Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Hot and dry in beautiful El Escorial
Hola!
It has been a great trip so far. Super hot here in La Escorial at midday. Caught bus from Madrid yesterday to El Escorial, amazing unusual place to me. Dry rolling hills with scattered pines and gullies with denser trees. Arrived to meet the other girls near the bus stop. Walked five mins to Albertos apartment, amazing to see people I recognize again. Swimming pool out the front is amazing even at 8pm it was where everyone hangs out to cool off (= Then we had dinner together at 9.30 Alberto made a Spanish omlette and shared the prize of his last orienteering race, a salted leg of ham-yum! Imogene, Georgia and I are staying in a beautiful new apartment 5min walk down the road. The town is at the foot of a steep mountain.
Went for run at 9am this morning in forest, orienteering. Open scattered pines with big rock clusters. One technical map then a faster broad hills course on open forest with small erosion ditches. Slippery ground and crackly because it is all so dry. Seems like a desert here. Lavender is growing wild on the ground! Cows wander freely with big horns but they are friendly we hear. Navigation went well. I took it slowly to start with, and got the first controls bang on. Feeling confident now. Orienteering is orienteering as long as you are adaptable. Grey rock was not flat and easy running like in Finland or Australia, but rather rough and broken so it was better just to go direct. Rock pillars were huge 10m tall and cliffs best to avoid. Black squares were ruined square rock walls. The rock wall fences seem so solid they would have been difficult to build. Legs feeling normal again which is great. No pain in shins orienteering today but used the ice pro just incase and because I didn´t want to waste the water which is so precious in Spain.
In Dubai, Greta and I were able to use the gym between flights which was very nice. The cycle bike and cross trainer were something we recognized well despite being in foreign lands. Also the shower was refreshing. A worthwhile break in the flight which seems to get longer every time we come over. No delays. Flying into Mallorca was an eye-opener, the landscape was very dry and looked similar to the middle distance map we will run on at UWOC- broad hills with scattered trees and then steep cliffed erosion gullies more than 15m deep.
The night in Zurich worked well. Didnt see much of the city though. Public transport worked amazing, trains trams and buses all flow together. Legs still felt funny.
Staying indoors for the afternoon as it is still hot. Catching train to Alicante tomorow. Glad we got here early to adapt to the heat as much as we can.
Adios, Angela
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
More info on Alicante city here http://www.alicante-spotlight.com/photos/alicante01/44.htm
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Challenges of 2012
Thought I would get back onto this blog page as I am setting off on another adventure. As a way to record what Im up to.
Next week I am heading off to Europe for this years World University Orienteering Championships in Alicante, Spain (http://sd.ua.es/en/orienteering-championship/)and the World Orienteering Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland (http://www.woc2012.ch/). It will be exciting to race where the atmosphere is so high.
In Alicante I will race the Sprint, middle, and relay. The sprint is in the city and willl take in small alleyways and possibly Monte Tossal which is a castle like maze. The middle. relay and long will be on technical, open, scattered shrubby terrain. Compass bearings will be useful I expect.
I have a map database here: It is where I upload my routes from races and trainings.
http://www.numberoneaucklanddoma.com/maps/index.php?user=Angela
In preparation this year, I have been doing lots of aqua jogging. This is because I suffered a shin stress injury. The pain developed over summer is slow to heal. The best way to recover shin stress injuries is by not running, not a pleasing recommendation when I have races to train for. So aqua jogging and biking have kept me fit. Two hours solid aqua jogging last week was a mental effort. These sessions including lots of intervals have taught me mental strenght and how to listen to my body responding to training. Sports phsycology coaching through the Hillary Scholarship has been a new experience and I plan to use these techniques to make stronger race decisions with focus, and in particular avoid distractions during spectator legs.
Over the summer, I competed at Sprint the Bay. Awesome unique courses once again make this a highlight event. I was in the yellow jersy going into the final stage and planned to keep it but accidentally ran past a simple control during our map change and thus lost the lead. Well, next years Sprint tthe Bay should be bigger with international competitors likely as the race follows on from the World Cup and Oceania series. http://www.oceania2013.co.nz/ http://www.sprintthebay.org/
NZ National Championships held by NW Orienteering Club were another highlight lead up event. The middle distance map Middle Earth is now one of my favourite NZ maps. Such tricky detail to simplify, all on a hillslope so you have to keep an eye on height also.
And more recently Queens Birthday weekend events were held at the start of June in Waitarere forest. The loops race on Monday was the best. A mass start loops style race made
for close head to head racing and put pressure on everyone. Just what we need before heading off to Europe.
On the local scene, I have arranged evening club training sessions to talk about orienteering techniques and do paper exercises. Now, I am of to Kairangi for the final event before I fly out. Plenty of mud, and chillyness likely. (-:
Next week I am heading off to Europe for this years World University Orienteering Championships in Alicante, Spain (http://sd.ua.es/en/orienteering-championship/)and the World Orienteering Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland (http://www.woc2012.ch/). It will be exciting to race where the atmosphere is so high.
In Alicante I will race the Sprint, middle, and relay. The sprint is in the city and willl take in small alleyways and possibly Monte Tossal which is a castle like maze. The middle. relay and long will be on technical, open, scattered shrubby terrain. Compass bearings will be useful I expect.
I have a map database here: It is where I upload my routes from races and trainings.
http://www.numberoneaucklanddoma.com/maps/index.php?user=Angela
In preparation this year, I have been doing lots of aqua jogging. This is because I suffered a shin stress injury. The pain developed over summer is slow to heal. The best way to recover shin stress injuries is by not running, not a pleasing recommendation when I have races to train for. So aqua jogging and biking have kept me fit. Two hours solid aqua jogging last week was a mental effort. These sessions including lots of intervals have taught me mental strenght and how to listen to my body responding to training. Sports phsycology coaching through the Hillary Scholarship has been a new experience and I plan to use these techniques to make stronger race decisions with focus, and in particular avoid distractions during spectator legs.
Over the summer, I competed at Sprint the Bay. Awesome unique courses once again make this a highlight event. I was in the yellow jersy going into the final stage and planned to keep it but accidentally ran past a simple control during our map change and thus lost the lead. Well, next years Sprint tthe Bay should be bigger with international competitors likely as the race follows on from the World Cup and Oceania series. http://www.oceania2013.co.nz/ http://www.sprintthebay.org/
NZ National Championships held by NW Orienteering Club were another highlight lead up event. The middle distance map Middle Earth is now one of my favourite NZ maps. Such tricky detail to simplify, all on a hillslope so you have to keep an eye on height also.
And more recently Queens Birthday weekend events were held at the start of June in Waitarere forest. The loops race on Monday was the best. A mass start loops style race made
for close head to head racing and put pressure on everyone. Just what we need before heading off to Europe.
On the local scene, I have arranged evening club training sessions to talk about orienteering techniques and do paper exercises. Now, I am of to Kairangi for the final event before I fly out. Plenty of mud, and chillyness likely. (-:
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