JK 2016 Orienteering in STORM KATIE

So similar to last year the ButtSquad were staying in a 10 man cottage so that everyone could bring their ‘other halves’. The cottage was gorgeous but there was 2xdouble, 2xtwin rooms and then a bunk bed which surprise surprise, Adam and I got. It was a little hard to find, tucked away on a farm near Brimham rocks, causing a few navigational disputes as google directed me who directed Adam up stony steep trials.

Each day we drove in a convoy of two to the events. For the sprint we arrived pretty early to get Adam to his start and as the weather was sunny could enjoy spectating. The elites got to wear SIAir Cards – something I’d never worn before. I went off to the start after the top tips from the parents: ‘It’s really tricky, be careful’ which I probably should have listened to a bit more as I ended up being a hesitant mess on all the levels. Even on legs which I stopped to planned, I still went upstairs to blocked levels! I tried really really hard so was really disappointed with the results becoming a moody little gremlin at the prospect of trying so hard for three more days with similar depressing results.

I went home questioning what little secret everyone else had that I was missing out on to get them round so quick trying to reassure myself I was a ‘forest girl’ and that the standard had improved instead of me getting worse :’). I did however enjoy the course and thought it was good fun.

Each evening we cooked masses of food (probably enough to feed 20 not 10) before playing board games and pissing everyone who didn’t win off. Saturday was the middle distance and to our dismay a long walk to the arena followed by a freezing cold arena on the top of a hill. Another 3 hour wait for me meant we all snuggled up next to a random hay stack to maintain warmth. I left about 15 minutes before my start time not wanting to hang around at the start. The race went okay, some really fast zoom zoom legs where I was just pinging around from control to control but near the end I began to get tired and wasn’t taking anything off the map when I was looking at it. The last couple of controls I fluffed around A LOT and lost a lot of time by stumbling and wiggling around instead of just picking a line and running it. Finished overall in 12^th which was just okay but I was already beginning to see the sense in slowing down and orienteering a bit more as I wouldn’t have thought I’d have lost so much time.

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Everyone was a bit more tired this evening, I had a little nap but was still grumpy enough to argue over cake, demanding more than what Tom was distributing. Sunday was the day we were all grumbling about the most – with a bus transfer AND then HUAGE distances and climb! It was topped off with very inconsistent weather meaning cagoules were compulsory. Although grumbling about this to begin with about 70 minutes into my course I was so glad to have a hooded cagoule that I could pull over my face and protect my cheeks from the blistering hail. It was so so painful and I didn’t want to look up during this part of the course as A) I wouldn’t have been able to see anything and B) my face would have hurt even more. I made it off the moor feeling like a drowned rat with no feeling in my hands (one was swollen from the cold I presume!!) but to my families amazement i wasn’t too grumpy (WOOOOOO!!) as I had a really good, solid run. Even though it was a long way, I was so proud I hadn’t hit too much of a wall, popping jelly babies the whole time and making sure I actually READ THE MAP and, when I needed too, knew exactly where I was going. I was worried, whilst running, about Harry & Adam & Tom in the cold but thankfully everyone was back okay – Harry had to give up due to borderline hypothermia L. We all shivered our way to the cars and drove back to the cottage for a hot shower and fish & chips!! After the fish and chips we had the traditional Easter Egg hunt around the cottage – surprisingly less fighting than I expected and I got SUCH a good haul of eggs J. We had one final round of the ‘train game’ and some TV before we had to pack up ready for a 6:30 wake up the next day!

We were all in two minds whether to run the next day, Dad getting ill, Tom running a half marathon, Harry dropping out and I was just knackered meant we were all tempted to sack of the relay and just go home! BUT NO…we went along and ran around this little hilly slope just to completely finish ourselves off. It was okay but I’ve never taken the relays that seriously and ran off with Dad WAY TOO FAST. I was glad to finally finish and looked forward to finally getting home – which was a five hour drive away L

A good weekend in all, with the family and in regards to the racing as it helped to reinforce I really do need to orienteer to get around the course FAST –sounds obvious I KNOW. 

Compass Sport Cup Weekend

The Butt Girls off to the Club Dinner

Although again I was travelling around, I was excited to be going home! The Friday evening we had the SARUM club dinner where it was lovely to see the members and have a good natter with. Alice, Harry and Adam had also come home so there was a good turn-out from the Butts! Unfortunately there wasn’t a lie-in the next morning as everyone went off to ride in the WiltShire WildCats slaisbury Sportive. I had declined this offer, making sure I actually had some time off and spent the morning baking cakes for a Leukemia Care cake stall I was running the following day. It only took me a few hours to bosh out a Victoria sponge, apple & cinnamon loaf, coffee cupcakes & vanilla cupcakes, chocolate fridge cake and flapjack.

Feeling like a bit of a cake queen I went for a run but was so so tired. It was good to get out on the forest and the weather was so beautiful. The family sped around the sportive meaning they were all back to relax in the afternoon.  The evening plan of fish and chips was ruined as the shop was closed but we made up for it with a co-op equivalent (still no deep fried battered sausage -_-).

The following morning we had the usual mad panic before an orienteering event – although leaving an hour to wake up etc everyone was dashing around the house with -5minutes to go trying to find water bottles or orienteering tops (cough Dad cough) or waiting for the bathrooms. We finally  made it out alongside an earful from dad who was not happy with an early start in the Compass Sport Trophy Qualifier. There was, of course, traffic to the event but as I was running the cake stall we got close parking to the arena and start.

The cake stall was set up and with help from Sarum members I was still able to run. The weather was again gorgeous but unfortunately the course was not so nice – I thought it was a pretty boring course. Imagine an A5 sheet of paper and someone draws a circle inside it an inch from the edge. That was essentially my course – all legs were the same distance apart and I was running to three already complaining about it. It took me a while to get used to how vague it was (or how little was mapped!) and ensure I was using my compass. Therefore the second half was a lot smoother than the first.

I finished with a big cheer from my club and was surprised I’d got 2^nd place behind Alice by a minute. I quickly got changed and headed back to the cake stall to find Adam already there! He had zoomed around the brown without making many mistakes - we both had pretty shocking photos taken of us on the run in though...whose is worse??

The cake sale had also gone well with only a few cakes left! In total we raised £160 for Leukeamia Care – a surprising amount as I thought it would only be about £50! The weather was lovely and it was great to be outside. It was a really good weekend and we got to have a bit of time to relax before we all travelled home.

Forest Of Dean Training Camp

After five weeks of travelling every weekend I was exhausted after the two hour drive from work to the Forest Of Dean. I had just finished a two day training course with the coach Nick Bates – a really useful course that I coined ‘Mind Gym’ as it was more tiring than I would have expected! I arrived in Parkend Friday night, early enough for dinner and Kris Jones doughnut eating birthday challenge.

A week before the camp I’d emailed some of the BOF staff if we could have a catch up about my orienteering, their expectations and just so we can all have an honest chat about what I was really doing. After BUCS, although I was really pleased with the race i felt a loss of confidence over the weeks simply because I didn’t feel noticed. I really needed some feedback on the race and so had a chat Friday evening with Jackie and Ed to run over my thoughts. It was good to let them know I how saw myself and what I expected but also for them to feedback to me. Unfortunately I’m not confident enough to use a good race to motivate me and still rely on the extrinsic support to help realise when I’ve had a good or bad performance. Although I realise this is a pretty unstable and vulnerable model for motivation I’m happy that I am aware of it.

I’ve always found it stupid when people have said:, ‘Oh you really shouldn’t care about what other people think’ or, ‘You need to be happy with your run over the result’ as I KNOW I SHOULDN’T CARE OR RELY ON OTHERS PRAISE but it’s not as easy just stating it and then expecting it to happen overnight. Therefore I’ve set myself some smaller goals which still mean something to me. I have also not committed to Jukola or Tiomila this year (:’()  as I am going right back to square one and just getting confident with British races before I progress!

Considering the mental overdrive I was putting my brain through with orienteering and work thoughts it’s not surprising I didn’t sleep well and the following day had a disaster (or what felt like it). I was staggering around with no attention to detail or discipline and just couldn’t get my head in orienteering gear. After about 3km of orienteering I sacked it in to go and have a cry in the car!! After some food and attention I was right as rain again but decided to steer clear of the orienteering for the rest of the day. The weather brightened up and I went for a little jog later in the afternoon as I was still wary of the stress reaction.

The following day I made sure I limited my orienteering to again about 3km and gave the map more focus. The terrain suited my legs and I felt happier and more confident. I got tired pretty quick (after about 2km!!!) and had to work hard to prove that one mistake did not mean I was shit at orienteering and in need of a whole life evaluation! Again I went for a little jog after but had to cut it shorter than what I would have liked because of the ankle.

It felt like a bit of a disaster weekend but also a wake-up call to really address the issues instead of reassuring myself I’d be fine. It was good to touch base with the squad but I did feel like I was dropping off the edge with it all and at the moment in time feel like I don’t have the energy to proof myself to everyone. 

BUCS 2016

So BUCS orienteering again was on my birthday weekend. Even though I wasn’t at university anymore the competition was a selection race for the World University Orienteering Championships. Unfortunately as I was a guest it meant an early start so I travelled up in the morning, picking up Harry’s friend in Lydney. After the initial buzz of seeing everyone I needed to make a decision on whether to run – for the two weeks previous I had been struggling with a stress reaction. Although there was no pain when walking I hadn’t run since the a session on the track which resulted in achy pain around my ankle and a very sharp pain when pressing the bone L As I have been building the volume up, mostly on tarmac or hard surfaces, since January it wasn’t much of a surprise.

I made the decision to run helped by Adam and a text from Mum which basically said, ‘You only live once…go get it’. I jogged cautiously to the start over analysing any feeling in my ankle and surprisingly I felt pretty good J Starting at the same time as Dave meant I could have a joke before my start. In my brain I was still trying to work on getting to each control perfectly – actually reading the map and using the information there. I remember when I was younger and use to tell myself there was absolutely NO REASON AT ALL why anyone should EVER make a mistake as you have everything you need to get around the course perfectly. I mean the map tells you EXACTLY where to go you just need to use it! So for this year I am really looking to get my confidence back by making no mistakes before I begin to be cocky and start running faster!

The course was well planned and I loved the forest as it was runnable. I was happy with the first few controls before being an indecisive headless chicken with a route choice of straight and contouring or uphill but then beasting it on the path. I ended up doing a bit of both which lost me more time I thought! For the rest of the course, I was able to build my confidence on each leg as I made good route choices, executed them well and enjoyed finding each control. At control six I turned out of the feature after punching to see Jo Shepard chasing my tail – after the initial: ‘What the hell, I thought I was doing really well!???’ I realised she was a speed demon and I simply couldn’t keep up. The rest of the course was spent trying to focus on my orienteering whilst not letting JO get too far ahead – although WAY faster than me an occasional mistake meant we kept meeting at controls. After the spectator control I could feel my ankle brewing and had a moment to think if I should carry on, followed by: ‘No, stop being a pussy – just because Jo has caught you up!’.

The end of the course I was flagging majorly, hanging on to any energy with all navigation thrown out the window I was simply running (if you could call it that!) in the vague direction and waiting until I was closer to the control feature to see if I had to navigate more (hoping instead the control would simply jump out and wave at me :’)). At the finish I was really really pleased with myself for not making a big fuck up and also enjoying it! I had a lot of respect for Jo as I’d seen her in the forest – to be honest if I hadn’t seen her but come back to her time (4 minutes faster than mine!) I would have been pretty moody questioning if a good run for me was actually a good run!! Stupid I know. At least I am aware of these competitive mood swings which is the first stage to tackling them right?

I iced my ankle (although it was already cold enough from the wet terrain!) and waited for my favs to come in. Adam finished complaining about his mistakes but I was really happy for him as his runs are getting more consistent (and the week previously he even beat me to about a third of the controls :O). Need to watch my back now. Once Aine and Mariama finished we snuck off to Bristol to have showers and chill out at a café before getting ready for the night out.

As I’m an old lady with a job now I took advantage of a night out and covered my face in facepaint to be Tigger from Winnie the Poo. The meal at Cosmos was (by far) the best BUCS meal I’d ever been too and we all happily stuffed our faces before the night out. As it was birthday the following day I stayed out until midnight before going back to the freezing hall to find Harry lying face down with no blanket or sleeping bag on the thinnest rug ever L I gave him a blanket and pillow before trying to get some sleep myself. I wasn’t expecting a great sleep so wasn’t surprised after waking up to drunkards walking in throughout the night and random noises from people’s beds :P.

The next morning when everyone went off to the relay I drove home to the family to spend my birthday with them. Whilst they all went orienteering I had a bath to relax. For lunch we went to a pub in Breamore which provided crocodile & ostrich meat! It was a great birthday and Mum made the best cake I’ve ever had. We also turned back into five year olds with the helium balloons :’).