TRAINING – Preparing to Compete

Preparing to compete

Steve Bird

Introduction

For some orienteers and on some occasions it’s the result that counts: winning or losing. Other aspects of the event are swamped by this simple outcome regardless of how well, or how badly, we’ve performed. Whereas for other orienteers, for whom winning is less of an issue, it’s the enjoyment that counts; a feeling of satisfaction in having performed up to their ability: at being set a challenge by the course planner and successfully mastering that challenge. But what both groups have in common is a sense of disappointment and frustration if something goes wrong, and either prevents them from winning or spoils their enjoyment. So whether you’re a competitor who is out to win, someone who enjoys the challenge, or a combination of both, this article applies to you. It’s about reducing the risk of something going wrong in the event and maximizing your chances of performing at your very best. It’s about taking control of the factors that can go wrong, and yet despite their simplicity, many of us leave them to chance. One way to maximize our chances of having a successful and enjoyable event, is to invest a little time planning and preparing for it. Some aspects of preparation are obvious, such as: getting fit, developing your navigational skills, having a healthy diet, being fully hydrated, and using mental training to ensure that you’re in the right frame of mind for an event. And since different authors in this publication have covered these topics previously, they will not be mentioned here in detail. But in addition to these aforementioned aspects of preparation, there are other very basic and simple strategies that can help us get those good runs more often. They help to ensure that all the hard work you’ve put into developing your fitness and technical skills isn’t wasted due to unforeseen factors. Essentially it’s about planning, preparation, and establishing a pre-event routine that you follow regardless of whether you are competing locally, inter-state or overseas. Good planning reduces the risk of things going wrong and maximizes your chance of performing at your best. It may seem very basic, and indeed it is, but you may be surprised how many times I’ve known top orienteers to arrive at an event without a key piece of equipment such as water-bottle, shoes or compass. For those with aspirations of winning world medals their preparation for an event may begin years beforehand, whilst for those of us competing at a more local level it may begin just a few days before the event, or a few weeks if an event is of particular significance to us. But regardless of the level of competition, the purpose of preparation is the same: to maximize your chances of achieving your potential and performing at your very best. Described below are a number of elements that can be included in your preparation, and whereas some orienteers appear to be able to perform consistently well without recourse to them, others may find them useful.

Develop a pre-event routine and check list

Your pre-event routine is made up of the things you should do before every event, whether you are doing a local club event or national championship. It helps to ensure that you’re as well prepared as possible and don’t forget anything important. It also gets you into a sense of familiarity and means that you’re less likely to be phased by an unfamiliar area or type of terrain. What goes into it is up to you, but here are some suggestions: v 3-days before the event: • study maps of the area and review previous run on that map. v Night before event: • work out how long it will take to get to the event, and from that, what time you need to get up and leave. Also remember to include additional time if it’s needed to get from the assembly area to the start. • Pack orienteering bag • Pack bag of pre- and post event snacks, and prepare water bottle, sports drinks etc. v Travelling to event • Drink water in small doses throughout journey to facilitate full hydration. • Pause for small snack and coffee. I usually like to do this about 90 -120 minutes before my estimated start time, but others of you will have different preferred schedules. v At the event • Check control descriptions • Visit finish area

• Warm up • Observe starters ahead of you whilst stretching in the start area • Focus on the event and the strategies you are going to use • Use centreing to get into the right frame of mind, level of arousal and concentration v Post event • Cool-down

• Stretch

• Rehydrate • Have carbohydrate snack to replenish muscle glycogen energy levels. This is of particular significance in multi-day events, for which you could try packing a pasta salad to ensure that you have access to a good source of carbohydrate soon after you’ve finished. In the pre-event routine I have only briefly mentioned a few aspects of the mental preparation that can be used. And for those wishing to know more I would recommend Jason McCrae’s article published in The Australian Orienteer, March 2005, in which he also outlines the use of a check-card in a pre-event routine. Similarly Kay Haarsma’s article (The Australian Orienteer, December 2004) about preparing our MTBO team for the world champs also makes an interesting read. Your check-list itemizes the things you need to do before you start. It’s also a good idea to have a list of the contents of your orienteering bag that you can check (See Jason McCrae’s article). To produce the check-list, work backwards from your start time, working out how long you need to get ready at the event, travel time, when you have to leave, get up and so on. Your check-list will include things you need to do on the day of the event, the night before and the preceding week, such as studying maps of the competition area and making sure you have a supply of your favourite pre-event snacks. If you start your event having ticked all the items on your check-list you should have done everything possible to ensure that you have a good event. With practice you will get into a routine with your check-list, but don’t get complacent about it, as you need to pay special attention to it if you’re in an unfamiliar environment or on a more stressful occasion, as that is when things are likely to be forgotten and you need it most.

Refine your technical skills specifically for the event

Technical skills take a considerable amount of time to develop. But if you do have a particular event that you are focusing on, it’s worth practicing on the same type of terrain, in the preceding weeks. This will help to refine your navigational skills, provide confidence and give the terrain a sense of familiarity when you get there. National teams may use training camps for this purpose and some top orienteers have been known to move country, to live and train in the region of a forthcoming major event. Whilst this would be rather extreme for those of us competing at a more modest level, it does illustrate the point, and is certainly a function of the model events that most of us get the opportunity to participate in.

Pre-event Armchair Orienteering

The purpose of this is to familiarize yourself with the competition area, and/or the kind of terrain you’ll be competing in. Ideally, you should study the map of the area, and if you’ve competed there before, you should review your previous run, assessing what went well and what didn’t, what navigational strategies you should use and what to look out for. It may even remind you to take extra care in an intricate area you had problems with last time. Don’t be put off by previous errors, but do work out how you are going to prevent yourself from doing the same thing this time. You can then make up a course on the map and imagine yourself navigating around it. If you know where the start area is likely to be, then incorporate it in your imaginary course. If you haven’t got a map of the area, select one that is similar to it. At least this will help to prepare you for the type of terrain, i.e. rocky, open land or forest, spur/gully, intricate contour detail, pine forest or eucalyptus. This has even more significance if you’re competing away from your familiar local environment, for example on New Zealand sand dunes.

Pre-event Food

Most sports people have preferred pre-competition foods. If you do, then take them with you. Pack your preferred snacks, just in case you can’t get them en-route or at the event. Don’t leave it to chance, for example the catering tent may not be set up in time for you to eat before your early start. So don’t let their problem muck up your run. If, like me, you enjoy a good coffee an hour or so before you compete, then pack a flask of hot water, coffee, plunger, milk etc to have at your leisure. Likewise pack your sports drink and fluid for re-hydrating afterwards. This preparation may have additional significance if competing overseas - if at all possible take your favourite pre-event food with you, or make sure you can purchase it in plenty of time when you arrive in the country, don’t leave it to the last minute. Also note that an important event is not the occasion to try out something new for the first time. Just because someone you know runs well on bananas, doesn’t mean that you will. So try it out first in less important events to find out, just in case it doesn’t work for you.

At the event

When you get to the event area, there are still plenty of things you can do. As you’re driving into the area look at the terrain, assess what it’ll be like to run through. If you enjoy a chat before you compete, make sure you arrive early and give yourself time to do so. But make sure it doesn’t extend into the time when you should be doing other elements of your pre-competition routine. A warm up should be one component of your pre-competition routine, and if possible use it to visit the finish area, as it may be possible to identify a number of ‘last controls’ and the routes into the finish. You may also get some clues from the control descriptions for each course, if they are on display. It may not always help, but it certainly will on some occasions, and it’s worth the investment in time. This is particularly so in larger events when there may be spectators at the finish, who provide additional stress, and you don’t want to be seen running to the wrong last control, when a little pre-event planning could have saved valuable seconds as well as preventing the embarrassment. When you get to the start area you should be focusing on your run, it’s not ‘down-time’. Course planners will try to ensure that from the start area it’s not possible to see the direction that starters are taking, but they’re not always able to do this, so if you arrive early you may see other competitors starting on your course and get some indication.

John Walker (RK-V)

Kit

Keep your orienteering bag well-packed and containing all your gear. This may include a smaller bag for items such as compasses, red (permanent non-smudge) pens, map-bags, whistle, magnifier, plasters. This will help to prevent you arriving at an event without a vital item.

Conclusion

Some orienteers seem to just turn up at an event and do well consistently, others prefer to be a bit more systematic in their preparation. Having a regular pre-event routine, which incorporates some of the elements described above may help you. However, you must also be prepared to make adjustments to your routine if necessary, and not go to pieces, just because you couldn’t complete some element due to arriving late, or having brown toast for breakfast instead of your preferred white toast. By planning, you are much more in control of the factors that can affect your run. It won’t guarantee that you’ll do well, but it should increase your chances. It helps to remove the risks that could spoil your performance. The amount you’re willing to invest in the preparation depends on how much you want to do your best. So don’t leave it to chance and remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail”

References

Are good results not coming? Are you in the right frame of mind? Jason McCrae’s The Australian Orienteer, March 2005, p27. How they prepared. Kay Haarsma. The Australian Orienteer, December 2004, p34. Professor Steve Bird is Director, Centre for Population Health, Sunshine Hospital, Melbourne. Steve worked with the Great Britain National Orienteering Squad for over 10 years and is now assisting the Victorian Junior Squad.