Romanian Cup 2011 - Cluj and the So Called National Championships - Targu Jiu

It has been some time since I last posted and a lot of things happened during this time. On the 25th of August I left Bucharest for Cluj Napoca, sleeping one night in Alba Iulia. I knew I had knee problems but I thought everything will be ok. The first stage of the Romanian Cup was held Friday on the 26th, with the start at around 2 o`clock in the afternoon. The sun was up and there were more than 32 degrees in the forest. This made it very difficult not only for orienteering but also for simple running. The map was not very difficult but for me it was very easy to lose concentration and I did a big mistake in the 3rd control and also some small mistakes to 5th and 8th. My speed was also not very good and my result was more negative than positive. The bad part is that I god myself a big wound on my foot and it was very difficult to step.

Map Middle Distance 
Results

The second day of Romanian Cup 2011 was a long distance. The race for me started good with good control of the terrain and good running speed. I don`t know where on the race I lost the running speed. The idea is that I felt very low when it comes to running, all of the race I struggled to run fast but I just couldn`t do it. As for orienteering, the race was really nice, with no big mistakes (slow speed means no mistakes).

Map Long Distance part1
Map Long Distance part2
Results

This 2 races concluded the Romanian Cup 2011, and the 3rd stage was decisive for the final ranking in Transylvania Open 2011. It was a chasing start. Although I had 2 bad days before I had a good starting position and I could have climbed a little in the rank if I would have had a good race. I started with some small mistakes, but again I just couldn`t run. I felt weak and without power so I decided to abandon because I was not able to run nor downhill nor uphill!

Map Chasing Start
Results
Results Romanian Cup 2011
Results Transylvania Open 2011




I had less than one week until the National Championships in Targu Jiu, so I decided not to go back to Bucharest, and save some time and energy. I stayed in Alba Iulia for a few days, trying to recharge my bateries. Tuesday also arrived in Alba Iulia our new team mate Dragana Dokmanovic, so Wednesday was a day for some site seeing in Alba Iulia and a lot of sleep!
Thursday morning we left for Targu Jiu. There we had in the afternoon, the first stage, Sprint National Championship. It was very hot outside but I felt confident I could do a good race. I started very good, even though I felt that the map is not 100% at the scale 1:4000. I tried to push as hard as I could, but I had some small errors and a kind of big one at 10th control. I finished on the 9th spot but not very far from the podium.

Map Sprint
Results

And now, the fun begins. The second day, the middle distance. I started with a mistake to the first control because the map was poor so i went a big uphill than the control, and even though on the map that part is green there is also a yellow spot just like the one with the control. To the second control I also did a small mistake because when i ran downhill I passed another path that was not on the map so I attacked to control a bit early. The next mistake was to the 5th control where I got caught up by Dopovecz. On the way to the 9th control I planned to go on the contour but doing this resulted on going up than the control. If it would have been only me doing this mistake I would have said that I am stupid, but when ALL the runners do this mistake it means that something is not right with the map! On the way to 9th control we also caught Istvan so now we were a pack of 3. Also I belive that the 12th control is way down than it should be, a lot of guys doing mistake there. I was lucky to see the control. Probably I could have pushed a bit harder with my running. I finished 6th, at around 2 min from the podium. Everybody complained about the map and the fun part was that all of the other races would be in the same area!

Map Middle Distance
Results

I was expecting the Long Distance in a good mood after the good first to races. This time it seemed to be even hotter than the first days. I started nervous to the first control, losing contact with the map a couple of times but I got the control without any problems. Probably the best option to the first control would have been to take the big road. On the way to fourth control I was caught by Mutiu Ovidiu. We did a mistake to the 5th control and on the way to 6th he put some distance between us. On the way to 7th control I did a huge mistake loosing around 6-7 min. I just couldn`t see the right path and I was stupid and didn`t concentrate and started interpreting very bad where I was. I went to the open area and there I saw Radu Urdea who was heading for the 12th control so I knew where I was. I belive that mistake made my legs weak because starting with the 8th control I lost speed. From there on I didn`t do any mistakes but I ran very slow for my taste. And when I finished the race I was kind of satisfied because a lot of runners were DSQ! But the big surprise for me was that I also forgot to take a control. I went close to the 22nd control but didn`t even think of going to it, as I headed straight for the center of the butterfly!So no WRE points for me this time.The bad part was that the next day we had the relay so finishing the race made me very tired and also very disappointed of running without any real finality!Because the map was 1:15000 this time it was difficult to spot to mistakes..

Map Long Distance 
Results

I waited very bad for the relay, because I wanted to prove myself that I can perform well with under pressure. The race started with 1minute delay for the M21 category. This was our elegant way of protesting regarding the stupid way our beautiful sport is lead by some "all knowing" people!
I started confident and was in the leading pack even though I did a small mistake to the first control. To the 3rd control, there was a extra valley that was not on the map so I did a mistake there too. Until the 6th control I was in the lead with Iuli, Stelica and Vasi. To the 7th control I lost the contact with the map and went a bit down so I had to go uphill on the path. To the 8th control I took the routechoice on the path. I ran very fast on this route but I just couldn`t find the control. I started to panic. I then saw Mugur who took his control, and after some more looking for the control I found it. I passed the arena in a relative good position but the next control destroyed me!I looked for the 13th control for more than 7min. I thought it will be in the intersection of the 2 big valleys but it wasn`t. It was a so called gully that was impossible to see on the map!Iuli caught me there and we looked for it over and over until I got lucky and saw it in the bushes. I once again passed the arena and tried to push as hard as I could to make up for the lost time. But I did a horror mistake to the 18th control. I felt like I had 12 years and just started orienteering. I was so disappointed with myself..

Tamas had a very solid race and put us once again on the track for a medal. During his run the first 2 teams passed (Craiova and Roman) but they didn`t took the mandatory route from the first video control. So we made a protest to the officials. This started off a really big fight of ideas taking into light some problems that were never spoken about in Romanian Orienteering.A lot of teams took wrong controls, mostly taking 46 instead of 48. We were kind of happy when Florin finished in 3rd position, but to our surprise he also took a wrong control!In the end I was not at all mad at Florin, as I was with myself for the shitty race I puled off.I have to apologise to Tamas, Florin and Marius for letting them down!

Map Relay
Results

Maybe it is time to wake up and see that we are not the ones who know the ultimate truth!It is time to let our sport breath and also leave us, the ones who love it, to try to make things better!This message is intended to all of those who just don`t care about Romanian Orienteering and are more interested in their own little petty interests!