EOC 2010

I've just came from Bulgaria and I really have to write about the last days which were fantastic.
This was my first international competition as a senior. I've traveled to Primorsko with the portuguese team 1week before the competition in order to get used to the kind of terrain. It was a really productive week with twice a day training sessions. This was the first time that anything like this was done in the portuguese team and I think it helped a lot.

My personal goal for this competition was to get to the Final A in as many races as I could.

In the Sprint Qualification I did some mistakes (approximately the amount of time that would put me in a Final A - 36sec). However I wasn't also fast enough and I ended the same day running the Final B in a training pace in order to recover to the next day's qualification.

In the Long Qualification I ran completely headless. I changed all my navigation routines and I only thought about running fast. It was a really bad race where I wasn't able to cope with the stress.

In the Middle qualification I wasn't fast enough. I did 2 big mistakes, to the 7th and 11th. I wasn't satisfied at all with my race.

Then it came the Relay. Due to my not so good results I started in the first position of the portuguese 2nd team. It was an awesome experience. I ran in the 1st group until the 4th where I made a mistake. Then I ran the rest of my race alone until the spectator control where I caught Russia1. I made some mistakes in the end and ended the race with Austria1 and Germany1. I really enjoyed the race and it was a good experience in order to learn from the paces at the front.




Then it was the Middle Final (B). I was much more relaxed, I had already messed it up! And ended in 12th with a regular race. I liked my pace in the controls after the spectator control.

Finnaly, it was the Long Final (B) (the following maps is from the Final A, a course with some differences). I wasn't calm enough and I did too many deviations that costed me a lot of time in a map where the best route choice was most of the times under the red line.


It's tough to get ready to this kind of terrains when we have completely different terrains in Portugal. We aren't used to this amount of climb and to this closed forest and I think that I'll have to change some of my physical training methods.

I learned a lot from this experience. Now I know the performance needed to a Final A and I must say that it isn't anything special. I must say that we, portuguese, need to compete more often in the international environment in order to develop and I'll catch all the opportunities that I have.

Today it costed me a lot to get back to the routine at the Hospital. The next month will be tough and I'll cut in my training loads in order to prepare myself for the last exam season of my life (yes!).

Absolute National Championships

Recently it was the National Absolute Championships. The maps were near Lisbon, with lots of paths and some greens.

In the qualification, I managed my effort, did an easy race and was selected to the Final A. I won't probably do this type of management again once I wasn't able to benefit from some of the packs that were formed in the last group of athletes during the Final.

In the Final A race, I wasn't fast enough and I did mistakes. The map was really easy and I wasn't able to fully focus on it.

Portuguese selection teams to EOC

Last weekend were the National team selection races to 2010 competitions. I was the 2nd selected of our 6 athlete male team to EOC, right after Tiago Aires. I was given the oportunity to participate in this year's WOC at own expenses once there won't be any portuguese team there this year.The final results may be found here.

Long distance, 13.1km, (355m), 85'00 (with map exchange) - I really have to be able to cope with stress. I wasn't able to have a clear thinking and I could have messed it all in the first controls. I ran completely headless! In the end I tought that I had no chance but it seemed that it was difficult for everyone. I was 2nd.

Middle distance, 6.6km, (150m), 36'25 - I had a clear margin and I was much more relaxed. I did a regular race with a safe navigation. My option to the 17th was a bit pathetic.

Cross country course, 3km, almost flat with a hard ground - As the last training sessions at track, I wasn't able to develop a good rythm. It was tough to keep the 3'34min/km rythm and I was 3rd, 5sec after the winner.

The last month's trainings have been atypical. I am able to jog fast, 1h at 4'10 with no problem. But I can't run faster at races and track sessions. My averages in the last track sessions have been worse than what I used to do 2 years ago (3sec slower at 400m, 4sec slower at 300m!!).
I'm almost sure that it's because of the asthma and Spring polens once I have some difficulty in recovering the breathing in the intervals (almost like altitude training =) ). I'll start a new medication tomorrow (by the way, it's not considered doping!=) )and hope that I'll be in shape soon.

Barefoot running?

There is an ultimate running trend about barefoot running that has arised my curiosity.

This theory, that was first addressed in a Nature magazine paper, is resumed in a magnificent Harvard's Skeletal Biology Lab review that you may find here.

This is based in a few assumptions:
- We land our foot on the heel because our overprotective cushioned shoes allow that.
- Our shoe's heel are too high and that fact predisposes to Achilles tendon injuries (that are so comon!).
- If we run barefoot we will start landing on the forefoot (landing on the heel is painful when you're barefoot) and our running will become more economic. Furthermore, we will prevent some lesions once there won't be a peak of impact on our knees, hips and spine.

I don't have any training in this area but I've always been curious about the way Kenyan's run. They appear to have springs under their soles... and that's the way forefoot running works - landing on the forefoot gives you back some of the impulse that you projected on the ground.

There is even a funny curiosity about it. The guys that try it for the first times usually feel some headaches in the end, due to the overflow of sensory information that comes from our nervous endings at the feet (that are usually numb inside the shoe).

So, wether it really works or not, I'm feeling really tempted to buy some Vibram's Five fingers to give it a try (30min run a week).


Here are some runners that were famous for running barefoot:
Abebe Bikila - former Olympic marathon world-record holder
Bruce Tulloh - former European 5k record-holder
Tegla Loroupe - former Olympic marathon world-record holder

Last weekend I went to another road race. This time, a 11.500m one. It was a tough one with a great amount of climbing and my performance wasn't good (I was tired and I was with the usual Spring polen asthma problem). However I was 2nd, after a 2h12 marathon portuguese guy.

5th SLB 10k race

Last weekend, I did another 10km (plus 200m) race. This time, to 33'06. I did almost all the race with Bruno Pais, one of the best portuguese triathletes. One of the most demanding kilometers was the 3rd, inside the parking of the stadium with sharp turns and short steep slopes.

I ended being really slow in the last km's (thinking I was fast) and the final time was worse than expected. The race was won by Ernest Kebenei, a kenyan, followed by Licinio Pimental, National Road Racing Champion.

I'm not in my best shape but I'll keep working on that in the next weeks. I hope that, in some months, I'll be able to do a race like this with times per km similar to the firsts of this race. We'll see...

Portuguese Sprint Champion

This weekend were the National Sprint and Middle Distance Championships in the north of the country (Vinhais).

The Sprint was fine. I was able to do a regular race and avoid mistakes. Splitsbrowser here (HE).


The middle was a disaster. I wasn't fast enough, I did mistakes in the area of so many controls. The worsts were 13, 16 and 23 (even with so many mistakes I lost the possibility of a not-so-bad result in the 23th... the map was a bit criticized by the athletes and that border green in the 23th area isn't real at all). Splitsbrowser here.

Rather than running I iddeally should now focus in the map technique and in the navigation routines in order to avoid silly navigation and get better results in Orienteering. In Lisbon it's impossible to do that (nor in an 1h driving range), so I'll have to keep my running routines and simply enjoy all the opportunities that I can get to train with a map in my hands...

Spanish National Champs+Clermont Ferrand

Last weekend I've participated in the Spanish National Champs in Moralzarzal, in the north of Madrid.
In 3 days there was a Long, Middle, Sprint and Relay events and the terrain and maps were great!
In the long and middle I didn't like my performance that much. I did some major mistakes and I've noticed that I have a great difficulty in running in stony and irregular terrains (mainly downhill!). I may be faster in flat and regular grounds but I can be pretty slow in the forest. It's difficult to jog in irregular grounds in Lisbon but I'm trying to find a way to improve this.
In the relay I was the 3rd element. I started some 15sec after Ionut. Gave my best to reach him to the 1st control but then did a stupid mistake in an area full of controls. The results of the whole competition may be found here.
Then I moved to Clermont Ferrand for one week and trained there. Unfortunately I hurt my knee in a night train in the 2nd day and did the rest of the trains of the week marching. I really enjoyed the area and the great maps! It was a pleasure to navigate there and I really have to come back!

11 training sessions in 2+1/2 days

Last weekend it was the National Team weekend's training camp Alter-do-Chão, lead by Bruno Nazario.

The routine was to run 30min at 7h30, map training at 10h30, map training at 15h, and map training at maximum speed in the night training sessions.

I'm not happy with my navigation right now. I keep doing some recurrent mistakes in the trains but I'm sure that with time they I'll be able to avoid them. (I'll post the great corridor train as soon as I get the trak)
Direction - Mistake at the beginning, as usual.

Night One man relay with mass start

Night one man relay with mass start nº2 (2 controls out of place and 1 huge mistake)

Double relay

Simplification - Mistakes at the beginning. Accidentaly turned off the GPS while jumping a fence.

A short sprint.


Hope that I'll be able to improve my technique in the next week at Clermont Ferrand.

Weekend's training camp

This time the weekend's club training camp was organized by COC in the POM 2010 area.
1 Multitechnique
A relay (forgot to turn the GPS on). It found difficult to distinguish the ups and downs in the area before the 2nd control.
A middle distance where I took, by mistake, the short course map (the course is different with some more controls). Anyway, huge mistake to 1st, and many hesitations.
A 2-man relay in Leiria city center.
I felt a bit tired after the Friday's long intervals but it ended being a productive weekend. My priority now should be to focus in my O'technique. I just keep doing too many (big) mistakes, too many hesitations and I feel that my navigation is not as secure as it should be.

15'28 at 5k national team trials

After not doing the trials due to sickness a few weeks ago, today I was given another chance. The National team leader and Norman came to the Lisbon's Universitary Stadium to give me a chance.

I ran the first 3k to the required time (15'45) and just gave it all in the last 2k, ending with 15'28. Felt well and didn't suffer what I was expecting.

After it I returned the favor to Jorge doing 40' fast minutes. Now I just want to ruun...


Thanks a lot to all these guys, REAL FRIENDS, that came to help me doing the time and to Rafaela who kindly took the camera with her. Without them I wouldn't have done it.

The guy in yellow cycled 90km in the morning, did all the 5k with me and ran 1h at a fast pace after... And that's why he's now one of the best portuguese athletes... A role model for me that I try to follow.