The short long Austrian Champs

So before I carry on with the analysis of Hungary, here is the newest up-to-date OL story from the house of the Eurogathers :)

On this weekend the Austrian Marathon OL Championships were held in Furstenfeld, and for the elite it was quite the mouth full, but I felt that for the H35 it was possibly just a little short (and also there was almost no climb). We were running on a 1:15000 map, a total of 15.4 km with 235 m climb and 15 controls. I was hoping for quite a good showing and for the most part it started well.

Looking at the start list I knew that a top 4 would be out of the question, and so my aim was to finish 5th, as close to the other 4 as possible. So with that in mind here is the control by control analysis:

s-1: good controlled start, was able to plan 7 - 8 (not really much of a route choice *smile*)
1-2: Staying on the roads, but I could have used the forest more - came round the bush the wrong way...
2-3: Small correction of route choice (xA) when I saw that thicket in front of me. In the thicket by the control I ran to what I thought was the clearing with a control, but it turned out to be a clearing (not on the map) with a plastic bag. Small correction and straight to the next clearing (on the map) where I had the control. I can't really even call this a mistake, although it cost me 1
minute.
3-4: Great
4-5: almost perfect
5-6: Again good
6-7: Route choice - should have just gone to the road!
7-8: I think my route choice was quite good. At mistake "xC" I should have just stayed on the road rather than cut off the corner. The other mistake "x2" was purely compass related - I didn't check the direction - but quickly corrected, and not really much time lost. I stopped to drink at the water, and this is where my problem occurred. As I left the drink control and jumped over the ditch towards 8, I must have landed funny on my feet and I ripped the skin of my foot (sole) from the actual bottom of my foot (this is not like a blister - there was no rubbing or blister water). It has happened to me before, but this was really very painful. So I have a 3 by 3 patch of skin over a largish 3 by 3 wound. I'm not really sure how to explain it, other to say that it hurts like hell. From here on until the finish I was really hampered.
8-9: Concentration (due to pain) was not high, and I misread a path / road junction and then ended up making my only "real" mistake of the race. This mistake cost me 4 minutes.
9-10: Felled area, was murder to run over and I almost gave it up here. Didn't see the control as I ran past and had to come back for it. Lost about 1 minute.
10-11: Limped but OK
11-12: was ok, getting over the gully to the west was hard. Couldn't see the same dam and so overran it slightly, came back for it.
12-13: Again, very painful to get past the small lake on the NW side. Otherwise no problem.
13-F: Limped jogged - no mistakes

I was really disappointed afterwards. I ended up running the last 5 or 6 controls with a heart rate under 160, so obviously I could have gone substantially faster. Still although I got my 5th place, I should have been 4th (as Much didn't actually start) so I missed my goal. On reflection, the mistake at 9 (and it was a mistake) cost me that so I can't be too disappointed. And that was the long. Christine was third in her race and so she was very happy.

The foot will heal quick (it always does) and I will even be able to run today (in normal running shoes) if it's not too bad this afternoon. More about Hungary to follow in the next days...

Check out the results here!