Nordic maps vs. Portuguese maps

In Portugal the cartographers care more about detail: every single rock has to be on the map. The Nordics just put the essential on the map. In order to understand this differences, Antti Harju and Janne Weckman have spent some days in Portugal making some maps in the center of the country. Today was the first competition in one of these maps.

Middle, 8,8k, (145m), 27c, 42'40 - A really fast map allowed a 4'45min/km average. However, I had some troubles in the south-east rocky hill. I've missed almost all the controls there. We did a 6km course after in order to understand the limit between what is/isn't represented in the map. It was a big help to the January International Meeting that will be held in maps like these.

Physically I've been feeling a bit tired. The Thursday's 10x strength+200m intervals always take me some days to recover from. I've reached this week my coach's 140km/week goal. 13th of December will be my first Athletics race of the season, the Lisbon's Christmas GP. I have no idea of how much I'm running right now. But I'll find out that in the next weeks...

Saturday's club training (with mirror train)

Yesterday I went to Peniche area to train with the Elite groups from my club, COC and ATV (Don't have the GPS software in this PC).

Morning, Middle distance 8k, 20c, 46'07 - A nice session. Mistake to 9th (lost map control and slowed down a lot) and big one to 18th (continued following the wrong valley). Wanted to test the greens to the finish.

Afternoon, multi-technique Middle distance, 5,6k, 22c, 34'22 - Mistake to the 2nd, (missed the depression), deviations in the azimuth area and big mistake to 19th (misunderstood the yellow long top as a low area and ended in the wrong depression).


Night, Mirror training - I had never done anything like this! It was a city mass start and they had only told us "be careful!". We started and everyone stopped 5m ahead. The map was inverted, like in a mirror. So you had to turn left if the map showed you right. At each control you would see guys running in every different directions. It was really fun! I admit that I had some difficulty in understanding the concept and followed the guys while trying to fit the map to the terrain in a great part of the course. Only in the end I was able to fully understand it, punched the last one in the lead and ended in the front in a tight sprint. (1 - The map that was given; 2- The real map)



Today I'm spending a day at my hometown (the 1st day in a month) and I've done a 1h45, 20km session in a hilly terrain where I've totally hit the wall.

National team weekend

This season, we have some weekends with intense training camps with the National team. This was the first weekend, with 6 sessions. My legs were (still!) sore from the Thursdays training session (a new one to me: 10x skipping, squating, jumps + 200m run at track). I wasn't able to get great speeds but I also did lots of deviations and control missings (due to less contact time with the map). These kind of weekends are really productive. I just post the major trainings (the greens can be difficult to pass):

Mass start at 2 times (loss of GPS signal in the 2nd)

Under the line training with controls in the line

Corridor session

Chasing start

Tomorrow, is the return to routine. Oh, and this blog was invited to be the blog of the month of the Ezine magazine, an online urban sports magazine. You may find the article here (November edition, pag 36)

Iberian Championships

Toledo, a beautiful Spanish city, hosted this year's Iberian Championships.

Middle Distance, 5,9K (120m), 41'39 - The greens were tricky. I started slowly with a big mistake to the 2nd (45sec). Bad option to the 5th, big hesitation to 11th with a mistake to 12th. Bad option to 19th. I didn't like my performance. This course was pauted by lots of hesitations and many meters at a slow pace. I was 3rd overall.

Sprint Distance, 3,2K (140m), 19'41 - It was an amazing race, in a nice city map with a big crowd cheering us up during all the way. I started with an hesitation (I tought that the stairs by the right weren't passable). I had some slow downs during the race due to inconsistent navigation. From the 5th I took my biggest lesson: The stairs were closed and I stopped and blocked there, loosing 20sec. I have to be able to cope with these unpredictable situations during a race! I also felt that I wasn't able to find my rythm during the race. I won it, but I was lucky this time.

Long Distance, 12,4K (475m), CANCELLED - This race was cancelled due to a control swap at the 16th control. I lost some seconds in the first controls. I managed well the long legs. Messed it up at the 16th were I found another control in the place of my control. I wasn't self-confident enough to leave the control when I attacked it and kept looking for my control. The most stupid thing were all the mistakes that I did after. I was doubting if I hadn't made a mp and did (a lot!) of silly mistakes. This can't happen again and, once again, I wasn't able to cope with unpredictable situations. In the end, the race committee decided to cancel the race.


You may find all the results and split times here. I returned home with an Iberian title and a 3rd place in the middle. And, afterall, I really enjoyed my weekend at beautiful Toledo.

Hate to be sick...

From times to times comes a round of virus between my colleagues at faculty. This time I was one of the victims. Last friday I got a Viral Tonsillitis...

...and after a weekend at bed, missed Sunday's "Nike race against Tajo river" that I really wanted to run. Even if I'm able to run now (and have done intervaleds yesterday) I still have some chills and asthma in the evening...

Hope I'll be 100% recovered next weekend at the Iberian Championships.

Tough weekend

4x700m Loops, a 3,6K chasing start, a 7,4K race and a night 4K relay was my Saturday training. Sunday, a 11K multi-technique course with a demanding final with Micro-O where I ran out of fuel.

I just post the main trains

3,6K Chasing start - It was a great session with Orienteering under pressure. Like Tiago has told me in the end, there is too much to improve.

7,4K race - A nice organization in Coruche. Some interesting options, particularly the 13th control (better by the right). I just did too many deviations, too many sharp turns.

11K multi-technique with this Micro-O ending - I just ran out of fuel and did these last controls with a dizzy head. I didn't want to quit once these situations sometimes happen in a race and we still have to be able to cope with them. It was a fantastic train and, slowly and with some deviations, I checked all the right controls.

Thanks to Tiago and Gafanhoris, thanks to COC and Ori-Estarreja with whom I spent a fantastic training weekend.

I'm slowly returning to the training routine. Last Thursday I did my first fast 10x climbing intervaled session with Marco Povoa and today I jogged fast with the guys.

Fatigue: Mental vs. Physiological

I've came across this interesting article from "The Science of Sport" (you may find it here). Is fatigue a result of our conscious "Anticipatory regulation" or a result of muscle impairment?

It analyses some interesting questions like:
- If it was all physiological why do the best 10k races have the fastest last lap when the athletes have the biggest glycogen depletion and the biggest amount of lactate in the muscles? Why don't they speed up before?

- What cues, what signals, what experiences, what training, and what physiology are responsible for enabling the athlete to consciously slow down in the middle, and then speeding up at the end of a race and still optimize performance?

These guys, exercise physiologists have found their scheme between mental and physiological that just seems perfect to me and it ended being published at the British Journal of Sport Medicine.

If you're curious about it, you have a whole series of texts about this theme that will fill a great amount of hours of your spare time(you may find them here)

I've just a few time to write this post. Tomorrow I'll participate in a great training camp in Alentejo and I still have some hours of sleep to recover from.

2nd National Competition of the season.

This weekend was the 2nd National competition of this season in Alijó, in the north of the country.

Saturday, Middle, 4,5K (185), 31'40 - I was satisfied with my performance. I did just a few mistakes on hesitations. Physically I felt well for a beginning of a season. Loss of time to 15th where I prefered to go around the rocks and attack the control with safety. To the 22nd, I think that the best option would be by the right of the big hill.

Sunday, Sprint, 3,8k, 14'32 (GPS ran out of battery)- With Marco Póvoa back to the game there can't be any mistakes in Sprint distances. I did a few and he kicked my ass in 40sec. Some of the options weren't the best, loss of time punching another control to the 5th, and a not so good physical performance formed my final result.

Monday, Long, 9,6K (260), 74'27 - This map has really tough greens that should be avoided at any cost. This race was far from perfection. Many losses of time in the control area. I felt that physically I didn't push hard enough once I ended the race with fresh legs. I haven't found my pace in Long distances once I'm always afraid of breaking down... and I really have to improve my running technique in rocky terrains!
After all, I won the weekend. My orienteering performance is better this season, but I still have too much to improve!!

Weeks at Home...

Last weeks I was (finally) at Home with my parents. No school, no study, no worries, just relax. I need some weeks like these a year in order to get the needed balance.

I've discovered that I have many good maps around, in a 30min drive range...

I've enjoyed by MTB bike (a lot!) in my hometown terrains with an (almost) everyday 25K course with some climbing... combined with an afternoon 1h run.

and I've been with my longtime friends...

Good times are ending. The 1st athletics race of the season will be on the 25th Oct, the Nike race against Tajo river where 10.000 athletes are expected. I've only done 2 specific trains this pre-season apart from jogging. I'm curious about my shape at the moment (I hope I'll do better than last year's 33'24). School is starting again next week. The turbulence is coming, and I'm already missing it!

Great weekend in Alentejo

This weekend I went to a competition organized by the growing club, "Gafanhoris".

Saturday, Long, 8,4k (330m), 51'51 - Tricky first part.
Mistake to the 5th - passed the green, felt that it was there but didn't enter the greens to find the control. Instead I did a 1'15 loop to punch the control then.
6th - Should have attacked the control by the small path that crosses the river. Lost time crossing the river.
14th - Without any doubt, the best option was to go by the left, around the big hill - Easier to run with less climb.
21th - I knew that those greens were a tricky area so I decided to climb a bit more and attack the control from above with confidence.

Saturday, Sprint/OriShow, 2,9k (15m), 13'04 - The first part of the race was in a simple urban area. The second part, in a different scale, was in a park. I hesitated too much in the last controls. My friends who were watching, have told me that I slow down too much when I look at the map. Maybe one thing to improve.

Sunday, Middle, 4,9k (205m), 40'38 - This wasn't my day. After a decent start,
11th - Lost 1'50 there. I left the path too early and entered the greens. Then lost time looking for the control, in my single opinion, in the right 2m rock. I didn't center the GPS trak in that area and it shows that the control was slightly to the south in a smaller rock. I was unlucky to attack the control by the greens.
12th - Lack of focus after having lost time in the previous control. Lost 1'00.
21st - A 3'00 loss here. I attacked the control from the post and wasn't able to find it. Then I climbed to the electric lines to relocalize and went down again. I can't center the GPS trak here. If I center where I punched the control to the center of the circle, my loop goes above the electric lines and I know that I didn't pass them to above. It's possible that the electric lines have interfered with the trak but I went to the terrain after the race and had some doubts. In the afternoon I did a 5k train in one of the many quality maps of Gafanhoris with some of my friends.
Thanks a lot to Tiago Aires e Raquel Costa who provided us such a great weekend. They've been doing a great job with those kids.
This season I have a new athletics club. Last Thursday I signed for Sport Lisboa e Benfica, a great club with some of the best national athletes including Nelson Évora, actual Olympic gold medallist in long jump and Vanessa Fernandes, actual Olympic medallist in Thriatlon. I'll compete in the main Sub-23 team so I'll have an extra motivation to prepare myself to the 5000m and/or maybe 1500m. My athletic goals for this season will be to have marks to the National Athletic Champs in 5K (usually 14'something) and to be selected to the European Universitary Cross-country Champs. It'll be tough but, we'll see...