Home ground World Cup 2.0

World Cup 2015 is almost here! In two days time I'll find myself lining up for the second time in two years in what I could consider a homeground world cup.

The preparation for the two has been pretty different however. Where as two years ago I headed home about a month before the races in order to best prepare, this time around it's fair to say my mind has been elsewhere - in fact, it was a pretty big shock when I realised last Friday that the races were a week away!

Where Are Ya?!

Yeah, it's been a while.

Where are ya? It seems like a simple question. Yet one which over much of the past 2 months I'm not sure I could really answer! Physical training wise, it's been a stop-start period, with sickness, injury and work all playing their parts. And mentally, by the time I've shut down the thesis file at the end of the day, there hasn't been much juice left in the brain! That said though, I've stubbornly refused to work weekends (much), and with the advent of summer, they've been well used as I try to cram in as much exploring as possible before I leave Aussie! So, really, where haven't I been?!

Adventures in the Wild West

Spring time is my favourite time of year in Australia; nice temperatures (but still cold enough at night to justify nestling up with a mug of hot chocolate), a bit of a Wellington like wind going on to make me feel at home, and plenty of opportunities to get out of town at weekends with state championship season in full swing.

After multiple trips to the likes of NSW, Victoria, Qld and Tassie over the last few years, it was finally time for me to taste the offerings of the West Coast, both orienteering and tourist wise, with the Australian Champs held just out (relatively) of Perth over the last 2 weekends.

Going Exclusive

Confession time:

Orienteering isn't my only sport.

Yeah sorry, hardly a secret, and not very juicy gossip. Apologies.

For the last almost 20 years, I've also played football. In fact, I once missed the NZ Sprint Champs to attend a football training camp. Crazy, I know.
Around 10 years ago, I made the decision that I wanted to make orienteering my primary sport, a decision I have absolutely no regrets about. (Let's be honest, I was never going too far in soccer anyway) But choosing orienteering hasn't meant leaving football behind. And over the last decade I've been incredibly lucky to take the field for two clubs, Miramar Rangers in NZ, and ANUWFC in Canberra, both of whom have been amazing in puttin up with my orienteering commitments and lengthy trips away midseason, and have allowed me to play top grade women's football.

When you don't know what to write.

Don't write.

Advice that may not work for a thesis...but that's for future Lizzie to worry about. It works perfectly in this case.

I'm well aware that anything I write here won't live up to my last post. So I've decided not to try. Instead, here's some pics from the last month. With the end of a long stint in the lab in sight, and the resumption of the domestic season, my PED is steadily on it's way out. So here's some (unasked for) advice to the latest batch of kiwis and aussies coming home from WUOC and into the arms of the awaiting PED:

If it has to be winter...

...Go find the snow.

World Cup 2015: A guide to Australian Fauna

"How do you deal with all of the [insert name of deadly animal]?!", "How often do you see [said horrible animal]?", "Have you ever been killed by [unthinkable monster of a creature]?!"

All questions that I was asked multiple times while in Europe this year. And all very relevant questions given the upcoming World Cup races in Tassie, and Australia's reputation as a country where every animal is out to kill you. In fact, there's rumours that some national teams are hesitant in attending due to how teeming with snakes and spiders this country apparently is.

Post European Depression

It's 2 weeks already since I stumbled off the plane and back into the embrace of Canberran winter. It's been a busy two weeks too; with not much time left in each day once I've finished with all of my moaning and whining about how cold it is and how Canberra isn't Europe. Every year there's the same shock and let down, returning from a life of travel, training, racing and summer, to the every day reality of work, responsibilities and winter.

The official medical term is Post European Depression, and I was always in line to suffer a bad bout this year, after prolonged exposure! Unfortunately, sitting and watching SOW and Oringen hasn't exactly helped things, (I wish I'd started a drinking game for every time I saw a photo of the Matterhorn). However, JWOC watching did help alleviate the symptoms for a week or so. An awesome week from a kiwi's (and Wellingtonian's!) point of view: Tim becoming NZ's 2nd junior world champion in 3 years, Nick smashing out 5th in the middle, and the boys (Tim, Shamus, Nick) putting us on the podium in the relay! A massive effort from the whole team, and very exciting to see their hard work paying off! It's inspiring to see the juniors' motivation and drive, and how it's turning into results on the global stage. Now us seniors just need to lift our game to match it! ;)

Our most successful national team ever!

Once I'd finished with watching races, however, I had to find other ways to procrastinate around the tonne of work that I should be doing. So I've done a bit of reflecting on my trip as a whole. In short, it was everything I could have hoped for.

In the month or so leading up to leaving, I was seriously having second thoughts about whether trying to race WOC in my final year of PhD was a smart thing to do, let alone taking 7 weeks off to do it. I was stressed, run down, sick and had constant niggles, meaning I wasn't where I wanted to be either physically or mentally. However, I've come back mentally refreshed, healthy (first time in years post long-haul flight!) and motivated. My knee may still a bit bung post WOC middle and relay, but I've come home without a single regret about the trip or the time taken off uni to fit it in. Not only was it great to get a good block of time in Europe pre WOC, and to get some practice races in against top competition, which undoubtedly helped come WOC week; but I've also come home with a much more solid idea of what path I want to take post-PhD. Atleast, I'm told there's a life post thesis?

The race is on!

For all of those who asked me post WOC races if I was happy with my results, only to receive a kind of confused, dazed look and some uninterpretable answer, sorry! At the end of a race, my brain usually resembles a bowl of spaghetti, with computing power of a scrambled egg. Even more so than usual. Having had a bit of time to think it over, I guess my answer is multi levelled:
As a Kiwi, I'm proud of my results, and proud to be a part of a NZ team and wider culture that is driving each other and building our results and profile on the global stage. So yep, I'm happy on that level.
On a personal level, I left everything I had out on the courses (including part of my pants). Performance wise, I did as well as I could in the sprints, I just wasn't physically good enough. In the forest, I did parts great, but fell into familiar mistakes in other areas. The potential is there, but it didn't overcome the flaws on the day. So I left WOC feeling a bit bittersweet, the results were good, but they could have been better.
However, some wise people have reminded me to put things in perspective. I have to remember how I felt prior to leaving for Europe. So. Given where I was 8 weeks prior to WOC, my performances and results were more than I could have hoped for.

So, with the wisdom of hindsight, yes, satisfied with my results, thanks for asking!

 And now, for some full time stats from the trip! Yay. Numbers!

50 Days
5 Countries
63 Training Sessions
14 Races
30 Hours Orienteering
14 Accommodations
11 Room Mates

Some things were a little harder to quantify:
~80-90 Coffees
~40-50 gelatos/icecreams
Countless training partners/hosts/supporters/local guides and friends. Without you the trip wouldn't have been possible. I'm too scared to list you all, as I'm likely to forget someone, but you know who you are, and hopefully I've made it known in person just how grateful I am for all of your help! If not, feel free to slap me next time you see me, I'll deserve it.

And finally:
1 absolute legend. Greta, I don't know what insanity lead you to agree to 7 weeks of my company, and it will forever be a mystery to me how you lasted those 7 weeks without once punching me in the face. Thanks so much for putting up with me and my twisted sense of humour, my inability to interpret foreign bus time tables and my best attempts at Italian driving. For organising me, socialising for me when I was too tired to be capable of speech, dealing with me when I couldn't sort my shit out, and for ignoring me when I was just being a dick! Just the best team mate and travel buddy, hope you're recovering well and enjoying some fresh company now!

Super excited to be Lizzie free!

Once again, thanks to everyone who made the last couple of months what it was! Rest assured, I've discovered the ultimate cure for PED - planning my next escape to Europe! Watch this space :)