I've had some encouraging results in Orienteering. However I still have too much to improve technically once I haven't found my perfect run/navigation balance in the more technical maps.

I'll start the next season with defined goals (this year some of them pass by Athletics) and with the intention to train physically harder and to be technically better. There are some gaps that really need to be filled. Next season I'll take it to my boundaries.

To do better, I've a new sponsor for next season: Mund socks. My feet now seem to run on the clouds. I've tried them in some trains and they're simply awesome. Worth to have a try!

Nice development indicator...

Saturday I went to 8ª Légua Nocturna de Odivelas, a 5K (5,450m) race near Lisbon.

I wasn't in the mood to run, after a whole day studying. I just wanted to do a fast train. When I arrived there, saw a Moroccan ex-national team athlete, the SLB athlete Tiago (who was an orienteerer in the past and now is a 3000m steeplechase athlete) and some other good athletes. My goal was to try to go with the pack.

However in the 1st km, that seemed to go slow, my watch showed me 3'02. I felt motivated and stayed with them. The Moroccan did some tries to run away but the pack stayed together in the 1st 3K. In the big climb, I was feeling well and went to the front to push harder (I felt confident and that attitude was almost impossible to me some months ago). Only the Moroccan and the SLB guy stayed with me. In the final descend I pushed a bit harder and surprisingly crossed the finish line alone in the 1st place. My final time was 16'54.

I've noticed that I don't suffer half than what I used to suffer in athletic races some months ago. My coach told me that is my body getting used to effort and Lactic Acid.

In the last 10 days I've only jogged with just 1 fartleck train. I haven't been able to train hard when my head is exploding and sick of studying in the end of the day. I'm full of motivation to start training hard again with map next season. After my summer break I've decided to start jogging offroad more often in order to be faster in Orienteering.




(In the photo with my coach who also ran the race)
Despite being well, today I didn't train. My anoying Fascitiis pain is back again. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to jog aggain.

My coach has told me that probably I'm worthing now less than 15' at 5K. I think it's tough... But we'll see...

Below are some newspaper cuts from the local newspapers about the last weekends race.



And some other cuts from this month's National Athletics magazine with an interview by Joaquim Margarido.

Local road race

Today I went to a small local road race. It was raining a lot and I simply wasn't in the mood to run. One of the most important exams of my course, Medicine I will be next Thursday and I can't stop thinking about it.


It was a 4800m race (2laps).

I didn't go with the guys from the front (I did the 1st km to 3'05, they did around 2'55) and that was my main mistake. Consequently, I ended alone in the middle of the race. I was only able to catch some of the guys from the front in the last km.

I am always afraid to suffer in the last kms but that hasn't happened lately. I am more used to 10k races but I definitely have to find my pace in these shorter races once I intend to do some 1500m and 5000m at track next season. To know my limits in these shorter races I have to give everything that I have since the beginning in order to keep motivated with the pack: that was today's lesson.

The race was won by Manuel Silva, the 00/04 3000m Olympic athlete from SLB. I was the 3rd senior and 5th overall. I did a time of 15'15 and ended concluding that I could have done much better. At least it was a good 4,8k test to track and a nice train.



In the photo, Armando Aldegalega, SCP former Olympic Marathoner, giving the prizes. Paulo Franco, my training mate was 5th with a time around the 16'05.

Regional Road Race Champion

Today was the regional road race championships, a race of 9K (3x 3K laps) under 34ºC.

The race wasn't flat with a 3x50m climb. There were some good athletes, with the Moroccan Hamid Hakin and my old teammate, the athlete from JOMA Nelson Silva (who recently has done less than 15' at 5K ).



The pace started strong with an expected team attack of the guys from Benavente (CUAB). I just ran with the pack the 1st lap. In the 2nd lap the 2 guys from Benavente pushed harder and I was left alone 15m behind. In the beginning of the last lap I knew that I would go to the podium, but the guys kept pushing hard in the front.

However they started slowing down in the 1st climb and in that moment I accelerated and caught them in the beginning of the descend. I was 2m behind them and had 2 options: 1- going with them and decide the title in the final sprint, which would be dangerous once they're track guys, faster than me; 2- passing them fullspeed and see what happens.

I did the 2nd option and they came with me. In the end of the descend I felt that the 2nd was under effort, 2m behind me and the decision of the race was in that climb. I gave everything that I had and in the final 300m I was with a confortable lead. The guys from my club did the party once they had never expected seing me coming 1st after being 15m behind in the beginning of the last lap. It had a special meaning being regional champ in my hometown in one of the oldest portuguese competitions (it was the XXXII edition).



The final results were as follows. My unofficial final time as 29'20. The measurement of the 9K was not official but it should be more less the 9K ( plus or less 100m).

1. Miguel RS - UDRZA
2. Joel Martins - CUAB
3. Hamid Hakim - CUAB
4. Luis Brito - CUAB
5. Nelson Silva - JOMA

My new non-WOC calendar is already made. I'll compete every weekend in athletics races until the beginning of August. Probably I'll do some races of the National Salomon Mountain racing circuit too. I'll slow down the 1st 15 days of August and will start the next season with a training camp in Sweden (15-23August).

Disappointing selection races to WOC

This weekend were the Portuguese selection races to WOC in the north of the country (Gerês).

Saturday morning, Sprint, 2,5K (95m), 18c - I wasn't expecting a map of this kind. I tought that the white areas were much more open than they were in fact. I did lots and lots of mistakes and was never able to start anticipating. A total lack of focus that I am still not able to explain.


Saturday afternoon, Middle, 4K (190m), 17c - The 1st control was my final cross. I leave the path, pass about 2m from the control and attack another big cliff (it was bigger than the other) that was not represented in the map. I looked at the map and that was the only cliff in the area, near the water, down to the upper rock, so it had to be there! But it wasn't... It was a matter of luck. I had spoiled it all in this stupid mistake. Even with the huge mistake to the 15 (where even near the road I wasn't able to understand certain elements) I would have done a competitive race.



Sunday, Long, 8,7K (295m), 21c (with map change)- Really nice and tough terrain with nice options. There were variations. To the 3rd a lack of focus. The 9th was not well placed in the terrain. I attacked the right rock but the control wasn't there. It was upper in the terrain, as the gps shows. Even with some minor mistakes I liked the race but we still don't know how the results of this race will end.

I was really disappointed in the end. It's a big frustration to see the hard work of a whole season ending like this. I know that I was a crazy head in the sprint, but that cliff in the middle and the long distance will take me some time to digest.

Now it's time to stop being a crying Sissy and look up again. The programme to the Summer will probably change with competitive Orienteering taking part of my life again only in September. Until then, a tough Exam season and will test what I am physically worthing now at the next track races. We'll see...

Time to analyse

As promised, I just post some maps and pictures of last week in a few minutes.

Here is the NOC public race, long distance (11,630m). I was going well to the 1st but then huge mistake due to a lack of focus. Then tought that the water canal in which I was, was the one in the left with the greens (and there were some similarities in the terrain: tragedy!). Then locked into training mode to the rest of the race and didn't check the control numbers and stupidily punched a wrong control in the 16th. In the afternoon we did another 5k training in the model event area. Unfortunately, I wasn't really tired during these days (couldn't keep high paces in these terrains) and ended making many km a day.


I have analyzed my mistakes during this 1st training camp in nordic terrains and concluded that I have developed my navigation since the first training. However I still have too much to learn and I'll try to train and compete in these terrains everytime I'll be able to. I have to be able to compete in these kind of maps, at least, as I compete in Western European countries.



The O'season in Portugal has already ended (next year the calendar will be changed to fit the International calendar, ending in December). The next weekend selection races to WOC will define if I'll just train to the track season until August and relax in the summer or if I'll continue training Orienteering until September. I'm unusually relaxed. Both hypothesis seem appealing for different reasons. We'll see...

Just leave you with this movie. When we were coming back to Portugal, we needed to fill the tanks of the rental cars. We were late and our plane was leaving in 1h30. In this petrol station you could only pre-pay your gasoline. Repeated this process in a hurry 2 or 3 times =)

Greatest training camp ever

I've just a few minutes to write something before coming back to Portugal, to the boring Exam season at Faculty. The last days have been fantastic.

Yesterday the long distance didn't go as expected. A huge mistake in the long leg to the 1st control and then locked into the training mode. If this was not enough, I punched a wrong control when there were only 3 controls to the finish line. In the afternoon we did a short training in the model event maps and found there our friend Ionut Zinca.

If you have some time, it's really worth a look the GPS tracking of the last days (here). (If you don't have time, just don't click on the link, once you won't be able to stop watching it).

I'll post the maps and photos of last week as soon as possible.
It's impossible to become a better Orienteerer if we don't train on these maps. It was my first training camp abroad and I learned a lot. Hopefully I'll come back soon.

1st NOC public race

Today was the 1st NOC public race.


Middle, 5.710m, 45'46 - Comparing to the trainings in beginning of the week, I was satisfied with my development. However I still have too much things to work at. The mistake to the 1st could have been avoided with precise navigation. The mistake to the 11th was just too bad. I really need to run more on rocky and irregular terrains as these. I lost too much time on the long legs. I believe that with some more days training in Nordic terrains I'll be able to start making better results.


The results can be found here.

In the afternoon we did another training in a 1:15000 scale, as the Long distance tomorrow.

Learning a whole new sport...

This week I've been in a training camp with my club, CPOC, in the Helsinki region.

We've been training twice a day, in the morning with permanent controls organized by my great friend Juuso Metsala and his brother Tuomas and in the afternoon, in the trainings of the Finnish teams with controls and Emit (it´s fantastic to have this kind of trainings during the week with more than 100 athletes).

This has been the best training camp ever! In the beginning I had disappointing results. It was really difficult to get used to this kind of terrain, so much different from the Portuguese fast kind. It has been great to me, once my biggest difficulty is to maintain contact with the map. Here, loosing contact is missing a control. I've found that re-localization is an essential skill in which I have still too much to learn.


This was today's training, the test race for NOC. I didn't go fullspeed but was happy with the developments that I have made since the beginning of the week. (The permanent controls are short strings attached to the trees that are difficult to find, so the navigation needs to be really precise)


This was my first training (yesterday) where I was able to navigate decently. It was a mass start in a really closed terrain where the progression was difficult. (controls with strings).


Now I'm in the Salo area and will participate tomorrow in the NOC public races. We did a test race today and the maps seem easier and more open than the ones from Helsinkii. We'll see...