Week 1 (and the first part of week 0) has been a tapering-period consisting of high-intensity training every second day and easy recovery session in between. This period is always a bit weird because I'm training less than normal, and the respons from my body is often to feel more tired than usual. This time has been no exception, and I have had several days where I have felt tired, unmotivated and even frustrated.
But it has been going according to the plan, and after arrival in Estonia on Tuesday it has been feeling better and better. And even though the feeling may not be good the next days, it doesn't matter, because I know that the preparations have been going better than ever, and that I am exactly where I'm supposed to be the day before it all starts.
I have tried to summarize some trainingdata from the last 8 months of training, and compare it to earlier years. In conclusion I have been training more than ever, and it has more or less been more running compared to earlier years (>1½ hours/week / >15-20 km/week). To analyze the intensity-distribution can be a bit difficult, as I have changed my way of classifying my intensity-zones 2-3 times the last years. I don't think I have trained less with high intensity, but still the conclusion must be that extra amount of running this year has mostly been with low intensity. More importantly I have almost avoided sickness and injuries the last 8 months (only some days of sickness in March) and I think this is the first time it has happened.
In conclusion this trainingproject combined with (almost) weekly updates on the blog have been going well and hopefully you have enjoyed to follow it.
Tomorrow WOC starts with the sprint-qualification, and hopefully I will also be running the sprint-final on Saturday. Sunday it's time for the Sprint-relay and we will do everything we can to fight for the medals and victory. Monday will be a needed rest-day before I will also run the longdistance on Tuesday, and the relay on Friday.
My/our goals are to be top 6 at the sprint, top 3 at the sprint-relay, top 10 at the longdistance and top 6 at the relay. Ambitious, but realistic goals if I do well.
This will be my 11th WOC in a row, and I'm looking forward to give everything I have, because I don't know if there will be a 12th... Much more important things than sports are happening in the end of August (or maybe earlier or later...), which will be a life-changer for me/us. I hope that I have motivation to keep training and competing for more WOCs and honestly, I don't think I can put away elite-orienteering for good yet. But we will see...
However, I don't think I will have time or energy to update this blog much in the future, at least not to this extent.
So for now, thank you for reading, and let the games begin!
