My First JK

So a bit late on posting about the JK, but better late than never right? And a visit from my Mum to keep me busy I believe is a good excuse!  The Jan Kjellstrom - or JK to most - is an event held annually over Easter weekend and is the premier UK event attracting top competitors from various countries. This year its base was around Perth, Scotland. The event is comprised of 4 days of racing with a Sprint (Friday), Middle (Saturday), Long (Sunday) and Relay (Monday). I raced in the W21e category which meant our Middle was a WRE (world ranking event). I had a few ideas on how well I was wanting to do this weekend, but I wouldn't say it was clear enough to be a goal. This might be where some of my issues were, but more on that later. The Sprint was in Livingston so comprised of mostly an urban race with a little bit in a more "forested" area. I had quite an early start and for some reason unknown to me that meant I arrived way early for my start. So jogged around and did a lot of stretching, but mostly tried to get my head in the game. Finally my start time rolled around and Beep, Beep, Beep,Beep... BEEP.... I was off on my first JK sprint. Poor route choice to one but went with it, fine to two, and boy was three a tricky one! there was a lot of talk about out of bounds leading up to the event and so I automatically went under the underpass and ruled out the main road knowing it was out of bounds. However quickly figured out that wasn't right and stood around scratching my head thinking "there is no legal way to this control!". Not what you want to do when your supposed to be "elite". finally worked out that I was allowed on what they were calling a Curb and got 3. After that had no real problems (other than 17 which i ran passed) other than a few bobbles and looking back not ideal routes but was starting to feel like an "elite". Came to the end of my course and I had caught up Olivia from NI and it was a sprint into the finish to try and beat her in. A sprint that I might add Colm never noticed as he didn't realise it was me with Olivia. I guess that serves my right for wearing a plan blue top!

Sprint Map

 

Olivia and I coming into the "GO" control

I didn't do as well in the Sprint as I would have liked which meant I really wasn't in a good and confident mind frame for the Middle on Dunalastair the next day. Running the warm up map on the way to the start also didn't help things. Nothing was fitting! I got to the starting line and managed to calm myself enough to be yawning, which I was taking as a good sign. Right from the start though the map was still not making sense. The green around control 1 I couldn't make heads nor tales of. Then control 3 I kept stopping short from the fact that there was a distinct vegetation change almost at it which wasn't on the map. By this time the Swede that started behind me had caught me and we both struggled to 4. It was nice to know at that point I wasn't the only one having troubles. After control 5 however things went pretty smoothly. I didn't even notice that I went past a "spectator" section near the water. I had found a zone, and it was nice to have the Swede there with us both pushing the pace. We both made a slight parallel mistake going to control 16 however I caught it quite quickly and took off determined to make up a bit of time on her, but made sure to keep making plans and sticking on the map.

Middle Course with Route

Day three brought us the long on one of the most difficult areas in Scotland I have been told - Craig a Barns. and if the journey to the start didn't give away that it was going to be physically challenging I don't know what would! It was a VERY steep climb the last bit, so it was the one day I was glad I got to the start super early so that I could fully recover! I was in a better mental state starting this course which I liked. However, control one didn't really help that. I managed to hit a rock wall at about 90degrees off from what I wanted. I'm proud though of the fact that I managed to instantly realise that! A major improvement from the USA team trails last year. So really it was a confidence boost in disguise once I worked it out. The next few controls went well apart from struggling around and over fallen trees which made up the green on the map in this area. Control 5 however I was lucky. I didn't really have a plan for this leg and decided to just run for the near trail and decide as I went. It worked out but not a good idea on my part! I knew I lost time as the very end of the leg I was caught by the same Swede. Again it was a battle round, flip flopping who was reading well. The green by 6-9 I found very hard to navigate in. I'm actually really glad Ruairi came along and lead me into 9 or I feel I could have been bashing around for a bit. Was getting a bit tired but pushed on. Was hitting things fairly well until 14- 16 in which i was glad there were quite a few people around. I felt like I was having such a hard time telling which bush was which and not wanting to lose too much height. Again it was a sprint into the finish against me and the Swede.

I wasn't about to let her beat me in!

 

 

 

Long map with route 

 

 

 

 

Last race - The relay at Newtyle. This was my first relay running for EUOC, and I was excited! I got to run the first leg of our 3rd team. The buzz at the starting line was exciting and a bit nerve wreaking. But once the whistle blew and we were off I felt good. Right up the hill for the first controls. Felt slow but the leaders weren't getting away as quickly as I first thought which was nice. Right to the top of the hill for 2-3. This whole course felt much easier navigation after the Long! A few bobbles in places but mostly just felt tired. However could see Kirstin who was on EUOC 2nd team ahead of me which pushed me on from wanting to be finishing close to her. I was with another girl from about 4 onwards and we were going to all the same controls until the last one. I had a wee panic, triple checked my control codes and kept going. The run in felt like it went on for ages! But handed off to Isla who was running 2nd leg in 14th place, only ~4mins behind the leaders and ~2 behind kirstin. Quite happy with this run which was the first time I had felt that all weekend.

Relay map with route

So although I didn't do as well as I wanted. And there were a few tears and a lot of doubt. Looking back it was a very good learning experience for me. And I didn't really race as badly as I thought. Full results for the whole event can be found here.

JK Training

We have just had a gorgeous week in Edinburgh. So who wanted to stay in doors when one could be enjoying the sunshine and preparing for the JK? I have to say not me!

Monday after the BOC event I took as a rest day. Had a lovely cycle into town to meet up with Lauren though and went for a walk around Blackford Hill in the nice weather!

Reminded me why I love Edinburgh so much!

 
Tuesday brought another nice day and it was down to the meadows for EUOC intervals. My legs were still feeling dead however and still wasn't feeling 100% better from my cold so had a steady run around Arthur's Seat with Lauren and Cat. It was so nice to be running with people again and it was nice to have a chat with them about training and recovering from races.

Wednesday I met up with Rona and Kirsten for some training at Bonaly. I cycled there and oh my was the hill up a killer! I felt like I could have run there quicker! But it was such a nice day out that I didn't really mind and the way I took back a long the Water of Leith was nice. So for training I ran the FwtN long course that I missed. However, I ran it only a few controls at a time. Every 3-4 controls I put my map down walked back and practiced restarting a course. I think it really helped. Also there were quite a few groups out and about having BBQs or mountain biking and having them watch me helped me remember I need to ignore others while out. I found the map a bit odd in a few places but was thoroughly enjoying be outside in the sun. I also learned from this my legs were still feeling dead and I should do a few more runs on the trails around there and get in some heather running. Hard work!

Map! skipped out 20 and 21 as running out of time.

Thursday was meant to be an easy lap of campus but decided I would bike out to Portabello bench to join EUOC for a BBQ there and that the ~35km ride would be enough for the day. It was a lovely day although a bit cooler than previous. We even went swimming in the sea! and the BBQ was great even with all the sand :)

Friday brought another lovely day and the start of Easter Holidays, which I started with a run around campus. And it is a "morning" run (ie 10am) that I actually enjoyed greatly! After that it was on the train to come stay with my Aunt, Uncle and cousin in Falkirk. Great to be around family and not stuck in empty halls. And it is really nice to be around family I haven't really gotten a chance to know all that well other than in the summers when I grew up.

Saturday was my cousins birthday so we had cake and played with the baby Thomas. I was feeling tired and legs just had no energy so the training for today was spending a bit of time looking at old maps. Need to be doing some more geeking in the coming week though.

Especially as Sunday brought an EUOC trip to Livingston to run the training courses for the JK. I ran both of the Urban sprints focusing on A) the start, so tried to replicate a race start as much as I could by putting the map down on the ground unfolded and such. I think that is really helping and I'm gaining more of a habit/routine out of it. and B) making sure I had a plan for the next control going into the previous. I was trying to have the whole plan and not just which way I was exiting as in the housing developments the route really does determine how you leave and was trying hard to practice looking for traps. After the two urban sprints I decided to run a few controls in Calder Woods. They didn't go as well. I was confused by the map. thankfully though I was quickly running out of time so bailed before my mental aditude from this training day turned bad. Was so glad to be out with EUOC people so much this week!