Quick post as time is escaping again and the Spring is upon us Tempus Fuggit as they say. Without any prior arrangement It so happened that last month week beginning 11th January I ran on five days of that week with 3 of those weeks being competitions, a scramble through a week of a dedicated runner here for you. Every Tuesday Wessex Orienteers club training session happens from Sport Bournemouth University who’ve hosted us for years as a base, actually 17th September will see us organising an Urban race as part of the Summer Series around the site you heard it here first. During the winter we have three different training sessions that alternate weekly on the local roads, then around the time of clocks changing, we head out every Tuesday 6 p.m onto Talbot Heath for Trail running, again a variety of sessions in the warmth of summer, chance to really hone the trail running skills. Freelance life offers some benefits so whilst planning and putting work in the diary for months ahead is ongoing, taking a last minute chance to head up with friend to a military League South event at Pyestock Surrey wednesday event was part of that freelance life. As it goes my M45 age means that my competition distance has changed down to Blue courses which tend to be 7 KM ish, I set off at Pyestock and after a happy race, not overly technical control finding what seemed a fairly standard performance turned out to be 35 seconds off the win, 2nd place in a field of 123 runners- happy days! Thursday saw the Wessex Night League event at Eastleigh, hosted by Southampton Orienteering club. Car sharing a trip to this which was based at a Pub meant a relaxing post run cleansing ale and meal, always a good tactic basing youre events in pubs and the attendance of 42 runners proved it again. Final result wasn’t superb here, my sequence didn’t work exactly missing a couple of controls but not sacrificing points by being late back and incurring penalties. These night events of an hour score tend to be about ten K running distance so Im subconsciously getting in the 10 k training for my first distance challenge 10k race in Guernsey this Easter.
So two Urbans and a forest race so far it was back into the forest at Hurn after a day off for helping at a Wimborne club local Saturday event. Our Saturdays are designed to bring new families and introduce them to the fun of the forest so look out for the Summer Series events schedule coming soon. I trained on compass here as main object on a lovely winter sun afternoon. So to the last day of the week and the big event at Busketts Lawn, the venue of many previous November Classic races next to Ashhurst New Forest. Not a great day outdoors weather wise this place has the best type of typical old growth forest Orienteers love. Largely running on a white map which indicates tall runnable forest my 7..k effort wasn’t without errors, staying on compass bearings without much semblance of any linear features is the most testing type of race- for me the essence of the sport and why I got into it. 5 runs, 3 races over 1 week, my peak season week. We only have 4 Night events left this season and then into the first week of March the seasons will be blessing us again with spring blossoms and that funny recurring effect of life in Blighty, everyone getting excited about the clocks changing the light extending and every year it seeming like a new start. More upcoming work this year teaching Orienteering, map making, planning and organising events will keep me busy through the whole of most folks regular season of sport events. Live the life you love.
