About 6 weeks to go

Hi everybody. I am pleased to report that I have found a marvellous way of coping with the pre-WTOC stress. I decided not to think about it, do anything about it or even admit it exists. It works!!! I have not looked at my folder for weeks, I practically never think about it and it only just dawned on me that there are only about 6 weeks left. I have worked a lot on it, I have done my best and I am going to do my best in the time remaining as well. If my best is not good enough, TOUGH!!! So there!!

Last week was a bit weird. I felt very dizzy and queasy all week, but recovered sufficiently to go orienteering at the weekend. The event was called the Pannon O-days and it was based in a glorious little village in the Bakony mountains. The event centre was in an open air theatre, which was built around a disused quarry, using the rock face as a backdrop to the stage. We camped and while there was a tremendous cloudburst on the Friday, lasting about 2o minutes, we were seriously lucky, as it started about 3 minutes after we erected the tent. We sat it out in the car and for the rest of the weekend it was hot and sunny.

As you can see from the maps the first day was a town sprint in Veszprem, about 20 miles away. There were a few tricky route choices there, but otherwise it was straightforward. Klari managed to beat me by 11 seconds, which considering my state of health and the fact that I was forced to run up, was not too bad.

Day 2 was a WRE, which promised long and hard courses. Well, you will never judge from the map how hard it was. Extremely steep mountainsides, massive crags and rock walls, clear felled jungle and the rest. Still, I wasn't complaining as we so often get mickey mouse courses in the older women's classes and that most certainly wasn't. I won by 1 second, which was highly amusing and satisfying. Somebody since wrote on a list (in relation to somebody else at JWOC) that 1 second is a decisive victory, while 2 seconds is a drubbing. How true!!

Day 3 was a chasing start where I went out with nearly a 5 and a half minute advantage. Good job, as almost all of it was used up in silly mistakes, which I managed to make on this day, after 2 error free days. Still, I came home with a cup, a medal and a goodie bag, so I can't complain.

However, the star attraction of this weekend was not so much the main event, but the beer relay, which I didn't enter, but spent a highly amusing and seriously enjoyable hour or so watching on Saturday afternoon. Each team consisted of 2 members, both of which had to down a pint before every leg of the competition. The qualifier round had 13 teams with a mass start of 13 people guzzling their pint as fast as they could make it before running off. The first 8 teams after this went on to a Wimbledon style set of elimination rounds, first 8 then 4 and then 2 teams in the final. The really dirty trick came in the final, when the beer part went up to 2 pints before running, which my favourite team lost the fight over. Neither of them could beat a slightly older, and therefore more seasoned boozer team, who took gold. I believe the prizes were beer cans, so you can imagine the sore heads the following morning.

Must go now as Roy is cooking me some minted potatoes with freshly cooked beetroot - yum, yum!!!