A new chapter in my orienteering life|career will begin this year. Therefore a lot of changes will happen which make me look forward to the next season and years where I will try to continue realizing my goals and dreams.
The first major change will be that I will run for the finnish club Angelniemen Ankkuri. I believe I found a very welcoming team and a club which supports me on my way towards my future goals.
The biggest change though will be the change of age-class from Junior to Elite. The courses will get longer and tougher, and to be running anywhere close to the top I need to improve a lot in every way relevant for orienteering. The basis is of course the physical part where quality and quantity plus recovery are key but without constance I know I won´t reach my goals. Another important role will be the mental component, as the challenges grow more and bigger it will imporant to still make the right decisions in situations of pressure.
For me it´s all about a constant build up to reach a certain level of consistency in training and in the end being able to show that in the results. I know it´s a long term game which I am eager on to play. Coming from two years being part of the national team but not running EYOC in both years to not being part of the team in 2015 but running my first EYOC, followed by three JWOCs and at the last one showing my potential, I know that dedication plus hard work over the years will pay off!
In 2018 I already ran directly against the Elite in Germany or on the same course as the Elite in the German Champs on the Sprint and Middle distance being both times the fastest, showed me that the transition to the Elite class in Germany already worked out earlier then planned. Even though both courses suited me and I had a good day, I still take it as a positvie sign for 2019. In addition I managed to show with my performances at ParkWorldTour in Beijing last October that the JWOC sprint win was not a “one-hit wonder”.
PWT was in general just incredible. Visiting a new country, seeing different cultures, meeting so many athletes; special shoutout to those 5 Swedes who were just super cool and nice and made this trip really memorable!
Even though sprint is currently my best discipline, I still want to improve and also compete in the forest races as well. Loving to run in the forest brought me here so training for that more strongly now won´t be a problem, I also believe that the development of forest and sprint skills have positive complimentary effects on each other anyway.
So yes, I am aware that competing against the Elite on an international level is still another league but I am really looking forward to give my best to compete against the best of the world to one day maybe be one of the best as well.
It was a long and hard way to get here, and will be another even longer and harder way to achieve my new set goals and dreams, that is high-level sports and that is what I live for!
See you in the forest
Colin
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