Nearly two weeks ago I left Whitehorse for Venice, Italy to compete at the Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC). After a frantic afternoon tour of Venice, Lee Hawkings and myself met up with the rest of the Canadian team and travelled 3 hours north into the Dolomites. For those of you who know the Val di Fiemme from World Cup ski events, our week of racing took place in the valley south east of the val di fiemme, the Primiero Valley.
We arrived 5 days before the first event to train on the Italian maps. Our accommodations were spectacular. We stayed in a mountain villa with the American team while we were training, surrounded by mountains, forests and some of the steepest roads anywhere. The trainings were a bit of a shocker, with lung-busting climbs, lots of detailed map reading, and a lot of sore ankles from the difficult footing in the woods.
The races are almost over now, with only the relay left to run tomorrow. I have had a great week of racing so far, finishing 75th, 95th and 100th. This has been a big improvement on the 130-170th placings of last year. The terrain here is all on mountain sides, so there is a ton of rock, creeks, cliffs, side-hills and coniferous forest. The big goal of the Canadian team tomorrow is to beat both American Relay teams, and to finish before the prize ceremony for the winning teams (last year I was running down the finish chute as the winners were getting their medals.)
When I return to Whitehorse I will put together a longer report of my trip, with a generous number of pictures to go along with it.
We arrived 5 days before the first event to train on the Italian maps. Our accommodations were spectacular. We stayed in a mountain villa with the American team while we were training, surrounded by mountains, forests and some of the steepest roads anywhere. The trainings were a bit of a shocker, with lung-busting climbs, lots of detailed map reading, and a lot of sore ankles from the difficult footing in the woods.
The races are almost over now, with only the relay left to run tomorrow. I have had a great week of racing so far, finishing 75th, 95th and 100th. This has been a big improvement on the 130-170th placings of last year. The terrain here is all on mountain sides, so there is a ton of rock, creeks, cliffs, side-hills and coniferous forest. The big goal of the Canadian team tomorrow is to beat both American Relay teams, and to finish before the prize ceremony for the winning teams (last year I was running down the finish chute as the winners were getting their medals.)
When I return to Whitehorse I will put together a longer report of my trip, with a generous number of pictures to go along with it.
Interesting Reading. . .
"Heat Recovery Formula!"